[sustran] VTPI NEWS - Summer 2006

[Todd Alexander Litman]

                                  -----------
                                   VTPI NEWS
                                  -----------
                       Victoria Transport Policy Institute
                          "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
                       ------------------------------------
                            Summer 2006    Vol. 9, No. 3
                        ----------------------------------

The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an 
independent research organization dedicated to 
developing innovative solutions to transportation 
problems. The VTPI website (http://www.vtpi.org ) 
has many resources addressing a wide range of 
transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services.
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


ONLINE TDM ENCYCLOPEDIA
========================

The VTPI "Online TDM Encyclopedia" 
(<http://www.vtpi.org/tdm>http://www.vtpi.org/tdm 
) is a comprehensive information resource to help 
identify and evaluate innovative management 
solutions to transport problems, available for 
free on our website. We continually update and expand the Encyclopedia.

As always, we appreciate feedback. Please let us 
know if you have suggestions for improving the 
Encyclopedia or our other resources.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


NEW DOCUMENTS
==============

"Smart Congestion Reductions: Reevaluating The 
Role Of Highway Expansion For Improving Urban 
Transportation " 
(<http://www.vtpi.org/cong_relief.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/cong_relief.pdf ).
This report investigates claims that highway 
capacity expansion is a cost effective and 
desirable solution to urban traffic congestion 
problems. It identifies errors in proponents' 
analysis that overestimate the congestion 
reduction impacts and economic benefits of 
roadway capacity expansion, overlook negative 
impacts of induced travel, and ignore more cost effective alternatives.

"Smart Congestion Reductions II: Reevaluating The 
Role Of Public Transit For Improving Urban 
Transportation" 
(<http://www.vtpi.org/cong_reliefII.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/cong_reliefII.pdf 
).
This report investigates the role that public 
transit can play in reducing traffic congestion 
and achieving other transportation improvement 
objectives. It evaluates criticism that urban 
transit investments are ineffective at reducing 
traffic congestion and wasteful.

"Rethinking Malahat Solutions: Or, Why Spend A 
Billion Dollars If A Five-Million Dollar Solution 
Is Better Overall?" 
(<http://www.vtpi.org/malahat.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/malahat.pdf ).
This report evaluates various options for 
addressing traffic problems on the Malahat 
highway corridor, north of Victoria, British 
Columbia. It compares the costs and benefits of 
proposed highway expansion projects with an 
alternative that emphasizes improving vanpooling and public transit services.
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


UPDATED DOCUMENTS
==============

"Win-Win Emission Reductions" 
(<http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf )
This report describes a set of smart 
transportation emission reduction strategies that 
can achieve Kyoto emission reduction targets and 
provide other economic, social and environmental benefits

                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE
Below are recently published articles.

Todd Litman, "Managing Diverse Modes and 
Activities on Nonmotorized Facilities: Guidance 
for Practitioners," ITE Journal, Vol. 76, No. 6 
(http://www.ite.org), June 2006, pp. 20-27.
This article explores the appropriate way to 
manage nonmotorized facilities (sidewalks, 
bikelanes, paths and trails), taking into account 
the increasingly diverse range of potential 
activities and modes. It is based on the paper 
"Managing Personal Mobility Devices On 
Nonmotorized Facilities" 
(http://www.vtpi.org/man_nmt_fac.pdf ) by Todd Litman and Robin Blair.

"Issues In Sustainable Transportation," 
International Journal of Global Environmental 
Issues, Vol. 6, No. 4 
(<http://www.vtpi.org/sus_iss.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/sus_iss.pdf ).
This paper by Todd Litman and David Burwell 
discusses issues related to the definition, 
evaluation and implementation of sustainable transportation.

Stephen Hume, "Premium, High-Quality' Transit 
Analyst's Idea To Boost Ridership," Vancouver Sun 
(<http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/archives/story.html?id=fab0bad4-14ae-4c0c-a3b2-0ea1df3da8ce>http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/archives/story.html?id=fab0bad4-14ae-4c0c-a3b2-0ea1df3da8ce 
), 17 June 2006. This article, based on an 
interview with VTPI Director Todd Litman, 
describes innovative ways to improve transit 
service and encourage transit ridership in the Vancouver region.
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


BEEN THERE/DONE THAT
=====================
VTPI presented papers at the following events:

"How to Evaluate Travel Demand Programs Taking 
Into Account Their Multiple Benefits, " plenary 
address, Southern Africa Transport Conference 
(http://www.up.ac.za/academic/civil/satc.html ), 
Pretoria, South Africa, July 2006.

"Cities Connect: How Urbanity Helps Achieve 
Social Inclusion Objectives, " presented at the 
Metropolis Conference (http://www.metropolis.org 
), 15 June 2006, Toronto, Canada; presentation 
available at 
<http://www.vtpi.org/citiesconnect.pdf>www.vtpi.org/citiesconnect.pdf.

"Dialogue Panel – Energy: Location Action, Global 
Impact," World Urban Forum III 
(http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf ), Vancouver, Canada, 22 June 2006.
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


UPCOMING EVENTS
================
VTPI will present papers at the following events:

"First International Conference on Citizens and 
Mobility Management" 
(<http://www.congresomovilidad.com/eng/welcome.htm>http://www.congresomovilidad.com/eng/welcome.htm 
), September 25-27, Madrid, Spain.

"2006 CIVITAS Forum Annual Meeting" (http://www.civitas-initiative.org )
"Cities in motion: towards a new role for cities 
in European transport policy". Burgos (Spain), 25-27 September 2006

"AutoConsequences: Automobilization and its 
Social Implications," 
(<http://www.sfu.ca/traffic-safety/events.html>http://www.sfu.ca/traffic-safety/events.html 
), hosted by the Traffic Safety Project, Simon 
Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.

"New Zealand Walking Conference," 
(<http://www.livingstreets.org.nz/walking_2006.htm>http://www.livingstreets.org.nz/walking_2006.htm 
), Christchurch, New Zealand, 3 - 4 Nov.

"Best Practices in Parking Management: 
Symposium," Rail~Volution 2006 
(<http://www.railvolution.com/>http://www.railvolution.com 
), Chicago, Illinois, November 5 - 8, 2006.

"National Conference for Disaster Planning for 
the Carless Society" 
(<http://www.carlessevacuation.org/>http://www.carlessevacuation.org 
), University of New Orleans, New Orleans, 
Louisiana, February 8-9, 2007 (Note: The first 
weekend of Mardi Gras parades begin February 10th)
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


USEFUL RESOURCES
=================
Below are new information resources that you may find useful.

"Cascadia Scorecard 2006: Focus on Sprawl and 
Public Health" 
(http://www.sightline.org/research/cascadia_scorecard/res_pubs/cs2006 
), by the Sightline Institute (previously 
Northwest Environment Watch). This year’s report 
summarizes research on the connections between 
the shape of cities and health. It found that:
*  Cities are safer than suburbs.
*  Residents of walkable communities are less 
likely to be obese and suffer from related diseases.
*  Simple steps that increase walking can help 
save billions of dollars in medical costs and lost productivity in a region.

DCE, et al, "Understanding The Relationship 
Between Public Health And The Built Environment: 
A Report Prepared For The LEED-ND Core 
Committee," (http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=1480 )2006.
This report summarizes research regarding the 
links between public health and neighborhood 
design, and provides recommendations about how 
this knowledge can be integrated into the LEED-ND rating system.

"Plan for Active Transportation & Health" 
(<http://www.nrsrcaa.org/path>www.nrsrcaa.org/path)
This program developed transportation policy 
reforms suitable for Humboldt County, California and other rural communities.

Bill Hillier and Ozlem Sahbaz, "High Resolution 
Analysis of Crime Patterns in Urban Street 
Networks: An Initial Statistical Sketch From An 
Ongoing Study Of A London Borough," University 
College London 
(<http://www.spacesyntax.tudelft.nl/media/Long%20papers%20I/hilliersahbaz.pdf>www.spacesyntax.tudelft.nl/media/Long%20papers%20I/hilliersahbaz.pdf 
), 2006. This paper evaluates claims that smart 
growth increases crime. The analysis indicates 
that smart growth features such as compact 
development and connected streets tend to 
increase natural surveillance and community interactions which reduce crime.

Michael M'Gonigle and Justine Starke, "Planet U: 
Sustaining the World, Reinventing The 
University," New Society Publishing (http://www.newsociety.com ), 2006.
This new book by researchers at the University of 
Victoria describes ways that campuses can be 
managed to achieve sustainability objectives, 
including increased energy efficiency, reduced 
vehicle travel, and improving planning practices. 
The authors provide numerous examples and case 
studies of successful campus resource management programs.

"Climate Protection Manual For Mayors" 
(http://www.natcapsolutions.org/ClimateProtectionManual.htm ).
This report provides case studies, best 
practices, cost/benefit analyses, legislation, 
and contacts to facilitate local energy 
conservation and emission reduction planning and program implementation.

"Travel-time Maps and their Uses" 
(http://www.mysociety.org/2006/travel-time-maps/index.php ).
This website describes how 'Travel-time Maps' can 
be used to indicate the time needed to travel 
from a particular origin to other areas, and 
compare accessibility by different modes.

William H. Lucy and David L. Phillips, 
"Tomorrow's Cities, Tomorrow's Suburbs" Planners 
Press 
(<http://www.planning.org/bookservice/description.htm?BCODE=ATCT>http://www.planning.org/bookservice/description.htm?BCODE=ATCT 
), 2006.
This book examines development trends in cities 
and suburbs. It finds evidence of urban growth 
and risks of decline in suburbs. It examines 
popular perceptions­and misperceptions­about 
safety and danger in cities, suburbs, and exurbs. 
It also offers practical policies to create 
conditions in which both cities and suburbs can thrive.

San Francisco Parking Policies 
(<http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/c3.html>www.livablecity.org/campaigns/c3.html)
The city of San Francisco recently implemented 
policies that require parking spaces be sold or 
leased separately from dwellings in certain types 
of developments (called ‘unbundling’), reduces or 
eliminates minimum parking requirements so 
developers can supply parking based on market 
demand, requires bicycle and carshare parking, 
and improves parking facility design.

"On Common Ground: New Urbanism Is Blooming," 
(<http://www.realtor.org/SG3.nsf/Pages/summer06>http://www.realtor.org/SG3.nsf/Pages/summer06 
) is a special issue of the magazine of the 
National Association of Realtor which has several 
articles on new urbanism and smart growth.
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please let us know if you have comments or 
questions about any information in this 
newsletter, or if you would like to be removed 
from our email list. And please pass this 
newsletter on to others who may find it useful.


Sincerely,
Todd Alexander Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
litman at vtpi.org
Phone & Fax 250-360-1560
1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
“Efficiency - Equity - Clarity”

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060914/71e29e0b/attachment.html