[sustran] VTPI NEWS - Winter 2008

[Todd Alexander Litman]

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                                   VTPI NEWS
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                       Victoria Transport Policy Institute
                          "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
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                           Winter 2008    Vol. 11, No. 1
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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.
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ACTION ALERT
==============

"Tax-Free Transit Benefits In Canada" (http://www.vtpi.org/TT_alert.htm )
For more than a decade VTPI has promoted 
employer-based incentives for public transit, 
called "tax-free transit benefit" or "tax-free 
transit passes" (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm8.htm 
). There is now a promising opportunity to have 
this policy established in Canada’s tax code. If 
you are a Canadian resident, your support can 
help. Please click the link above for information.


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

"Smart Transportation Emission Reductions" (http://www.vtpi.org/ster.pdf )
This report investigates how to identify the 
optimal (best overall, taking into account all 
benefits and costs) transportation emission 
reduction strategies. Current evaluation methods 
tend to undervalue mobility management due to 
various types of biases. More comprehensive and 
objective analysis tends to rank mobility 
management strategies among the most 
cost-effective emission reduction options. This 
report describes ways to correct current planning 
bias so mobility management solutions can be implemented to the degree optimal.


"Measuring The Performance Of Transit-Oriented 
Developments In Western Australia," 
(http://www.vtpi.org/renne_tod_performance.pdf )
This new report by Professor John Renne 
summarizes factors to consider when evaluating 
TOD transport, economic social and environmental 
impacts. It recommends longitudinal measurement 
of performance indicators in six categories, 
including travel behaviour, the local economy, 
the natural environment, the built environment, 
the social environment and the policy context.


"Sustainable Transportation Indicators: A 
Recommended Program To Define A Standard Set of 
Indicators For Sustainable Transportation 
Planning" (www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf )
This paper, a cooperative effort by the 
Transportation Research Board’s 'Sustainable 
Transportation Indicators Subcommittee' (ADD40 
[1]), discusses how to develop a standard set of 
indicators for sustainable transportation 
evaluation. It describes sustainable 
transportation definitions and concepts, 
discusses factors to consider when selecting 
indictors, recommends specific sustainable 
transportation indicators, and discusses issues 
of data quality. We hope this will lead to the 
development of a standardized set of sustainable 
transportation indictors for worldwide use.
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UPDATED DOCUMENTS
==============

"Appropriate Response To Rising Fuel Prices" (www.vtpi.org/fuelprice.pdf )
This paper evaluates public policy options for 
responding to rising fuel prices. There is 
popular support for policies to minimize retail 
prices by reducing fuel taxes or providing 
production subsidies. But price-minimization 
policies are likely to harm consumers and the 
economy overall by encouraging transportation 
system inefficiency. Rather than reducing fuel 
prices it would be better to allow prices to rise 
and simultaneously working to improve transport system efficiency.


"Smart Growth Reforms" (http://www.vtpi.org/smart_growth_reforms.pdf )
This paper identifies specific policy, planning, 
regulatory and fiscal reforms that support smart growth.


"Land Use Impacts On Transport" (http://www.vtpi.org/landtravel.pdf ).
This paper examines how various land use factors 
such as density, regional accessibility, mix and 
roadway connectivity affect travel behavior, 
including per capita vehicle travel, mode split and nonmotorized travel.
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IN THE NEWS
============

"Connected Urban Development" program with Cisco 
Systems and the Clinton Foundation 
(<http://commitments.clintonglobalinitiative.org/projects.htm?mode=progressreport&rid=43067&blogId=216>http://commitments.clintonglobalinitiative.org/projects.htm?mode=progressreport&rid=43067&blogId=216 
). I'm a special advisor on transportation and 
land use planning. The project will include bus 
transit improvements, a handheld navigation 
device (a mobile telephone with web-browsing, GPS 
and automatic fare payment capabilities), road 
pricing (likely to be implemented in Seoul), some 
smart growth policies, plus promotion of 
telework. For more information see Ted Samson's 
InfoWorld Sustainable IT blog 
(http://weblog.infoworld.com/sustainableit/archives/2007/12/cisco_clinton_g.html 
).


We Rock Geekaliciously! 
(<http://www.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2007/10/15/congestion-is-the-cure-worse-than-the-disease>http://www.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2007/10/15/congestion-is-the-cure-worse-than-the-disease 
)

Litman's Planetizen Blogs (http://www.planetizen.com/user/2394 ).
VTPI Executive Director Todd Litman shares 
information and insites in blogs posted on 
Planetizen, a public-interest information 
exchange for urban planners, designs, and developers. Below are examples:
"Smart Emission Reduction Strategies" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/28841 ).
"Place Trumps Mobility Equals Paradise," 
Planetizen Blog (http://www.planetizen.com/node/28195 )
"Smart Growth Safety Benefits," Planetizen Blog 
(http://www.planetizen.com/node/28523 )


"Ten Insights on Carbon Policy," Seeking Alpha – 
Stock Market Opinion & Analysis" 
(http://seekingalpha.com/article/56026-ten-insights-on-carbon-policy 
), by Tom Konrad.

"Transportation model decreased travel costs, 
added options" The Daily Journal 
(http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=406356 
), 26 October 2007.

"Gas prices affect TransLink" Georgia Straight 
(http://www.straight.com/article-115501/gas-prices-affect-translink 
), 25 October 2007.

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BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
==========================

"US Conference of Mayors Climate Protection 
Summit" (www.seattle.gov/mayor/climateSummit2007.htm )
The two-day U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate 
Protection Summit in Seattle, included 
presentations by former President Bill Clinton, 
Vice President Al Gore via satellite, New York 
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and VTPI E.D. Todd 
Litman. This event stressed the importance of 
local and regional actions to create more 
livable, efficient and sustainable communities 
(<http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=6336&state=52>http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=6336&state=52 
).
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UPCOMING EVENTS
================

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 
(http://www.trb.org/meeting ). Below are some events VTPI will participate in:

Workshop 141, "Cutting Carbs in the 
Transportation Sector: International Efforts to 
Address Global Climate Change," Sunday, 13 
January 2008, 12:15pm-5:30pm, Hilton, International East

'Macrolevel Collision Prediction Models to 
Evaluate Road Safety Effects of Mobility 
Management Strategies: New Empirical Tools to 
Promote Sustainable Development' (08-2385), 
http://www.trb.org/am/ip/paper_detail.asp?paperid=21962, 
Poster Session 253, Monday, January 14, 2008, 9:30am-12:00pm.

"Evaluating Quality of Accessibility for 
Transportation Planning" (08-0495); SESSION #: 
332, Monday, January 14, 2008, 2:30pm- 5:00pm. 
(http://www.vtpi.org/access.pdf )

"Valuing Service Quality Improvements in 
Transport Planning" (08-0998); SESSION #: 337, 
Monday, January 14, 2008, 2:30pm- 5:00pm (http://www.vtpi.org/quality.pdf )

Transportation and Sustainability Committee" 
(ADD40); Monday, January 14, 2008, 7:30 PM - 9:30 
PM, Hilton Map Room, Hilton Hotel

"Sustainable Transportation Indicators 
Subcommittee" (ADD40[1]); SESSION MMM08-035, 
Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 12:15pm- 1:15pm Bancroft Room, Hilton Hotel

"Performance Measures for Sustainability" 
(Session 677); Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM, Hilton

"New Perspectives on Sustainable Transportation" 
(Session 734); Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM, Hilton


"The Carmichael Conference On The Future of 
American Transportation," 
(http://www.nationalcorridors.org ), St. Louis, MO, January 28-29, 2008.
This conference is organized by the National 
Corridors Initiative with the support of major 
transportation advocacy organizations including AASHTO, APTA, NARP, ETC.


"Transportation Demand Management Toolkit" 
(http://www.academicimpressions.com/pdf/0108-transportation-demand.pdf 
), January 28-30, San Diego, CA.
This conference on Campus Transport Management 
(http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm5.htm ) will help 
participants learn to plan and implement 
techniques that can reduce parking costs, improve 
town-gown relations, help green your campus, and 
reduce single occupant vehicle trips to and around campus.
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USEFUL RESOURCES
=================

"Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban 
Development and Climate Change," 
(http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/gcindex.html ).
This book documents how land development changes 
could help reduce vehicle greenhouse gas 
emissions, based on a comprehensive review of 
dozens of studies. The authors make the case that 
one of the best ways to reduce vehicle travel is 
compact development: building places in which 
people can get from one place to another without driving.


"Transport and Climate Change: A new module of 
the GTZ Sustainable Urban Transport Sourcebook" 
(http://www.sutp.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,383/lang,uk 
)
This new module summarises the challenges that 
climate change mitigation has to face in the 
transport sector and presents options to deal with them.


"Smart Growth E-Learning Portal" 
(http://www.moodleserv.com/smartgrowthca ), is an 
educational program describing various smart 
growth concepts and implementation strategies, 
developed by the Smart Growth Canada Network, 
sponsored by Natural Resources Canada.


"ITE Journal” 
(http://www.ite.org/itejournal/0711.asp ), Vol. 
77, No. 11, November 2007. This issue includes 
two excellent articles which indicate that the 
Institute of Transportation Engineers supports 
multiple modes and community livability:
     'President's Award for Merit in 
Transportation Engineering: Road Diet Handbook,', 
by Jennifer A. Rosales. This award-winning paper 
describes the benefits of road diets and how they can be implemented.
     "Innovative Intermodal Solutions for Urban 
Transportation Paper Award: Quantifying 
Transit-Oriented Development's Ability To Change 
Travel Behavior," by John Gard. This 
award-winning paper summarizes information on 
transit-oriented development impacts on transit 
rider and automobile trip generation. It 
indicates that TOD typically increases per captia 
transit ridership 2-5 times and reduces vehicle trip generation 8% to 32%.


"Your Next Move: Choosing a Neighbourhood with 
Sustainable Features," 
(http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/pdf/62180.pdf 
), helps consumers evaluate community 
sustainability when selecting a home. It 
describes features that create safe, convenient, 
environmentally-friendly and affordable neighborhoods.


'Making Cycling Irresistible:  Lessons from the 
Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany,' by John 
Pucher and Ralph Buehler, published in "Transport 
Reviews," Vol. 28, No. 4, July 2008; at 
http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf .
This paper describes the policies and planning 
practices that result in very high levels of 
cycling transportation in the Netherlands, 
Denmark, and Germany, and the feasibility of 
applying these strategies in other countries.


"Design Guidelines for 'Greening' Surface Parking 
Lots," 
(http://www.toronto.ca/planning/urbdesign/greening_parking_lots.htm 
). These Guidelines by the City of Toronto are 
designed to deal with common urban design and 
environmental challenges found within and around surface parking lots.


Two Cool Videos:
"Ciclovia and Recreovia" 
(http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia ). 
This video clip shows the 'Ciclovia and 
Recreovia' program, in which major streets in 
Bogota, Columbia are closed to motor vehicle 
traffic so residents can walk, bike, run, skate, recreate, picnic, and visit.

"Parking Illustrated: Toy Cars And Stop-Motion 
Animation Show How Parking Reform Can Work,” 
(http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/12/21/donald-shoup-plays-with-parking-fees-and-matchbox-cars 
). A fun video with Parking Master Professor Donald Shoup.
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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”