<html> <body> <x-tab>         </x-tab><x-tab>         </x-tab>                                 -----------                                   VTPI NEWS                                  -----------                       Victoria Transport Policy Institute                          "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"                       -------------------------------------                           Spring 2007    Vol. 10, No. 2                        -----------------------------------       The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transportation problems. The VTPI website (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org" eudora="autourl">http://www.vtpi.org</a> ) 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" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tdm">http://www.vtpi.org/tdm</a> ) is a comprehensive information resource to help identify and evaluate innovative management solutions to transport problems, available for free on our website.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     NEW DOCUMENTS ==============   "Valuing Transit Service Quality Improvements: Considering Comfort and Convenience In Transport Project Evaluation" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/traveltime.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/traveltime.pdf </a>) This paper investigates the value travelers place on qualitative factors such as comfort and convenience, and practical ways to incorporate these values in project evaluation. This can help identify cost-effective transit service improvements.     "Transportation Market Distortions" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/distortions_BPJ.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/distortions_BPJ.pdf</a> ) This article, published in the Berkeley Planning Journal, investigates various market distortions that reduce travel options and underprice motor vehicle travel. It describes reforms that can correct these distortions, increasing transport system efficiency and equity.     "Reassessing 'The Social Desirability of Urban Rail Transit Systems': Critique of Winston and Maheshri" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/warner.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/warner.pdf </a>) This paper, by scientist Jay Warner, evaluates the statistical analysis used by Winston and Maheshri in their 2006 article, "The Social Desirability of Urban Rail Transit Systems," which concluded that most U.S. urban rail systems have a negative social desirability. This is a companion to our report "Evaluating Rail Transit Criticism" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/railcrit.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/railcrit.pdf</a> ).                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     UPDATED DOCUMENTS ==============   "Appropriate Response to Rising Fuel Prices: Citizens Should Demand, 'Raise My Prices Now!'" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/fuelprice.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/fuelprice.pdf </a>) This paper evaluates options for responding to rising fuel prices in terms of various planning objectives. Recent fuel price increases make this paper timely.     "Socially Optimal Transport Prices and Markets; Principles, Strategies and Impacts" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/sotpm.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/sotpm.pdf</a> ) This paper investigates the socially optimal level of mobility, that is, the amount and mix of transport activity that consumers would choose in an efficient market that reflects the economic principles of efficient pricing, consumer options and optimal planning. It discusses market principles, identifies existing transport market distortions, estimates how correcting these distortions would affect mobility and investigates the economic impacts. This analysis indicates that in more optimal transport and land use markets, consumers would choose to drive significantly less, use alternative modes more, choose more accessible locations, and be better off overall as a result.     "Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis," (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tca" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/tca </a>). Many of the chapters in this comprehensive study have been updated to include new information, particularly extensive transportation costing analysis by the research CE Delft (<a href="http://www.ce.nl/eng/index.html" eudora="autourl"> http://www.ce.nl/eng/index.html</a> ), described below.     Errata. the book, "Parking Management Best Practices" (<a href="http://www.planning.org/apastore" eudora="autourl"> http://www.planning.org/apastore </a>) contains an embarrassing error. Table 2-1 ('Typical Minimum Parking Standards') has measurement units of "square miles", which is totally inappropriate...the correct unit is "square meters". Unfortunately, the abbreviation "sq. m." was misunderstood when it was expanded, and we failed to catch the error in the final review. The corrected Table 2-1 is available on the VTPI website at <a href="http://www.vtpi.org/PMBP_Table2-1.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/PMBP_Table2-1.pdf</a> .                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE Below are recently published reports and articles.   'Transportation Market Distortions,' in the "Berkeley Planning Journal," Volume 19, 2006, pp. 19-36; issue theme: "Sustainable Transport in the United States: From Rhetoric to Reality?" (<a href="http://www-dcrp.ced.berkeley.edu/bpj"> http://www-dcrp.ced.berkeley.edu/bpj</a> ); available at <a href="http://www.vtpi.org/distortions_BPJ.pdf"> http://www.vtpi.org/distortions_BPJ.pdf</a> .   Auckland, City of Cars: Episode 3 (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3d13EOfRI" eudora="autourl"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3d13EOfRI </a>)                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     UPCOMING EVENTS ================ VTPI will participate in these upcoming events:   "Transportation Problem Solving for Healthy Communities" Roads, Rails, and Trails Lecture Series (<a href="http://uvic.commonenergy.org/wiki/Roads,_Rails,_and_Trails"> http://uvic.commonenergy.org/wiki/Roads,_Rails,_and_Trails </a>) 19:00 (7:00pm), Tuesday, May 22nd, Engineering and Computer Science Building, University of Victoria, British Columbia.     "Sustainable TransForum" (<a href="http://www.sustainabletransforum.ca" eudora="autourl"> http://www.sustainabletransforum.ca</a> ) May 28-29, 2007, Metro Toronto Convention Centre Over 30 speakers from across Canada and around the world will cover topics such as building sustainable communities, encouraging more active forms of transportation and transit use, using market based strategies to affect change, adapting infrastructure to address the challenges of climate change, and enhancing the efficiency of all modes of transportation. Sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.     "Making Compact Development Work for Everyone: Full Day Smart Growth" Coalition for Smart Growth, Lancaster County, PA Forum (<a href="http://www.coalitionforsmartgrowth.org/summit07.html" eudora="autourl"> http://www.coalitionforsmartgrowth.org/summit07.html </a>) This conference will provide practical solutions and guidance to help decision makers, officials, planners, developers and community members for implementing the recommendations of Balance and assuring the future of Lancaster county balances growth, conservation and affordable housing and community development.     "Transportation Land Use Impacts" June 4, 2007 - Vancouver, BC (<a href="http://www.apeg.bc.ca/prodev/events/transport_land_use_van.html"> http://www.apeg.bc.ca/prodev/events/transport_land_use_van.html</a> ) This workshop describes practical methods for comprehensive evaluation of land use impacts resulting from transportation policy and planning decisions. It will explore these issues in the context of concerns about the costs of sprawl and the potential of smart growth development policies. For more information or to register for this session, please visit:     "Parking Management Best Practices" June 5, 2007 - Vancouver, BC (<a href="http://www.apeg.bc.ca/prodev/events/parking_mgmt.html"> http://www.apeg.bc.ca/prodev/events/parking_mgmt.html</a> ) This workshop will investigate various parking management strategies and how they can be used to support transportation and land use planning objectives. It will discuss problems with current parking planning practices, discusses the costs of parking facilities and the savings that can result from improved management, describes specific parking management strategies and how they can be implemented, describes how parking planning decisions affect transportation and land use patterns, discusses parking management planning and evaluation, and describes how to develop the optimal parking management program in a particular situation. For more information or to register for this session, please visit:     "Transportation and Air Quality" workshop at the Metropolis Commission Meeting on Urban Mobility Management in Seoul, Korea, June 11-15. Participants will also be able to experience for themselves Seoul's world-famous public transport and urban livability improvements (<a href="http://www.nctr.usf.edu/jpt/pdf/JPT%208-5%20Pucher.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.nctr.usf.edu/jpt/pdf/JPT%208-5%20Pucher.pdf </a>). Metropolis (<a href="http://www.metropolis.org" eudora="autourl"> http://www.metropolis.org</a> ) is an international association of large cities. It is also the metropolitan section of the United Cities & Local Government organization (UCLG). Its mission is to promote international cooperation and exchanges among members, i.e., local and metropolitan governments.     "How To Measure Access: Definition, Measurement And Consequences Of A Changed Set Of Objectives In Transportation Designed To Meet The Needs Of People" European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop (<a href="http://www.esf.org/activities/exploratory-workshops/social-sciences-scss/workshops-detail.html?ew=4854" eudora="autourl"> http://www.esf.org/activities/exploratory-workshops/social-sciences-scss/workshops-detail.html?ew=4854 </a>) Sept 27-28, Dresden, Germany                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     USEFUL RESOURCES =================   "How to Handle Parking" Transit-Friendly Development: Newsletter of Transit-Oriented Development and Land Use In New Jersey (<a href="http://policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/tod/newsletter/vol3-num1/TODParking.html" eudora="autourl"> http://policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/tod/newsletter/vol3-num1/TODParking.html</a> ) This article summarizes interviews with four experts discussing parking demand, design, financing, and management.     FHWA (2007), Advanced Parking Management Systems: A Cross-Cutting Study, Report FHWA-JPO-07-011, Intelligent Transportation Systems (<a href="http://www.its.dot.gov/">www.its.dot.gov</a>), FHWA, USDOT; available at <a href="http://www.its.dot.gov/jpodocs/repts_te/14318.htm"> www.its.dot.gov/jpodocs/repts_te/14318.htm</a>.     Manual For Streets (<a href="http://www.manualforstreets.org.uk/"> www.manualforstreets.org.uk</a>) The Manual for Streets, published by the UK Department for Transport and Communities and Local Government, provides practical guidance for balancing multiple, often conflicting objectives in roadway planning and management. This document: �       Creates a new classification of roads which incorporates multi-functional streets such as 'main roads'. �       Uses a new hierarchy of users, which places pedestrians at the top. �       Proposes a new design process, designed to cater for engineering concerns about risk when adopting new design approaches. �       Summarizes research into the relationship between street geometry, speed and so road crashes. �       Summarizes extensive design guidance in one volume.     David Banister (2007), "Visioning and Backcasting for UK Transport Policy" Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (<a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/">www.ucl.ac.uk</a>); at <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucft696/vibat2.html"> www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucft696/vibat2.html</a>. This research project involves estimating emission reductions needed to achieve 60% reduction in climate change emissions from baseline by 2030, and evaluates various packages of policies to achieve such reductions, including new technologies and travel reduction incentives.     The research organization CE Delft has performed extensive analysis of transportation costs and pricing reforms, available free on their website (<a href="http://www.ce.nl/eng/index.html" eudora="autourl"> http://www.ce.nl/eng/index.html</a> ). These include: �       "Infrastructure Expenditures and Costs: Practical Guidelines to Calculate Total Infrastructure Costs for Five Modes of Transport," for the European Commission (<a href="http://www.ec.europa.eu/">www.ec.europa.eu</a>). �      "Marginal Costs of Infrastructure Use � Towards a Simplified Approach." �      "The Price of Transport: Overview of the Social Costs of Transport."     John Pucher (2007), Cycling for Everyone: Key to Public and Political Support, keynote address at the 2007 National Bike Summit, League of American Bicyclists, Washington, DC, March 16, 2007; available at <a href="http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/BikeSummit2007COMP_Mar25.pdf"> www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/BikeSummit2007COMP_Mar25.pdf</a>.     John Pucher and Ralph Buehler (2006), �Why Canadians Cycle More Than Americans: A Comparative Analysis Of Bicycling Trends And Policies,� Transport Policy, Vol. 13, May, 2006, pp. 265�279; available at <a href="http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/TransportPolicyArticle.pdf"> www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/TransportPolicyArticle.pdf</a> .     Ethan M. Berke, Laura M. Gottlieb, Anne Vernez Moudon, Eric B. Larson (2007), "Protective Association Between Neighborhood Walkability and Depression in Older Men," Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (<a href="http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/">www.blackwell-synergy.com</a> ), Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 526�533. This article reports on a study in Seattle of older men, and walking.  Not only did men living in walkable neighbourhoods get more exercise, but, mile for mile (after controlling for distance walked), their walks brought them into more contact with others, thereby reducing their chance of experiencing depression.     CCAP (2005), Transportation Emissions Guidebook: Land Use, Transit & Transportation Demand Management, Center of Clean Air Policy (<a href="http://www.ccap.org/guidebook">www.ccap.org/guidebook</a>). This Guidebook provides information on various smart growth and mobility management strategies, including rules-of-thumb estimates of VMT and emission reductions. Each part of the guidebook contains a series of policy briefs which include information about each strategy, including an overview, cobenefits, implementation, case studies and information resources. It includes a spreadsheet model that calculates total emission reductions from specific combinations of these strategies.                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     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.   <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> Sincerely, Todd Alexander Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org" eudora="autourl">www.vtpi.org</a>) litman@vtpi.org Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA �Efficiency - Equity - Clarity�   </body> </html>