<html> <body>                                  -----------                                   VTPI NEWS                                  -----------                       Victoria Transport Policy Institute                          "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"                       -------------------------------------                           Winter 2009    Vol. 12, No. 1                        -----------------------------------       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.                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   NEW DOCUMENTS ==============   "Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis: Techniques, Estimates and Implications" [Second Edition] (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tca" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/tca </a>) This fully-updated document is a comprehensive study of transportation benefits and costs, and a guidebook for applying this information for policy and planning analysis. It is unique in several important ways. It includes many impact categories that are often overlooked. It explains economic evaluation techniques and how to apply them. It provides extensive reference information, mostly available through the Internet. It provides costs values in a format designed to easily calculate costs and benefits in a particular situation.   <a name="_Toc218069624"></a>"Climate Change Emission Valuation for Transportation Economic Analysis" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/ghg_valuation.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/ghg_valuation.pdf</a><a name="_Toc218069624"></a> ) This paper describes climate change impacts and costs, presents methods for quantifying and monetizing (measuring in monetary units) these impacts, summarizes published unit cost estimates, and explains the values used in the 'Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis Guidebook.'     "Setting Up Superstores and Climate Change" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/superstores.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/superstores.pdf </a>) by Jean-Marie Beauvais. This short paper describes the results of a study indicating that shopping at large, suburban 'superstores' consumes more than four times as much transportation energy and produces more than four times the carbon emissions as local grocery store shopping.     "Costs and Benefits of Varying Per-Mile Insurance Premiums Based Upon Measured Risks Specific to Each Mile Driven" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/AG_PAYD.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/AG_PAYD.pdf</a> ) by Allen Greenberg. This paper evaluates various price structures for Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) insurance based on actuarial accuracy and other public policy objectives such as reducing crashes and air pollution.     NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA CHAPTERS ======================== "Performance Evaluation" (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm131.htm" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm131.htm</a>) "Transportation Demand" (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm132.htm                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE ===================     Planetizen Blogs (<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.planetizen.com</a> ): <dl> <dd>"Troubles In Dubai" (<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/36456" eudora="autourl"> http://www.planetizen.com/node/36456 </a>) <dd>"Smart Economic Stimulation" (<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/36303" eudora="autourl"> http://www.planetizen.com/node/36303</a> ) <dd>"Rethinking Transportation Safety" (<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/36138" eudora="autourl"> http://www.planetizen.com/node/36138 </a>) <dd>"A Very Good Example of Very Bad Transportation Performance Evaluation" (<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/35979" eudora="autourl"> http://www.planetizen.com/node/35979</a> ) </dl>UPCOMING EVENTS ================= Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (<a href="http://www.trb.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.trb.org </a>) takes place 11-15 January 2009 in Washington DC. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute will participate in the following TRB sessions:   Workshop 117, "Developing Transportation Data Quality Standards" 11 January 2009, 9:00am to noon, Hilton, Military This workshop explores ways to improve transportation-related data quality, particularly a research program to develop international standards for data collection and distribution. For background see, "Sustainable Transportation Indicators: A Recommended Research Program For Developing Sustainable Transportation Indicators and Data" <a href="http://www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf</a> ). 'Incorporating Social and Health Indicators into Transportation Policy and Project Evaluation' Workshop 169, "Sustainability and Social Measures for Transportation" Sunday, January 11, 2009, 1:30pm- 4:30pm, Hilton, Lincoln East This presentation will describe ways to incorporate social and health impacts into transportation policy and project evaluation. It will discuss how more comprehensive analysis of social impacts contributes to sustainable transportation planning.   Evaluating Carbon Taxes as an Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Strategy (09-3433) Session 314, "Taxing Our Way to a Greener Future?" DATE: Monday, January 12, 2009, 1:30pm- 3:15pm, Hilton, International East Carbon taxes are based on fossil fuel carbon content, and therefore tax carbon dioxide emissions. This paper evaluates this tax. (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/carbontax.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/carbontax.pdf </a>)   'Win-Win Emission Reduction Strategies: Smart Transportation Strategies Can Achieve Emission Reduction Targets And Provide Other Important Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits' Session 364, "Integration and Co-Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation Policies" Monday, January 12, 2009, 3:45pm- 5:30pm, Hilton, Monroe West Win-Win Transportation Solutions are cost-effective, technically feasible market reforms that solve transportation problems by improving mobility options and removing market distortions that cause excessive motor vehicle travel (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf</a> ).   Sustainable Transportation Indicators Subcommittee, ADD40(1) Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, Hilton Todd Alexander Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Canada, presiding Agenda at <a href="http://www.trb.org/am/ip/assembly_detail.asp?id=14003&e=445&pre_ff" eudora="autourl"> http://www.trb.org/am/ip/assembly_detail.asp?id=14003&e=445&pre_ff</a> =   'Sustainable Transportation Indicators: A Recommended Research Program For Developing Sustainable Transportation Indicators and Data' (<a href="http://www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf" eudora="autourl"> http://www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf</a> ) Session 713, "Sustainable Transportation" DATE: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 10:15am-12:00pm, Hilton, International East This paper, developed through a cooperative effort by the Transportation Research Board’s Sustainable Transportation Indicators Subcommittee (ADD40 [1]), identifies indicators that can be used for sustainable transportation evaluation. This paper describes factors to consider when selecting indicators, exemplifies specific sustainable transportation indicators, discusses issues of data quality, and identifies research needs. We hope these recommendations will be endorsed by professional organizations, leading to the development of universal sustainable transportation indicator sets.             *     *     *     *     *     UrbanRAIL (<a href="http://www.informa.com.au/urbanrail/spk" eudora="autourl"> www.informa.com.au/urbanrail/spk </a>) 17th-18th March 2009, Sydney, Australia This conference will bring together government agencies, rail operators, track owners, transport consultancies and engineering companies to discuss key trends, major projects, and the future of Australasia’s urban rail. VTPI Executive Director Todd Litman will speak about rail benefit evaluation.                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     IN THE NEWS ================= "Transportation Study That Rated N.S. Highly Was Flawed - Expert," The Chronicle Herald (<a href="http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1092273.html" eudora="autourl"> http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1092273.html</a> ).   Todd Litman says thanks to Clark Williams-Derry of the Sightline Institute (<a href="http://www.sightline.org/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.sightline.org </a>) for raising his rank from 'Sustainable Transportation Geek' to 'Sustainable Transportation Geek Overlord' in a blog concerning our critique of the Fraser Institute's transportation studies (<a href="http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/11/06/dont-like-reality-ignore-it"> http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/11/06/dont-like-reality-ignore-it</a> )                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   USEFUL RESOURCES ================= The Happy Research Team invites people to participate the 10-minute Happiness in Transport Decision Making Survey (<a href="http://www.civil.ist.utl.pt/~aduarte/"> http://www.civil.ist.utl.pt/~aduarte</a> )     "Pay-As-You-Drive Auto Insurance: Resources for the Future Weekly Commentary," by Jason Bordoff and Pascal Noel (<a href="http://www.rff.org/Publications/WPC/Pages/12_15_08_pay-as-you-drive_insurance.aspx"> http://www.rff.org/Publications/WPC/Pages/12_15_08_pay-as-you-drive_insurance.aspx </a>) Automobile use in the United States is underpriced as motorists do not pay for the full costs of pollution, congestion, and traffic accidents when deciding how much to drive. However, there is intense opposition to gasoline taxes, peak-period congestion fees, and other policies that would reduce these externalities by raising the costs of driving. This week, Jason Bordoff and Pascal Noel discuss pay-as-you-drive insurance, which offers a novel approach for reducing automobile use, without raising the private costs of vehicle ownership and use for the majority of drivers. In an important development, MileMeter (<a href="http://www.milemeter.com/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.milemeter.com</a>) now offers Pay-As-You-Drive insurance in Texas, and plans to expand to other jurisdictions. Instead of purchasing coverage for six months or a year, a Texas motorist may purchase between 1,000 and 6,000 miles of coverage, and make additional purchases as needed. Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath (2008), Environmental Life-cycle Assessment of Passenger Transportation: A Detailed Methodology for Energy, Greenhouse Gas and Criteria Pollutant Inventories of Automobiles, Buses, Light Rail, Heavy Rail and Air v.2, UC Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport, Paper vwp-2008-2; at <a href="http://repositories.cdlib.org/its/future_urban_transport/vwp-2008-2"> http://repositories.cdlib.org/its/future_urban_transport/vwp-2008-2</a>.     HUD (2008), Impact Fees & Housing Affordability: A Guide for Practitioners, Office of Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban Development (<a href="http://www.huduser.org">www.huduser.org</a>); at <a href="http://www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeFile.cfm?FileID=6877"> www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeFile.cfm?FileID=6877</a>.     RAND (2008), "Moving Los Angeles: Short-Term Transportation Policy Options for Improving Transportation," Rand Corporation (<a href="http://www.rand.org">www.rand.org</a>); at <a href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG748.pdf" eudora="autourl"> www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG748.pdf</a> . This paper describes practical ways to reduce traffic congestion in large urban areas. For an excellent summary of this paper see Clark Williams-Derry's blog  <a href="http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/12/18/fighting-congestion-rand-style?searchterm=rand%20corporation" eudora="autourl"> http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/12/18/fighting-congestion-rand-style?searchterm=rand%20corporation</a> .     BEAT (2008), BEAT The Path To Health, Built Environment and Active Transportation (BEAT), ActNow BC (<a href="http://www.physicalactivitystrategy.ca"> www.physicalactivitystrategy.ca</a>); at <a href="http://physicalactivitystrategy.ca/pdfs/BEAT_Publication.pdf"> http://physicalactivitystrategy.ca/pdfs/BEAT_Publication.pdf</a> .               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   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>