ITS Berkeley

Since 1935, the Vehicle License Fee (VLF) has been assessed on all privately owned registered vehicles in California. It is a property tax currently set at 2% of a vehicle's value, based upon its most recent purchase price and a fixed depreciation schedule. The Legislative Analyst's Office has estimated that the VLF, if unchanged, would have raised approximately $3.9 billion in the 1998-99 fiscal year. In light of the current fiscal surplus, the Legislature recently reduced the VLF by 25%, with possible additional reductions in future years. Because little information is available on who...

During the COVID-19 outbreak, serious concerns were raised over the risk of spreading the infection on public transportation systems. As the pandemic recedes it will be important to determine optimal timetable design to minimize the risk of new infections as systems resume full service. In this study, we developed an integrated optimization model for service line reopening plans and timetable design. Our model combines a space-time passenger network flow problem and compartmental epidemiological models for each vehicle and platform in the transit system. The algorithm can help policy...

UC Berkeley has long been known as the home of important societal movements. In early October 2019, the electric aircraft movement came to UC Berkeley (UCB) courtesy of UCB’s Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS) and the College of Engineering. At what some have called the “Woodstock of Aviation”—the Sustainable Aviation Symposium (SAS) convened leaders of that movement from across the globe for two full days in UC’s Pauley Ballroom to explore how to solve important societal-enviro-economic issues in transportation with breakthroughs and innovations in high-tech physics, chemistry and...

This Preliminary Investigation document, on one hand, outlines challenges encountered by SB/DBEs in the process of getting certified, entering into a contract, executing on projects or delivering services, and sustaining or growing their business. On the other hand, it summarizes OCR’s current ongoing efforts that are aiming to expand contracting with SB/DBEs. Along the way it identifies opportunities that warrant more in-depth investigation for OCR to target its programming and resource allocation as it aims to reduce obstacles or otherwise improve the ability of SBs/DBEs to successfully...