Policy

Proceedings of the Institute of Transportation 50th Birthday Symposium April 23-24, 1998 The Transportation Enterprise: Challenges of ther 21st Century

Bertini, Robert L.
Orrick, Phyllis
1998

This report is a summary of proceedings from a two-day symposium convened by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley in April 1998 to commemorate the fiftieth birthday of the Institute and to lay the groundwork for the Institute’s second fifty years. With the title, The Transportation Enterprise: Challenges of the 21st Century, the Symposium set out to generate thoughtful, active discussion in preparation for laying out an action plan for the Institute in the21stCentury.

How Might Adjustments to Public Transit Operations Affect COVID-19 Transmission?

Huan, Yiduo, MSc
Shen, Zuojun Max, PhD
2022

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public transportation systems worldwide faced many challenges, including significant loss of ridership. Public agencies implemented various COVID-19-related policies to reduce transmission, such as reducing service frequency and network coverage of public transportation. Recent studies have examined the effectiveness of these policies but reach different conclusions due to varying assumptions about how passengers may react to service changes. Some studies proposed optimizing public transit operation timetables, service frequency, and network coverage to reduce...

Toll Pricing “Futures” Market Could Reduce Congestion and Increase Revenue

Fournier, Nicholas, PhD
Patire, Anthony, PhD
Skabardonis, Alexander
2024

Transportation agencies are increasingly relying on tolls to raise revenue and to mitigate congestion, but conventional fixed tolls do not necessarily encourage offpeak use of infrastructure, and high tolls can dampen economic productivity. Dynamically adjusting pricing based on demand can incentivize travelers to avoid peak traffic periods and shift it to other modes, but given the unpredictable nature of traffic, travelers lack the information necessary to accurately predict congestion, so dynamic pricing has minimal effect on demand. Dynamic toll pricing also poses equity concerns for...

Defining Sensitive Communities Under SB 50

Hocberg, Simon
2019

In this brief, we analyze the coverage of the definition of “sensitive communities” that was included in the March 2019 revisions to the SB 50 bill language – we call this the “SB 50 Sensitive Communities” definition. We also present analysis of two alternative metrics –California SB 535’s definition of “Disadvantaged Communities” and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty” (R/ECAPs) –as comparison points. We present these comparisons as a way to discuss how different definitions influence which places would be designated...

COVID-19 has Significantly Impacted the Mobility and Activities of the Senior Population in Contra Costa County

Ragland, David R.
Schorr, Glenn
Felschundneff, Grace
2020

Meeting the mobility needs of an aging population is one of the most substantial challenges facing California in the coming decades. The number of residents age 60 and above will grow to 13.9 million by 2050, representing over 25% of the state population. Meanwhile, the number of residents age 85 and above is expected to increase by over 70% between 2010 and 2030. In 2018, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at UC Berkeley conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in Contra Costa County in California. Results indicated, among other...

Shared Mobility Resources: Helping to Understand Emerging Shifts in Transportation

Shaheen, Susan
Cohen, Adam
Zohdy, Ismail
2018

Shared mobility is a transportation strategy that is rising in prominence and has thepotential to align with supportive land use, mobility, social, and environmental goals. As a concept, the term applies to any mode, whether bicycle, car, public transit, or other mode, in which shared use (concurrent or sequential) is often facilitated by smartphone apps and technology. Casual carpooling is one example in which sharing has been more organic and non-technological in nature. Given shared mobility’s notable growth and expansion in recent years, it merits a deeper understanding in light of its...

Hydrogen Can Have a Much Lower Carbon Intensity than Fossil Fuels But This Largely Depends on How It Is Produced and Distributed

Lipman, Timothy, PhD
Horvath, Arpad, PhD
Collins, Stephanie
Kendall, Allisa, PhD
Fulton, Lewis, PhD
Busch, Pablo
2022

As interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier has increased, the various ways that hydrogen is made are being categorized as “green,” “blue,” “gray,” and other colors in relation to their environmental impact. While these categorizations are somewhat useful to indicate the environmental and climate change impacts of different production pathways, they are not especially useful for policy making or industry decisionmaking purposes because they are subjective. For example, most definitions of green pathways for hydrogen production only include electrolysis from renewable electricity sources;...

Insights on Autonomous Vehicle Policy from Early Adopter Cities and Regions

Chatman, Daniel G., PhD
Moran, Marcel E.
2019

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are being widely tested and piloted to carry passengers and freight. However, the potential uses and impacts of AVs in communities are uncertain. There are claims that AVs may be able to improve road safety, make travel more convenient, lower shipping costs, and reduce the need for automobile parking. But there are also concerns that AVs may increase road congestion, reduce transit ridership, compete for curb space, and even increase urban sprawl. To better understanding how cities and regions are currently engaging with and planning for AVs, twenty interviews...

Climate Adaptation Strategies for California Airports will Require a Holistic Approach, Including New Governance Models

Lindbergh, Sarah, PhD
Reed, Jackson
Takara, Matthew
Aparri, Aidan
Rakas, Jasenka, PhD
2022

Airports are complex social, technical, and environmental systems. Understanding their complexity is fundamental for advancing transformative climate adaptation policy. For airports to adapt, climate science must be incorporated not only into standards of specific equipment and facilities, but also into the air traffic network and its interconnected infrastructure systems (e.g., road access, ground-based communications, navigation, and surveillance systems). In addition, airport adaptation requires a shift in the way policy is designed, reinforced, and updated, which in turn relies on an...

Considerations for Mitigating VehicleMiles Traveled under SB 743

Elkind, Ethan
Lamm, Ted
2018

Pursuant to Senate Bill 743 (Steinberg, 2013), which reformed the process for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of transportation impacts to align with greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research identified vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as the key metric to measure transportation impacts of new developments under CEQA.As a result, project developers will now have to reduce VMT to mitigate significant transportation impacts. While methods for reducing VMT impacts are well understood, implementing VMT reduction measures thatare...