Public Transportation

Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (SB/DBE) Issues in Caltrans Contract and Bid Process

Tommelein, Iris D. PhD
Gazzaniga, Tyler
2022

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...

Synthesis of State-Level Planning and Strategic Actions on Automated Vehicles: Lessons and Policy Guidance for California

Wong, Stephen
Shaheen, Susan, PhD
2020

This synthesis provides a summary and comparative analysis of actions states across the United States are taking inresponse to automated vehicles (AVs). The research focuses on state-level stakeholder forums (e.g., task forces, committees) and state-level strategic actions (e.g., studies, initiatives, programs) initiated by a state legislature, agovernor, or a state agency. The analysis found that AV stakeholder forums and strategic actions address a diverse set offocus areas, but they pay minimal attention to the implications of AVs on the environment, public health, social equity, land...

Low-Income Student Bus Pass Pilot Project Evaluation: Final Report

McDonald, Noreen
Librera, Sally
Deakin, Elizabeth
Wachs, Martin
2003

In August 2002, AC Transit began offering free bus passes to low-income middle and high school students. At the same time, the agency reduced the cost of its monthly youth pass from $27 to $15. This dramatic reduction in costs for student riders resulted from a grassroots advocacy campaign that successfully focused local political attention on school transportation in an area where school busing had largely been eliminated for middle school and high school students. The creation of the program drew together state and local elected officials, youth advocates, schools, and transportation...

Assessing the Functionality of Transit and Shared Mobility Systems after Earthquakes

Soga, Kenichi, PhD
Comfort, Louise, PhD
Zhao, Bingyu, PhD
Tang, Yili (Kelly), PhD
Han, Tianyu
2024

Located within the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, California's transportation infrastructure, especially in the Bay Area, is susceptible to earthquakes. A review of current research and stakeholder interviews revealed a growing awareness of emergency preparedness among local jurisdictions and transit agencies in recent years. However, many have yet to formalize and publish their recovery plans. This study introduces an agent-based multimodal transportation simulation tool to enhance post-earthquake transportation resilience. Integrating a road network simulator with a metro...

Historical Transportation Development

Garrison, William L.
2003

The main tasks for this overview of transportation development are the provision and interpretation of information on the unfolding of the transportation systems. What have been the processes at work? What explains the similarities and differences from here to there and among systems? Big questions! But they are eased by ways systems are products of experiences, as will be seen when the paragraphs immediately following summarize early experiences. Life support systems, sustainability, and social development topics will be mentioned. After examining their immediate precursors, the...

Subsidizing Transportation Network Companies to Support Commutes by Rail

Darling, Wesley
Cassidy, Michael J., PhD
2024

We explore how rail transit’s first- and last-mile issue might be addressed by partnering with transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft. The goal is to lure high-income commuters to shift from cars to TNCs and rail. We also explore how rail and TNC partnerships can improve travel for low-income commuters who currently rely on low-frequency bus service. We parametrically test subsidizing TNC fares for feeder services in the San Francisco Bay Area in an idealized fashion. Inputs such as the residents’ value of time and vehicle ownership were taken from various local data...

Bus Operations of Three San Francisco Bay Area Transit Agencies during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kurzhanskiy, Alex, PhD
Lapardhaja, Servet
2021

From March 2020 through March 2021, researchers monitored three San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies: two large – Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), Valley Transportation Authority (VTA); and one small – Tri Delta Transit. As the lockdown was imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, white-collar commuters, students, and the elderly stopped using public transit. Initially, ridership fell 90 percent, and then over the year slowly climbed to less than 50 percent for AC Transit and VTA, and to around 60 percent for Tri Delta Transit. The pace of recovery was not steady...

Applying Integrated ITS Technologies to Parking Management Systems: A Transit-Based Case Study in the San Francisco Bay Area

Rodier, Caroline J.
Shaheen, Susan A.
Eaken, Amanda M.
2004

California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways has teamed with the California Department of Transportation, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District, ParkingCarmaTM, and Quixote Corporation to launch a smart parking research demonstration at the Rockridge BART station in the East San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA). The results of an extensive literature review demonstrate that different smart parking applications implemented worldwide can ease traveler delays, increase transit ridership, and reduce operator costs. Observational analyses at the station indicated that existing...

Zero-Emission Bus Implementation Guidebook for California Transit Fleets

Lipman, Timothy, PhD
Rogers, Emily, MS
2023

Transit bus operations in California are experiencing new challenges due to economic conditions and the ongoing global pandemic. A confluence of factors has created a focus on this critical public-needs serving industry, due to state and local efforts to reduce emissions of pollutants and climate-changing gases. Transit bus operations in California provide essential and additional useful services that offer critical mobility to needy populations (elderly and handicapped) as well as many other groups for whom transit buses provide the most economical, convenient, and low-emission options....

East Oakland Mobility Justice: A Case Study of the International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Project Safety and Displacement

Soucy, Andre B.
2024

Low-income communities of color in formerly redlined neighborhoods face persistent racial disparities and inequities in pollution exposure, access to transportation and safe streets, and inadequate provisions for health, safety, stable housing, clean air, education, and employment. In the process of attempting to remedy such disparities through major transportation infrastructure and access improvements, residents who are intended to benefit from expanded transportation access and options are often placed at increased risk of harmful displacement, gentrification, and environmental...