Smart Cities

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2018, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 318 tow trucks and covering over 1,725 (center-line) miles of congested California freeways. The...

Urban planners are increasingly concerned about the sprawling suburban development in metropolitan areas around the world, which they often blame for growing traffic congestion and excessive highway investment needs. This dissertation seeks to shed light on this issue by studying the relationship between morning commute congestion and urban form. The causes and consequences of traffic congestion have been extensively studied in the economics and engineering literatures. Unfortunately, most conclusions have been drawn from very idealized models, which either fail to consider adequately the...

In the fall of 1966 a short course on ’’Urban Mass Transit Planning” was developed by the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with the assistance of the New York State Science and Technology Foundation and the cooperation of the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. The course was presented both by the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn and by the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, University of California, and University of California Extension, in Asilomar, Calif.A set of course notes was written for that offering and reproduced in limited quantity. Presented herein is an expansion...

Green Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) shrink environmental footprints by reducing Vehicle Kilometers Traveled (VKT)/ Vehicle Miles Travled (VMT) and incorporating green urbanism and architecture in community designs. Synergies from combining TOD and green urbanism derive from increased densities, which promote transit usage and conserve heating/cooling expenses; mixed land uses which promote non-motorized transportation and limited-range electric vehicles; reduced impervious parking services matched by increased open space and community gardens; and, opportunities for generating solar...