This study explores possibilities for advancing bus rapid transit (BRT) systems and associated higher density land development in the Central Valley of California. It uses photo-simulations and stakeholder reactions to visual images to gauge public attitudes toward what would be a fairly radical transformation of urban environments in traditionally car-oriented settings.The kinds of transformations that would be needed to economically justify higher quality BRT services will likely require better and more frequent bus as well as amenities in the form of street trees, landscaping, street...
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...
High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes are emerging as a solution to address the underutilization of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes and also means of generating revenue for state department of transportation. This paper proposes a method for dynamically determining the HOT toll price in response to the changes in traffic condition and documents procedures for estimating parameters needed for the proposed pricing strategies: revenue maximization and delay minimization. The proposed strategies have been applied to 14-miles of freeway segment in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the findings show...
This study examines data from the California EMS Information System (CEMSIS) to identify factors that influence prehospital time for EMS events related to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs). While only 19 percent of the United States population resides in rural areas, over half of all traffic fatalities involve rural motor vehicle collisions. Rural and urban MVCs result in similar injury severities, however relative inaccessibility of trauma centers and prehospital EMS time (activation, response, and transport time) likely contribute to the generally higher mortality rate in rural areas. For...
Traffic collision reports typically provide descriptive locations indicating where a collision occurred and referencing the nearest intersection. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology can be used to provide latitude and longitude coordinates in addition to the descriptive location and many states now include GPS coordinates in collision reports. However, research has shown that there is potential for numerous errors when police agencies use GPS to complete traffic collision reports. In California, GPS coordinates have been included in the statewide collision database since 2006, but...
To manage events associated with highways, data systems have been developed to store relevant event information. To reap the full benefits of geographic information system technologies, the relative locations can be integrated into a linear referencing system. The objective of this paper is to present a methodology for building a highway linear referencing system by applying preexisting marker measurements to a digital street network. The system was developed for locating motor vehicle collisions in California and resulted in improved accuracy compared to a previously developed system....
Classic roundtrip carsharing has been documented as a strategy to reduce car ownership and vehicle miles/kilometers traveled in urban areas. The expansion of carsharing and other forms of shared-use mobility have led to a growing interest in understanding the latest models. In recent years, one-way carsharing has gained momentum across the globe with 18 operators providing services in ten countries worldwide. One-way carsharing does not require its users to return the vehicle to the same location from which it was accessed (in contrast to roundtrip carsharing). Users typically pay by the...
Shared mobility—the shared use of a motor vehicle, bicycle, or other mode—enables travelers to gain short-term access to transportation modes on an as-needed basis. The term “shared mobility” includes the modes of carsharing, personal vehicle sharing (peer-to-peer carsharing and fractional ownership), bikesharing, scooter sharing, traditional ridesharing, transportation network companies (or ridesourcing), and e-Hail (taxis). It can also include flexible transit services, including microtransit, which supplement fixed-route bus and rail services. Shared mobility has proliferated in global...
This white paper presents a generalized evaluation framework that can be used for assessing project impacts within the context of transportation-related city projects. In support of this framework, we discuss a selection of metrics and data sources that are needed to evaluate the performance of smart city innovations. We first present a collection of projects and applications from near-term smart city concepts or actual pilot projects underway (i.e., Smart City Challenge, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox, and other pilot projects operating in the...
Shared mobility can include roundtrip services (a vehicle, bicycle, scooter, or other mode is returned to its origin); one-way station-based services (a vehicle, bicycle, scooter, or other mode is returned to a different designated station location); and one-way free-floating services (a vehicle, bicycle, scooter, or other mode can be returned anywhere within a geographic area). To help manage free-floating services, cities and shared mobility operators may use technologies like geofencing. Geofencing is a technology that uses GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual boundary, enabling...
