Transit agencies have experienced steep bus ridership declines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multimodal
“Centerline hardening” protects pedestrian from left-turning vehicles
Left turns pose a significant danger to pedestrians, but a solution could be simple. A recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that “centerline hardening” features―like bollards and rubber curbs that prevent drivers from cutting across intersections at a diagonal―reduced turning speeds and decreased conflicts by 70 percent at sites around Washington, DC.
Despite unclear evidence around virus transmission, transit takes the greatest hit
Global cities have seen major decreases in mobility across all modes, but public transit fell the most and isn’t yet making a rebound. Though there is a great deal of fear around transit’s contribution to the spread of the virus, it remains unclear if it is a major contributor to infections.
Minneapolis transportation plan addresses climate, pandemic
The City of Minneapolis has released a draft of its Transportation Action Plan (TAP), as a companion to its 2040 Comprehensive Plan. In the latest ITE Journal, Transportation Planning Manager Kathleen Mayell outlines details of the plan, which sets out to respond to the declared climate emergency by prioritizing low-carbon means of transportation, while focusing on additional city goals.
“Dear diary, I took the bus today!” – Cost-efficient travel behavior influencers
“Soft” transportation policy measures can influence a significant reduction in personal car use, according to a new research. Six psychological variables that can affect travel behavior: attitudes; emotions; habits; social, cultural, and moral norms; knowledge and awareness ; and capability and self-efficacy. The results show that interventions that focus on social, cultural, and moral norms have the most significant effect on travel behavior.
Is bigger better?
New analysis of FARS data by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety points to crashes being more survivable for drivers of large SUVs than for drivers of smaller cars. While driver death is one measure of safety, there are a number of other criteria that offer a richer story of SUV safety, such as their contribution to emissions and increased dangers to those not inside the vehicle.
Post-COVID travel patterns—a survey by the MassINC Polling Group
In a recent public opinion survey conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, Massachusetts residents expected to travel less in the future due to COVID-19’s impact. However, many residents expect to increase their trips by car and decrease trips by transit. A majority of residents polled are open to the idea of drastic changes to the transportation system.
Researchers look at the transportation future as the country reopens
As the economy recovers from COVID-19, how can we emerge with a better, stronger, and more resilient transportation system? Three recent reports analyzing the impact of the pandemic on transportation and personal attitudes toward transportation may offer some clues.
In the midst of nationwide transit service cuts, more than one million rural households do not have a car
Many transit agencies have been forced to drastically scale back services due to rapidly declining revenues, and rural providers are no exception. Many were already operating on incredibly tight budgets, serving large geographic areas with a small staff of part-time drivers. While it is easy to see how pandemic-related service cuts will impact people in urban areas who rely on transit, the impacts will likely be just as devastating for many rural communities, especially the pockets of rural America with disproportionately low car ownership.
Active travel: A mental health solution
A recent study from the Netherlands found that while active travel might not affect body weight, it does have a significant positive impact on a traveler’s mental health. The results from this study suggest that while active travel does not predict BMI, the decrease in BMI levels as a result of healthy eating habits and physical exercise does result in the uptake of active travel. Conversely, an increase in BMI was associated with decreased affinity toward active travel. On the other hand, the researchers observed a strong relationship between active travel and the traveler experiencing positive emotions.