The Seattle DOT, in seeking to improve pedestrian mobility, is installing marked crosswalks in areas with anticipated demand, which is an important shift away from the conventional warrant-based system. The final form that these installations take—paint alone, or paint with enhancements such as medians or flashing beacons—will depend on the location, and ultimately still be a matter of engineering judgment and available funding.
Cutting transportation emissions: Lessons from California and Colorado
In partnership with Smart Growth America, SSTI is excited to invite you to an upcoming webinar featuring Eric Sundquist, Sustainability Advisor at Caltrans, and Rebecca White, the Director of Colorado DOT’s Division of Transportation Development, to learn how state DOTs across the country are exploring ways to cut transportation emissions—partly by investing in transportation solutions that let people drive less. Caltrans is working through new policies and procedures to mitigate new vehicle travel caused by highway investments, in accordance with SB 743. In Colorado, CDOT is gearing up to meet the requirements of a new state rule requiring the agency to meet specific greenhouse gas targets.
The value of travel speed is not what we often think
People will pay more to reduce the amount of time they spend getting from one place to another, according to a principle known as “value of time.” So naturally, it would make sense that moving people faster would offer the same benefit. However, a new study suggests that increased speeds do not translate to shorter travel times and speed doesn’t have the same value as time.
Gas prices can have ripple effects on development patterns and travel options
Gasoline prices have clear impacts on development patterns, according to recent research that adds new evidence for the long-term impacts of transportation pricing signals. The new study shows that wage growth and low gas prices contributed to high rates of suburban growth in the 1980s and 1990s, measured in terms of deforestation. Those trends have reversed as gas prices have risen.
Aligning priorities across agencies
Government agencies sometimes face the criticism that they have difficulty coordinating between various silos. In the transportation sector this may stem, in part, from the historic approach of separating modes into different funding, maintenance, and development streams. While barriers still exist, some agencies are developing coherent multimodal policy to combat this. In other cases incoherence can occur when different segments of the same network fall under the jurisdiction of different agencies, each with its own priorities and maintenance approaches.
Measuring access to destinations can help agencies predict transit ridership
Many transportation agencies throughout the U.S.—some working directly with SSTI—are beginning to think about service in terms of access to destinations. A few, like the Washington and Virginia DOTs, are measuring accessibility in planning and project selection. New research suggests that accessibility analysis can also be helpful in predicting travel outcomes like transit ridership.
Federal government signals transportation funding priorities as states prepare
With the passing of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November, state DOTs will soon see around 50 percent more annual transportation spending over the next five years. U.S. DOT has outlined its vision for spending under the IIJA, first in a memo from FHWA, and more recently in a series of “Innovation Principles.” The message to state DOTs is that they should focus on preserving existing infrastructure, ensuring safety for all road users, protecting the environment, and reconnecting communities, all while embracing experimentation, adaptation, and collaboration. Many states are now positioning themselves to get a decent slice of the pie and to make the most of what they get.
Facilities for walking and biking can increase safety, but intersections still lag
The death of a well-known cyclist in Phoenix, Arizona, persuaded the city DOT to scrap changes it had proposed for an essential local street, in favor of protected bike lanes. As the Phoenix New Times reported, the death of a cyclist and downtown ambassador in central Phoenix galvanized supporters to call for protected bike lanes in the area of the crash. The city Street Transportation Department moved away from installing lanes shared by drivers and bicyclists, to painted, buffered bicycle lanes, and, on some blocks, fully protected bike lanes.
Caltrans joins MassDOT in requiring road projects to serve all modes
Culture change at large agencies like state DOTs is slow but steady. In California’s case, the agency has taken several important steps, prompted partly by SSTI’s 2014 external review. The agency started by updating its mission, vision, and goals—shifting its focus from strictly “mobility” to “a safe, sustainable, integrated and efficient transportation system.” It is now formalizing that mission in its design process through a Complete Streets policy directive.
Millennials aren’t driving as much as previous generations
The consumption choices and lifestyle preferences of Millennials—those born between 1981 and 1996—and their differences from those of the previous generations have repeatedly piqued academic and policy makers’ interests. Although some suggest they might just be slower in adopting previous trends, a recent study from the University of Texas at Austin suggests that they are a generation that prefers to drive about 8-9 percent less than Generation X and Baby Boomers, and that they might continue to drive less as they get older.