The primary focus of transportation agencies for many years has been to keep pace with ever-rising levels of traffic. New policy goals focused on health and environmental impacts in California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, as well as nationwide trends in travel behavior have begun to change this focus. Now, the emergent sharing economy also appears to be playing some part in markets that currently are isolated but that could grow quickly.
congestion
Urban Engines offers innovative congestion relief tools for transit
A unique approach to collecting and distributing transit data was recently unveiled. Publicly launched on May 15, Urban Engines uses spatial analytics and behavioral economics theory to improve city planning and operations. Urban Engines uses the concept of “crowd sensing,” a method of using technology to understand where people congregate and how they move.
New Bay Area TDM mandate expands benefits to commuters
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission have launched a joint pilot program requiring employers with more than 50 full-time employees in the District’s nine-county area to offer one or more commuter benefits to their employees by the end of September 2014.
WSDOT accountability report replaces congestion with corridor capacity
Washington State Department of Transportation has been rightfully proud of their accountability and transparency with their quarterly Gray Notebook, which details system performance and project delivery. As part of that, they have issued an Annual Congestion Report. But the 2013 report has a new name and a new emphasis. Instead of highlighting congestion, the 2013 Corridor Capacity Report focuses on capacity across all modes. Rather than measuring just motor vehicle throughput, it turns its attention to moving people, regardless of mode.
Oregon DOT promotes Drive Less Challenge
On October 21, Oregon Department of Transportation and its regional transportation partners launched the first statewide Oregon Drive Less Challenge. The immediate goal of the campaign is to reduce statewide vehicle miles traveled in single occupancy vehicles by half a million miles. The broader goal for the campaign is to raise awareness for ongoing alternative transportation programs aimed at reducing traffic congestion, environmental impacts, and other transportation system costs.
Update: St. Louis area variable speed limits come down
Missouri DOT is removing 70 variable advisory speed limit signs on I-270 and I-255 mentioned in the October 14th edition of SSTI News. Although a recent report indicated that similar signs have been having a positive effect on congestion in the Minneapolis area despite drivers’ general disregard for the speed limits, MoDOT has decided to remove the signs to lower operating costs and reduce confusion.
Signs alert drivers: Slow down; there’s congestion ahead
Drivers headed for traffic jams largely disregard advisory variable speed limit (VSL) signs intended to slow traffic in advance of downstream congestion. However, while drivers are not adjusting their speeds to comply with the limits, the signs do appear to be having a positive effect on congestion.
New report from SSTI discusses freight transportation demand management strategies
A new report, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education, identifies and evaluates freight transportation demand management strategies to improve transportation efficiency by reducing the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas.
Back to the future: crowded freeways and tight budgets lead some to call for a return to policies from 1984
During the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, city officials scrambled for ways to accommodate the additional traffic as well as Angelinos’ normal daily activities. Today, the L.A. area is even more congested than it was in 1984, and some lawmakers are looking back to that time for ways to improve the situation. The strategies that have gotten the most attention are those that shift truck traffic to off-peak hours.
HOT lane study points to importance of reliability over average delay
A new University of Minnesota study on driver behavior in managed lanes provides some findings that on the surface seem highly counter-intuitive, but that may have a simple explanation. Travelers care more about reliability than delay. The first surprising result is that travelers were willing to pay large tolls to access HOT lanes. Also, rather than discouraging HOT lane use, increases in tolls actually encouraged more drivers to opt for those lanes