Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Neotraditional Design: Resisting The Decentralizing Forces Of New Spatial Technologies, Kenneth Dueker, Martha J. Bianco

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The New Urbanist, or Neotraditional, movement that has characterized urban planning since the beginning of the 1990s has a vision of how people should live, work, and travel in a manner that, planners believe, will be "best" for society and for the environment. At the core of this vision is the notion that a return to the high densities, architectural form, and lifestyle of the period prior to World War II will result in a better society. A question that is ignored by the neotraditional proposals is the extent to which changing technologies might make calls for higher densities obsolete. …

Metro 2040 Framework Update, Fall 1995/Winter 1996, Metro (Or.)

Metro Collection

No abstract provided.

Least-Cost Transportation Planning In Odot: Feasability Report, Anthony M. Rufolo, Lois M. Bronfman, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Least Cost Planning or Integrated Resource Planning is used in the electric utility industry to broaden the scope of choices to meet service requirements. This typically includes methods to reduce the demand for electricity as well as the more traditional electric generation options. Techniques have been developed to compare the cost of electricity generation with the cost of meeting service requirements by reducing electricity usage. In addition to cost considerations, utilities typically take account of uncertainty associated with forecasts and a variety of other considerations in specifying their least cost plan.

The Evolution Of Federal Transit Policy, Sy Adler

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Examines how the US federal government came to subsidize a greater share of transit industry costs than most other national governments. Since World War II, downtown activists sought to boost their transit systems in the face of increasingly intense competition from suburban business centers; the transit systems of Los Angeles and San Francisco in particular were shaped by this competition. Downtown activists tried, with varying success, to influence the newly formed regional transit agencies and the Federal Department of Transportation, created in 1964. The federal government's role in urban transit has been characterized by a tension between economic rationalization and …

Issues In Calculating Traffic Impact Fees: A Review Of The Literature, Anthony M. Rufolo, Catherine T. Lawson

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Over time, the concern has grown that government is not funding infrastructure investment in United States at a sufficient level. Funding of infrastructure has been a joint effort of all levels of government, but reductions in the federal contribution (after adjusting for inflation) have shifted more of the cost onto state and local governments. Many studies have identified massive funding requirements that are not being met. The failure to meet requirements would be rational if they are based on standards of service which are set unrealistically high or on other conceptual errors; however, failure to provide the funding likely to …

Request For Qualifications: Region 2040: Transportation And Land Use Concepts: Phase 1, Metro (Or.)

Metro Collection

No abstract provided.

Traffic Data Selection: An Evaluation Of Siting Criteria For Permanent Traffic Recorders, Richard Ledbetter, Kenneth Dueker, Milan Krukar, Vern Tabery

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Traffic volume data are needed for design and construction zone traffic management. In addition, continuous traffic volume data (collected by automatic traffic recorders) is needed to factor short counts (24 hours or more) collected at key sites on the states highway network.

This study evaluates the procedures used by the Oregon Department of Transportation for collecting continuous traffic volume data to determine: (1) if the current location and number of automatic traffic recorders (ATRs) on Oregon's highway network is adequate for estimating monthly seasonal factors, and (2) if the current procedure of using group means, based on geographical regions, to …

An Analysis Of Bus Ridership Potential To Oregon Health Sciences University Using A Geographic Information System Approach, Richard Lycan, James D. Orrell, Transportation Northwest (Transnow)

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

GIS address-matching and overlay techniques can be used in the analysis of specialized transportation problems. These techniques enhance the spatial resolution of transportation services relative to the locations of potential users of the service. This allows planners to evaluate accessibility issues for identifiable user groups and thus make decisions about the feasibility of adjusting routes or schedules, or providing new services for these users. A case study focused on the commuter base of Oregon Health Sciences University is presented as an example of such an application.

The Motivations Of Exurban Commuters Within A Region, Judy Seppanen Davis

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This case study of the Portland, Oregon, region analyzes and compares the emerging commuting patterns of exurban, small town, and suburban households. The analysis is based on a mail survey of 1408 households who purchased homes in 1987. By examining the types of households moving to exurbia, their reasons for moving, and the impacts of their moves on journey-to-work a picture is drawn of the forces shaping exurban development and the implications of this type of development for transportation planning and policy.

Sampling Bus Ridership At The Route Level: Initial Results From Efforts To Improve The Precision Of Sample Estimates, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

UMTA's Section 15 reporting requirements establish precision standards and corresponding sampling plans for estimating bus ridership at the system level. However, many transit providers are interested in recovering data with sufficient precision to permit ridership analysis at the route level. One outcome of extending a system sampling plan to route level data collection and analysis would be a large increase in the sample sizes required to achieve a reasonable standard of precision. Given the costs involved in expanding the data recovery process beyond what is required for Section 15 reporting, alternative means of improving the precision of route level data …

Challenges Confronting Metropolitan Portland's Transportation Decision-Making Regime, Sheldon Edner, Sy Adler, Peter B. Morris

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

In this paper we discuss the structure and dynamics of this consensus process through an exploration of a series of challenges to the regime. These challenges include: (1) cultivating new sources of project finance, as the federal government reduces its contribution; and (2) integrating transport projects with regional and local land use plans designed to manage urban growth; in the context of (3) intensifying competition between -business centers within the region, as rapidly growing suburban areas seek transport projects that will facilitate locally-oriented economic growth. We first discuss the institutional and normative elements of the regional consensus process in historical …

Site Location Study For An Integrated Traffic Data Collection System: Phase 1 Report, Kenneth Dueker, Richard Ledbetter, Bruce Rex

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Improved technology for counting, classifying, and weighing vehicles in the highway traffic stream is becoming increasingly available. Research has been undertaken to make effective use of these new technologies, not just to replace current data collection programs of counting, classifying, and weighing with more efficient versions. This reports on the Phase I research, which had three major objectives;

• a literature review to guide the analysis of alternative methods;
• a statement of requirements to modernize and integrate the data collection programs of traffic counting, vehicle classification and truck weights, and to identify the type and use of traffic data for design, …

An Evaluation Of Automatic Passenger Counters: Validation, Sampling, And Statistical Inference, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

While automatic passenger counters (APC's) offer the potential for cait effective data recovery and management, they also introduce new complications in the data recovery process. This report addresses three issues associated with the implementation of APC's, based on an evaluation of the recent experiences of the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Tri-Met). First is the issue of validation, which is concerned with both the recovery and accuracy of APC passenger data. The second issue concerns the development of a sampling methodology for APC's compatible with UMTA's Section 15 reporting requirements. Third is the issue of inferring system-level ridership from …

Analysis Of Westside Bypass Freeway Corridor Using Pcarc/Info And Idrisi Geographic Information Systems, Matt Newman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The purpose of this research project is to examine the functionality and interface of two Geographic Information Systems, and to perform a potential environmental assessment of the Westside Bypass Freeway corridor in suburban Portland. First is a discussion which describes elementary GIS concepts, data format and fundamental GIS operations. Next is a description of pcARC/INFO and IDRIS! and an analysis of their functionality. Following this, a description of the methodologies used to analyze the Westside Bypass Freeway corridor, is presented. The inventory of resource themes and conflicts with the freeway alignments is discussed next, emphasizing some of the more interesting …

Constructing The 1990 Public Transportation Study Process: Reflections Of The 1988 Research Team, Janice Dean, Sheldon Edner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The 1988 Oregon Public Transportation Study provided a solid foundation of information about Oregon’s transportation providers. In particular, it furnishes information on which revenue sources members of the industry are utilizing, expenditure patterns, capital and operating revenue needs, the protected increased demands for public transportation, and the ability of provides to makes use of available resources in their strategic planning. The study also substantiated that many members of the industry do not identify themselves as transportation providers, particularly the Special Need Transportation providers. The research process also revealed several additional factors about the process of collecting information that should be …

Augmented Analysis Of Oregon's Special Need Transportation Providers, Janice Dean, Sheldon Edner, Kenneth Dueker, Transportation Northwest (Transnow)

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This analysis extends the work originally provided in the 1988 Oregon Public Transportation Study by the same authors. The intent is to focus attention on a particularly diverse segment of the public transportation community, special need providers (SNT), in an effort to further specify and define their nature and role in the public transportation system. The results of this analysis are intended to assist the Oregon Department of Transportation, Public Transit Division, with its efforts to implement Oregon's public transportation programs and to provide a basis for further specifying additional research needs in this area.

The Contribution Of Manager And Organizational Characteristics To Transit Agency Performance: A National Study Of United States Transit Providers, Charles White, Sheldon Edner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The primary objective of the report is to relate attitudinal and demographic characteristics of transit management personnel and agency institutional characteristics to agency performance. The purpose of this analysis is to determine the relative contributions of manager and institutional characteristics as explanatory factors in transit agency performance. The study is based upon the responses of 1033 managers from 134 agencies representing the full range of agency size, institutional, and locational characteristics.

Across six basic performance measures (coat efficiency, labor efficiency, service effectiveness, maintenance efficiency (measured in two different ways) and vehicle efficiency) used here, manager characteristics and attitudes do not …

1988 Oregon Public Transportation Study, Sheldon Edner, Kenneth Dueker, Janice Dean

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Oregon continues to face challenges in public transportation. The lack of a consistent and comprehensive framework of state policy is making local efforts to meet public transportation demands harder and fails to exploit economic and transportation opportunities for improving the vitality of the state. The absence of continuous and stable state financial assistance has weakened the state/local partnership in providing public transportation services and kept mobility for many Oregonians at a minimal level. Finally, as the federal role in funding transportation declines the need for aggressive state leadership increases. The following recommendations for Legislative and Executive action are offered as …

Governing And Managing Multi-Modal Transit Agencies In A Multicentric Era, Sy Adler, Sheldon Edner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

We explore the dynamics of governing and managing multi-modal regional transit agencies through a case study of the Tri-County Metropolitan Transit District (Tri-Met), which provides bus and rail transit services to the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area (see map). Along with other similarly constituted firms in the United States transit industry, Tri-Met confronts the challenge of providing service in a geopolitical context that is quite different than when the agency was created. The critical new element in Tri-Met's operating environment is the emergence of several suburban business centers that effectively compete with the Portland central business district (CBD), and are seeking …

Contracting For Social Service Client Transportation: Multnomah County, Oregon, Final Report, Kenneth Dueker, Judy S. David

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The Multnomah County Aging Services Division (ASD) and the tri-county developmentally disabled programs provide transportation services for their elderly and handicapped clients primarily by contracting with TRI-MET, the regional transit district. This system is strained because the demands for transportation services are increasing, the cost of contracted services exceeds the county's transportation funds, the quality of service does not meet all clients' needs, and TRI-MET has been spending less of its primary funding sources on elderly and handicapped transportation. The county therefore contracted with the Center for Urban Studies of Portland State University, to examine the current provision of transportation …

Ridesharing In Oregon: A Descriptive Analysis, Jan Monroe, Sheldon Edner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This report provides an overview of the major rideshare programs in the cities of Portland, Salem, and Eugene. A general description of the setting, a brief history, and the current program is provided for each city.

The cities of Portland, Salem, and Eugene all have existing rideshare programs that include a matching service for prospective participants and a discounted parking cost program for vehicles used for ridesharing. The two hospitals reviewed (Good Samaritan and The Oregon Health Sciences University), in addition to the matching service and parking discounts, also subsidize mass transit as an alternative . Good Samaritan and the …

Appraisal Of University-Based Research In Urban Transportation, Kenneth Dueker, Edward Beimborn, Sheldon Edner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

University-based research in transportation, particularly urban transportation is in disarray. This disarray stems from a major decline in research funding in real terms available to universities and from a lack of a consistent policy and practice with respect to research in transportation. As a result, university researchers are pursuing new options for both basic and applied research in transportation. This paper sets forth issues involved in developing university-based research programs in transportation. Particularly, it argues for a more open and peer review based process for a basic transportation research program. This paper provides a context for needed assessment of the …

Manager Retention And Job Change In The Transit Industry: A Survey Of Manager Attitudes, Charles White, Sheldon Edner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This paper examines issues related to the managerial personnel needs of the transit industry over the next five years. Specifically, we explore the career expectations reported by 1301 managers from 178 agencies. Their responses are grouped based on whether they will be with the same transit agency, a different agency, retire, or leave the transit industry. These stated intentions are examined in relation to agency characteristics, individual demographics, professional experience, and evaluations of personal career development and opportunities.

our survey results portray a significantly different transit manager than that described by Mundy and Spchalski in 1973. Current managers are younger, …

Application Of Transportation Economics To The Evaluation Of Urban Transit Service, Robert Cervero, Douglass Lee, Anthony M. Rufolo

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This presentation outline was prepared for use in a Workshop on Application of Transportation Economics to the Evaluation of Urban Transit Service held in Portland, OR, August 4-5, 1986. The outline is intended to facilitate replication of the Workshop in other locations, either with the same or different instructors. The outline is not designed to serve as a selfpaced instruction manual, however. Experienced economists with considerable knowledge and experience in transportation are necessry.

The purpose of workshops supported with this presentation outline is to provide transit professionals with the basiceconomic concepts needed to evaluate the impact of a change in …

Self-Service Fare Collection On Buses In Portland, Or, Daniel Wagner, Wesley Harper, Oliver Schueftan

TriMet Collection

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Dynamics Of Innovation In Urban Transit, Sy Adler

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Urban transit is the major United States example of a private industry that failed and was taken over by the public sector. The recent re-emergence of the private sector in urban transit, and private sector-like behavior in the public sector, raise a number of interesting theoretical and historical issues and policy questions. This report develops a conceptual model to explain this recent history and outlines likely paths of transit service and institutional innovation. The model has three components: 1) the political and economic roles of urban transport facilities in the land development process; 2) the nature of the political process …

Transit Agency Characteristics: An Industry Profile, Charles R. White, Sheldon Edner, Kathi Arlene Ketcheson

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This study reports on a survey sent to 493 transit agencies in 1983. The survey instrument requested information concerning agency institutional type, operating characteristics, service area population, employment, management pool, finances and recruitment problems for the period 1979-1983. Surveys were returned by 207 agencies, 171 of which were accompanied by organization charts. The purpose of the survey was to solicit institutional information concerning agency structure to serve as background information for a subsequent study of respondent agency managers.

The study results describe a managerial context that si extremely diverse across agency characteristics, change in attributes and organizational patterns. Only the …

The Impact Of Emme-2 On Urban Transportation Planning: A Portland Case Study, Kenneth Dueker, Rishinath L. Rao, Andy Cotugno, Keith Lawton, Richard Walker

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The impact of interactive graphics and an improved multimodal transportation planning software package on the urban t ransportation planning process and organization responsible for the planning is assessed. The focus is on the results of applying the new technology, which allows the planning organization to increase capacity to conceptualize and evaluate alternative courses of action. This emphases on the results of planning raises the likelihood of changes in the way transportation decision making occurs.

An advanced interactive graphics system for urban transportation planning process was adopted by the Metropolitan Service District (METRO) of Portland, Oregon, a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). …

A Process For Developing Transit Agency Comprehensive Training Plans, Daniel O'Toole, James Marshall

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This report addresses a project whose goals were to create, use, and disseminate information on a process for developing transit agency comprehensive training plans (i.e., plans that contain the training needs for all positions in an organization). The report considers the following:

• The importance of agency training plans and the need for an appropriate process to produce one.

• Information on the project that was undertaken to design and use an appropriate transit agency training plan process.

• The design, components of, and rationale for the training plan process selected for this project.

• Application of the selected training …

Urban Decision Making For Transportation Investments: Portland's Light Rail Transit System, Sheldon Edner, G. B. Arrington Jr.

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Investment decisions for large transportation projects are complex, multifaceted phenomena. Generally requiring many years to bring to fruition, such decisions are often reduced at crucial junctures to raw political deals or technical data analysis on limited items. Throughout the range of alternatives considered, analyses completed and policy-making sessions which contribute to such investments, the imagery of a rational, sequential and wholistic decision making process and substance dominates. Recent debate concerning both the desirability of certain transit investments and the extent to which inappropriate intrusion into the decision making province of state and local government have occurred have highlighted at least …