Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

2012 Census Of California Water Transit Services ,Mti Report 12-02, Richard M. Kos, Maria Louise Javier, Brent Carvalho, Asha W. Agrawal

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics conducts a nationwide census of ferry boat operators for the U.S. Department of Transportation and the collected information is used for statistical purposes. The Caltrans Division of Local Assistance has been asked by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to gather data regarding ferry operations under MAP-21, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. MAP-21 includes a new formula program for ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities eligible under 23 USC 129(c) which authorizes federal participation in toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries. FHWA has asked that Caltrans assure the ferry boat …

Measuring Walking And Cycling Using The Pabs (Pedestrian And Bicycling Survey) Approach: A Low-Cost Survey Method For Local Communities, Ann Forsyth

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

To tackle the problems of greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, resident quality of life, and public health concerns, communities are using initiatives to spur more walking and cycling. As local governments face hard choices about which programs to fund, decision makers, planners, and residents seek to understand if proposed policies to increase bicycling and walking—modes referred to as “active travel”— actually work. However, most communities have unreliable means to know how many active travel trips occur in their jurisdictions, let alone how the numbers may change over time. This project developed a low-budget survey method and related sampling strategy for …

Suicides On Commuter Rail In California: Possible Patterns — A Case Study, Research Report 10-05, Jan L. Botha, Kristina A. Elmasu, Philip J. Leitzell

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Suicides on rail systems constitute a significant social concern. Reports in local media, whether in newspapers, television, or radio, have brought awareness to this very sensitive and personal subject. This is also true for the San Francisco Bay Area. These events also cause severe trauma for the train operators and staff of the system as well as disruption and cost to society. The overall objective of this project was to conduct a pilot study to identify possible patterns in suicides associated with urban commuter rail systems in California. The Caltrain commuter rail system in the San Francisco Bay Area was …

Turning Over A New Leaf: The Start Of An Electric Vehicle Revolution, Symposium Report S-09-08, Mti

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Environmental legislation and public interest in reducing automobile emissions have generated increased efforts to develop and market electrically powered vehicles. But long-distance driving and limited infrastructure for recharging pose serious challenges. What is the industry doing to overcome these limitations? Are electric vehicles a viable solution? On May 18, 2010, the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), along with the the U.S. Department of Transportation, Caltrans, and other sponsors and co-sponsors, hosted a panel of experts to address the environmental impact, engineering, and market acceptance of electric vehicles, and the infrastructure needed to keep them viable. Discussion centered around the need for …

Reliability Centered Maintenance: A Case Study Of Railway Transit Maintenance To Achieve Optimal Performance, Mti Report 10-06, Felix A. Marten Jr.

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the types of obstacles and patterns experienced by a single heavy rail transit agency located in North America that embedded a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Process. The outcome of the RCM process also examined the impact of RCM on availability, reliability, and safety of rolling stock. This qualitative study interviewed managers (10 cases), and non-managers (10 cases) at the transit agency obtain data. The data may serve to help rail transit leaders determine future strategic directions that would improve this industry. Despite the RCM record in other fields, it has …

Policy Issues In U.S. Transportation Public-Private Partnerships: Lessons From Australia, Research Report 09-15, David Czerwinski, Richard Geddes

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

In this report, the authors examine Australia’s experience with transportation public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the lessons that experience holds for the use of PPPs in the United States. Australia now has decades of experience in PPP use in transportation, and has used the approach to deliver billions of dollars in project value. Although this report explores a range of issues, the authors focus on four policy issues that have been salient in the United States: (1) how the risks inherent in PPP contracts should be distributed across public and private sector partners; (2) when and how to use non-compete (or …

From Buses To Brt: Case Studies Of Incremental Brt Projects In North America, Mti Report 09-13, John Niles, Lisa Callaghan Jerram

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) uses different combinations of techniques to improve service, such as bus-only lanes and roads, pre-boarding fare collection, transit priority at traffic signals, stylish vehicles with extra doors, bus stops that are more like light rail stations, and high frequency service. This study examines five approaches to BRT systems as implemented by public transit agencies in California, Oregon, and Ontario. The case studies as a group show that BRT can be thought of as a discretionary combination of elements that can be assembled in many different combinations over time. Every element incrementally adds to the quality or …

Emergency Management Training And Exercises For Transportation Agency Operations, Mti Report 09-17, Frances L. Edwards, Daniel C. Goodrich

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Training and exercises are an important part of emergency management. Plans are developed based on threat assessment, but they are not useful unless staff members are trained on how to use the plan, and then practice that training. Exercises are also essential for ensuring that the plan is effective, and outcomes from exercises are used to improve the plan. Exercises have been an important part of gauging the preparedness of response organizations since Civil Defense days when full-scale exercises often included the community. Today there are various types of exercises that can be used to evaluate the preparedness of public …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Transit Security Awareness Campaigns In The San Francisco Bay Area, Research Report 09-19, Nina Rohlich, Peter J. Haas, Frances Edwards

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Public involvement in alerting officials of suspicious and potentially harmful activity is critical to the overall security of a transit system. As part of an effort to get passengers and the public involved, many transit agencies have security awareness campaigns. The objective of this research is to learn how transit agencies seek to make security awareness campaigns effective and explore how they measure the effectiveness of such campaigns, if at all. This research project includes data from case studies of five major agencies that provide transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area region. The case study data are comprised …

Barriers To Using Fixed-Route Public Transit For Older Adults, Mti Report 09-16, Michael D. Peck

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

For older adults, unmet transportation needs are linked to reduced well-being (Cvitkovich and Wister 2001). Current research indicates that, as a society, we are ill-prepared to provide adequate transit for the growing increasing population of older adults (Millar, 2005). Although public transit is available for many older adults, actual and perceived barriers prohibit its use. Thus, the research presented here examines what do older persons perceive as barriers to using fixed-route public transit? Four focus groups were conducted with older adults in order to gain insights into what they perceive as barriers to use of fixed route transit. Findings from …

What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From A National Survey Mti Report 09-18, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This report summarizes the results of a national random-digit-dial public opinion poll that asked 1,545 respondents if they would support various tax options for raising federal transportation revenues. The eight specific tax options tested were variations on raising the federal gas tax rate, creating a new mileage tax, and creating a new national sales tax. In addition, the survey collected standard socio-demographic data and some travel behavior data and asked a few attitudinal questions related to the quality of the transportation system and respondents´ priorities for government spending on transportation. These questions were used to assess support levels for the …

Facilitating Telecommuting As A Means Of Congestion Reduction, Mti Report 09-14, Nancy Da Silva, Meghna Virick

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Walls, Safirova and Jiang (2007) note the paucity of studies that examine telecommuting among individuals across organizations and studies that compare telecommuters with non-telecommuters. This study responds to this call by gaining a deeper understanding of telecommuting patterns and adoption behavior through an examination of perceived obstacles and facilitators of telecommuting. The study involved data collection using survey methodology, focus groups, and archival data collection. Respondents include telecommuters and non-telecommuters as well as supervisors from a wide variety of organizations. The study also included collecting benchmarking data regarding telecommuting policies and practices of companies in Silicon Valley in an attempt …

Meeting The Challenges Of Urban Transportation, Mti Report-10-2969, Mti

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This e-book is the edited proceedings of a SuperSession held during the American Society of Public Administrations (ASPA) 2010 conference, Invigorating Public Service for Change, which was held in San Jose, CA, on April 9-13. The Meeting the Challenges of Urban Transportation panel included Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Executive Director Rod Diridon, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) CEO Steve Heminger, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group President and CEO Carl Guardino. The presentation was moderated by the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, former Secretary of Transportation and founder of MTI. Topics included a look at the MTCs regional transportation plans, planned expansion of …

Tenth Annual Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Symposium, Mti Report S-09-06, Mineta Transportation Institute

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

On March 23, 2010, the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) continued its support of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program by conducting the Tenth National Garrett Morgan Symposium and Videoconference on Sustainable Transportation. The ongoing mission of this national videoconference is to stimulate the minds of young people, and to encourage them to pursue challenging academic programs including mathematics and science—an education course that will prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s challenging transportation careers. Participating school were Kemps Landing Magnet School, Virginia Beach, VA; Morada Middle School, Stockton, CA; Redland Middle School, Rockville, MD; Riverside …

The 1995 Attempted Derailing Of The French Tgv (High-Speed Train) And A Quantitative Analysis Of 181 Rail Sabotage Attempts, Mti Report 09-12, Brian M. Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth, Jean-Francois Clair

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

On August 26, 1995, the Saturday of the final and busiest weekend of France’s summer holiday season, terrorists attempted to derail the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) between Lyon and Paris by planting a bomb. Fortunately, their crude triggering mechanism failed to detonate the bomb, and subsequent analysis indicates that even had the bomb gone off, the explosion would not have derailed the train. The TGV episode, one of a continuing series of case studies by the Mineta Transportation Institute, points to a continuing problem: Since 1995, terrorists have attempted to derail trains on at least 144 occasions. Because of …

Explosives And Incendiaries Used In Terrorist Attacks On Public Surface Transportation: A Preliminary Empirical Analysis, Mti Report Wp 09-02, Brian M. Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This report provides data on terrorist attacks against public surface transportation targets and serious crimes committed against such targets throughout the world. The data are drawn from the MTI database of attacks on public surface transportation, which is expanded and updated as information becomes available. This analysis is based on the database as of February 20, 2010. Data include the frequency and lethality with which trains, buses, and road and highway targets are attacked; the relationship between fatalities and attacks against those targets; and the relationship between injuries and attacks against them. The report presents some preliminary observations drawn from …

Improving Transportation Construction Project Performance: Development Of A Model To Support The Decision-Making Process For Incentive/Disincentive Construction Projects, Mti Report 09-07, Jae-Ho Pyeon, Taeho Park

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This research presents a project time and cost performance simulation model to assist project planners and managers by providing a complete picture during the Incentive/Disincentive (I/D) contracting decision-making process of possible performance outcomes with probabilities based on historical data. This study was performed by collecting transportation construction project data. The collected project data from the Florida Department of Transportation were evaluated using time and cost performance indices and then statistical data analysis was performed to identify important factors that influence construction project time performance. Using Monte Carlo simulation procedures, this study demonstrated a methodology for developing an I/D project time …

Terrorist Attacks On Public Bus Transportation: A Preliminary Empirical Analysis, Mti Report Wp 09-01, Brian M. Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth, Karl S. Shrum

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This report provides data on terrorist attacks against public bus transportation targets and serious crimes committed against such targets throughout the world. The data are drawn from the MTI database of attacks on public surface transportation, which is expanded and updated as information becomes available. This analysis is based on the database as of December 17, 2009. Data include the frequency and lethality with which buses, bus stations, and bus stops are attacked; the relationship between fatalities and attacks against bus targets and the relationship between injuries and attacks against those targets; how often, relative to other surface transportation targets, …

Handbook Of Emergency Management For State-Level Transportation Agencies, Mti Report 09-10, Frances L. Edwards, Daniel C. Goodrich

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

The Department of Homeland Security has mandated specific systems and techniques for the management of emergencies in the United States, including the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System, Emergency Operations Plans, Emergency Operations Centers, Continuity of Government Plans and Continuity of Operations Plans. These plans and systems may be applied to the state-level transportation agency�s disaster response systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Specific guidance and management techniques are provided to aid emergency planning staff to create DHS-compliant systems.

The Next Fifty Years: Addressing California´S Mobility In A Time Of Financial Challenges, Mti Report S-09-05, Mineta Transportation Institute

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

In a short 40 years from today, the population of California is projected to swell to 60 million people, nearly double of that in 2000. We already know how overwhelmed our transportation system is in 2010-so what will we do in the meantime not only to increase accessibility to roads and public transportation, but also to maintain the infrastructure already in place? Who should pay-states, the federal government, or users? Who will decide what is needed and where it will go? Why are we already having so much difficulty locating transportation funding? The Mineta Transportation Institute, along with the Commonwealth …

Supplement To Mti Study On Selective Passenger Screening In The Mass Transit Rail Environment, Mti Report 09-05, Brian M. Jenkins, Bruce Robert Butterworth, Larry N. Gertson

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This supplement updates and adds to MTIs 2007 report on Selective Screening of Rail Passengers (Jenkins and Butterworth MTI 07-06: Selective Screening of Rail Passengers). The report reviews current screening programs implemented (or planned) by nine transit agencies, identifying best practices. The authors also discuss why three other transit agencies decided not to implement passenger screening at this time. The supplement reconfirms earlier conclusions that selective screening is a viable security option, but that effective screening must be based on clear policies and carefully managed to avoid perceptions of racial or ethnic profiling, and that screening must have public support. …

Implementation And Development Of Vehicle Tracking And Immobilization Technologies, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce Robert Butterworth, Frances Edwards

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Since the mid-1980s, limited use has been made of vehicle tracking using satellite communications to mitigate the security and safety risks created by the highway transportation of certain types of hazardous materials. However, vehicle-tracking technology applied to safety and security is increasingly being researched and piloted, and it has been the subject of several government reports and legislative mandates.

At the same time, the motor carrier industry has been investing in and implementing vehicle tracking, for a number of reasons, particularly the increase in efficiency achieved through better management of both personnel (drivers) and assets (trucks or, as they are …

Potential Terrorist Uses Of Highway-Borne Hazardous Materials, Mti Report 09-03, Brian M. Jenkins, Bruce Robert Butterworth, William T. Poe, Douglas Reeves

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has requested that the Mineta Transportation Institutes National Transportation Security Center of Excellence (MTI NTSCOE) provide any research it has or insights it can provide on the security risks created by the highway transportation of hazardous materials. This request was submitted to MTI/NSTC as a National Transportation Security Center of Excellence. In response, MTI/NTSC reviewed and revised research performed in 2007 and 2008 and assembled a small team of terrorism and emergency-response experts, led by Center Director Brian Michael Jenkins, to report on the risks of terrorists using highway shipments of flammable liquids (e.g., …

Bringing World-Class High-Speed Rail To America: Special General Session, 12th Annual Transportation And Infrastructure Summit, Mti S-09-04, Mti

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

The 12th Annual Transportation & Infrastructure Summit, held in Irving, Texas on August 11?14, 2009, provided more than 1,100 attendees from 30 states and 13 countries the opportunity to network and interact with elected representatives and influential transportation officials from the United States, and to learn about transportation systems on a global scale. The special session, "Bringing World-Class High-Speed Rail to America," featured representatives from three proposed regional high-speed rail projects currently planned for the United States. Majority Whip of the California State Assembly Fiona Ma shared information about California´s High-Speed Rail Initiative. Assemblywoman Ma talked about her experience on …

A Case Study Of Enterprise Historic Resources Information Management In Large Transportation Agencies, Mti Report 09-06, Eric E. Ingbar

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Historic resources are in some way managed by every transportation agency in the nation. Transportation agencies manage historic and prehistoric archaeological sites, buildings, structures, objects, routes, landscapes, and districts to prevent damage to such resources and to mitigate damage when it is unavoidable. In order to track known resources, transportation agencies often keep local files in a variety of forms, rely upon external sources of information (e.g., historic preservation agencies at the state level), and depend upon staff expertise gained by years of local work. Starting in 1997, Caltrans started a series of surveys of rural rights of way in …