Transportation Commons^™

From Disaster To Resilience: Developing Smart Settlements In The Himalayas, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal’s catastrophic 26 August 2026 Bhote Koshi–Trishuli flood should be understood not only as a humanitarian tragedy but also as a potentially major turning point in updating national settlement and reconstruction policy. Engineers and scientists have described the floods as a glacier–bedrock collapse that triggered an ice-rock avalanche and debris flow. As per the live updates on September 7, 2026, the total death toll was 1,355, and 4,996 people were missing (The Hindu, 2026). Indian and Nepali rescuers worked urgently to locate and rescue people buried under hydropower tunnels, buildings, mud, and landslide debris.

UN News reported on September 3, …

Mountain Development In Nepal: Settlements, Infrastructure, And Economic Transformation, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

As Nepal urbanizes, expands infrastructure, strengthens local governments, and explores deeper connectivity with India and China, climate change is increasing floods, landslides, heat, and water insecurity. Rapid internal migration, rising disaster risks, youth outmigration, and dependence on remittances are also revealing the limits of conventional urban development, especially in the mountainous region. The central challenge for Nepal is no longer just to accommodate growing towns and cities, but to build settlements that are safe, productive, environmentally resilient, and capable of sustaining long-term prosperity.

This paper argues that Nepal's urban future must be guided by a new development paradigm centered on …

Routes To Sustainable Goods Movement: How Local And Regional Governmental Agencies Can Plan For The Sustainable Freight System Of The Future, Serena E. Alexander, Avante Grady

Mineta Transportation Institute

Freight transportation plays a critical role in supporting economic activity and everyday consumption across metropolitan regions, but growing freight demand continues to increase congestion, infrastructure strain, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and safety risks. These impacts often disproportionately affect low-income and environmentally burdened communities. This report examines how metropolitan regions across the United States are planning for sustainable freight transportation through content analysis of freight and goods movement plans and interviews with freight planning professionals. The study analyzes plans from eight major metropolitan regions to identify common freight planning strategies, implementation approaches, opportunities, and barriers related to sustainability, resilience, and …

Shaping Egypt’S Transition To Sustainable Electric Transport: Current Policies And Future Directions, Noha A. Ragab

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt has enacted policies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to reduce their overall carbon footprint. However, the pace of transition remains limited, so the research aims to answer the following question: “How do current policies shape Egypt’s transition towards sustainable electric transport, and what additional measures can support this transition?" The study employs a qualitative analysis methodology, based on diffusion of innovation theory and conceptual framework, to analyze current policies in Egypt and identify challenges and gaps in their implementation. It also analyzes responses from 23 interviews with experts in the field, manufacturers, dealers, EV …

Commute Times And Remote Workers In Mountain West Cities, 2019-2023, Maisoon Faris, Mia Tschan, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Transportation & Infrastructure

This fact sheet presents 2019 to 2023 data on city-wide travel times, the number of remote workers, and the amount of time lost and saved by commuters across seven Mountain West cities: Mesa, AZ; Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Colorado Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; and Albuquerque, NM. The data are derived from the 2025 Yardi Kube report, “Back on the Road: U.S. Commutes Increase Amid a Hybrid Work Era,”  which includes commute time and remote worker data for the 50 largest cities across the United States. The year 2022 is used as a base comparison to show changes …

What To Expect When You’Re Expecting Passenger Rail: How Central Valley Communities Are Preparing For High-Speed Rail, Josephine K. Hazelton-Bpyle, Naomi Bick

Mineta Transportation Institute

Approved by California voters in 2008, the California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) project is a planned 800-mile rail corridor across California aimed at delivering intercity passenger rail service to the state’s largest metropolitan areas. This was the first voter-approved high-speed rail project in the United States and remains one of its most contentious. The first phase of the project’s construction is currently underway in California’s Central Valley, including many communities that initially opposed CAHSR. While supporters champion increased connectivity and the provision of environmentally sustainable transportation alternatives, critics contend the project’s benefits will not outweigh its environmental costs and economic disruptions. …

Transportation Deserts And Structural Mobility Access In New York City, John Cruz

Student Theses

This study examines structural mobility access across New York City census tracts by constructing a tract-level Mobility Access Index (MAI) that integrates employment accessibility, hospital accessibility, and first-mile subway walking burden using MTA GTFS transit data, NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission trip records, and US Census American Community Survey demographic estimates. Three OLS regression models, supplemented by Lasso, Elastic Net, and Random Forest specifications, test whether structural access gaps are associated with short-distance connector trip intensity and per-worker connector cost burden. Results show that MAI varies substantially across tracts, with high access concentrated in Manhattan and along major subway corridors. …

Empirical Results From The Eliminations Of Municipal Minimum Parking Requirements, David A. Griffith

Honors Theses

Minimum Parking Requirements (MPR) are municipal zoning ordinances mandating a set number of off-street parking spaces for new developments. Since the 1950s, MPR has been the near-universal way American municipalities supply parking, though growing criticisms since the late 1990s have targeted the policy for distorting development patterns, imposing high costs, and subsidizing personal vehicle use. Beginning in the early 2010s and increasingly in the early 2020s, cities and counties across the United States have moved to reform or eliminate MPR. This paper is the first empirical study of the economic effects of these removals. Using a two-way fixed-effects difference-in-differences OLS …

U.S. Arctic Sea Lines Of Communication (Sloc): The Imperative For A Maritime Complex And Corridor In The Bering Region, Samuel A. Krakower, Troy J. Bouffard

Joint Force Quarterly

This paper examines the current American capacity to defend its newfound Sea Lines of Communication in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The history, and importance, of Sea Lines of Communication trace back to great naval strategists such as Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sir Julian Corbett, and consistent protection of these maritime corridors in times of war and peace led to the success of the United States. As the Arctic Region emerges as a new theater of geopolitical importance, the United States finds itself significantly disadvantaged or "strategically handicapped” in terms of presence, capability, and proximity to defend …

Challenges In Alaskan Rural Pharmaceutical Delivery, Faith Ozer Green, Michael S. Jones

CAEPR Presentations

In remote Alaska, aviation supply chains are critical to maintaining timely flow of food and medicines to communities. We map these supply chains, and present preliminary findings from a pharmaceutical shipment data partnership with a state Tribal Health Organization. Mean and distributional shipment time are presented for communities on versus off the road system, and a multiyear regional map is presented outlining propensity for shipment times over one week. Ongoing work will incorporate multiple additional Tribal Health Organization datasets in a comprehensive econometric framework.

Shrines On Asphalt Shoulders: Documenting Roadside Memorials In Western U.S. Roadscapes, Isabella R. Sullivan

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis analyses the practice of documenting and uploading roadside memorials in the Western United States as a socially transformative process facilitated between two distinct kinds of noticing. Drawing on (auto)ethnographies of roadside memorial sites in Colorado and California, interviews with photographers and cartographers working primarily in the American Southwest, and Google Street View media, this research examines how recognition of the social negotiations involving memory and mortality that are already present in the physical shrines evolves when documenters capture and transpose them online. First, these documenters have developed the “eyes to see” roadside memorials for various significant reasons in …

Exploring Electric Bicycle Safety Performance Data And Policy Options For California, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Kevin Fang

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study was conducted as directed by California Senate Bill 381 (2023), which called for research to help policymakers develop effective laws and policy to support the twin goals of expanding electric bicycle use and protecting the safety of electric bicycle riders and other road users. The three major strands of findings presented in this report are (1) a review of how California and other states (and countries) regulate electric bicycle use, (2) a review of the electric bicycle safety literature, including original analysis of primary data on crashes, injuries, and deaths, and (3) strategies that the state could adopt …

An Assessment Of The Viva Callesj September 2025 Event In San José, Richard Kos, Adam Cohen

Mineta Transportation Institute

Viva CalleSJ is an open-streets initiative where several miles of the City of San José’s streets are closed to vehicular traffic, allowing residents to walk, bike, scooter, and skate freely. This report evaluates the Viva CalleSJ event held in San José on September 7, 2025, which attracted more than 150,000 participants. Using a mixed-methods approach, this evaluation examines aspects such as attendance, activities, modal access, and economic impacts, utilizing data from participant surveys (in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese), interviews, and observational analysis. The findings indicate that the Viva CalleSJ September 2025 event was largely successful in achieving its objectives, including …

What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options To Support Transportation? Results From Year Sixteen Of A National Survey, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report summarizes the results from the sixteenth year of a national public opinion survey asking U.S. adults questions related to their views on federal transportation taxes. A nationally representative sample of 2,539 respondents completed the online survey from February 3 to February 27, 2025. The questions test public opinions about raising the federal gas tax rate, replacing the federal gas tax with a new mileage fee, and imposing a mileage fee just on commercial travel. In addition to asking directly about support for these tax options, the survey collected data on respondents’ views on the quality of their local …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Pedaling Toward Justice: Exploring The Role Of Community Advocacy In Shaping Bicycle Policy In Oakland., Claire Farrell Lowe

Master's Projects and Capstones

The way people move through a city fundamentally shapes their access to jobs, essential services, and economic and social opportunities. While Oakland’s bicycle infrastructure has improved over the past decade, vehicle-centric planning has historically sidelined cycling, creating mobility inequities. This thesis examines the role of community advocacy in advancing equitable bicycle planning and prioritizing cycling infrastructure as a core element of urban development. This thesis project follows the question: what role do advocacy groups play in addressing the gaps between the Oakland Bicycle Plan and its implementation? Through policy analysis, community engagement, and interviews with key informants from Bike East …

Barriers Individuals And Families Experience Utilizing Anti-Poverty Programs, Miranda C. Dube'

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This proposed study aims to explore the barriers experienced by residents of the High Desert communities. Using a quantitative method approach, the proposed research will employ surveys to provide a comprehensive understanding of the outcomes experienced by the High Desert residents. Participants will be selected within the High Desert communities, aged 18 years or older, who have or are currently experiencing poverty. The findings from this proposed study would contribute to bridging gaps in understanding the barriers residents of the High Desert experience. By identifying factors that suppress successfully utilizing anti-poverty programs, this research proposal would aim to inform the …

Political Turbulence And Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis Of Political Stability's Effects On Aviation Accidents, Léa Faure, Lilliam Maria Cáceres Malachowski

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency. Political instability can indeed have profound effects on reducing overall public safety in a variety of domains through its influence on public policies. Reduced regulations and governance efforts can appear in contentious contexts for less-prioritized fields. This could influence the reemergence of technical aviation risk factors like crew training and performance, maintenance issues, infrastructure problems, human errors, etc. This would highlight a correlation between such political instability and weaker aviation safety regulations, investments …

Shared Tracks, Divided Rule: The Role Of Polycentrism In Shaping Public Transportation In U.S. Metropolises, Dev Purohit

Honors Theses

American public transportation is notably less comprehensive and efficient relative to peer nations. The reliance on private automobiles and commercial air travel for routes that can be served by high-speed rail is a uniquely American phenomenon. This inefficiency is deeply rooted in governance structures, where centralized decision-making has often failed to address the complexities of metropolitan transit systems spanning multiple jurisdictions. This project explores polycentric governance as a potential mechanism to address these shortcomings by fostering competition, enhancing collaboration, and promoting localized responsiveness within metropolitan transit systems. By developing an empirical inventory to measure governance polycentricity and comparing transit outcomes …

The New Urbanism In New York City: A Case Study Comparing Battery Park City And Alphabet City, Lena Farley

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines two Manhattan neighborhoods, Battery Park City and Alphabet City, through the lens of New Urbanism—an urban planning approach developed in the 1990s. New Urbanist principles prioritize walkability, connectivity, mixed-use development, diversity, varied housing options, architectural quality, green transportation, sustainability, and accessible green spaces. While Battery Park City represents a top-down, master-planned New Urbanist neighborhood based on a 1979 plan, Alphabet City emerged from the 1811 Manhattan grid with significant community-driven design, notably through community gardens and grassroots initiatives. Using a mixed-methods approach including residential surveys, qualitative, and quantitative analyses, this research investigates how these neighborhoods embody New …

Right Turn On Red: Energy-Saving Measure Or Unsafe Maneuver?, Bruce Appleyard, Anurag Pande, Joseph Gibbons, Shams Tanvir, Megan Honey, Nell Ahangarfabrik, Mario Carbajal, Madison Swayne

Mineta Transportation Institute

There is a growing interest in prohibiting right turn on red (RTOR) policies in the name of pedestrian and bicycle safety but there is not enough research on the subject to help agencies make informed decisions. When Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, they included a provision requiring states to permit right turns on red lights as an energy-saving measure to receive federal assistance for mandated conservation programs. Since 1980, all states have permitted right turns on red as a general rule. More research is needed to help guide state policies that can support jurisdictions in …

Exploring Determinants Of Transit Recovery After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Udit Khandelwal

Dissertations and Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted public transit systems across the US, resulting in substantial declines in ridership and revenue. At the same time, ridership has increased to different levels in cities. This thesis explores the determinants of transit recovery in American cities post-pandemic. It analyzes data from the National Transit Database (NTD) and employs a two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression model first laid out by Taylor et al. (2008) for data from 2000. Similar to the results of that paper, the thesis finds strong correlation between transit ridership and variables for transit supply and urban and demographic characteristics for 2019 …

Construction Contracting In The Zero Emission Transportation Sector: Evidence From Underrepresented Businesses, Gökçe Soydemir, Orestis P. Panagopoulos

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study investigates the degree to which underrepresented construction contractors face challenges in California's zero-emission transportation sector to devise a simpler and more efficient bonding structure. Using a survey dispersed over underrepresented businesses across the state, the study provides several suggestions for a statewide bonding program that caters to the needs of contractors. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in the study. The survey data are evaluated using econometric tools to analyze whether there are any statistically significant associations between contractors' characteristics and their industry experiences. Focus groups and focused interviews are conducted to identify those perspectives the survey …

Are California’S Local Jurisdictions Disproportionately Directing Growth Toward Existing Disadvantaged Communities? Evidence From The Southern California And San Francisco Bay Area Regions, Shishir Mathur, Christopher Ferrell

Mineta Transportation Institute

Communities across the United States are striving to promote smart urban growth through compact urban infill residential development. They are doing so to mitigate sprawl's negative fiscal, environmental, social, and physical impacts, strengthen land use-housing-transportation linkages, and develop at densities needed for well-functioning public transit. Some states, such as California, have gone a step further by linking compact urban infill development as critical to meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. Anecdotal evidence suggests some California local jurisdictions are planning disproportionately large amounts of new urban development in disadvantaged communities (DACs). However, empirical evidence is lacking. This study aims to fill …

Governing Structures For Successful Regional Transit Coordination And Their Formation, Charles Rivasplata, Richard Lee, Michelle Derobertis, Christopher Ferrell

Mineta Transportation Institute

The expansion of metropolitan areas in California has further prompted the need to improve transportation options for all, more effectively linking origins and destinations through key enhancements to the existing network of transit services. This study provides planners and policymakers examples of effective regional transit coordination agencies. To improve multimodal connections and enhance transit services at the local and regional levels, this study explores regional coordination, focusing on entities charged with coordinating multiple transit agencies in a single metropolitan area. The study identified 16 regional transit coordinators (RTCs), identifying the structure, scope, and management of each. The results revealed that …

Addressing Transportation Construction Workforce Needs Through Innovative Policies And Practices, Thomas O'Brien, Ben Olson, Devin Martinez-Flores

Mineta Transportation Institute

A 2019 survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, found that construction firms across the country are struggling to fill open positions. Eighty percent of survey respondents indicated they have difficulty filling jobs in occupations that are essential to highway construction. This includes heavy equipment operators, cement masons, and iron workers, among others. This workforce shortage in California will become more problematic as public agencies and their contractors seek to implement projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In California there are …

Is Parking Cash-Out Worth It? Comparing Cost-Effectiveness And Climate And Equity Benefits In The Bay Area And South Coast Air Quality Management Districts, Fynnwin Prager, Tianjun Lu, Ashley Membere, Parveen Chhetri

Mineta Transportation Institute

This research explores the potential impacts of California parking cash-out policy changes on the Bay Area and LA County. Parking cash-out—a California law since 1992—requires that certain qualifying employers who subsidize employee parking offer employees the option to give up their parking space and receive cash instead. Studies show parking cash-out substantially reduces VMT and emissions, yet enforcement remains voluntary. Current policy covers few firms (<1%) and employees (around 11%) in the study regions. Policy reform to include companies with 20+ employees could increase this to 18%. Our experimental-design survey (n=963) explores behavioral changes in response to multiple policy variables and finds that 76.9% of employees would accept cash-out if offered, and that participants who had to pay the market rate for parking and were full-time commuters were more likely to switch to using public transportation at lower cash minimums. VMT related to employees covered by parking cash-out are substantial (5.6 million in the Bay Area; 5.7 million in LA County), and account for a combined 6,593 daily tons of GHG. As even limited adoption could have significant environmental benefits, parking cash-out would be a more cost-effective approach to reducing VMT than traditional TDM programs such as trip-reduction programs, workplace parking taxation, or transit subsidies and road diets, though further evidence on the direct influence of parking cash-out on commuter behavior is needed.

Karnataka Government Must Revisit Gig Workers Bill, Make It More Inclusive, Babu Mathew, Saurabh Bhattacharjee, Madhulika T

Popular Media

The Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024 has been favourably received by several commentators, but a closer inspection of the text of the Bill reveals glaring omissions, which if left unaddressed are likely to undermine the Bill’s objectives.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of The Roadside Transportation-Related Air Quality (Startraq 2022): Data-Driven Exposure Analysis By Transportation Modes, Jaymin Kwon, Yushin Ahn, Steve Chung

Mineta Transportation Institute

Particulate matter (PM) pollution poses significant health risks, influenced by various meteorological factors and seasonal variations. This study investigates the impact of temperature and other meteorological variables on PM10 and PM2.5 levels in Fresno County, known for high air pollution. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and generalized additive models (GAMs) assess the significance of these relationships. Analyzing data from Fresno County, we examine PM10 and PM2.5 levels across "hot" (June to August) and "cool" (September to May) seasons. Findings indicate PM10, both MLR and GAM models identify statistically significant variables, excluding temperature and wind direction in each season. However, during the …

What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options To Support Transportation? Results From Year Fifteen Of A National Survey, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report summarizes the results from the fifteenth year of a national public opinion survey asking U.S. adults questions related to their views on federal transportation taxes. A nationally representative sample of 2,522 respondents completed the online survey from February 7 to March 12, 2024. The questions test public opinions about raising the federal gas tax rate, replacing the federal gas tax with a new mileage fee, and imposing a mileage fee just on commercial travel. In addition to asking directly about support for these tax options, the survey collected data on respondents’ views on the quality of their local …