Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Using Empirical (Real-World) Transportation Data To Extend Travel Demand Model Capabilities, Michael Mauch

PSU Transportation Seminars

Real-world traffic trends observed in PORTAL and INRIX traffic data are used to expand the performance measures that can be obtained from Portland Metro's travel demand model to include the number of hours of congestion that can be expected during a typical weekday and travel time reliability measures for congested freeway corridors.

Data-Driven Illustrations For Climate Smart Communities Scenarios, Nancy Yen-Wen Cheng, Kim Ellis, Molly Vogt, Clint Chiavarini, Justin Houk, Brian Lockyear, Boyce Postma, Peggy Morell

TREC Final Reports

Public investment in transit and streetscape improvements can encourage private development, and subsequently increase transit ridership and reduce pollution. Portland, OR’s Metro regional government has developed investment scenarios designed to reduce light vehicle carbon emissions. Adopting a regional scenario requires public review and consultation with local governments who will implement the comprehensive plans and land-use regulations. Decision makers and residents need to understand potential benefits: ways in which targeted investment could generate more livable urban spaces while reducing greenhouse gases. Illustrations can show how the investments could shape the pedestrian experience through trees, street furniture, buildings, open spaces, etc.

This …

Improving The Representation Of The Pedestrian Environment In Travel Demand Models, Phase I, Kelly J. Clifton, Patrick Allen Singleton, Christopher Devlin Muhs, Robert J. Schneider, Peter Lagerwey

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is growing support for improvements to the quality of the walking environment, including more investments to promote pedestrian travel. Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are improving regional travel demand forecasting models to better represent walking and bicycling and to expand the evaluative capacity of models to address policy-relevant issues like air quality, public health, and the smart allocation of infrastructure and other resources. This report describes an innovative, spatially disaggregate method to integrate walking activity into trip-based travel models. Using data for the Portland, OR, metropolitan area, the method applies trip generation at a new micro-scale spatial unit: a 264-foot-by-264-foot …

Making Accessibility Analyses Accessible: A Tool To Facilitate The Public Review Of The Effects Of Regional Transportation Plans On Accessibility, Aaron Golub, Glenn Robinson, Brendan Nee

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The regional transportation planning process in the United States has not been easily opened to public oversight even after strengthened requirements for public participation and civil rights considerations. In the effort to improve the public review of regional transportation plans, this paper describes the construction of a proof-of concept web-based tool designed to analyze the effects of regional transportation plans on accessibility to jobs and other essential destinations. The tool allows the user to analyze disparities in accessibility outcomes by demographic group, specifically income and race, as required by civil rights-related planning directives. The tool makes cumulative-opportunity measures of the …

Regional Transportation And Land Use Decision Making In Metropolitan Regions: Findings From Four Case Studies, Richard D. Margerum, Susan Brody, Robert Parker, Gail Mcewen, Terry Moore

TREC Final Reports

Throughout the United States, metropolitan regions face increasingly complex issues related to transportation and land use. The diffuse nature of decision making creates a need to better coordinate land use and transportation to address issues such as: congestion, infrastructure costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Key players in this decision making are regional metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with transportation planning authority, regional planning responsibilities, and in some cases regional land use planning authority. The goal of this study was to describe and assess efforts by regional agencies to coordinate land use and transportation. Policies and processes in four key topic areas …

Green And Economic Fleet Replacement Modeling: Part I, David S. Kim, Miguel A. Figliozzi, J. David Porter

TREC Final Reports

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how equipment replacement decisions are supported with data collection and quantitative models at state DOTs, and to determine if models found in the research literature offer any better decision support when applied to realistic fleet usage and cost data. This study also addressed the current state of equipment replacement at state DOTs with respect to using measurable “green” criteria in replacement decisions, and the development of new quantitative replacement models utilizing such criteria. The responses from 25 state DOTs indicates that there is little consistency in the criteria …

Co-Evolution Of Transportation And Land Use: Modeling Historical Dependencies In Land Use And Decision-Making, Lei Zhang, Wei Zu, Mingxin Li

TREC Final Reports

The interaction between land use and transportation has long been the central issue in urban and regional planning. Models of such interactions provide vital information to support many public policy decisions, such as land supply, infrastructure provision, and growth management. Both the transportation and land use systems exhibit historical dependencies in policy decisions. For instance, the expansion of a roadway today will change travel demand patterns, and make certain other roads more or less likely to be expanded in the future. A specific land supply decision made at one point in time, by changing the relative attractiveness of other areas …

Travel And Transit Use At Portland Area Transit-Oriented Developments (Tods), Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years there has been a growing interest in using land use planning to reduce reliance on the automobile long-term, through ideas such as smart growth, New Urbanism, pedestrian pockets, and transit-oriented development (TODs). Many growing regions throughout the United States, are turning to these concepts to address problems of traffic congestion and suburban sprawl. However, the effectiveness of such policies in reducing automobile travel and improving livability is largely unknown. Portland was one of the early adopters and is often pointed to as a model for other regions. The Region's 2040 Growth Concept, adopted by the Metro regional …

The Effects Of Roadway Capacity On Peak Narrowing - Evidence From 1995 Npts, Jihong Zhang, Anthony M. Rufolo, Kenneth Dueker, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Spreading of the peak is one effect of increased peak-period congestion. Due to peak spreading, the travel-time impact of congestion is mitigated for some travelers, but the inconvenience of traveling at a less-preferred time also has a cost. Alternatively, increases in capacity have their impacts on peak-period congestion mitigated by a narrowing of the peak. This reduces the travel-time savings, but it generates a benefit for those traveling closer to their preferred times. This benefit from capacity improvements has largely been ignored, and one reason is the difficulty of quantifying the effect. This paper reports on some crude attempts to …

Highlights: Accomplishments Of Portland's Downtown Plan, Central City Plan, Albina Community Plan, Outer Southeast Community Plan, Portland (Or.). Bureau Of Planning

Portland Regional Planning History

All four plans were comprehensive. Their scope included transportation, housing, economic development, parks and open space, natural resources, urban design, and land use. Large scale planning efforts had previously focused on a limited set of concerns, such as parking, commercial revitalization, or housing. The Downtown Plan, Central City Plan, Albina Community Plan, and Outer Southeast Community Plan, on the other hand, evaluated, balanced, and integrated the different elements so that each action was taken in light of its effect on others. Extensive citizen involvement shaped the content of these plans and contributed to their success.

Effective Transportation Demand Management: The Results Of Combining Parking Pricing, Transit Incentives, And Transportation Management In A Commercial District Of Portland, Oregon, Martha J. Bianco

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The Lloyd District is a high-density commercial and residential district located a short distance from downtown Portland, Oregon. Parking and transportation problems in the District have been a source of increasing contention for nearly a decade. As a result. in September of 1997. the City of Portland implemented a Lloyd District Partnership Plan, which consists of a number of elements aimed at curbing SOY use for the commute to and from the District. This plan included parking pricing in the form of meters, w'here on-street parking had previously been free: discounted transit passes: and other transportation demand management (TOM) strategies. …

Parking Strategies To Attract Auto Users To Public Transportation, Martha J. Bianco, Kenneth Dueker, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

No abstract provided.

Exurban Development, Transportation Infrastructure And Access Management, Philip J. Wuest

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

This paper explores the changing role of state highway corridors in an era of continued urban growth and decentralization. Its primary focus is on the impact of exurban development on state highway corridors and on the policy of access management to control or limit those impacts. The role of access management in distributing the benefits and costs of access to public facilities is outlined. As urban areas expand at the fringe, it is important to clarify to what extent the public good of roadways is diminished by direct corridor access by the private sector. This work is timely and relevant …

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 …

Cost Effectiveness Of Articulated Buses When Passenger Time Is Treated As A Cost, Anthony M. Rufolo

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

As the difference between fares and costs has increased over time, transit agencies have searched for ways to cut the cost of service. One method that is now being tried by some transit properties these buses there is a is the use of articulated buses. The larger size of allows one driver to serve more passengers. Thus, trade-off between higher capital costs for the bus and lower labor costs per passenger mile in operation. Hence, the use of the articulated bus appears to be a move toward greater labor productivity by increasing the capital-intensiveness of transit.

The conclusion that articulated …