tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2604776154263998172024-02-18T18:41:56.048-08:00Smart Transportation SolutionsMark L. Stout Consulting is an all-purpose transportation consulting firm, specializing in finance, program management, and legislative and DOT policy. Our company has served public agencies and non-profits, big and small, all across the nation. Mark is widely-recognized as an expert whose years of experience can help organizations to break through gridlock and deliver transformative projects and innovative community enhancements.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-15125338463692149472024-01-26T13:29:00.000-08:002024-01-26T13:38:20.498-08:00Why are we still widening highways?<p> <span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Seriously. Why are we still widening highways, when we know that highway widening projects (1) increase traffic, therefore increasing greenhouse gas emissions and running counter to our climate change mitigation goals; (2) don’t relieve congestion in the long run, because new capacity is filled up with new traffic in 5 - 10 years; (3) have major negative social and environmental impacts; and (4) cost a lot of money, draining resources from many alternative projects? (I say “we know,” but of course not everyone is in agreement with these points – more on that shortly.) Reason number one is enough for me, but clearly all these factors, and more, are not enough to stop many very large, controversial projects from going forward.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It does seem perplexing, but fortunately there is new research that sheds light on the question. A recently published PhD dissertation by Amy Lee at the University of California, Davis, addresses just this question. (“The Policy and Politics of Highway Expansions,” available <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/13x3n8zr">here</a>. Read the Abstract and the Conclusions chapter if you don’t feel like wading through all 300+ pages.)</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-24d8ae57-7fff-316c-8bc0-548a608ec6c9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lee approaches the issue through what I would call a political sociology lens. She outlines the process by which a set of freeway expansion projects were advanced in California and identifies the key actors involved. She then interviewed many of these key actors – state DOT officials, MPO staff, local elected officials, etc. – to explore their understanding of the issues and their reasons for advancing these projects.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The key findings for me (I am simplifying and adapting from Amy Lee’s conclusions):</span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Congestion is the main driver of these projects. Many of the decision makers – especially local elected officials – are eager to do </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">something</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> about congestion, even though they may understand that the benefits of these particular projects will be transitory and insignificant in the long run. As Lee says:</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“So although highway expansion projects do not solve the foundational policy problems – e.g., separated land uses, auto-centric communities, housing unaffordability and segregation, lack of local jobs, or air pollution – they do offer a concrete and immediate avenue for elected officials to demonstrate that they are working for their constituents.”</span></p><ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Although most of the actors have at least some understanding of the concept of induced traffic, they tend to view it as a long-term problem, something to be addressed tomorrow. As one actor put it, “The short-term congestion relief is worth it.”</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">There are still many actors, including the construction industry and building trades, that see benefits in the sheer scale and expense of highway widening projects. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">There are also psychological factors at play. Engineers who have been trained to solve straightforward problems are reluctant to enter the morass of social and environmental issues in the modern transportation realm, tending to fall back to their design manuals. A quote from one actor is worth showing in full:</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 72pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Induced travel is counter to why practitioners became engineers to begin with. They became an engineer to find a problem, with a formula, and a solution, end of story. Induced travel is disturbing to their worldview in some fundamental way. It disturbs their identity and ego. Engineers don’t want to be bothered with messy things like people. They’re used to deciding where huge amounts of money go and getting to be at ribbon cuttings. Unfortunately, it’s not much more complicated than that.”</span></p><ol start="5" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Actors sometimes also believe that expansion projects promote other societal goods, such as access to housing, transportation equity, and economic development.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Developers, local elected officials, and various business interests may support highway widenings because they understand that increasing highway capacity promotes land development – notwithstanding the fact that the sprawl development stimulated by these projects works counter to climate change and environmental goals.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So how do we stop the highway widening juggernaut? Amy Lee has a number of suggestions, many specific to the California context. California already has a significant head start in this regard in that regional transportation plans must undertake to reduce total traffic (vehicle miles traveled) over time and individual highway widening projects must mitigate any increased traffic they generate. Obviously these provisions have not been entirely successful, and Lee recommends some practical legislative and administrative steps to enforce them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On a broader stage, Lee suggests the need for culture change among decision makers: planning for the long term rather than the short term and prioritizing the overarching goal of meeting the climate change challenge. Not so easy to do.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Many thanks to Amy Lee for wading deep into the weeds of transportation decision making and for illuminating the complicated issues we will need to grapple with to stop the foolhardy practice of major highway widening.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-34563759201497657882024-01-18T08:04:00.000-08:002024-01-18T08:04:27.958-08:00States Concede Induced Traffic<p>You may have read about the lawsuit filed by 21 red state attorneys general against the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) seeking to stop implementation of a greenhouse gas rule. The new rule would require states to measure and report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector as part of the overall highway performance management system. It would also require states to adopt targets reducing those emissions and to report on progress. (A good story explaining what’s going on can be found <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/01/03/why-red-states-are-suing-to-hide-their-dirty-emissions">here</a>; the text of the lawsuit is <a href="https://dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/Complaint-as-filed.pdf">here</a>.)</p><p>There are a couple of big issues involved here. First, should the states be measuring GHG emissions and adopting plans to reduce them? In my opinion (apparently not shared by the 21 attorneys general), of course they should. Second, does FHWA have statutory authority to adopt this requirement? On this question, I defer to the lawyers. But what I want to comment on today is neither of these issues, but rather an extraordinary admission that many of these states have made as part of their lawsuit: that <b>expanding highway capacity increases traffic and GHG emissions</b>. Now that statement might seem obvious to many of us, but in fact many state DOTs argue – especially in environmental documents supporting highway widening projects – that those projects reduce congestion and improve air quality, glossing over the phenomenon of induced traffic. (“Induced traffic” is the term currently used for the increase in trip making caused by creating more capacity on a highway.) But in the GHG rule lawsuit, many of these states say the quiet part out loud – projects that increase highway capacity cause induced traffic and more air pollution.</p><p>Now the language of most of the lawsuit text is not explicit on this issue. Concern is expressed that the rule will limit a state’s ability to choose the projects it wants, damaging its ability to advance its own goals, such as economic development (see Paragraphs 163, 164, 166, and 169.) The good stuff, however, is at the front of the document, where each of the states participating in the lawsuit says why it is joining. Eleven of the 21 states explicitly state that they can’t be expected to reduce GHGs because the widening projects they are building will increase traffic, thus increasing GHGs. Typically, the state describes its biggest projects, and why they consider them important, then says that means more traffic and more GHGs on the way.</p><p>Here are the key sentences for each of the twelve, with reference to appropriate paragraph in the lawsuit document (see if you can spot some similarities):</p><p>Kentucky – “These projects, and similar expansions, will certainly result in additional vehicular traffic and thus, CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 3)</p><p>South Dakota – “However, some highway investments, and straightforward economic growth, can result in additional CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 5)</p><p>Alabama – “These projects, and similar expansions, will certainly result in additional vehicular traffic and thus, CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 8)</p><p>Idaho – “These and other projects will certainly result in additional vehicular traffic and thus, CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 19)</p><p>Indiana – “These and other projects will certainly result in additional vehicular traffic and thus, CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 25)</p><p>Mississippi – “These and other projects will certainly result in additional vehicular traffic and thus, CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 30)</p><p>Montana – “Some highway investments, and straightforward economic growth, can result in additional CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 32)</p><p>Nebraska – “And the projects will certainly result in increased traffic and a corresponding increase in CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 36)</p><p>Ohio – “Highway investments, and economic growth, will result in additional greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles, and the State of Ohio will continue to make decisions to maximize all the benefits of its highway investments.” (Paragraph 41)</p><p>Utah – “These and other projects will result in additional vehicular traffic and thus, CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 47)</p><p>Wyoming – “However, some highway investments and projects, and straightforward economic growth, can result in additional CO2 emissions.” (Paragraph 58)</p><p>Notice some similarities? Apparently, someone coordinating or coaching these submissions suggested: “Here’s a good argument. Try this!”</p><p>I have no idea where the issue of adopting and implementing a GHG rule for transportation is going. I do hope at least that people engaged with state DOTs on the issue of highway widenings and induced traffic will press them on this obvious inconsistency.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-71318768836301956872023-12-07T11:01:00.000-08:002023-12-07T11:01:55.752-08:00Traveling on public transport in Italy<p>Having spent two weeks in Italy recently (Rome, Verona and vicinity, Venice) I couldn’t help but make a few observations on the local transportation options (public and active transportation only – I didn’t rent a car). As I have the privilege of living in a transit-rich, walkable urban community in the US, (Old Town Alexandria, Virginia) I didn’t experience the culture shock that more suburban Americans might feel. But I certainly logged plenty of walking “steps” and experienced a pretty wide cross-section of mobility options. (If you follow me on Twitter you may have already seen some of these comments.)</p><p>Rome Metro</p><p>Rome is a major world capital with an inadequate Metro network. For a variety of reasons – including historic problems managing large public works projects and the fact that you can’t stick a spade in the ground in the city without major archaeological consequences – there are only two Metro lines. A third line – Line C – is under construction, and further lines are only distant planning objectives. The result is that major parts of the city (Trastevere, for instance) are unreachable without a car or slow bus travel. </p><p>When I rode the Metro recently I found the service to be generally efficient, although it was very crowded and somewhat rundown in appearance. Hopefully the stars will be in alignment at some point in the future to give Rome the Metro system it needs and deserves.</p><p>Intercity trains</p><p>The intercity Frecciarossa trains, operated by Trenitalia, connect all the major Italian cities with fast, reliable, frequent, comfortable service. Why would anyone fly instead? Why can’t we do this in the US?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1c47kw7Cp9wiVHoGI1gKuEDhBXD3XnTny61vV2SrHnvXZxazB32ySZICuWSQyXjC1owlbbVqGO8upMXBblQPNDDkH5c8FE4tdkmAjnUP80dqaA9ATCx10wpRyRNf2kn4lSzR0-8UytgGTyvo_MZ-2unziq3Ur0U7sRdrME8KolhrEuRz6XI-Z4J1Asw/s4032/Frecciarossa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1c47kw7Cp9wiVHoGI1gKuEDhBXD3XnTny61vV2SrHnvXZxazB32ySZICuWSQyXjC1owlbbVqGO8upMXBblQPNDDkH5c8FE4tdkmAjnUP80dqaA9ATCx10wpRyRNf2kn4lSzR0-8UytgGTyvo_MZ-2unziq3Ur0U7sRdrME8KolhrEuRz6XI-Z4J1Asw/s320/Frecciarossa.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Regional trains</p><p>I found the regional trains in northern Italy to be very efficient, with mostly new trainsets, and very crowded. Unlike the long-distance trains, the regionals have no assigned seats, so there is a scramble for seating (reminds me of the Amtrak Northeast Regionals!). On the mainlines, where we were, there is always a choice of train types, and the regionals work great (and of course are cheaper) for shortish trips.</p><p>Local buses</p><p>I only rode local buses in Verona, but found them to be clean, modern, efficient, and – like all public transport in Italy – crowded! A simple tap of your credit card will get you a trip, without the need of a pass or ticket. However, sometimes the card reader wasn’t working, and sometimes it was simply too crowded to get to it! In any event, the operator doesn’t seem to care. Farebox recovery doesn’t seem to be a major objective!</p><p>Padua tram</p><p>I rode the Padua tram which (thanks Rick Steves!) efficiently connects the train station with the city center and the major tourist sites. The equipment is modern, but the ride is very rough. Fortunately, funding has been secured for upgrading (and extending) the route. The most annoying feature is the paucity of signage. On arriving in Padua at the train station, we had to ask directions to the tram station (why wouldn’t they have prominent signs?). When we found the station, there was no system map or any indication as to which direction led to the city center. Asking around at the tram stop (always the fallback when transit maps are not helpful) we were sent in the wrong direction! As happens all too often, the user interface is terrible.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rIWziwUZsrxqpwNhZv1SK3yn6J-qG4LyWDepiQkVNUERYH9qPf0i41wp_Dk8ZbKOcJ8PoN1IOpgEOBN0O8_35Epteb-ftwzoeMAJawjObz6xLAZ-nKBw6EPmh6f8CEgrfIt13QXcAjwPZmGBOrKLWr6n_f7GWESQu7o_gp-_6-VdvvEKE8yDEjz4S5c/s4032/Padua%20tram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rIWziwUZsrxqpwNhZv1SK3yn6J-qG4LyWDepiQkVNUERYH9qPf0i41wp_Dk8ZbKOcJ8PoN1IOpgEOBN0O8_35Epteb-ftwzoeMAJawjObz6xLAZ-nKBw6EPmh6f8CEgrfIt13QXcAjwPZmGBOrKLWr6n_f7GWESQu7o_gp-_6-VdvvEKE8yDEjz4S5c/s320/Padua%20tram.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Venice vaporettos</p><p>In Venice, the vaporetto (water bus) is the workhorse of transportation. It’s dependable (except during a general strike, as we found out in October). The network is comprehensive, and service is frequent. And of course it’s crowded. As with most public transport we experienced, fare collection/enforcement is pretty lax. I’m not sure there’s much they could do to speed up service. And as a landlubber I’m always amazed that so many boats in a confined space, operated by Italians (notoriously averse to regulation), avoid frequent collisions.</p><p>Bicycles</p><p>I saw lots of folks on bicycles in northern Italy – people of all ages and apparent social and economic status. There were few dedicated bike facilities, and most cyclists avoided the busy main streets. The smaller streets are jammed with a chaotic mix of pedestrians, cyclists, cars, delivery vehicles, and motorcycles, a free-for-all requiring pedestrians to be vigilant at all times. And as many of the smaller streets are paved with cobblestones or bricks the walk (or ride or drive) can be pretty daunting. Nevertheless, bicycles are a prominent feature of the transportation picture.</p><p>Pedestrian streets</p><p>I experienced some completely pedestrianized streets in my travels, most notably Via Mazzini in Verona, a marble paved street lined with high-end retail that attracts throngs of shoppers and tourists. More common are narrow, all-purpose streets that (as discussed above) attract all kinds of traffic, but are definitely not suited for through automobile traffic. One of my favorite streets in this category is the Via della Madonna dei Monti in Rome, near the Roman Forum and Colosseum. Two thousand years ago this street was called the Argiletum, and linked the Roman Forum to the Subura district. Although all the buildings and surfaces have changed many times, I think the scale and character of the street is probably much the same.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKML0JA729dWZDWWbx2QwePwqcnw2K-2zPJM9KvTT9E9Zgm4y8x3ki3eZpO2ThvsABsDT0oSyRbfKNqOESjUobGpSp40bAqppL7cPxE_KjLuJxmhbxuc9cim18ZF-r-zcTNK7EdBuUi2JB7WpeuWpjPFKQ751pUZWaR3XI3Zr-4myoMuDshwlBYuHUlE/s4032/Via%20Mazzini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKML0JA729dWZDWWbx2QwePwqcnw2K-2zPJM9KvTT9E9Zgm4y8x3ki3eZpO2ThvsABsDT0oSyRbfKNqOESjUobGpSp40bAqppL7cPxE_KjLuJxmhbxuc9cim18ZF-r-zcTNK7EdBuUi2JB7WpeuWpjPFKQ751pUZWaR3XI3Zr-4myoMuDshwlBYuHUlE/s320/Via%20Mazzini.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Some concluding thoughts</p><p>Obviously my few tourist trips don’t constitute a comprehensive survey of public transport in central and northern Italy, but I do have a few thoughts:</p><p>Public transport in this part of Italy is very well used, which is to say it’s crowded.</p><p>Service is frequent. I’m a believer in the Jarrett Walker maxim “frequency is freedom,” and the frequency of most of the services I encountered really made it possible to move around freely (except of course for intercity trains) without worrying about timetables.</p><p>Service providers don’t seem to care much about collecting fares. Most services can be paid for using a credit card tap, but operators didn’t seem particularly interested, and fare inspectors were rare.</p><p>Equipment is generally relatively new and in good repair, although Rome’s metro cars and stations could use some freshening up and better cleaning.</p><p>Visiting a place where walking and public transport can get you to almost everywhere you want to go is great! Makes you wonder why we can’t do more of it in the US!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-31192989514638353672023-04-22T14:46:00.000-07:002023-04-22T14:46:06.378-07:00Happy Earth Day!<p> Yes, I know that the predictions of the climate scientists get scarier and scarier, but there are signs of hope. One that I find encouraging is the huge investment President Biden and Congress have made in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. For more than a decade I have been one of those encouraging government at all levels to invest in EV fast chargers. I have heard the arguments that EV deployment is somehow ineffective or a distraction or elitist, and I am not persuaded. It seems to me that electrifying the transport sector is a critical part of moving fossil fuels toward obsolescence, that deploying EV fast chargers throughout the nation is an essential step in making that happen, and that only massive public investment will get those chargers in place with urgency. Finally, the new federal program looks like it will make that happen.</p><p>I am also pleased that the federal program, as enacted by Congress and as implemented by USDOT, is designed to provide multiple benefits, including promoting domestic manufacturing, requiring streamlined customer access, addressing equity challenges, and adopting “comprehensive standards for the installation, operation, or maintenance of EV charging stations” (details in White House factsheet <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/15/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-standards-and-major-progress-for-a-made-in-america-national-network-of-electric-vehicle-chargers/" target="_blank">here</a>).</p><p>As of now, state plans for spending the federal money have been adopted and initial funds have been apportioned, but we are still waiting to see major results on the ground. Having recently made an electric road trip, I can testify that access to DC fast chargers is still sketchy in much of the country. (Fun fact: there are no DC fast chargers in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a major East Coast vacation venue.)</p><p>So, Happy Earth Day, and keep on electrifying!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJam4f0TkSwNzFPqnFfMM_0aJZhe1ufCIeeE-c9kdk4SBW_ylBlyigHlE1WVRwZjNJFjKwPkpZRn3iB9cfXNu3StqdwTqCfLexsWL5ej4_N_HQp6bI3Ib6hUZxE9LqXsDVQZT_NjUsqLbRHMyoECv6HfgSsxsvHZ91qTK9W96vB63BMc9u69jxJI7m/s4032/EV%20charger%20ALX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJam4f0TkSwNzFPqnFfMM_0aJZhe1ufCIeeE-c9kdk4SBW_ylBlyigHlE1WVRwZjNJFjKwPkpZRn3iB9cfXNu3StqdwTqCfLexsWL5ej4_N_HQp6bI3Ib6hUZxE9LqXsDVQZT_NjUsqLbRHMyoECv6HfgSsxsvHZ91qTK9W96vB63BMc9u69jxJI7m/s320/EV%20charger%20ALX.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-39957014844664552292023-02-11T08:25:00.002-08:002023-02-11T08:29:01.707-08:00Wisconsin is stuck in a freeway hole…and it’s still digging<p> The I-94 Milwaukee freeway widening project has taken another lumbering step forward with the close of the comment period on the latest–and perhaps really final–environmental document. </p><p>This awful project has been in an on-and-off mode for years, and I have been involved in the fight throughout. My team and I were pleased to provide technical support to the alliance of environmental, community, and transportation reform groups which submitted extensive comments to the record in opposition (news release with link to the full comments <a href="https://www.aclu-wi.org/en/press-releases/aclu-wisconsin-and-other-organizations-submit-comments-opposing-i-94-freeway">here</a>).</p><p>Right now in this space I just want to make a quick note of (1) what is wrong with the Wisconsin DOT widening proposal and (2) what the alternative is.</p><p>What’s wrong with the widening proposal? Well, the comments of the anti-widening coalition spell them out in great detail. The defects include disregarding air quality regulatory requirements, failing to consider public transportation options, ignoring the impacts on communities and racial equity, not considering in any detail the changing work and travel patterns initiated by the pandemic, and many others. But what stands out to me is the negligent refusal to see this project in the context of the climate crisis.</p><p>It’s amazing to me that any transportation professional could advocate adding through lanes to an urban freeway at this moment in history. We are facing a climate emergency, and those of us in the transportation world should be doing everything possible to find solutions that drive down vehicle miles traveled (VMT) while improving people’s opportunities for accessing desired destinations in safe, modern, sustainable ways. Widening freeways is not one of those solutions. In fact, there is a growing–I would say undeniable–body of evidence that new and expanded freeways induce more VMT, promote sprawl, and discourage transit use, while ultimately failing to move people more rapidly across the landscape.</p><p>What is the alternative? As it happens, I was tasked by the anti-widening coalition with putting together a detailed alternative, which was published in 2021 under the title “Fix at Six” (available <a href="https://fixatsix.org/about/">here</a>). The two main pillars of the alternative are: (1) rehab the existing facility within the current 6-lane footprint (hence “Fix at Six”) and (2) build a robust new east-west transit system, based on Bus Rapid Transit and commuter rail.</p><p>The current legacy infrastructure, the I-94 East-West Freeway, is definitely old and worn out, and if we are going to keep it in use it will need work. Wisconsin DOT dismissed the rehab-on-current-alignment approach out of hand, based on its conclusion that it would not get automobiles moving fast enough along the freeway in peak hours in 2050.</p><p>Fortunately there are excellent transit opportunities in the east-west corridor, especially for two bus rapid transit lines, which can be located on arterials running parallel to the freeway. One is actually under construction! First-rate bus rapid transit, a possible rail commuter line, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and better land use will provide real, sustainable mobility on the corridor, without the destructive effects of highway widening.</p><p>The highway widening vs. fix-it-first debate has now actually been dragged into national partisan politics, with the new majority in the House of Representatives threatening legislative action to roll back the relatively modest attempt of the Biden administration to establish fix-it-first as national transportation policy (story <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/01/23/congresss-messy-fix-it-first-fight-heats-up/">here</a>). This could lead to an actual, straight-up highway widening vs. fix-it-first vote on the floor of the House!</p><p>Meanwhile, Wisconsin policymakers, you need to fix this!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccPXn5yS_c07AyG2SGbP7RD1_8ZxGKj4_qTzqBhPKFFOLWVyABWYAE8RCEsig_D6YJ5cnb13gY_4-EC2hrMapdbsoaTJrKD4iABHjFdFNqby35GZAwn3dD7QpYEquEzRT2MrDLs0A2i3qdXrLEWYGufC9lBbL4BvBqwJtZAS8ThdVVtnBWW2vrBfK/s1048/Fix%20at%20Six%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccPXn5yS_c07AyG2SGbP7RD1_8ZxGKj4_qTzqBhPKFFOLWVyABWYAE8RCEsig_D6YJ5cnb13gY_4-EC2hrMapdbsoaTJrKD4iABHjFdFNqby35GZAwn3dD7QpYEquEzRT2MrDLs0A2i3qdXrLEWYGufC9lBbL4BvBqwJtZAS8ThdVVtnBWW2vrBfK/s320/Fix%20at%20Six%20cover.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div><br /></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-53355753693503433482022-09-29T06:33:00.001-07:002022-09-29T06:33:39.443-07:00RIP Jim Florio<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was saddened to learn of the death of former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio at the age of 85 (see obituary <a href="https://www.nj.com/politics/2022/09/jim-florio-feisty-former-nj-governor-congressman-dies-at-85.html">here</a>). Much is made in the obituaries of the major tax increase he engineered at a time of fiscal crisis in the 1980s, which in turn caused a major public backlash (foreshadowing the Tea Party backlash of a couple of decades later). Florio’s move was seen as bold, or reckless, or both at the time. There was a magazine cover (which I can’t locate) depicting a cartoon Florio bungee jumping off a bridge with a broken bungee cord! What is easy to miss, at this distance, is the size of the fiscal problem he faced. The Wall Street crash of 1987 had a devastating effect on New Jersey. In the boom times before the crash those of us in the transportation world (I was at the New Jersey Department of Transportation) were trying to develop new planning tools to cope with runaway suburban sprawl. And we had the resources to do a lot. After the crash we still generated progressive policies, but there was a general belt tightening. Jim Florio was an innovative, activist sort of politician, who wanted to do big things. The hand he was dealt, unfortunately, was the need to cope with what amounted to a severe, localized economic recession.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-965cfe45-7fff-646c-dbc5-bfb990fbbeeb"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I remember Jim Florio best from his later years, when I would run into him at various conferences and meetings and have casual conversations with him. He was always kind, always well informed and involved, and always curious about the latest developments in transportation, land use, and environmental protection. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We will miss him.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-52472290177604318022022-07-25T13:02:00.001-07:002022-07-25T13:02:21.388-07:00Philly to get a new center city basketball arena!<p>Good news for Philly sports fans and folks interested in urban redevelopment. The owners of the Philadelphia 76ers have announced plans for a new arena to be built atop the Jefferson (formerly Market East) train station. (Developer website <a href="https://76place.com/">here</a>, ESPN story <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34274259/philadelphia-76ers-13-billion-project-calls-downtown-arena-2031-32">here</a>.)</p><p>For those not familiar with Philadelphia, Jefferson Station is at the heart of center city (i.e., downtown) and every SEPTA regional rail train travels through it. It also connects directly or within a short walk to three rapid transit lines. The current arena is located on South Broad Street, where there is a subway station, but also very good highway access and lots of surface parking. Not surprisingly, many of the comments posted on social media have been complaints that the new facility will aggravate congestion in center city and won’t have enough parking.</p><p>In fact, basketball arenas, like baseball stadiums, belong downtown, where they foster neighborhood revitalization, with lots of restaurants, bars, retail, and residential. Take a look, for instance, at the success of the Deer District in Milwaukee (website <a href="https://deerdistrict.com/">here</a>) – and they don’t even have rapid transit! (Good New York Times story on the nationwide phenomenon <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/business/sports-arena-development.html">here</a>.)</p><p>FYI, the developer has posted some good goal statements for the project, including “Develop an environmentally sustainable arena,” “Preserve culture and identity of surrounding communities,” and “Preserve and promote affordability.” And they promise no city subsidy needed!</p><p>If the plan unfolds as laid out, this should be a big step forward for Philly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp6BC7bSiMMyeevOkYQVlbF-DKGi5SvCC_cCflSnY0-dFlDLDoXZKfkgdPHcfy8evOjdf3IuzQmWRG9scy9HOFPUo6NKXde-47lwMly-tJKHRu-39lxVcMFsgVqMPSWjAUWs83R2uFYUs_-jjRGnhWCTjTLQrvOgp2XZgErzFOa2gcurasz0pNN9iD/s1608/76%20Place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="1608" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp6BC7bSiMMyeevOkYQVlbF-DKGi5SvCC_cCflSnY0-dFlDLDoXZKfkgdPHcfy8evOjdf3IuzQmWRG9scy9HOFPUo6NKXde-47lwMly-tJKHRu-39lxVcMFsgVqMPSWjAUWs83R2uFYUs_-jjRGnhWCTjTLQrvOgp2XZgErzFOa2gcurasz0pNN9iD/s320/76%20Place.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-38647825434450284422022-07-25T12:48:00.002-07:002022-08-29T10:19:34.954-07:00How to declare a climate change emergency for transportation<p> How do you do a transportation climate change emergency?</p><p>UPDATE: OK, so Joe Manchin fooled us and DID let the Senate pass a climate bill. Good news, bad news. The good news is that we have a climate bill -- with lots of support for decarbonizing the transportation system. Bad news: there is nothing in the bill to slow down highway expansion -- which I had suggested as an emergency action -- and little to move us toward more sustainable land use. More work to be done.</p><p>How about freezing federal dollars for highway expansion!</p><p>Now that Joe Manchin has killed any hope of climate change legislation in the US Senate, attention has turned to what President Biden could accomplish by declaring a climate change emergency. There has been some public discussion about actions that could be taken by executive action to hasten the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, but I haven’t seen much about what could be done in the transportation space.</p><p>So here’s my top suggestion: issue an executive order effectively stopping the flow of federal transportation dollars to highway widening projects. The rationale is simple: when you find yourself in a hole and want to get out, the first step is to STOP DIGGING. And putting money into highway widening at this moment in time seems to me to be digging the hole deeper in the climate change emergency.</p><p>I think that any emergency action should meet two criteria. First, it should have a real, perceptible impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or promoting a mode shift toward transit and active transportation. Second, it should provide some shock value, to demonstrate to decision makers and the public that yes, this is an emergency situation. A freeze on highway capacity increase projects would clearly forestall significant greenhouse gas emissions stemming both directly from those projects and indirectly from the sprawl development they encourage. And boy would it have shock value!</p><p>How could a freeze on highway capacity funding be implemented? Well, it wouldn’t be simple, and some careful legal research would be needed to find the best answer. My initial approach would be to direct the Federal Highway Administration to NOT authorize any highway capacity increase project for the next phase of work (Construction, Right-of-way acquisition, Final design) and require a supplemental environmental review on the grounds that any widening project (or new highway) should be assumed to cause an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental documents (environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, categorical exclusions) for those projects should also be stopped short of approval on the same grounds. I’m pretty sure it would not be feasible to stop the flow of funds to a project phase that had already been authorized. </p><p>There are other actions that should also be explored. These would include finding a way to put more money into transit operating expenses, discouraging fund transfers from transit and active transportation programs into highway programs, providing support for “open streets” programs, and finding some way to encourage better housing/transit linkages. But for me, slamming the brakes on highway expansion would be the most precise and powerful action that could be taken.</p><p>Obviously, legislation is needed to carry out a comprehensive transportation reform program that really responds to the climate emergency. But if it really is an emergency, we should aggressively explore all the emergency measures that can be taken by executive action.</p><div><br /></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-2090656935026719702022-04-26T14:32:00.000-07:002022-04-26T14:32:07.588-07:00Freeway to Boulevard advances in Syracuse!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW57zrkQFH7-zW4L7PSyopvSEeToKDezOTH7ewhPs-lik5FC4vA415Yep193JEm3-7oNzTe62Z1xyRzKvOKCNtuli1tJ9OEvRCesXIzAK-0fPj9SvT2JUpZWbCh3L0ud-jvSXdaP3R-rMrSEH4Df_PZzCZkDhR7EAcBvDp7lx3ducBF1h75K4PLd6g/s918/I-81.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="424" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW57zrkQFH7-zW4L7PSyopvSEeToKDezOTH7ewhPs-lik5FC4vA415Yep193JEm3-7oNzTe62Z1xyRzKvOKCNtuli1tJ9OEvRCesXIzAK-0fPj9SvT2JUpZWbCh3L0ud-jvSXdaP3R-rMrSEH4Df_PZzCZkDhR7EAcBvDp7lx3ducBF1h75K4PLd6g/s320/I-81.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>A major freeway-to-boulevard project - replacement of the elevated I-81 freeway in central Syracuse with a “Community Grid Alternative” - has reached the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) stage. After a brief final review period, the project should be headed for construction later this year. This is big news for the freeway-to-boulevard movement. (Although the replacement isn’t exactly a boulevard.) I think there’s a lot to be learned from the Syracuse project, so it’s worth a close look.</p><p>The project in brief: I-81 is carried from the Syracuse University area into downtown Syracuse on a long (about a mile) set of elevated structures (the “viaduct”). Like most structures built in the 1960s, the viaduct has reached the end of its useful life. The options: build a new viaduct (destructive, unpopular) or replace the viaduct with at-grade streets and reroute I-81 along the current I-481 bypass route. As described in the FEIS, the Viaduct Alternative and the Community Grid Alternative turned out to have roughly equivalent costs, traffic projections, and environmental impacts - and the Community Grid Alternative (remarkably!) was chosen by New York State DOT (NYSDOT) and the other key decision makers as the Locally Preferred Alternative.</p><p>For more detail, see the news story <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/news/2022/04/syracuses-elevated-i-81-will-disappear-and-be-replaced-with-grid-officials-put-in-writing-today.html" target="_blank">here</a> or the NYSDOT project website <a href="https://webapps.dot.ny.gov/i-81-viaduct-project" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Before making a few observations, a few caveats: I haven’t been involved in the project or dived deeply enough into the project documents to evaluate how good the data and conclusions are. I also haven’t researched the advocacy and decision making process that led to this remarkable outcome - and which might have resulted in a better or worse outcome. So, from looking only at the Final Environmental Impact Statement and a cursory glance at the press, here are some thoughts:</p><p>Purpose and Need</p><p>Large environmental documents for projects always include a “Purpose and Need” section, which states the “why” of the project. These text pieces are often stuffed with boilerplate language which, in the case of big highway projects, are often verbose statements that can be reduced to “make the road bigger to make cars go faster.” The Purpose and Need language for the I-81 project is strikingly different from the typical. There are two goal statements. The first statement addresses safety and mobility, but in a broader than usual treatment: “Improve safety and create an efficient regional and local transportation system within and through greater Syracuse.” The second goal statement establishes a broad context for developing a project concept: “Provide transportation solutions that enhance the livability, visual quality, sustainability, and economic vitality of greater Syracuse.” There are five “objective” statements, which also set a broad context. Two are directly oriented to the roadway itself, dealing with structural deficiencies and with geometric and operational deficiencies. But the other three address access, connectivity, and transit - key concepts for developing a modern, sustainable transportation system. This is a model that deserves study. Getting the Purpose and Need right is essential for developing the best solutions.</p><p>Equity</p><p>The issue of equity is a formidable backdrop for all major freeway project decisions these days, and the I-81 project is no different. In fact, the equity issue was most likely the key driver in selecting the Community Grid Alternative over the Viaduct Alternative. As in the history of many cities, the north-south freeway in Syracuse was bulldozed through mainly poor and minority neighborhoods, causing long-term damage to those neighborhoods and the broader urban fabric. The Community Grid Alternative will benefit these communities by removing what the FEIS calls the “perceived barrier” of the viaduct, by expanding bicycle and pedestrian links, by and reconnecting neighborhoods. As NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said in announcing publication of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the project “represents a truly historic opportunity to correct a major wrong from the past and create a modern transportation network that benefits the users of the entire transportation system and all the communities in central New York.” Unfortunately, the FEIS “buries the lede” and does not include the bold or forthright language on equity that I would prefer to see.</p><p>Traffic</p><p>Calculating future travel times, delay, and traffic speeds can be complicated and controversial. In the case of the I-81 project, the Viaduct Alternative is basically a rebuild rather than a major capacity increase, so predicted traffic numbers in that scenario are not much better than No Build. In fact, what capacity improvement is made would be offset by the predicted phenomenon that some traffic would be drawn off from other roads to the freeway. The Community Grid Alternative, although it would eliminate multiple freeway through lanes, actually doesn’t do worse than No Build on the various traffic scores because it would “disperse traffic throughout the city grid, using the existing street network.” When all the numbers are sorted out, the predicted traffic numbers aren’t much different for the Viaduct Alternative and the City Grid Alternative, so the decision to be made looks less like a choice between two solutions with more or less traffic congestion and more like a choice of what sort of future you want.</p><p>Transition</p><p>How do you transition from a freeway to a city street on the same alignment? Very carefully! Between the freeway segment and the city street segment, NYSDOT has chosen to build a transitional segment of limited access highway which will feature such traffic calming measures as reduced posted speed limits, curves, narrow shoulders, curbs, and landscaping. The transitional segment ends in a roundabout, which leads to a four-lane urban arterial: Almond Street. How well this transition will work remains to be seen. Personally, I would prefer to disperse the freeway into a delta of local streets if it were feasible. This is a design issue which will become more important in the future as freeways are downsized.</p><p>Design issues</p><p>Just a few further notes on the design concept of the project:</p><p>Most of the old I-81 freeway through Syracuse will be kept in place (although no longer designated as an Interstate highway). Only a mile or so of roadway (the “viaduct”) will be completely replaced. In the future, Syracuse will want to think about what comes next for these surviving freeway segments.</p><p>The replacement (rebuilt Almond Street) doesn’t look like much of a “boulevard” in the renderings - more like a regular city street. That’s probably OK, as a “boulevard” can sometimes turn out to be just a multilane, high-speed arterial.</p><p>Almond Street does appear to have a protected bike lane through at least part of its length. I don’t know what the options and arguments were for bike facilities.</p><p>Since removal of the viaduct basically puts traffic on the previously hidden street underneath, there isn’t a whole lot of land freed up for redevelopment. The most significant piece will be opened up by some ramp removals at the former interchange with I-690. The FEIS suggests “reinstating” several city blocks in the area, which could be redeveloped as a “canal-themed district” near the confluence of the Oswego and Erie canals.</p><p>Interstate continuity</p><p>What makes this project relatively straightforward (not easy, but not outrageously difficult) is that there is a clear, suitable alternative to carry I-81 through the Syracuse area: the current I-481 bypass highway. This means that the continuity and connectivity of the Interstate system will be unbroken. I have found that many advocates of the freeway removal movement really don’t understand how important the principle of Interstate continuity and connectivity is to the broad mainstream of highway engineers and planners. If you can crack this nut, a lot of other issues can be resolved. If you can’t, you have to traverse much more difficult terrain.</p><p>Transit</p><p>Apart from a few mentions of “transit amenities” there is little transit content in the I-81 plan. Why? I don’t know. If I were planning a major infrastructure rebuild on a linear alignment connecting a large student population and a major sports venue (both Syracuse University) and a large medical complex, with my downtown, I would ask: what kind of high-quality transit can we put there? Light rail? Bus rapid transit? Or at least a dedicated bus lane? </p><p>The Syracuse project could be an important precedent and I hope for its success!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0b0lcMUZW8nIKHcLIOmpIcUptbfZl9SkOkiOewX-EUTFmL_yCYJHi8m6lgJ2iRFATzl-fcBwe8ymxRg_50Lit3NDxNiMXAbxjVBeZKZJkYIzaszbzkmd3-4Gqv_VS-sMaV4_-bURWNcw_dPzVilW5JIG-Uu7x3s2AYOQuLsM41bJrryEiaqF3GMhV/s1416/Canal%20District.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1416" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0b0lcMUZW8nIKHcLIOmpIcUptbfZl9SkOkiOewX-EUTFmL_yCYJHi8m6lgJ2iRFATzl-fcBwe8ymxRg_50Lit3NDxNiMXAbxjVBeZKZJkYIzaszbzkmd3-4Gqv_VS-sMaV4_-bURWNcw_dPzVilW5JIG-Uu7x3s2AYOQuLsM41bJrryEiaqF3GMhV/s320/Canal%20District.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-14358082774962779342022-02-13T14:01:00.002-08:002022-02-13T14:01:17.455-08:00“State DOT head says no room for new roads”<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Exciting new development? How about New Jersey, 1989!</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7ce92d5c-7fff-e0fa-f92b-76b71aa095e4"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the Trenton Times, 13 February 1989:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commissioner Hazel Gluck: “The automobile - that symbol of freedom - has become a prison entrapping us in endless traffic jams. Our love affair with the automobile has made us build more and more roadways to meet ever increasing demands. But, this cannot, and will not, continue.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What alternatives were proposed?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One was improving and expanding transit. A quote from yours truly: “We know that the potential carrying capacity of the transit corridor can be expanded considerably more than the same amount of land can carry when it is devoted to a highway purpose.” Perhaps not my most fluent statement, but the reporter got the meaning across.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The point here is that the impetus to move away from highway expansion and toward transit, system management, and better land use planning (also a big topic in New Jersey in the 1980s) started a long time ago and has been only slowly advancing. We did some good stuff in New Jersey in those days (see the 1989 Transportation Plan, Transplan land use legislation, etc.). Much more still needs to be done - and with the climate emergency upon us it is urgent.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-75565530727425243332021-09-22T10:45:00.001-07:002021-09-22T10:45:37.957-07:00“Fix at Six”: A Transit/Rehab alternative to widening I-94 in Milwaukee<p> I was pleased recently to help a coalition of environment and transportation reform groups in Wisconsin advance the fight against the widening of the I-94 freeway in Milwaukee by writing a report outlining a transit-rehab alternative. </p><p>The report - “Fix at Six”: A Sustainable Alternative to Expanding I-94 in Milwaukee” - is available <a href="https://fixatsixorg.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/09_14_2021-fix-at-six-report-final.pdf">here</a>. (A good summary news account can be found <a href="https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2021/09/14/transportation-plan-offers-alternative-to-expanded-i-94/?fme=5fb59e1e03">here</a>, and background on the anti-widening coalition <a href="https://fixatsix.org/about/">here</a>.)</p><p>The backstory is that Wisconsin DOT is attempting to restart a project for widening the east-west freeway in Milwaukee from 3 lanes in each direction to 4. The project stalled several years ago (I was part of that fight too) due to lack of funding, public opposition, and the fact that the project is generally a horrible idea. It didn’t make any sense then and it makes even less sense now, in an era of “Code Red” climate crisis and increased attention to transportation equity issues. (My opinion is that we should have a moratorium on federal funding for highway widening projects until these issues are sorted out.)</p><p>Fortunately, a transit/rehab option makes a lot of sense here in Milwaukee. The key elements I have proposed are:</p><p>First, rehab the highway, fixing condition and safety issues and downsizing (not upsizing) highway ramps and connections where possible. As the report says: “The road should be repurposed, redesigned, and rebuilt to perform a new role in advancing the transportation, economic, environmental, and social goals of the 21st century.”</p><p>Second, design and build a bus rapid transit (BRT) network. The county is already using federal funding to build a BRT route on one of the major east-west streets, and the street grid lends itself to further development. In the report I have laid out a notional network of east-west routes (and north-south connectors) that would efficiently link up major activity centers and neighborhoods.</p><p>Third, advance other mobility and accessibility initiatives, including bike lanes, transit-oriented development, commuter rail, and targeted housing and zoning policies. We need neighborhood-scale as well as corridor-scale projects which will enable people to connect more easily with jobs, schools, shopping, networks of family and friends, and other desired destinations while at the same time improving community fabric.</p><p>Putting all these pieces together would promote mobility throughout the east-west corridor, from walkable neighborhoods to convenient rapid transit to longer distance commuter rail, all in a sustainable, equitable way.</p><p>Why have these sensible solutions been ignored in favor of putting down an expensive, inequitable, disruptive, ugly, climate-unfriendly river of concrete? The factors seem to include institutional intransigence at WisDOT, anti-city sentiments among suburban office holders, the ineffectualness of some city politicians and opinion leaders, and a fixed view in WisDOT and the construction industry that pouring concrete (wherever and for whatever reason) is good for the state’s economy. </p><p>There is a better way to do this, folks, and we can make it happen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio66mpYTgSeVYDC6N5YiQ6Si1uTmwE5iM-REfax4J_AQ-WFwDAlbjrC_stHBI58AIfytHf1tAhJmjRAfuVixXJW0Xby6qZXHFly5OnHs9-ZY6FMyaFojgc8QXNZdGE__QaFTd-AMQhO2k/s794/Report+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio66mpYTgSeVYDC6N5YiQ6Si1uTmwE5iM-REfax4J_AQ-WFwDAlbjrC_stHBI58AIfytHf1tAhJmjRAfuVixXJW0Xby6qZXHFly5OnHs9-ZY6FMyaFojgc8QXNZdGE__QaFTd-AMQhO2k/s320/Report+cover.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-jWXY-b2aRBgYj-DywtDna9qA_h_kzLaqCt_Ho2VVa5ao2Fra1ysVMG6fl5XjRPyQk15EXw-wEnI08ZchDyZ9OOihT-zh3VlhIDeXFkUdED4WEN2rKqc7dW7AGHv9vzJ35hb3mog85E/s1400/Transit+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1400" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-jWXY-b2aRBgYj-DywtDna9qA_h_kzLaqCt_Ho2VVa5ao2Fra1ysVMG6fl5XjRPyQk15EXw-wEnI08ZchDyZ9OOihT-zh3VlhIDeXFkUdED4WEN2rKqc7dW7AGHv9vzJ35hb3mog85E/s320/Transit+map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-9380394116724776502021-03-18T08:07:00.001-07:002021-03-18T08:07:51.360-07:00New Electric Vehicle “How To” Kit for Towns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">DVRPC (Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the MPO for greater Philadelphia) has just published a new “Electric Vehicle Resource Kit for Municipalities” which should become a valuable resource for local elected officials and community activists seeking to promote EV usage.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Although the toolkit (available <a href="https://www.dvrpc.org/energyclimate/alternativefuelvehicles/evmuniresource">here</a>) is specifically designed for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania towns that the commission serves, it contains lots of useful information that will be helpful to anyone working at the local level.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Topics covered include how to incorporate EVs into a municipal fleet, where to look for federal and state grants, and how to locate EV chargers. I especially like the practical advice, such as: “It is important to think carefully about which vehicle in your municipal fleet to replace with your first PEV. If the first vehicle is a success, the path to the second, third, and more will be much easier. You want to do what you can to assure that the first PEV will score high marks with municipal staff, be highly visible to your residents, and make good financial sense to the town council.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Having been involved in a few of these efforts over the years myself, I give high marks to Rob Graff and company at DVRPC for producing a nifty EV toolkit that is user-friendly, updatable, and implementation-oriented.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><p><br /> </p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-48933313042487344632020-09-13T14:49:00.001-07:002020-09-13T14:49:23.756-07:00The Death (and future rebirth?) of Baltimore’s Red Line<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Just in case you were getting too cheery about how things are going these days, you should read the recent article in the Washington Post about the death, 5 years ago, of Baltimore’s Red Line transit project at the hands of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (available <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/five-years-later-many-across-baltimore-bitterly-lament-gov-hogans-decision-to-kill-the-red-line-light-rail/2020/09/12/600f9b44-f529-11ea-bc45-e5d48ab44b9f_story.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Seriously, you should read it, because although a major battle was lost then, I for one haven’t given up on the war.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">As I have repeatedly said, the Red Line is a success story waiting to happen. The proposed east-west rapid transit line would link major employment and residential centers, generate significant economic activity, transform a set of transit lines into a real network that unites the metropolitan area, partly redress the inequities in transit access in the region, and leverage high-quality urban redevelopment. It is not too much to say that the Red Line is the key to Baltimore’s emergence as a vital 21st century city.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">And yet here we are. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Despite a lot of despair in the air, there is a bunch of stuff that supporters of the Red Line can do, such as:</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Salt the Red Line into local and regional planning documents (too many missed opportunities for this),</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Use city planning and zoning powers to orient development around proposed stations,</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Enlist corporate and public “sponsors” to promote transit-ready development at station sites, and</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Continue to encourage the Legislature to support transit in general and the Red Line in particular.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Many people have pointed out that our country is currently facing a “triple crisis” of Climate Change, an outcry for racial justice, and an economic mini-depression.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The Red Line can help us make progress on all three fronts at once.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We need to get busy!</span> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmJDF1gP_BqMnDW5sLQtsKYxz3nxtsD7YWNJBct0wLYEY_XBzsC-21Fa8ymJD6At7izJ09yHu0gZzfdV1dSk7DjlGl2BSh_EskjO0jr4Czs5wGfHe6vHBJhidvfqqhpZ1jTgOL1JJBdU/s1136/Future+Home+of+the+Red+Line.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmJDF1gP_BqMnDW5sLQtsKYxz3nxtsD7YWNJBct0wLYEY_XBzsC-21Fa8ymJD6At7izJ09yHu0gZzfdV1dSk7DjlGl2BSh_EskjO0jr4Czs5wGfHe6vHBJhidvfqqhpZ1jTgOL1JJBdU/s320/Future+Home+of+the+Red+Line.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-23687920831602297532020-08-10T11:28:00.001-07:002020-08-10T11:28:28.134-07:00Peering deeply into the future<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Scary thought!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">On the positive side, 2020 has to end at the regularly scheduled time. But there is always the possibility that the future could get worse!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Or not.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">People that do regional planning for a living face a lot of challenges.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">It used to be that planners could get away with charting a trend that had been developing over the previous decade or so, taking a straight edge to the trend line, and drawing the trend line into the next decade.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, that methodology didn’t always work out, but at least it had some plausibility to it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">What do you do in today’s crazy world of continually unprecedented events?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">(As someone asked recently on Twitter, will we ever get back to “precedented” again?)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Enter “exploratory scenario planning.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">This is the approach that DVRPC (the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the metropolitan planning organization for the greater Philadelphia region in Pennsylvania and New Jersey) is taking in trying to find a logical framework for its next long-range plan. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">DVRPC has convened a Futures Working Group (full disclosure: I am a member of this outstanding group) to work through all the forces potentially affecting the region’s future and ultimately organizing the possibilities into four broad scenarios. The goal isn’t so much to predict the future as it is to structure our thinking about the future in ways that allow us to formulate policies and actions that seem to make sense.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">DVRPC’s latest report, “Dispatches from Alternate Futures: Exploratory scenarios for Greater Philadelphia” (available <a href="https://www.dvrpc.org/Products/20012">here</a>), lays out four possible scenarios in a delightful, easy-to-read format. Yes, there is some methodology here – forces, focus areas, signposts, collaborative decision making, etc. – which serious planners should read. The heart of the paper, however, is a collection of “news stories” from the future that vividly illustrate possible outcomes. Some of the possible future headlines: “Climate Refugees Compound Crisis on Southern Border,” “Hedge Funds Become World’s Largest Landlord,” “Heat-Related Deaths in Philadelphia Reach an All-Time High,” “American Bumblebee Officially Extinct,” and, on a more optimistic note, “Major Legislation Gives Hope against Climate Change” and “Economists Struggling to Adapt Theories to Growing Abundance.” On the transportation side, we have such headlines as “Transit Renaissance Continues as SEPTA Regional Rail Returns to West Chester,” “Robotic ‘Road Butlers’ Coming to Crash-Prone North Philly,” and “Push for Programmable Roads as Carbon Tax Dwindles.”</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">It’s all good fun, but also very serious. This approach really helps us to do the thought exercises we need to perform to prepare ourselves for an unpredictable future.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Kudos to DVRPC for grappling with the serious issues and advancing the practice of regional planning.<span style="color: white; font-size: 26.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4laSVkm7W29G9Zo_i-JU4RgwABL7ZHPGif6yCqukYTaCXFbcsky0-KOwxjSNnqlMf0byOjJ6x34b8Uldvuz7BM-f-xKPXzP0KYn7CmBo43f2QhcqqW2Rbr1pWzrx9pozUk1sUYwNrFME/s272/20012.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4laSVkm7W29G9Zo_i-JU4RgwABL7ZHPGif6yCqukYTaCXFbcsky0-KOwxjSNnqlMf0byOjJ6x34b8Uldvuz7BM-f-xKPXzP0KYn7CmBo43f2QhcqqW2Rbr1pWzrx9pozUk1sUYwNrFME/s0/20012.png" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-11373075913111307752020-05-18T12:02:00.003-07:002020-05-18T12:02:39.869-07:00The “Congestion Con” – Important new report from T4America<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
T4America is out with an excellent new report which sets out in well-reasoned, documented, and easy-to-read fashion why building new lane-miles of freeway is foolish and counter-productive. The report – “The Congestion Con: How more lanes and more money equals more traffic” – is available <a href="http://t4america.org/maps-tools/congestion-con/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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The core of the argument is that adding lane-miles, in addition to being hugely expensive and destructive, is self-defeating, as it only encourages suburban sprawl, longer commutes, and ultimately more congestion. Now, some of us have known this for a long time (see <i>New Jersey Transportation Plan</i>, 1989), but – remarkably – some state DOTs and others persist in pursuing grandiose new freeway widening projects. Having been involved in a few of these fights myself (Milwaukee, Maryland, etc.) I never fail to be surprised at how this outdated thinking can drive the potential spending of Billions of dollars on projects of pure folly.</div>
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The report argues persuasively that growing the freeway network actually makes congestion worse through stimulating induced demand. And, even more to the point, focusing on <i>congestion</i> as the problem diverts our attention from what our real goal should be: improving <i>accessibility</i>. People don’t spend hours stuck in traffic for the fun of it. They are trying to get somewhere. If the “somewhere” (work, school, shopping, doctor’s office, etc.) is close by – ideally within walking distance – life gets a lot better. The land use/transportation relationship is well illustrated with nice graphics.</div>
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The report is an easy read, so I won’t attempt to summarize it, but will note briefly the 5 policies it recommends:</div>
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1) Reorient our national program around access—connect people to jobs and services,</div>
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2) Require that transportation agencies stop favoring new roads over maintenance,</div>
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3) Make short trips walkable by making them safe,</div>
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4) Remove restrictions on pricing to help manage driving demand, and</div>
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5) Reward infill development and make it easier for localities.</div>
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Although there is a discussion of the relationship between freeway expansion and sprawl development, the argument is not carried forward to the relationship between sprawl development and the climate crisis. As I have often pointed out, I feel that the climate crisis by itself justifies a moratorium on Federal funding for all highway expansion.</div>
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Ironically, the T4America report was unveiled at about the time the country began shutting down. Congestion is definitely much less of a problem right now! There is a lot of speculation about how and when we will come out of the current pandemic and what the long-term effects will be. The truth is we just don’t know. What we do know is that we will have an opportunity to examine congestion, accessibility, climate change, and that whole bundle of transportation issues with fresh eyes. Let’s plan to do it right!</div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-54776484749668361522020-04-24T07:19:00.001-07:002020-04-24T07:19:10.699-07:00Joe Biden’s – very progressive – transportation program<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
It’s difficult to remind ourselves that we are in the middle of a critical election year. But we are. And when (hopefully) some sort of normalcy is back, we will all need to deal with it. At any rate, I thought this might be a good time to think a bit about the transportation program of Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee. One reason I do this is to respond to the talk that Biden is somehow “not progressive enough,” is too beholden to Wall Street, or something similar. I believe it is important to note that on transportation issues, his proposals are very progressive indeed. (For a more general argument that Joe Biden is more progressive than people might think, see Michelle Goldberg’s column <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/joe-biden-progressive.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)</div>
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I will summarize his program, under the bullet points on his website (<a href="https://joebiden.com/infrastructure/" target="_blank">here</a>), and add a few comments of my own.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Jump-start the repair of our highways, roads, and bridges.” Fix-it-first is always a good way to start, and the Biden plan would allocated $50 Billion in the first year toward roadway system preservation. In a theme repeated in several places, the program promises that a significant portion of these funds would go directly to local governments. Perhaps this theme emerges from memories of the 2009 Stimulus bill. He also promises to “expedite permitting.” Many a brave knight has gone forth to slay that dragon, but none has succeeded.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Make American roads the world’s safest.” In addition to spending more money on highway safety programs, this element in the program calls for promoting Complete Streets and new technologies, “including ‘smart’ pavement, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, connected intersections, and other infrastructure-related innovations.”</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Invest in historically marginalized communities and bring everyone to the table for transportation planning.” The Biden plan calls for several steps to promote transportation equity, including a “robust public engagement process” and a Community Restoration Fund targeted at frontline communities.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Pair new infrastructure investments with new training programs.” This item promotes workforce development, including “new Apprenticeship Readiness Programs that specifically target veterans, women, and communities of color.”</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Stabilize the Highway Trust Fund.” The program calls for “new revenues” to stabilize the Trust Fund. I think this is the right approach, as it confirms the need for more tax revenue without prematurely getting in to the thorny issues of gas taxes vs. VMT taxes and so forth.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Speed the transition to electric vehicles.” Thank you! This seems like an obvious point, but we as a country are so far behind where we need to be that it bears emphasis. Specific measures outlined include restoring EV purchase tax credits, investing $5 Billion in battery research and development, promoting domestic manufacture of EVs, building a national charging network with 500,000 outlets, investing in workforce development for charging station installation, and providing federal funding for demonstration projects.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Launch a new generation of low-carbon trucking, shipping, and aviation technologies.” These are the toughest parts of the transport sector to decarbonize. The Biden plan is basically to plow a lot of R&D money into the problem.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Spark the second great railroad revolution.” This section refers both to passenger and freight rail, which of course share the same infrastructure but are very different beasts. On the passenger side, the plan is very aggressive, including cutting trip time between DC and New York in half, building a new trans-Hudson tunnel (which is needed under any scenario), extending the Northeast Corridor to the south, and – the most ambitious element – beginning “the construction of an end-to-end high speed rail system that will connect the coasts.” On the freight side, the plan mentions some specific projects, such as the Chicago-area CREATE improvements. Unfortunately, the freight sector is controlled by a small oligopoly of companies who own most of the infrastructure and who are resistant to change.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Electrify the rail system.” The plan actually says “work with Amtrak and private freight rail companies to further electrify the rail system.” I’m all in favor of it. I don’t seen the freight rail companies having any interest without major carrots and sticks.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Offer tens of millions of Americans new transportation options.” This element of the plan would provide major investments to “provide all Americans in municipalities of more than 100,000 people with quality public transportation by 2030.” This would include investments in light rail, existing transit systems, bike/ped, and microtransit. There are also land use elements, including creating “a new program that gives rapidly expanding communities the resources to build in public transit options from the start.”</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Reduce congestion by working with metropolitan regions to plan smarter growth.” This bullet covers a lot of territory. Biden would encourage a synthesis of smart growth, climate friendly, and innovative mobility strategies. How to do this? The specifics include: a competitive grant system “to help leaders rethink and redesign regional transportation systems” and a highway funding bonus for states that “embrace smart climate design and pollution reduction.”</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">“Connect </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">workers to jobs.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">The program promises “an additional $10 billion over 10 years specifically for transit projects that serve high-poverty areas with limited transportation options.”</span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">“Encourage innovation and launch smarter cities.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">The Biden proposal for addressing new auto technologies: “a yearly $1 billion competitive grant program to help five cities pilot new planning strategies and smart-city technologies that can serve as models for the country.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>“Invest in freight infrastructure, including inland waterways, freight corridors, freight rail, transfer facilities, and ports.” Various programs include doubling the size of the program formerly known as TIGER and other discretionary programs and more funding for ports and waterways.</div>
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A few comments:</div>
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1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>I would call this program “progressive” under most any definition. It not only supports a transportation reform agenda, but it is explicitly linked to the climate crisis (his climate agenda is outlined elsewhere in his program).</div>
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2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Although definitely progressive, there is plenty here to please mainline transportation agencies: lots more money for system preservation and operating needs!</div>
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3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Biden obviously has very good transportation advisors. There is nothing here that rings amateurish.</div>
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4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>There are lots of signs that the greatest influence on Biden’s thinking is the 2009 Stimulus bill, which I think is a good thing! (My stimulus thoughts <a href="http://mlstoutconsulting.blogspot.com/2020/04/learning-from-recovery-act-lessons-and.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)</div>
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5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The program is a laundry list, not a bill. But I think almost all the pieces are here.</div>
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6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>What would I add? A 10-year moratorium on the use of federal funds for highway capacity expansion. I think we have to stop that right now in order to reorient the program.</div>
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7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>How will the current coronavirus crisis affect the timing and shape of the next big transportation bill? I have no idea.</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-10530198227412314312020-04-17T11:58:00.001-07:002020-04-17T11:58:09.278-07:00Learning from the Recovery Act: Lessons and recommendations for future infrastructure stimulus<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Smart Growth America and Transportation for America have issued a new, and very timely, report by this name (available <a href="https://smartgrowthamerica.org/resources/learning-from-the-2009-recovery-act/" target="_blank">here</a>). With Congress poised to (potentially) pump significant funding into the transportation sector, it’s a good idea to remind ourselves of the experience of the last big stimulus bill and what we can learn from it. I was part of the SGA team that worked on implementing the Stimulus, so not surprisingly my conclusions are very similar to those in the new report. (My retrospective on the Stimulus was done five years after the program was started – <a href="https://mlstoutconsulting.blogspot.com/2014/02/five-year-anniversary-of-very.html" target="_blank">here</a> – and my views are still the same.)</div>
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The report is a clear, crisp, easy-to-read text of 8 pages, with 6 lessons and 6 recommendations, so if you have any interest in the subject you should read the whole thing. But – spoiler alert – the main takeaway is that the experience of 2009-2010 teaches us that transportation stimulus money should be targeted toward transit (especially operating costs) and roadway repair (maintenance and rehab) to have maximum impact. Back in the earlier Stimulus, some states did better than others, so better guidelines and reporting are needed this time.</div>
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Just a few thoughts of mine to add:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>I would put more money into planning and engineering than the SGA report suggests. Planning and design firms took a heavy hit in the Great Recession. We need to keep those firms healthy not only to protect the jobs there but to preserve and build up a robust planning and engineering capacity for the next big wave of construction (AKA Green New Deal).</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>TIGER TIGER TIGER. The SGA report notes the importance of this program, which spurred a whole raft of innovative projects. More, please.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>As a general rule (extrapolating from the two points above) we should, wherever possible, design any new stimulus program to provide stepping stones to what needs to be a much bigger, sustained program for the future (did I say Green New Deal?).</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>The SGA report recommends that all resurfacing projects incorporate a safety review. I would also require a bike/ped review. Resurfacing projects – which usually require paint striping anyway – are the easiest way to get bicycle and pedestrian improvements on the ground. Many state DOTs will avoid that step if they can.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Speaking of bike/ped, now would be a great time to provide funding and incentives for what many cities are already doing: striping out streets to meet the current emergency by reducing unneeded auto space and increasing needed pedestrian and bicycle space.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>I would simply rule out the use of any stimulus funds for highway capacity increases. The SGA report suggests this requirement because of the inefficiency of capacity increase dollars for providing jobs and putting money into the economy. I think we should also insist that we do nothing that will cause more trouble in the long run for our other big emergency – the climate emergency.</div>
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Speaking of the 2009 Stimulus coming around again, anyone who takes a close look at Joe Biden’s transportation program (more on that at another time) will see lots of elements that suggest the large impression that his involvement in the Stimulus made on his thinking.</div>
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Finally, congrats to Beth Osborne, Will Schroeer, et al. for producing a very timely (and hopefully effective) set of recommendations!</div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-46543391185187468422020-03-18T14:35:00.001-07:002020-03-18T14:37:14.971-07:00We’re building a lot more highway miles than transit miles<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
A while back I reviewed the TRB Interstate highway report, which I gave high marks for documenting the need for rebuilding the system, but low marks for being wobbly on the issue of adding lane miles to the system at a time of climate crisis (my posting <a href="http://bit.ly/2V84QiR" target="_blank">here</a>).</div>
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The flip side of too much highway expansion is too little transit expansion. Yonah Freemark captures the comparison in this graphic (yes I know these numbers are not in some respects equivalent). His story is <a href="https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2020/01/07/too-little-too-late-a-decade-of-transit-investment-in-the-u-s/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Dramatically ramping up the number of transit miles built is not easy, but something we need to address in the next surface transportation (Green New Deal?) bill.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEICwFWW1zTUvA7Zn4Abn76rnsHAtfVGsumF3qweiydnmDrYLOynnXaQqXezb5tTj-efKzK8Dpbtztow-mIyUQI30Dxs2djTyscVHTreeJ1NCL-B1dfNHwwA4XG-o1CqQ32nObB7AZmvI/s1600/Freemark+graphic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1422" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEICwFWW1zTUvA7Zn4Abn76rnsHAtfVGsumF3qweiydnmDrYLOynnXaQqXezb5tTj-efKzK8Dpbtztow-mIyUQI30Dxs2djTyscVHTreeJ1NCL-B1dfNHwwA4XG-o1CqQ32nObB7AZmvI/s320/Freemark+graphic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-87476359880708534922020-03-10T09:03:00.001-07:002020-03-10T09:03:37.382-07:00The New Jersey State Plan is Back!<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Or at least the State Planning Commission is back, with a mandate to finally update the State Plan.</div>
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New Jersey’s State Development and Redevelopment Plan, an ambitious, comprehensive, state-of-the-art planning document for guiding public policy and investment in the nation’s most densely populated state, was published in 2001 (it’s still available <a href="https://nj.gov/state/planning/state-plan.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>). But later attempts to update it – as required by statute – languished, largely for political reasons.</div>
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Now New Jersey’s current governor, Phil Murphy, has funded the State Planning Commission and given it new members and a renewed mission.</div>
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As Donna Rendeiro, executive director of the planning office, stated at a presentation at the recent Redevelopment Forum sponsored by leading state thinktank New Jersey Future, the commission is systematically attacking the work that needs to be done, beginning with updating policies and procedures and rules. They are in a “listening” mode, taking in views as to how the old plan should be updated. A core issue is how to respond to the criticism that the old plan was too detailed, too prescriptive, and too burdensome, especially for small towns with little or no professional staff who needed to comply with its provisions. A related issue is whether or not to include a detailed map – as the old plan did – showing where development was to be encouraged and where discouraged.</div>
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There are lots of details to be resolved, but I (a veteran of many New Jersey State Plan battles) am glad it’s back. Statewide planning is an enormous challenge but can have enormous benefits! Good luck NJ State Planning Commission!</div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-56465162624677971972020-03-10T08:02:00.001-07:002020-03-10T08:02:20.673-07:00Complete – and Green – Streets in New Jersey<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Fans of the “Complete Streets” concept will welcome New Jersey’s latest contribution: “Complete and Green Streets For All.” (For the uninitiated, the idea of “complete streets” is that streets should be designed to be safe and welcoming for people walking, cycling, boarding buses, sitting at sidewalk cafes, and doing other human activities beyond hurtling along the pavement in automobiles.)</div>
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The guidebook is published by New Jersey DOT (available <a href="https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/eng/completestreets/pdf/CS_Model_Policy_2019.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>) but is the product of a very successful collaboration (led by the Tri-State Transportation Coalition) of advocacy groups, government agencies, academics, and others. As presented at the recent Redevelopment Forum sponsored by New Jersey Future, a leading state thinktank, the group sought to weave health, equity, economic development, safety, and other concerns into a model of Complete Streets development.</div>
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Perhaps most significantly – from a design standpoint – the guide explicitly advocates making green infrastructure a key element of future Complete Streets, with direct benefits for climate change resiliency.</div>
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The new publication is not a design handbook. NJDOT has other manuals for that. It is, as the subtitle says, a “Model Complete Streets Policy and Guide.” It provides local officials and citizens with a model policy, a model resolution, public participation guidelines, checklists, references, and other practical information for making Complete Streets happen.</div>
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Congrats to Commissioner Diane Gutierrez- Scacetti and my old colleagues at NJDOT for pushing this effort forward and for opening their doors to this wide coalition of people who can add so much to the future of transportation.</div>
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“Complete and Green Streets For All” helps define a vision that all of us should pursue!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-16005103115040814732020-02-20T11:41:00.001-08:002020-02-20T11:41:39.657-08:00Boris’ Buses
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Boris Johnson has always been closely identified with buses:
promoting a new design while mayor of London, supposedly painting model buses
as a hobby, and now promising £5 Billion ($6.5 Billion) for more buses and bus
infrastructure throughout the country (my note <a href="http://mlstoutconsulting.blogspot.com/2020/02/boris-goes-big-on-transport.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</div>
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So, I can add my anecdotal report from a recent stay in
London, that yes those London buses work really well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least in central London, offpeak, I found them to be
clean, convenient, easy to use with a card tap, and welcoming to tourists
(including strollers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there
were CLEAR visual and verbal announcements of the next stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why can’t we manage that in this
country?</div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-5187352747698774432020-02-20T08:38:00.002-08:002020-02-20T08:38:35.197-08:00New TRB report highlights huge needs of the Interstate Highway System<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It will come as no surprise to transportation professionals
that the US Interstate Highway System is in need of enormous investment to
maintain a state of good repair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
lot of the system is more than 50 years old and is simply worn out from decades
of much heavier traffic than planned for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A new report (<a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25334/renewing-the-national-commitment-to-the-interstate-highway-system-a-foundation-for-the-future" target="_blank">here</a>) from the Transportation Research Board, commissioned
by Congress, documents these needs in detail and makes a number of
recommendations for the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The central recommendation is that Congress establish a new
Interstate Highway System Renewal and Modernization Program (RAMP), on top of
existing programs, to fund the reconstruction of the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How to pay for the new program?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The authors recommend – wisely in my
opinion – enacting a major bump in the federal gas tax, with indexing, along
with greater freedom to toll existing highways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consideration of
other revenue sources, such as a VMT fee or carbon pricing, would be postponed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This report is a valuable building block for future surface
transportation legislation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do,
however, have two major concerns.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, the authors dance around the issue of adding lane
miles to the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
documenting the congestion on much of the system, they concede that adding
mainline capacity is “an expensive and often impracticable option.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They go further to note that: “Some
opponents believe that adding more urban freeway capacity will further
contribute to the outward expansion of metropolitan areas, increasing public
demand for still more roads and infrastructure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some also contend that expanding capacity by widening
existing routes or building new lanes induces additional travel, leading to
increased highway VMT adding to congestion over time, as well [as] GHG
emissions.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, some do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite these modest nods to the issues
surrounding adding lane miles, the proposed RAMP program could be used to fund
them, and the authors are sympathetic to the demands raised by newer Sunbelt metropolitan
areas.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my view, given the gravity of the climate emergency
facing us, the next surface transportation bill should include a ban on the use
of federal funds for mainline highway capacity increases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We really just. Should. Not. Be. Doing.
That.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, let’s fund transit
capacity increases in Interstate corridors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second, the authors recognize the importance of climate
change, but are mainly concerned with its effect on the functioning of the
existing system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These concerns
are well founded, and a robust approach to improving resilience is absolutely
needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the mitigation
side of the equation – how to use the Interstate system to reduce GHG emissions
and promote sustainable travel – is given short shrift. They concede that: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“As the backbone of the U.S.
transportation sector, the Interstate Highway System contributes to these
emissions and can thus play an important role in reducing them. Inasmuch as the
Interstate Highway System has facilitated low-density suburban development and
reliance on automobiles, a transformation to a low- and no-carbon
transportation system will increasingly mean that its planning is integrated
with the planning of low-carbon mobility options, from public transit to
zero-emission trucks.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also
note the importance of charging stations, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“the lack of which is an impediment to more wide-spread
adoption of zero- or low-emission vehicles in intercity transportation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what do the authors recommend?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More study.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my view, the next surface transportation bill should
commit to “electrifying” the entire Interstate Highway System (and the whole
National Highway System for that matter) by funding installation of fast (and
superfast, hyperfast, etc.) chargers at frequent intervals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be straightforward,
effective, and not all that expensive in the big scheme of things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kudos to TRB for pulling off such an important study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope the report (along with my
concerns!) helps to provide focus to what is likely to be a chaotic legislative
process for the next surface transportation bill.</div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-5328389449115929872020-02-14T14:02:00.003-08:002020-02-20T14:57:49.835-08:00Boris goes big on transport<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many people on this side of the pond have conflated Boris
Johnson’s election victory in the UK with the horror show we are living through
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True, Johnson has adopted
some pretty unsavory election tactics and governing measures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But his overall approach to government
is very different from what we have here. For one thing, he is seriously
pursuing policies to “level up” the British rust belt towns in the north of the
country, many of whose “left behind” folks voted for him out of frustration and
despair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not just talk,
but actual major investments, especially in transportation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In recent days, Johnson has committed the country to
building a controversial high-speed rail route between London and Birmingham
and then further north.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This “HS2”
project – which is estimated to cost well north of $100 Billion – has attracted
criticism for its high cost and for slashing a scar across the bucolic English
countryside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could certainly
criticize elements of its design, but it will still make a dramatic change in
surface transportation in Britain (see a good summary story <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b423927a-4cf1-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5" target="_blank">here</a>, the project
website <a href="https://www.hs2.org.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fastest train
travel time between London and Birmingham will be cut from 1 hour 22 minutes
down to 45 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>London to
Manchester will be reduced by a whole hour: from 2 hours 7 minutes to 1 hour 7
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Major capacity will be
freed up for both passenger and freight traffic on the existing mainlines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rail travel can replace air travel for
many trips inside Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of
these factors will provide a major boost to the government’s efforts to address the
climate crisis – and yes the Johnson government is doing that too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, a project this big will take years to build, with
the first partial services scheduled to open in 2028.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least partly for the purpose of balancing this enormous
investment in one corridor with attention to other parts of the country,
Johnson has also pledged a £5 Billion ($6.5 Billion) investment in buses over
the next 5 years (story <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/10/johnson-plans-5bn-boost-for-bus-services-and-cycle-routes" target="_blank">here</a>), and £1 Billion ($1.3 Billion) in bicycle and
pedestrian projects (story <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/12/1bn-pledged-for-cycling-and-walking-routes-across-england-boris-johnson" target="_blank">here</a>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whatever political benefits the government is hoping to
gain, I’m happy to see them investing in high quality, modern, green
transportation as a way of seeking them!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN80sQ7diXRFYvU91hZ08S-qgilCoo_f0zKZOIPf-C7YMbJTnHXhMQV3orFh5NDVMx0hm-fb3Fk1WQhPBntBtia_ZonojPWDYjKa4GWJbG93WmJX4Cs_Ux2_mlPQ0m6YilYU1_nw16MU/s1600/HS2+plan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="624" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN80sQ7diXRFYvU91hZ08S-qgilCoo_f0zKZOIPf-C7YMbJTnHXhMQV3orFh5NDVMx0hm-fb3Fk1WQhPBntBtia_ZonojPWDYjKa4GWJbG93WmJX4Cs_Ux2_mlPQ0m6YilYU1_nw16MU/s320/HS2+plan.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-25945931015078428322019-11-24T13:51:00.001-08:002019-11-24T13:51:10.194-08:00Musk scores again with supercool Tesla Cybertruck
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have to be pretty jaded not to be impressed by Elon Musk’s
latest electric vehicle: the Tesla Cybertruck.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It looks like some sort of stealth lunar rover, has more
power and capacity than most “typical” pickup trucks, accelerates like a sports
car, has all kinds of cool features like onboard power and compressed air – and
will have a starting price of only $40,000!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take a look at Tesla’s website <a href="https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Motor Trend</i>’s
review <a href="https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-engineering-manufacturing" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or a video review <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTZ84U-K_5k" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have to say it’s very gratifying to see Tesla once again
leap ahead in an area where others seem to be stuck in a 20<sup>th</sup> century
fossil fuel rut!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdjMzxyEwKs2Dz56otC4dpDaAQxzZt7DE6LDvMeI10J6scvhAygaWYqglVeleMzpQESbLOEdSR7umZRwFu1tnyRtsS3AF0zVolpsMf1w03h7QsPIBtmfUUAFk3EuRlNpSCOTcGtCx4No/s1600/Tesla+Cybertruck.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1600" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdjMzxyEwKs2Dz56otC4dpDaAQxzZt7DE6LDvMeI10J6scvhAygaWYqglVeleMzpQESbLOEdSR7umZRwFu1tnyRtsS3AF0zVolpsMf1w03h7QsPIBtmfUUAFk3EuRlNpSCOTcGtCx4No/s320/Tesla+Cybertruck.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16788158585093679071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260477615426399817.post-82375951854432528302019-10-23T14:35:00.002-07:002019-10-23T14:35:32.075-07:00Italian high-speed rail: Freccia Rossa!<div class="MsoNormal">
Having recently had the opportunity to travel in Italy using
their high-speed rail system, I feel compelled to file another in a string of
thousands of reports from Americans envying European trains.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Freccia Rossa (red arrow) is the Italian Railway’s
high-speed train, operating at speeds up to 300 kmh (186 mph) on dedicated
right-of-way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(FYI, there is a
competing high-speed rail company, Italo!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trains are fast, clean, comfortable, and punctual with all
reserved seats. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overhead monitors
track location, speed, next station, and other useful information in a very
user-friendly format.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why can’t we do that here?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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