Transportation_revised Flashcards
METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (MPO)
As a result of the** Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962** the then, Bureau of Public Roads (predecessor to the Federal Highway Administration) required the creation of planning agencies or organizational arrangements that would be capable of carrying out the required planning process.
MPOs are required for areas with more than 50,000 residents.
- establish a setting: establish and manage a fair and impartial setting for effective regional decision-making in the metropolitan urbanizing area (UZA)
- evaluate alternatives: evaluate transportation alternatives, scaled to the size and complexity of the region, to the nature of its transportation issues, and to the realistically available options
- maintain a regional metropolitan transportation plan (RTP or MTP): develop and update a fiscally constrained long-range transportation plan for the UZA covering a planning horizon of at least twenty years that fosters
o mobility and access for people and goods,
o efficient system performance and preservation, and
o quality of life - develop a transportation improvement program (TIP): develop a fiscally constrained program based on the long-range transportation plan and designed to serve the UZA’s goals while using spending, regulating, operating, management, and financial tools
- involve the public: involve the general public and all the significantly affected sub- groups in the four essential functions listed above.
If the metropolitan area is designated as an air quality non-attainment or maintenance area, then - protect air quality: transportation plans, programs, and projects must conform with the air quality plan, known as the “state implementation plan” (SIP), for the state within which the UZA lies.
Presently, most MPOs have no authority to raise revenues such as to levy taxes on their own, rather, they are designed to allow local officials to decide collaboratively how to spend available federal and other governmental transportation funds in their urbanized areas. The funding for the operations of an MPO comes from a combination of federal transportation funds and required matching funds from state and local government
Five Core Functions of an MPO
the study of traffic flow and behavior to understand current conditions, predict future needs, and inform planning and design decisions. It involves collecting data on various aspects like traffic volume, speed, and direction, and then analyzing this data to identify patterns and trends. This analysis helps in making informed decisions about transportation infrastructure, traffic management, and land use planning
Traffic analysis
the demand forecasting procedure for future year analysis and includes the design year, interim years, and opening year for traffic analysis. Traditionally, an approach known as the “four-step process” has been used for regional transportation planning analysis.
Travel demand model
Travel demand model/proximity distribution assessment four basic phases
- Trip generation (the number of trips to be made);
- Trip distribution (where those trips go);
- Mode choice/split (how the trips will be divided among the available modes of travel); and
- Trip assignment (predicting the route trips will take).
basic geographic unit for inventorying demographic data and land use within a study area. The zones represent the origins and destinations of travel activity within the region
.Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs)
Road classification system
Principal arterials serve longer trips, carry the highest traffic volumes, and carry a large percentage of the VMT (vehicle miles traveled; 30%-55% of all roadway mileage) on minimum roadway mileage (4%-12% of all roads) and provide minimal land access.
Minor Arterials interconnect the principal arterials, provide less mobility and slightly more land access, and distribute travel to smaller geographic areas than principal arterials.
Urban Collectors provide both land access and traffic circulation with residential, commercial, and industrial areas by collecting and distributing traffic to these areas.
Local Streets provide direct access to adjacent land and access to the higher classified streets (5-20% of all VMT; 65% - 75% of all roadway mileage).
Level of Service (LOS) and Multi-Modal Analysis
the speed, convenience, comfort and security of transportation facilities and services as experienced by users.
ratings, typically from A (best) to F (worst)
A= Free flow B=Reasonably free flow C=Stable flow D=Approaching unstable flow E=Unstable flow F=Forced or breakdown flow
Many communities that use the LOS ranking system to analyze capital roadway needs base the discussion “trigger” on a LOS of C. Waiting until the LOS has declined below a service level of C may result in significantly higher improvement costs, fewer design alternatives, and less likelihood that an acceptable service level will be achieved.
Old Paradigm Parking
motorists should nearly always be able to easily find, convenient, free parking at every destination. Parking planning consists primarily of generous minimum parking requirements, with costs born indirectly, through taxes and building rents.
New paradigm Parking
parking facilities should be used efficiently, so parking lots at a particular destination may often fill (typically more than once a week), provided that alternative options are available nearby, and travelers have information on these options. This requires good walking conditions between parking facilities and the destinations they may serve. Parking planning can therefore include shared parking, parking pricing and regulations, parking user Information, and walkability improvements.”
Professor Donald Shoup’s works including “The High Cost of Free Parking”
argues how legally mandated parking found in our codes and regulations lowers the market price for parking thusly creating economic inefficiencies and a host of additional externalities resulting from subsidies parking. In the United States where 99% of all automobile trips end in a free parking space, Shoup estimated that the value of the free-parking subsidy to cars was at least $127 billion in 2002, and possibly much more.
Parking Cash-Out programs
An employer gives employees a choice to keep a parking space at work, or to accept a cash payment and give up the parking space.
Transportation Demand Management (TDM, also called Mobility Management)
a general term for strategies that result in more efficient use of transportation resources **by modifying travel behavior.
By encouraging travel on multimodal and high occupancy modes, as well as managing and reducing peak-hour congestion, this management system seeks to reduce the total number of automobile trips by directing attention to moving a higher volume of people and goods rather than vehicles.
strategies are categorized into six groups:
Parking Management;
Bicycle and Pedestrian Enhancements;
Transit Enhancements and Marketing;
Vehicle Sharing;
Paratransit Services; and
Employer-Based Programs.
Transportation Control Measures (TCMs)
strategies that reduce transportation-related air pollution, GHG emissions, and fuel use by reducing vehicle miles traveled and improving roadway operations. Vehicle use can be reduced through less-polluting transportation alternatives, such as public transit, and strategies that decrease the need for vehicle trips, such as telecommuting.
Transportation System Management (TSM)
Solutions for optimizing roadway and reducing traffic congestion.
Strategies range from technology and information that help travelers make timely and wise transportation decisions to low level capital and operational improvement projects that optimize the capacity of existing infrastructure.The strategies are intended to increase the safety, efficiency and capacity of existing transportation networks by means of physical, operational and regulatory improvements.
Transportation systems management strategies examples
- Intersection and signal improvements
- Freeway bottleneck removal programs
- Data collection to monitor system performance
- Special events management strategies
The Seven Demands of Transit Riders
- It takes me where I want to go.
- It takes me when I want to go.
- It is a good use of my time.
- It is a good use of my money.
- It respects me in the level of safety, comfort, and amenity it provides.
- I can trust it.
- It gives me freedom to change my plans.
comprehensive planning approach to “active transportation” modes
- Public health benefits of walking and bicycling, including cardiovascular health and mental health benefits;
- Cost savings of infrastructure costs;
- Increased accessibility advantages;
- Support for local economic strategies including tourism and commercial corridor revitalization
- Environmental justice advantages, particularly for those cohorts unable to drive or have access to automobiles ;
- Increased social interaction and engagement opportunities;
- Reduced traffic congestion
- Reduced motor vehicle air, water and noise pollution;
- More efficient land use patterns and developments
Complete Streets
integrates people and place in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of our transportation networks.
Vision Zero
strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has proved successful across Europe
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shared by pedestrians, bicyclists, and low speed motor vehicles
Traffic Calming
system of design and management strategies that aim to balance traffic on streets with other uses.
examples of traffic calming
- Changing One-Way Streets into Two-Way
- Widening Sidewalks/Narrowing Streets and Traffic Lanes
- The inclusion of Bulb-Outs, Chokers or Neckdowns (roadway design that enhances ped/bike mobility and serves to slow traffic)
- Chicanes (Sidewalk extensions that causes roadway lanes to meander)
- Round-Abouts and Traffic Circles
- Raised Medians/Landscaped Medians
- Tight Corner Curbs or reduced radii turning movements
- Diverters or physical barriers for traffic movements
- Road Humps and Speed Tables
- Rumble Strips and Variable Surface Treatments (Color/Texture)
Sample of rough trip
