Challenges for Regional Transportation Planning

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Challenges for Regional Transportation Planning

• TTP 220
• S. Handy
• 3/29/06

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Meet needs given constraints while minimizing
impacts.
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• Impacts
• Efficiency
• Environment
• Equity
• Safety

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EFFICIENCY
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Percent of Trips by Time of Day
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Slide 8 Transit Mode Share by Vehicle Ownership
Source Early Findings on NHTS,
http//nhts.ornl.gov/2001/presentations/polzin/ind
ex.shtml
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Mean Occupants by Trip Purpose
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Measuring Congestion
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TTI Measures of Congestion
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• Issues
• Recurring vs. non-recurring
• Perception vs. reality
• Whats acceptable

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Trends and Causes Is it really getting worse
and why?
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• Work travel
• Women
• Suburbs
• Nonwork travel
• Necessity
• Choice

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• Cost inflation
• Revenue stagnation
• Citizen opposition
• Institutional conflicts

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Impacts Why worry about it?
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What to do?
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ENVIRONMENT
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Basic characteristics of the system?
Energy Air quality Water Noise Aesthetics Solid
waste Sprawl
Fossil fuel Materials Space Speed
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Energy
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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What to do?
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Air Quality
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Source http//epa.gov/air/visibility/introvis.pd
f
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Visibility Impairment from Air PollutionYosemite
National Park - California
...a clear day
...a hazy day
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Source http//epa.gov/air/visibility/introvis.pd
f
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• Health Problems
• Ozone can irritate lung airways and cause
  inflammation much like a sunburn.   Other
  symptoms include wheezing, coughing, pain when
  taking a deep breath, and breathing difficulties
  during exercise or outdoor activities. People
  with respiratory problems are most vulnerable,
  but even healthy people that are active outdoors
  can be affected when ozone levels are high.
• Repeated exposure to ozone pollution for several
  months may cause permanent lung damage.  Anyone
  who spends time outdoors in the summer is at
  risk, particularly children and other people who
  are active outdoors..
• Even at very low levels, ground-level ozone
  triggers a variety of health problems including
  aggravated asthma, reduced lung capacity, and
  increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses
  like pneumonia and bronchitis.

• Plant and Ecosystem Damage
• Ground-level ozone interferes with the ability of
  plants to produce and store food, which makes
  them more susceptible to disease, insects, other
  pollutants, and harsh weather. 
• Ozone damages the leaves of trees and other
  plants, ruining the appearance of cities,
  national parks, and recreation areas.
• Ozone reduces crop and forest yields and
  increases plant vulnerability to disease, pests,
  and harsh weather.

Source http//epa.gov/air/urbanair/6poll.html
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• Health effects
• Many scientific studies have linked breathing PM
  to a series of significant health problems,
  including
• aggravated asthma
• increases in respiratory symptoms like coughing
  and difficult or painful breathing
• chronic bronchitis
• decreased lung function
• premature death

• Visibility impairment
• PM is the major cause of reduced visibility
  (haze) in parts of the United States, including
  many of our national parks.

• Atmospheric deposition
• Particles can be carried over long distances by
  wind and then settle on ground or water.  The
  effects of this settling include
• making lakes and streams acidic
• changing the nutrient balance in coastal waters
  and large river basins
• depleting the nutrients in soil
• damaging sensitive forests and farm crops
• affecting the diversity of ecosystems

• Aesthetic damage
• Soot, a type of PM, stains and damages stone and
  other materials, including culturally important
  objects such as monuments and statues.

Source http//epa.gov/air/urbanair/6poll.html
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National Ambient Air Quality Standards
1 Not to be exceeded more than once per year. 2
To attain this standard, the expected annual
arithmetic mean PM10 concentration at each
monitor within an area must not exceed 50
ug/m3. 3 To attain this standard, the 3-year
average of the annual arithmetic mean PM2.5
concentrations from single or multiple
community-oriented monitors must not exceed 15
ug/m3. 4 To attain this standard, the 3-year
average of the 98th percentile of 24-hour
concentrations at each population-oriented
monitor within an area must not exceed 65
ug/m3. 5 To attain this standard, the 3-year
average of the fourth-highest daily maximum
8-hour average ozone concentrations measured at
each monitor within an area over each year must
not exceed 0.08 ppm. 6 (a) The standard is
attained when the expected number of days per
calendar year with maximum hourly average
concentrations above 0.12 ppm is lt 1, as
determined by appendix H. (b) The 1-hour standard
is applicable to all areas notwithstanding the
promulgation of 8-hour ozone standards under Sec.
50.10. On June 2, 2003, (68 FR 32802) EPA
proposed several options for when the 1-hour
standard would no longer apply to an area.
Source http//www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html
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Source TR News article July-August 2003
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Boundary Designations for 8-hour Ozone Standard -
EPA Region 9
Source http//www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations/stat
edesig.htm
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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Vehicle Emissions Technology Operations Weathe
r/Topography
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Ground-level Ozone What is it? Where does it
come from?
VOC NOx Heat Sunlight Ozone
Chief Causes for Concern
Source http//epa.gov/air/urbanair/6poll.html
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Ex. Fairbanks Weather/topography Very cold
starts Behavior
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Source Transportation Energy Data Book,
http//www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Index.html
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What to do?
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Other Environmental Issues Run-off/Water
Quality Solid Waste Noise Aesthetics/Amenity B
arrier Effect/Severance Road Ecology/Ecosystems
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Sprawl Debates
1. Does road building cause sprawl?
2. Does sprawl lead to more driving?
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EQUITY
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Whats fair or unfair?
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Types of Equity

• Equity of Benefits - or Services
• Equity of Costs - or Impacts

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Equity of Benefits
Who gets less than the full benefit of our
transportation system?
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Source http//www.gao.gov/new.items/d03697.pdf
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
2002_TransRpt/2002_rpt.htmlhhsatn
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Implications
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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Source http//www.hhsc.state.tx.us/octs/reports/
1998_TransRpt.html
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What to do?
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Equity of Costs - Impacts
Monetary Non-Monetary
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Monetary Costs

• Pay for services you dont use
• users pay
• Pay more than you can afford
• ability to pay

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Non-Monetary Costs
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SAFETY
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Fatalities per 100M passenger mile
Bus 0.02
Rail 0.04
Air 0.60
Car 0.94
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Factors

• Drivers
• Vehicles
• Roads
• Conditions

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Drivers

• Characteristics
• Age
• Gender

• Behavior
• Seat belts
• Drinking
• Speeding
• Concentration!

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Source http//www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/N
CSA/Rpts/2004/809713.pdf
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Vehicles

• Size
• Safety features

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Roads

• Location rural vs. urban
• Access freeways vs. highways
• Roadside hazards
• Speed limits

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Conditions

• Time of day/night
• Weather

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Pedestrian Safety

• Disproportionately the young and elderly
• Important factors
• Driver behavior
• Pedestrian behavior
• Conditions esp. night

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What to do?
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Whats the unifying theme?
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At what scale do we address these issues?