Smart Growth America hosted a webinar Jan. 31 on NITC research finding that standard guidelines lead to a drastic oversupply of parking at transit-oriented developments. That restricts the supply of housing, office and retail space while driving up the price.

The webinar marks the release of Smart Growth America's lay summary of the NITC report, called "Empty Spaces," which will be available to webinar attendees.

Watch the recorded webinar here.

The research, led by Reid Ewing of the University of Utah, is one of the first comprehensive data-driven reports to estimate peak parking and vehicle trip generation rates for transit-oriented development projects, as well as one of the first to estimate travel mode shares for TODs. Ewing analyzed data on actual parking usage and total trip generation near five transit stations: Redmond, Washington; Rhode Island Row in Washington, D.C.; Fruitvale Village in Oakland, California; Englewood, Colorado; and Wilshire/Vermont in Los...

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PRESENTATION ARCHIVE

OVERVIEW

Many transit agencies plan to automate their fare collection and limit the use of cash, with the goals of improving boarding and data collection while lowering operating costs. Yet about 10% of adults in the United States lack a bank account or credit card, and many either rely on restrictive cell-phone data plans or don’t have access to internet or a smartphone. 

This webinar will present part of a larger research project exploring these issues in the cities of Denver, Colorado, and Eugene and Portland–Gresham, Oregon. In this part, we explore the tradeoffs between reducing cash acceptance, ridership and the costs of fare collection systems. How much does it save to reduce cash acceptance, verses ridership and equity impacts?

We will also present a cost-effectiveness framework that combines a qualitative and quantitative analysis and use this model to explore case scenarios in our three cities. The model shows that adding a retail network to...

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The video begins at 2:15.

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Abstract: TriMet has used a computer aided dispatch (CAD)/automatic vehicle location (AVL) system to manage bus and rail operations since the late 1990s. TriMet is currently in the process of updating the CAD/AVL system, and anticipates improvements in bus tracking and performance monitoring. This presentation will show how TriMet uses data from the system to support intelligent transportation systems (ITS) such as TransitTracker and automatic stop announcements in buses and trains, as well as to analyze transit operations such as on time performance and passenger loads.

Speaker Bios: Steve Callas is the Manager of Service and Performance Analysis at TriMet in Portland Oregon, where he is responsible for operations performance monitoring and analysis. This includes analyzing TriMet’s comprehensive automatic vehicle location and automatic passenger counter data archive. Additionally, Steve is involved in various transit operations research projection in conjunction with Portland State University and OTREC. Steve has been with TriMet for over 15 years.

David is an operations analyst with TriMet. He is involved in AVL data mining and analysis, safety analysis, automatic stop announcements, transit signal priority, and real-time...

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The video begins at 2:00.

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Abstract: Urban arterials often represent complex venues of transportation operations, co-mingling non-motorized users with transit services and a wide variety of land uses and traffic patterns. This presentation presents results related to the evaluation of a new Adaptive Traffic Control System (SCATS) on Powell Boulevard in southeast Portland. The presentation will discuss challenges and opportunities associated with the evaluation of new technologies and the development of comprehensive urban arterial performance measures.

Speaker Bio: Miguel Figliozzi is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Portland State University. His diverse research interests include transit and traffic operations, bicycle and pedestrian modes, emissions and air quality modeling, and freight and logistics. He holds a MS from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD from the University of Maryland College Park. Figliozzi is a member of the Transportation Research Board Network Modeling Committee, Freight and Logistics, and Intermodal Terminal Design Committees. Papers, reports, and more detailed information available at Figliozzi's webpage: http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~maf/

The video begins at 2:12.

Abstract: A new way of measuring Level of Service for bicycles, pedestrians, and transit is planned for the next Highway Capacity Manual. Are these the right tools to help us plan and build the system we want? If not, what answers do these tools give us and how should we use them? This presentation will review the approaches to multi-modal Level of Service at the national and local levels and discuss efforts to validate the HCM methods. It will also cover the effect of our LOS policies on climate change and explore ways that we might tweak our analysis to get a more accurate picture of the transportation system for all users.

Bio: Seleta Reynolds plans, funds, and implements bicycle and pedestrian projects as a consultant for the Seattle office of Fehr & Peers. Seleta contributed to the national Safe Routes to School toolbox and has served as a guest lecturer on transportation planning for San Jose State University, Portland State University, and UC Berkeley. She serves on the Transportation Research Board Pedestrian Committee and as the President of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. One of her favorite side projects was a collaboration with artists Steve Lambert and Packard Jennings to imagine the future of transportation for the Art on Market Street project in San Francisco. Prior to joining Fehr & Peers in 2001, she was the bicycle and...

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The video begins at 0:29.

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Speaker: Brian Saelens, Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Seattle’s Children’s Hospital & University of Washington
Topic: Links Between Public Transportation and Physical Activity (Effects of LRT on Physical Activity Based on Seattle GPS Study)

Summary: This seminar will explore the empirical evidence regarding the links between the use of public transportation and physical activity, with a specific focus on using integrated device and self-report methods to identify travel modes and physical activity.

Bio: Brian E. Saelens, Ph.D. is a Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and Principal Investigator at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Dr. Saelens is a clinical/health psychologist. His interest areas include obesity treatment and prevention, especially in environmental factors and policies that influence physical activity and eating behaviors in children and adults. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed original investigation and review articles.

The video begins at 3:55.

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Abstract: Portland is planning to launch a bike share system. Bike share is a new form of public transit that is rapidly spreading through the United States. In 2009, bike share operated in two U.S. cities. Today, 20 US cities operate systems with another 15 in the planning stages. In several cities, including Denver, Minneapolis and Washington, DC bike share has demonstrated the ability to bring new people to bicycling while reducing single occupancy vehicle trips. How will bike share work in the nation’s most bike friendly city (doesn’t everybody already have a bike)? What challenges does Portland face, and what opportunities does bike share offer to reach the Portland’s Bike Plan for 2030’s ambitious goals?

Speaker Bio: Steve Hoyt-McBeth is a project manager in the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Active Transportation Division. He has worked on bike share at PBOT since 2008. Steve also manages PBOT’s employer and commuter Transportation Demand Management program, SmartTrips Business. He has 15 years experience working with local governments and neighborhoods in Oregon and California on land use, energy and transportation issues. Steve is a graduate of the University of Oregon.

Abstract: We study the impact on productivity of a specific operating practice currently adopted by some demand responsive transit (DRT) providers. We investigate the effect of using a zoning vs. a no-zoning strategy on performance measures such as total trip miles, deadhead miles and fleet size. It is difficult to establish closed form expressions to assess the impact on the performance measures of a specific zoning practice for a real transportation network. Thus, we conduct this study through a simulation model of the operations of DRT providers on a network based on data for DRT service in Los Angeles County.

The video begins at 2:26.

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