Moving To Work In The Bay Area
September 9, 2013
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Low-income workers face multiple barriers to advancement
Moving to Work examines the critical role of transit - as well as development clustered around transit (TOD) - in linking low-income communities with career-ladder opportunities
Reconnecting America with Urban Habitat and support from the Great Communities Collaborative today released the findings and recommendations from a year and a half long project: Moving to Work in the Bay Area, a study of the barriers that low-income workers in the Bay Area face to accessing economic opportunity.
The study found that while low-income workers in the Bay Area face multiple barriers to career advancement, the economic and workforce development fields often overlook a key barrier for low-income workers: transit access. In turn, transit advocates often overlook the importance of job creation and training to building a stronger Bay Area economy as well as…
Downtowns, Greenfields and Places In Between: Promoting Development Near Transit
May 29, 2013
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Introduction
Transit-oriented development (TOD) – typically defined as compact, mixed-use development within walking distance of a transit station – has emerged in recent years as a key strategy for fostering quality neighborhoods and reducing auto dependence. Despite the emphasis on TOD in many policy discussions, however, only limited information is available to help communities understand the likely development impacts of new transit investments. This report builds on a 2010 study by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD), Rails to Real Estate: Development Patterns along Three Recently Constructed Rail Lines, to examine the opportunities and challenges involved in promoting TOD in different types of neighborhoods, and the strategies that may be appropriate to catalyze TOD depending on the neighborhood context. By examining development patterns and public investment strategies through the lens of “development context” or “neighborhood type,” this report…
Modern Streetcar Vehicle Guideline
April 29, 2013
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Summary
Modern light rail and streetcar vehicles are fundamentally very similar, the differences having largely to do with how they are applied. The primary difference between the two modes is the degree of integration into the urban environment and the scale of the associated infrastructure. This difference in application makes some common light rail vehicle design features unnecessary for streetcar application but may also require the use of other features that may or may not be incorporated into a typical light rail vehicle.
The Guideline includes an introduction and four chapters: Vehicle Configuration, Vehicle/Platform Interface, Vehicle/Track Interface and Power Supply. Recognizing that streetcar systems vary considerably in form and function, the document identifies and explains the underlying principles and interdependencies associated with each topic, and examines the trade-offs involved in various different design approaches. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the need to…
What Cities Want: The Mobility Solutions Of The Future
April 18, 2013
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Executive Summary
Since the year 2009 half the world’s population has been living in a city, as shown by statistics from the United Nations. And the trend is ongoing. By the year 2050 it is thought that the number of city dwellers will increase by 85 percent to reach 6.3 billion – that is, two thirds of the world population will then be living in cities. This means that cities will have to absorb the bulk of future population growth.
The challenges associated with this development are most evident in connection with infrastructure issues. Transport facilities, power and water supplies and waste disposal all have to keep up with the growth that is anticipated. But we often get the impression that cities are being driven by events – just responding to uncontrolled growth, rather than acting with foresight.
At the same time, urbanization does harbor opportunities for cities. For example, an attractive metropolis acts as a lure for business enterprises of both national and…
The Tramway Revival In France
April 5, 2013
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Currently, eighteen French urban areas have at least one tramway line and by 2014, nine more towns will have opened their first lines. In France, the organisation of public transport is based on a decentralised administrative system established in the 1980s. For thirty years, land authorities have had great autonomy to develop their public transport networks in a context of very heavy car use. Today, the car is gradually making way for public transport systems and tramways have been experiencing a revival for several years now. Tramways have been making their mark over the years because they fit into the scheme of urban renewal, transport planning and environmental concerns. This is a political choice which is firmly rooted in the sustainable development ethos and enables planners to take a new approach to urban mobility and urbanisation projects. Trams have also become a tool for promoting a town, because building a tramway implies a desire to renew the image of the town where it is…
Sound Transit System Access Policy
March 28, 2013
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System Access Policy
Sound Transit’s mission is to plan, build, and operate regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for central Puget Sound. Sound Transit is committed to wisely managing public funds and facilitating access to its regional high capacity transit system while fulfilling the agency’s mission. Sound Transit’s responsibility is to provide and operate a high-capacity transit system delivering fast, frequent transit service that connects the region’s urban centers. Sound Transit is authorized to use its tax revenues to plan, construct and operate high-capacity transit as defined in its enabling legislation (81.104 RCW).
The System Access Policy establishes a framework for Sound Transit’s support and management of, and investment in, infrastructure and facilities to provide customer access to its transit services. Sound Transit will seek to provide or facilitate equitable improvements in access to transit services in cooperation with public and…
TCRP Report 123: Understanding How Individuals Make Travel and Location Decisions: Implications for Public Transportation
March 21, 2013
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Summary
The purpose of this project (TCRP H-31) is to explore a broader social context for individual decision making related to residential location and travel behavior. Because residential location and travel behavior have a large effect on society’s consumption of energy, on levels of pollution, and on health, there is great value in increasing our understanding of the mechanism of choice. Better understanding could lead to better insights on the part of planners and decision makers as to how to predict choice and how to influence it through better policies and design, education, and communication. While the transportation community has considerable experience in using rational economic models of decision making in exploring residential and travel choice, there is less research into decision-making models from other fields, such as sociology, psychology, and marketing research. This project provides a look at an approach from the field of psychology that adds valuable perspective…
Orange Line Opportunity Corridor Report
November 28, 2012
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Executive Summary
The infrastructure needs of the Orange Line transit system are well-documented. But who lives and works in the corridor, and how is the current mix of land uses projected to change? This report provides a baseline understanding of the demographic, economic, transportation, and land use characteristics of the corridor; a schedule of planned and projected corridor development activity over two time horizons: 8 years and 8-15 years; highlights quality TOD projects already completed or underway in the corridor; and recommends five action items to ensure that the corridor receives the continued attention and investment that it deserves as one of the region’s most heavily used and diverse transit corridors.
What are the characteristics of the corridor in the context of the region?
One quarter of the region’s households live near the Orange Line. Approximately 709,900 residents reside within a half mile of an Orange Line station, representing 23 percent of the…
Designing New Light Rail: Taking Engineering Beyond Vanilla
August 16, 2012
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As light rail transit (LRT) systems mature and expand, outlying passengers are faced with increasingly longer trip times to reach the urban core. Providing service to these customers by conventional means can be disproportionately expensive for the transit carrier in terms of operating and capital expense. Innovative operational practices to expedite train movements, however, are often confounded by current LRT design and deployment methods. This is partly attributable to design methods that follow a “stovepipe” approach to individual engineering disciplines and components, rather than directing focus on optimizing railway functionality and flexibility as a comprehensive entity. It is also attributable, in part, to a failure to address the ultimate potential of a railway at the definition/developmental stage and to subsequently articulate and document the operational requirements that are necessary to support the stated mission.
