THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

Transcription

1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2013 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 27, NO 10 DE CEM BER 20, 2013 USF Launches Au to mated Ve hi cle Tech nol ogy In sti tute Focus to be on Pol icy and Plan ning for New Era of Self-Driv ing Cars As Google and major auto com pa nies work hard at devel op ing auto mated vehi - cles (AVs), the Uni ver sity of South Florida is tak ing steps to become a leader in putt ing that tech nol ogy to work on the pol icy and plan ning side. The uni ver sity s Cen ter for Urban Trans por ta tion and Research (CUTR) has launched the Auto mated Vehi cle Insti tute@cutr to help put Florida at the fore front of tech nol ogy explo ra tion and pol icy imple men ta tion. Florida is cur rently one of only three states that allow self-driv ing car tech nol - ogy to be tested on road ways. CUTR Direc tor Jason Bittner says pas sage of that AV leg is la tion about three years ago helped kick off an inter est in test ing and imple ment ing auto mated vehi cle tech nol - ogy through out the state. Bittner notes that when it comes to traf - fic acci dents, 95 per cent of inci dents are caused by human error, some human inter - ac tion. He says, What we are try ing to do is cre ate a safer driv ing envi ron ment by elim i nat ing as much of that 95 per cent as we can. Denis Eirikis, man ag ing direc tor of the Auto mated Vehi cle Insti tute, lik ens self-driv ing car tech nol ogy to the devel op - ment of the Model T in how dra matic a change it will make in Amer i can mobil ity. That s why the stated mis sion of the Auto - mated Vehi cle Insti tute@cutr is to help com mu ni ties, busi ness and gov ern ment nav i gate com plex pol icy and plan ning issues that are soon to make tra di tional trans por ta tion plan ning assumptions flawed or obsolete. Eirikis says there is an over load of scat - tered arti cles and infor ma tion about the advent of AVs, but the insti tute wants to Tokyo Using Under ground Bicycle Park ing ECO Cy cle Lots Pro vide Quick, Au to mated Park ing Be low City Streets When space for bicy cle park ing is at a pre - mium above ground, why not go under? That s the prem ise of the ECO Cycle park - ing sys tem being used on crowded streets in Tokyo. Devel oped by the Jap a nese com - pany Giken, the anti-seis mic mechan i cal under ground lots are elim i nat ing nui sance park ing and open ing space for other activities. Giken built the sys tem under the design con cept of Cul ture Above ground, pro vide hard research and guid ance to com mu ni ties, busi nesses and gov ern men - tal agen cies such as state DOTs, MPOs, Please turn to Page 11 Func tion Under ground,. and the ECO Cycle lots can accom mo date 204 bicy cles in an ele va tor-style rack sys tem con cealed below ground. The cir cu lar struc tures mea sure about eight meters across and are bur ied 11 meters under city streets. There are cur rently about 40 of the lots in oper a - tion. A Giken spokes man says all are located in Japan, though the com pany has received inqui ries about the lots from Please turn to Page 9 Inside Sur veys....page 12 Requests for Pro pos als....page 21 Confer ences...page 22 The kiosks and elevator doors of three ECO Cycle underground parking lots in Tokyo. (Photo: Copyright Giken Ltd. All Rights Reserved.)

2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27, NO. 10 Page 2 National Bi cy cle, Pe des trian Safety Bill Introduced Bi-Par ti san House Bill Would Amend U.S. Code on High way Safety Im prove ment Pro gram, Allow States to Set Safety Targets A bi-par ti san quar tet of law mak ers has in - tro duced leg is la tion that would re quire the U.S. De part ment of Trans por ta tion to set sep a rate mea sures for mo tor ized and non-mo tor ized safety. The bill in tro duced by Rep re sen ta tives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Howard Coble, (R-NC), Pe ter DeFazio (D-OR) and Mike McCaul (R-TX) would al low states to set their own safety tar gets and have the flex i - bil ity to choose the best meth ods to meet them. Blumenauer says H.R. 3494, dubbed the Bi cy cle and Pe des trian Safety Act, en - cour ages states to make their road ways safer with out di vert ing fund ing from other safety needs. The mea sure would amend Sec tion 150(c)(4)(B) of Ti tle 23 of the United States Code on the high way safety im - prove ment pro gram to read that the Sec - re tary shall es tab lish mea sures for States to use to as sess (A) se ri ous in ju ries and fa tal i - ties per ve hi cle mile trav eled; and (B) the num ber of se ri ous in ju ries and fa tal i ties for both mo tor ized and non-mo tor ized trans - por ta tion. The cur rent word ing does not dis tin guish between the types of transportation. In in tro duc ing the bill on the House floor, Blumenauer stated, The need for such leg is la tion has never been clearer. He notes that ev ery one is a pe des trian at some point in their trip and the num ber of in di vid u als com mut ing by bike has in - creased by more than 60 per cent over the last de cade. As trans por ta tion sys tems change to ac com mo date shifts in com mut - ing style, Blumenauer says the fed eral gov - ern ment must en cour age ap pro pri ate standards to ensure user safety. DeFazio adds that as more peo ple rely on their feet and on bi cy cles to get around, it s more im por tant than ever to have ac - cu rate safety sta tis tics. He sees the Bi cy - cle and Pe des trian Safety Act as a step in the right di rec tion to ward sup port ing al - ter na tive modes of trans por ta tion and mak - ing roads safer for everyone. Ac cord ing to the Na tional High way Safety Administration, the num ber of road way fa tal i ties dropped two per cent be tween 2010 and 2011 with a 4.6 per cent drop for oc cu pants of cars and light trucks. Coble points out that though over all traf fic deaths are down, the num ber of bi - cy clists dy ing on our road ways has in - creased by nine per cent and pe des trian deaths have gone up by three percent recently. Sta tis tics from the Fed eral High way Ad min is tra tion (FHWA) show that each year, pedestrian fatalities comprise about 12 per cent of all traf fic fa tal i ties and there are ap prox i mately 4,000 pe des trian deaths. A two-way cy cle track in Aus tin, TX pro vides some de gree of sep a ra tion be tween traf - fic and cy clists. (Photo: Cour tesy of the City of Aus tin) An other 59,000 pe des tri ans are in jured in road way crashes an nu ally. When it co mes to cy cling, the FHWA re ported in 2012 that over the past de cade, be tween 629 and 786 cy clists were killed an nu ally and an es ti mated 52,000 have been re ported in jured an nu ally in the U.S. Bi cy cle trips were more likely to re sult in a fatality or injury than motor vehicle trips. Coble hopes that if the new leg is la tion is adopted it will help to pro tect all us ers of our trans por ta tion sys tem, while giv ing states flexibility to enact measures that make sense for them. The Bi cy cle and Pe des trian Safety Act was in tro duced in the House of Rep re sen ta tives in mid-no - vem ber and re ferred to the Sub com mit tee on High ways and Tran sit for further consideration. For more in for ma tion, visit: wbm_1_bm_2_.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/bil LS-113hr3494ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr3494i h.pdf and =(title:23%20sec_hlt _hlt tBM_3_BM_4_ion:150%20editi on:prelim). The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, ISSN , is pub lished monthly, except dur ing Jan u ary and August (10 issues per year), by Law - ley Pub li ca tions, 6813 Jer e miah Ct., Fairfax Sta - tion, VA 22039, Tel: (703) , Fax: (703) , edi tors@lawleypub lications.com. Sub scrip tions $295 per year. Peri - od i cals post age paid at Fairfax, VA. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, P.O. Box 12300, Burke, VA The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor pub lishes cur rent news on all modes and aspects related to urban trans por ta tion. Law ley Pub li ca tions is an inde pend ent and pri vately owned orga ni za tion. Copy right 2013, Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Reserved. Repro duc tion, includ ing pho - to copy ing and fac sim ile or elec tronic trans mis - sion, in whole or in part with out writ ten per mis sion from the Edi tor is expressly pro hib ited. Law ley Pub li ca tions assumes no respon si bil ity or lia bil ity of any kind for the accu racy or com - plete ness of the infor ma tion herein, or for addi - tional or changed infor ma tion sub se quent to the date the mate rial was received and/or pub lished. Publisher/Editor: Dan iel B. Rathbone, Ph.D., P.E. Man ag ing Edi tor: Clarissa Reeves, M.Ed. Senior Edi tor/writer: Carol Ochs

3 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO. 10 Page 3 New Traf fic Con trol Sys tem Re duces Travel Times by Up To 26 Per cent, De lays by 40 Per cent Uses Ar ti fi cial In tel li gence and Game The ory A grad u ate en gi neer ing stu dent at the Uni - ver sity of To ronto is pre par ing to mar ket a new type of traf fic con trol sys tem that uses artificial intelligence and game theory to ad just to traf fic pat terns in real time, re duc - ing de lays and trim ming travel times. Samah El-Tantawy tested the sig nals on a virtual replica (micro-simulation) of a net work of about 60 in ter sec tions in down - town To ronto. Her tests on the model dur - ing rush hour showed a re duc tion in de lays of up to 40 per cent. Travel times were cut by as much as 26 percent. Existing traffic control systems use sen - sors em bed ded in pave ment to send data to and from a cen tral man age ment cen ter, which then sends sig nals back to the lights to ad just their tim ing. El-Tantawy's sys tem essentially bypasses the middleman by letting the traf fic con trol sig nals com mu ni - cate di rectly with each other. As she ex - plains it, Each in ter sec tion en gages in col - laboration with all the adjacent intersec - tions in its neigh bor hood where each one not only learns the lo cal op ti mal con trol pol icy but also con sid ers the pol i cies of its neigh bors and acts ac cord ingly. She lik - ens it to a soc cer match where each player is try ing to score but is also con sid er ing the ultimate goal of the entire team winning the match. The new sys tem has been dubbed Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Integrated Network of Adaptive Traffic Signal Controllers (MARLIN-ATSC) or MAR LIN for short. Re search on the MAR - LIN sys tem was started in 2003 by El-Tantawy s supervisor, Professor Baher Abdulhai, di rec tor of The To ronto In tel li - gent Systems Centre and Test bed. El-Tantawy ad vanced the sys tem dur ing the last five years as part of her doc - toral work. She and Abdulhai are now in the pro cess of form ing a start-up com pany, in part ner ship with a ma jor com pany in the field of traf fic sig nal con trol, to com mer - cial ize MAR LIN. She says the sys tem will cost be tween $20,000 and $40,000 (in Ca - nadian dollars) per intersection to install. Once in stalled, the lights go to work by us ing data on the num ber of cars ap proach - ing the in ter sec tion from dif fer ent ap - MAR LIN, as a soft ware, will be run ning on an in dus trial (em bed ded) com puter and con nected to the traf fic con trol ler at the in ter sec tion to over ride the con trol ac tions of the con trol ler by chang ing the traf fic light tim ings ac cord ing to the traf fic in for ma tion re ceived through mon i tor ing the in ter sec tion (e.g., queue length, delay sav ings). (Im age: Cour tesy of the Uni ver sity of To ronto) proaches on a sec ond-by-sec ond ba sis, which can be gath ered by traf fic video cam - eras. To work more ef fi ciently, El-Tantawy says the lights also need de tailed in for ma - tion about each ve hi cle, each sec ond, such as speed and po si tion. This could be gath - ered with ad vanced video de tec tion sys - tems and/or the ve hi cles them selves, if they are equipped with de vices that al low ve hi - cle-to-in fra struc ture communications. MAR LIN s on-site, real-time sys tem of - fers ad van tages over cur rent traf fic con trol sys tems by avoid ing sys tem de lays and pre - vent ing the sys tem-wide chaos that could re - sult if a cen tral man age ment cen ter breaks down. It may also of fer cost ad van tages. El-Tantawy says MAR LIN co mes at a lower cap i tal cost be cause its re quire ments Each signalized intersection obtains approach vehicle operational characteristics and coordinates with the adjacent intersection. (Image: Cour tesy of the University of Toronto) can be sat is fied us ing in ex pen sive com - mu ni ca tions net works, such as wire less net works be tween in ter sec tions, which are sig nif i cantly cheaper than other adap - tive traf fic sig nal sys tems. In ad di tion, she says MAR LIN of fers a lower op er at ing cost be cause of its scalability, ro bust ness and reduced human intervention. Travelers could get several benefits as well. El-Tantawy says MAR LIN was found to be in tel li gent enough to au to - matically protect critical intersections by hold ing back or metering ap proach ing traffic at upstream intersections to prevent pro gres sive net work grid lock. In do ing so, it could help to re duce de lays, save travel time, cut vehicle operating costs and fuel con sump tion, reduce emissions and enhance mobility. Abdulhai calls the doc toral work sim - ply im pres sive. A uni ver sity re lease notes that MAR LIN has at tracted in ter est from the traf fic sig nal con trol in dus try and re cently won awards from the In sti tute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers In - telligent System Society and The In sti tute of Op er a tions Research and Management Sciences. For more in for ma tion, con tact: Mi - chael Ken nedy at m.kennedy@utornonto.ca.

4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO. 10 Page 4 To ronto City Coun cil Con sid er ing 17 Steps To ward Im proved Traf fic Flow in Down town Area Trans por ta tion Plan ners At tack ing Traf fic Problems on Four Fronts Trans por ta tion plan ners in To ronto are hop ing for the city coun cil s en dorse ment this month of their wide-rang ing plan to im prove trans por ta tion through the city s core. The Trans por ta tion Ser vices Di vi - sion has come up with 17 rec om men da - tions in its Down town Trans por ta tion Op - er a tions Study (DTOS) to get traf fic mov - ing more smoothly. The wide-rang ing list cov ers a host of prob lems from il le gal park ing to con gested ac cess lanes to poorly timed traf fic sig nals. To come up with its rec om men da tions, the study team con sulted with stake holders, ex am ined data about the ex ist ing trans por - ta tion net work, col lected cor don count data from around the Greater To ronto Area (GTA) and looked at two years of traf fic in ves ti ga tion data. It also stud ied city by-law data on the lo ca tions of No Stand - ing, No Park ing and No Stop ping zones and turn ing move ment pro hi bi tions in the study area, as well as guide lines for road occupancy and curbside activities. Study au thors iden ti fied eight key causes of con ges tion. They in clude queu - ing and ex cess de lays on some ac cess routes, bot tle necks caused by lane oc cu - pan cies for both le gal and il le gal park ing and un load ing ac tiv i ties, poor sig nal tim - ing, pas sen ger load ing and un load ing at tran sit stops and in ter sec tion prob lems caused by left turns, in ter sec tion block ages and vehicle-pedestrian conflicts. The study area was bounded by Lake Shore Bou le vard/har bour Street, to the south; Queen Street East/West, to the north; Jarvis Street, to the east; and Bathurst Street, to the west. How ever, the study au thors note that a num ber of their recommendations can benefit areas out - side the study area. To ad dress the prob lems it found, the DTOS iden ti fies mea sures that can be im - ple mented in the next two years to make the best use and ca pac ity of the ex ist ing in - fra struc ture, and it out lines fu ture tasks that can be com pleted to im prove traf fic con di tions and man age con ges tion. It puts the cost of im ple ment ing the study rec om - men da tions at $2.6 mil lion (U.S.) and pro - jects a drop in park ing rev e nue of $818,000 (U.S.) per year. The DTOS ini tially came up with about Passenger streetcar boarding is one of a number of problems identified in downtown Toronto. (Photo: Cour tesy of the City of Toronto) 50 pos si ble pro jects but ul ti mately win - nowed the list down to the 17 rec om men - da tions in cluded in the fi nal re port. They fall into four broad cat e go ries: Co or di na - tion and Com mu ni ca tion, Traf fic Reg u la - tions and Management, Traffic Circula - tion and In tel li gent Systems. The first three pro jects, which fall un - der the com mu ni ca tions um brella, in volve the build ing of a team to de velop, co or di - nate and prioritize traffic initiatives and better ed u cate road us ers on safety and ap - pro pri ate road be hav ior. Trans por ta tion as sis tance per son nel would be used to im - prove in ter sec tion op er a tions by as sist ing and providing guidance on traffic operations. Six of the rec om men da tions fall into the traffic regulations and management category. These recommendations include: adjust ing hours of peak pe riod park ing and turn restrictions; stepping up enforcement of on-street stop ping, stand ing and park ing regulations and adjusting traffic fines; imple ment ing ded i cated cou rier de liv ery zones dur ing off-peak hours; and better man age ment of the im pact of street oc cu - pancy in the area of road/lane clo sures. Traf fic cir cu la tion rec om men da tions in clude the im ple men ta tion of cou rier and de liv ery ve hi cle load zones, as well as hail spots for taxi drop-off and pick-up. Other pro jects ad dress spe cific lo ca tion prob - lems by mak ing mod i fi ca tions such as changes in right-turn pro vi sions or con - vert ing from one-way to two-way streets. Fi nally, the re port makes four rec om - men da tions for the use of in tel li gent trans - por ta tion sys tems in ways such as in stall ing additional traffic cameras and revising tran - sit sig nal pri or ity strat e gies. Some of the pro jects will re quire by-law amend ments that must be voted on by the city coun cil. Study au thors con clude that im ple men - tation of these 17 recommendations will lead to improvements in traffic operations and man age ment of con ges tion in the down town core. They see ben e fits in their plan for busi nesses, res i dents, tran sit, cy - clists, pe des tri ans and driv ers. The city coun cil votes this month on the DTOS plan. For more in for ma tion, visit: _Hlt sBM_1_BM_2 _/2013/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile p df and temhistory.do?item=2013.pw27.13 or con tact An dre Filippetti at afilipp@toronto.ca.

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO. 10 Page 5 After First Year of Operation, I-495 Ex press Lanes Revenue Still Below Estimates However, Daily Users and Revenue Show Steady Growth It was just over a year ago that the 495 Ex - press Lanes (high oc cu pancy toll or HOT lanes) opened along the Vir ginia sec tion of the heavily con gested Cap i tal Belt way (I-495) out side Wash ing ton, D.C. Driv ers along a 14-mile stretch of I-495 were given the op tion of pay ing a toll to use the two Ex press Lanes per di rec tion and by pass con ges tion. Though the pub lic open ing got off to a rocky start with a spate of well-pub li cized in ci dents of driver con fu sion, mo tor ists are in creas ingly turn ing to the Ex press Lanes de signed, con structed, and op er ated by Transurban to speed their jour neys. Ac - cord ing to the com pany s lat est fig ures, there has been a steady climb in to tal toll revenue, average daily trips and average work day trips in the HOT lanes. Jennifer Aument, Transurban North Amer ica Group Gen eral Man ager, says the sys tem is per form ing ex traor di narily well. She notes that Transurban reg u larly sees rush hours where travel speeds in the Ex press Lanes have more than dou bled those on the con gested reg u lar lanes. Aument does ac knowl edge that the ramp-up pe riod has been slower than ex - pected be cause it is tak ing time for trav el - ers to adapt to new routes and sign age. How ever, she says her team is fo cused on con tin u ing to ed u cate trav el ers and help them find their way to this new travel option. Quar terly rev e nue rose from roughly $2.4 mil lion in the first quar ter of the year to $4.0 mil lion in the sec ond quar ter to nearly $4.8 mil lion in the quar ter end ing in Sep tem ber. Over those same three re port - ing pe ri ods, av er age daily trips grew from 21,008 to 28,905 to 30,518. Av er age work day trips in creased from 26,294 in the first quar ter to 34,974 and 37,574 in the succeeding quarters. To date, tolls in the lanes have ranged from $.25 to $9.75, with the max i mum toll oc cur ring in Oc to ber. Transurban s lat est fig ures show that the av er age dy namic toll charged in creased from $1.71 in the June quar ter to $1.86 for the Sep tem ber quar ter. The max i mum dy namic toll charged dur - The I-495 Express Lanes (two median lanes per direction) with an exit/entry location. (Photo: Courtesy, Transurban) ing the Sep tem ber quar ter was $8.90 to travel the full length of the Ex press Lanes, com pared to the June quar ter maximum of $7.55. Dur ing the last two quar ters, toll rev e nue grew 14.3 per cent from the June to Sep tem - ber quar ters and av er age daily traf fic for the September quarter increased 5.6 percent com pared to the June quar ter. Fig ures for the fi nal quar ter of the year will be re ported in January. The lanes busi est day was Sep tem ber 12 with a count of 47,303 trips. High Oc cu - pancy Ve hi cles (HOV 3+) travel for free in the lanes, and HOV and ex empt ve hi cles made up ap prox i mately nine per cent of cus - tom ers as of the Sep tem ber 2013 quarter. Transurban points to one suc cess story to il lus trate how ef fec tive the lanes can be at sav ing travel time. It notes, Omniride s Tysons Ex press be gan us ing the Ex press Lanes in No vem ber 2012 for its route from Wood bridge to Tysons Cor ner. In Feb ru ary 2013, the op er a tor re vised its sched ule be - cause the bus was sav ing an av er age of 20 min utes on the trip from Wood bridge to Tysons via the Express Lanes. The nearly $2 bil lion Ex press Lanes pro - ject was built through a pub lic-pri vate part - ner ship be tween the Vir ginia De part ment of Trans por ta tion, the Vir ginia De part - ment of Rail and Pub lic Trans por ta tion, the Fed eral High way Ad min is tra tion and Transurban and Fluor. In an on line sur vey of re gional driv ers con ducted in Sep tem - ber, eight in ten said they plan to use the Ex press Lanes again. The top two rea sons stated for us ing the lanes: needed to reach a des ti na tion on time and avoid con ges - tion on the reg u lar Belt way lanes. Their fa vor ite thing about the Ex press Lanes? Ninety percent reported fewer slow-downs. One ma jor change did oc cur in the first year of op er a tions that gave driv ers in the Ex press Lanes a chance to get to their des - ti na tions even faster. In June, the speed limit in the Ex press Lanes was raised to 65 mph while the speed limit on the main line Belt way lanes re mains at 55 mph. For more in for ma tion, visit: and xpress/uploads/495%20express%20lan es%20-%20the%20first%20year.pdf or con tact Mi chael McGurk at MMcGurk@transurban.com.

6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO. 10 Page 6 Tort Liability: Case in Review Mis souri Court of Ap peals Re verses Cir cuit Court Judg ment Class Ac tion Against Red-Light Cam eras In a re cent judg ment, the Mis souri Court of Ap peals, West ern Dis trict, unan i mously re versed and re manded for fur ther pro - ceed ings the dis missal by the trial court of a class ac tion brought against the City of Kan sas City (the City) and the com pany (the Com pany) that op er ated the City s red-light camera enforcement system. The trial court had dis missed the pe ti - tion with prej u dice but with out writ ten ex - pla na tion or anal y sis. Au to mo bile own ers had chal lenged the va lid ity of the City s red-light cam era or di - nance and petitioned for declaratory relief and dam ages against the City and the Com - pany. The Com pany is a pri vate, for-profit company that markets, installs, operates and main tains red-light cam era prod ucts and ser vices to mu nic i pal gov ern ments throughout the country. The Court of Ap peals held that the or di - nance is in valid and void be cause it con - flicted with state law and that own ers were not barred from as sert ing their claims. Spe cif i cally, the class-ac tion law suit pe ti tioned on be half of two sub classes of plain tiffs: those who had re ceived a No tice of Vi o la tion and paid the fine and costs with out go ing to court, and those who had re ceived a No tice of Vi o la tion but had not paid the fine or tried the un der ly ing mu nic - i pal case and cur rently faced prosecution. Ap pel lants al leged that the City and the Com pany in stalled and op er ated the red-light cam eras and en forced red-light cam era ci ta tions and that some times the Com pany alone de ter mined whether a vi o - la tion had oc curred and issued a citation. In ad di tion, ap pel lants al leged that the Com pany en cour aged a guilty plea and pay ing the fine plus a so-called con ve - nience fee via its pri vate website or by way of a toll-free cus tomer ser vice num - ber, staffed by its employees. Fur ther, ap pel lants ar gued that: The court date was not al ways es tab - lished on the No tice of Vi o la tion. In terms of the lan guage of the No tice, a vi o la tion con sti tuted a mov ing vi o la tion gov erned by state law rather than by an or di nance. The or di nance is crim i nal in na ture be - cause it seeks to pros e cute fail ure to obey traf fic sig nals, a crim i nal act un der Mis souri law, and be cause it au tho rizes ar rest as a mech a nism for en force ment. The No tice of Vi o la tion -- not called a Sum mons -- included in struc tions for pay ing the fine (pref er a bly on-line) or sub mit ting an af fi da vit to an out-of-state ad dress. The doc u ments in di cated that no points would be as sessed for a vi o la tion of the or di nance. Be cause the City s po lice of fi cers did not al ways re view the im ages, some - times Com pany em ploy ees, not of fi cers of the law, de ter mined whether a vi o la - tion had oc curred and is sued ci ta tions. The City and Com pany to gether en - gaged in an un scru pu lous busi ness ven - ture to bilk Mis sou ri ans un der the guise and pre text of a pub lic safety pro gram. Most of the in come from the fines went to the Com pany, de spite a Fed eral High - way Ad min is tra tion rec om men da tion that where a pri vate con trac tor is re - spon si ble for the pro cess ing of ci ta tions, com pen sa tion based on the num ber of ci ta tions should be avoided be cause that sys tem in vited cor rup tion and un - der mined the ad min is tra tion of jus tice. The or di nance did not ac tu ally pro mote pub lic safety be cause driv ers would not be as sessed points and re moved from the road. The City had opted to use a sin gle-cam - era rear-end only sys tem rather than mul ti ple cam eras be cause it was less ex - pen sive. Ap pel lants elab o rated on the is sues of pub - lic safety. They al leged that cam eras did lit - tle or noth ing to re duce ac ci dents due to dis - tracted or drunk driv ers, and that in jury and rear-end wrecks had ac tu ally in creased since in stal la tion of the cam eras. Fur ther, they said po lice of fi cers were pulled off the street and placed in front of a com puter to review red-light camera images, resulting in fewer of fi cers avail able to com bat other forms of crime, in clud ing drunk driv ing, on the street. Ap pel lants con tended that better traffic engineering would be more effective and ef fi cient than red-light cam eras. They also al leged that the Com pany had ob tained le gal opin ion that con cluded that the or di - nance would con flict with state law. The Court of Ap peals noted that both ap pel lants and re spon dents sought a dec la - An illustration of how a red light running camera works. (Photo: Cour tesy of ATS, City of Kansas City) ration of either the constitutionality or general law ful ness of the ordinance. Ap pel lants chal lenged the or di nance on nu mer ous stat u tory and con sti tu tional grounds, in clud ing the pro hi bi tions on com pel ling a de fen dant to tes tify and against the de pri va tion of life, lib erty or prop erty with out due process of law. The re spon dents ar gued that Sub class One lacked stand ing and/or had waived its claims, and/or was stopped from bring ing those claims, and that Sub class Two had an adequate remedy at law. The Court de liv ered its find ings on two classes of is sues: Thresh old is sues and lawfulness and constitutional claims. With re gard to the le gal stand ing of Sub class One, it found that it had es tab - lished it s stand ing in terms of the plain lan guage of the stat ute and by vir tue of the fact that in crim i nal, as in civil, cases there is no right to costs in the ab sence of stat u - tory au tho ri za tion. Fines (at a flat rate of $100) or fines and costs (a $4 con ve - nience fee ) had been paid di rect to the Com pany with out this au tho ri za tion. Sub - class One mem bers had also al leged a per - sonal stake in the mat ter, giving rise to their standing. On the is sue of ap pel lants hav ing Please turn to Page 7

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO. 10 Page 7 Ban ning Texting at Traf fic Stops Could Im prove Traf fic Flow Re search In di cates Driver Dis trac tion Can Re duce Through put at In ter sec tions A New Jer sey law maker is try ing to crack down on the prac tice of texting while stopped at a red light or idling in traf fic. State Sen a tor Rich ard Codey (D-Essex) has in tro duced leg is la tion in the state that would make it a vi o la tion for mo tor ists to talk or text on hand-held wire less de vices while their ve hi cle is tem po rarily stopped. Codey is spon sor ing the bill to bring the state in com pli ance with fed eral stan dards un der the Dis tracted Driv ing Grant Pro - gram. By do ing so, he hopes to make the state el i gi ble to com pete for $17.5 mil lion in grant money to com bat dis tracted driv - ing. States may ap ply for the grants if they have a comprehensive primary enforce - ment dis tracted driving law. Un der the grant pro gram, driv ing is de fined as op er at ing a mo tor ve hi cle on a pub lic road, in clud ing op er a tion while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traf fic light or stop sign, or oth er wise. It does not in clude op er at ing a mo tor ve hi cle when the ve hi cle has pulled over to the side of, or off, an ac tive road way and has stopped in a lo ca tion where it can safely remain stationary. Though more and more states are pass - ing dis tracted driv ing bills, the Gov er nors Highway Safety Administration says the laws of fer a mixed bag when it co mes to de fin ing what driv ing ac tu ally means. Some states al low texting while a ve hi cle is not in mo tion while oth ers don t. Many stud ies have shown that texting while a ve hi cle is in mo tion can be a safety haz ard, but even texting dur ing a traf fic stop can have an im pact on traf fic. A study from Or e gon State Uni ver sity in di cates that those who get en grossed in their smart phones while stopped at a traf fic light can de crease through put at lights. En gi neer ing stu dent Halston Tuss and Da vis S. Hurwitz, an as sis tant pro fes sor of en gi neer ing, in co op er a tion with the Uni - ver sity of Kan sas and Utah State Uni ver - sity, found that driver dis trac tion has mean ing ful im pli ca tions on in ter sec - tion ef fi ciency and war rants fur ther con - sid er ation by the transportation engineering community. To help make the point about driver dis - trac tion, the New Jer sey texting while stopped mea sure, Sen ate bill S3057, also would re quire the state s driver s li cense ex am i na tion to in clude ques tions on dis - tracted driving. For more in for ma tion, visit: trac tion.gov/down - load/re search-pdf/dd_nofa.pdf, Con tin ued from Page 6 Tort Liability waived their rights, the Court re jected re - spon dents ar gu ment that ap pel lants had paid their fines vol un tarily or should have con tested the fine in mu nic i pal court. It de ter mined that the con tra dic tory av e - nues of cor rect ing or de fend ing against the alleged threat (paying an allegedly criminal fine and a con ve nience fee un der a mu nic i - pal or di nance by way of a pri vate com - pany s website, mail ing a pay ment to a post of fice box in Ohio or Ar i zona, con tact ing the City to set a court date, or wait ing for a Sum mons to be mailed) meant that Subclass One had not waived its right to raise con sti - tu tional chal lenges in a court of law in this action. It noted the find ings of the United States Su preme Court which rec og nized it was a de nial of due pro cess of law to sub ject a de - fen dant to crim i nal sanc tions in volv ing his lib erty or prop erty be fore a tri bu nal that has a di rect, per sonal, and sub stan tial pe cu ni ary in ter est in con vict ing him. Fur ther, that the Su preme Court had rec og nized that to al low pri vate pros e cu tors, em ployed by pri vate citizens, to participate in the prosecution of a de fen dant is inherently and fundamentally unfair. Here, ap pel lants al leged that the Com - pany s em ploy ees (who were not at tor neys li censed in the state of Mis souri) acted as law enforcement officers in determining that the or di nance had been vi o lated; acted as pros e cu tors in fil ing the charge and in send ing out no tices of the vi o la tions; and acted as the judge in con sid er ing and rul ing on re but tal sub mis sions from rental-car com pa nies and own ers who al leged they were not the driver at the time of the of fense and in ac cept ing the plea of guilty and re - ceiv ing the fines. It held that these al le ga - tions survived respondents motion to dismiss. Re gard ing the as sess ment of points, it gs/alaska11/com pen dium/mod er - ated%20session%20papers/6c-halston %20Tuss.pdf, - fer ences/2011/rss/3/stavrinos,d.pdf. found that the City per mit ted what the state law prohibited: the classification of run ning a red light as a non-mov ing vi o la - tion free from the as sess ment of points. It found, as a mat ter of law, this stat ute un - equiv o cally con flicted with the state stat - ute and was there fore void. The trial court had erred in dis miss ing ap pel lants pe ti - tion on this ground. On the is sue of the al leged crim i nal na - ture of the or di nance, the Court noted the word ing of the City s own Sum mons (sent to Sub class Two) which re quests a plea of guilty or not guilty and in cludes the threat of a war rant for ar rest if the mat ter is not dis posed of. It there fore found the trial court had erred in dis miss ing the ac tion on this issue. Ap pel lants also al leged un just en rich - ment against the City, which re plied with the vol un tary pay ment doc trine, which pro vides that a per son who vol un tarily pays money with full knowl edge of all of the facts and in the ab sence of fraud and du ress, can not re cover it, even if the pay - ment is made under protest. How ever, the Court found that this doc trine was not avail able in this case in view of the City s threats to take fur ther le - gal ac tion against the ac cused, in clud ing ar rest and/or im pris on ment, and be cause it was impracticable to defend themselves. Fi nally, the Court of Ap peals found that ad di tional ques tions re mained as to whether the or di nance suf fered still fur - ther con sti tu tional de fects and whether and what re lief ac cord ingly might be appropriate. Sub se quently the Mis souri Court of Ap peals, East ern Dis trict ruled in con flict with the West ern Dis trict in a sim i lar case. For the time be ing, the City is tak ing a wait and see stance.

8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO.10 Page 8 Product and Industry News Toy ota Pro mot ing Fu ture Age of Smart Mo bil ity ; Mo tor Com pany Show cases De vel op ments Mak ing Get ting Around Safer and More Fun Toy ota used its booth at this year s To kyo Mo tor Show to pres ent its vi sion of a not-too-dis tant fu ture where driv ing is more safe, se cure and fun. It dem on strated the new roles ve hi cles could play in the lives of their us ers and so ci ety in gen eral in its Smart Mo bil ity City 2013 ex hibit. To achieve smart mo bil ity, Toy ota fo cused on three ar eas at the auto show: Next-Gen er a tion Ur ban Trans port Sys - tems, Co op er a tive In tel li gent Trans port Systems and Next-Generation Telematics. It be lieves de vel op ment in each of these ar - eas is crit i cal to a Smart Mo bil ity Society in the future. Toy ota s ver sion of a next-gen er a tion ur ban trans port sys tem, Ha:mo, is al ready be ing tested in Ja pan and com bines the use pub lic trans por ta tion with a num ber of new per sonal ve hi cles. Toy ota used the auto show to high light per sonal ve hi cles in de - vel op ment such as the Toy ota i-road, T.COM and Winglet. The mo tor com pany de scribes its Toy - ota i-road as an ul tra-com pact ve hi cle that com bines the con ve nience of a mo - tor cy cle with the com fort and sta bil ity of a car. Start ing next year, the Toy ota i-road will be used in ver i fi ca tion tests of the Ha:mo ur ban trans port sys tem in Toy ota, Ja pan, as well as in an ul tra-com pact ur ban EV car-shar ing pro ject to be con ducted in the city of Grenoble, France. T.COM is a two-seat er ve hi cle that is ex pected to be added to the Ha:mo pro ject this month. The Winglet is de scribed as an ul tra-com pact per sonal trans port as sis - tance ro bot that makes in no va tive use of ro bot con trol tech nol o gies and a unique par al lel link mech a nism. The Winglet is rid den in a stand ing po si tion and is op er - ated by shifting body weight. When it comes to cooperative intelli - gent trans port sys tems, Toy ota is showcasing tech nol o gies that al low ve hi - cles to communicate with infrastructure, pe des tri ans and other ve hi cles. Its sim u la - tor shows how this type of tech nol ogy could be used to re duce the like li hood that an accident will occur. Toy ota en vi sions a day when In tel li - gent Driver-sup port Sys tems elim i nate traffic accidents, injuries and fatalities. As a step in that di rec tion, it s now of fer ing Co op er a tive-adap tive Cruise Con trol (C-ACC) and Lane Trace Con trol (LTC) as part of its Au to mated High way Driv ing Assist package. C-ACC allows vehicles to com mu ni cate with each other to adapt quickly to changes in the speed of other ve - hi cles. LTC uses sen sors to de tect lane lines and keep vehicles in their place on the road. In the area of next-gen er a tion telematics, Toy ota is tout ing de vel op - ments in its Big Data Traf fic In for ma tion Ser vice, Voice Rec og ni tion Agent and Smart G-BOOK. Toy ota s new in for ma - tion ser vice col lects large-scale driv ing data, such as ve hi cle po si tion and speed, which lo cal gov ern ments and busi nesses can use to im prove traf fic flow and re - spond in disaster situations. The Voice Rec og ni tion Agent is a cloud-based, voice-op er ated ser vice that lets us ers search for and set des ti na tions in an in tu itive man ner by work ing with col lo quial or am big u ous ex pres sions. Smart G-BOOK is a new smartphone-based nav i ga tion ser vice that works for driv ers and pe des tri ans. It can ad just for traf fic con ges tion and in di sas ter sit u a tions, show avail able routes and the way to evacuation shelters. For more in for ma tion, visit: wbm_1_bm_2_.toyota-global.com/inno vation/smart_mobility_society/ and wbm_3_bm_4_.toyota-global.com/toky oms2013/. Exponential Growth Reported in Num ber of Traf fic Cam eras Around the Globe; Vizzion Mar ket ing it self as Turn-Key Pro vider in Traf fic Cam Tech nol ogy Arms Race If it seems that traf fic cam eras are pop ping up ev ery where these days, it s not your imag i na tion. Vizzion, Inc., a world wide traffic camera database supplier, says the num ber of on line traf fic cam eras has been dou bling ev ery two-and-half years since The Toyota i-road. (Photo: Cour tesy of Toyota) Please turn to Page 9

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO.10 Page 9 Con tin ued from Page 8 Product and Industry News (continued) The com pany cur rently pro vides 30,000 traf fic cam eras to 23 coun tries around the world, and it has au tho ri za tions from more than 150 dif fer ent na tional and re gional agen cies on five con ti nents to ag - gre gate cam eras from more than 500 cit ies and re gions for use in me dia, mo bile, web and automotive products. Cam eras have only been around on the Web since 1996 when Se at tle went live with 45 cam eras. Since then, the city s traf - fic cam era net work has grown 1,500 per - cent to more than 700 cam eras. A look back at early im ages from those Se at tle cams also re veals how far im age qual ity has come over the years. A 1997 study found that the high est qual ity traf fic cam era im ages on line at the time were slow to re fresh and 360 by 244 pix els. Vizzion now of fers cam eras as large as 1600 by 1200 pix els and live stream ing video op tions. Vizzion says it now has de vel oped nu - mer ous pro pri etary tech nol o gies to ag - gre gate, man age, fil ter and de liver traf fic cam eras to a wide-range of prod ucts across the fleet-track ing, broad cast, nav i ga tion, mo bile, web and au to mo tive in dus tries. For more in for ma tion, visit: or con tact Keith An der - son at kanderson@vizzion.com. Con tin ued from Page 1 To kyo Us ing Un der ground Bicycle Park ing many other coun tries. A va ri ety of bi cy cles pop u lar in Ja pan can be parked in the au to mated fa cil i ties in clud ing moun tain bikes, heavy elec tric bicycles, compact foldable bicycles, bicycles with rear bas kets and bi cy cles with child seats. Bi cy clists sim ply roll their ve - hi cles up to the el e va tor door at an ECO Cy cle lot and an ID tag fixed on the front frame is read by a sen sor. Once a clamp se - cures the bike, the rider presses a load ing but ton which al lows the doors to open and the el e va tor to lower the bi cy cle to a park - ing spot underground all within seconds. To re trieve a bi cy cle, those with ECO Cy cle ac counts wave their mem ber ship cards at a card reader and the bi cy cle is re - turned through the same doors. Giken says the av er age wait time to re trieve a bi cy cle is only 13 seconds. Walls of the ECO-cy cle lots are made of pressed-in piles, and Giken says the Press-in Method it de vel oped al lows for quick con struc tion with pre fab ri cated ma - te ri als. Once the shaft is con structed, the me chan i cal park ing sys tem is dropped in - side. As needs change over time, Giken says the park ing area can be re moved and the piles re used for other pur poses, mak ing it a re cy cla ble parking structure. When it co mes to price, Giken notes that con struc tion costs are low be cause of the ef fi cient park ing mech a nism and the sys tem ized con struc tion method. Op er at - ing costs are low, too, be cause the ECO Cycle facilities are fully automatic sys - tems, re duc ing man power costs. In fact, Giken says the ECO in ECO Cy cle can stand for ecol ogy and econ omy. Cy - clists win by know ing their bi cy cles are be - ing stored away from any tam per ing hands and out of the weather. Since Ja pan is prone to earth quakes, the un der ground lots were de signed as earth - quake-proof, anti-seis mic struc tures with a con tin u ous wall formed by the pressed-in piles. For more in for ma tion, visit: Con struc tion of ECO Cy cle lot. (Photo: Copyright Giken Ltd. All Rights Reserved.)

10 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 20, 2013, VOL. 27 NO. 10 Page 10 EMBARQ Finds Sus tain able Trans port Pro jects Offer Dividends in Improved Safety Recommends Safety Fac tors should be Weighed in Eval u at ing Sus tain able Trans port Pro pos als Pro po nents of sus tain able trans por ta tion may be over look ing a ma jor sell ing point when it co mes to en cour ag ing in vest ments in bik ing and pe des trian in fra struc ture and im proved mass tran sit. A new re port from EMBARQ at the World Re sources In sti - tute sug gests that these in vest ments have the power to save lives. The is sue brief, Sav ing Lives With Sustainable Transport, says projects and pol i cies that aim to re duce car traf fic, in - crease im proved mass tran sit, and pro mote cy cling and walk ing in cit ies also help to im prove traf fic safety. It sug gests this safety fac tor should be in cluded in the fund ing and eval u a tion cri te ria for sus tain - able trans port pro jects and pol i cies along with more typ i cal cri te ria such as im pact on travel times, lo cal air qual ity, ac ces si - bil ity or greenhouse gas emissions. For pur poses of the re port, sus tain able ur ban trans port is used to de scribe pol i - cies aimed at re duc ing city car traf fic through pric ing or other mech a nisms, pro - jects and pol i cies aimed at in creas ing the num ber of tran sit pas sen gers or im prov ing tran sit ser vices, and pol i cies and pro jects aimed at pro mot ing walk ing and cy cling in cit ies and im prov ing con di tions for pedestrians and cyclists. EMBARQ s study looked at the re la - tion ship be tween traf fic vol umes in cit ies, as measured in vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), and safety. It found that traf fic vol - ume is a strong pre dic tor of travel ac ci dents. The is sue brief fo cuses on ex pe ri ences in Eu rope, Latin Amer ica and In dia, but it also includes safety information from sustainable trans port pro jects in some U.S. cit ies. For ex am ple, the re port finds that in Min ne ap o lis and New York City, which have in vested in in fra struc ture for cy clists and pe des tri ans, safety im prove ments were noted. Though cy cling vol umes in - creased over time, the rate of in ju ries and fatalities for cyclists declined during the same pe riod. In ad di tion, the ev i dence in New York sug gests that the ben e fits ex - tended to other road us ers, too. Streets with bike lanes were also found to be safer for pedestrians. Re search ers found that in Lon don and Stock holm, which charge a levy on ve hi - cles trav el ing through con gested city cen - ters, re duced traf fic vol umes were as so ci - ated with a drop in ac ci dents caus ing in ju - ries. In Bo gota, Guadalajara, and Ahmedabad, bus rapid tran sit (BRT) sys - tems were found to im prove safety along their routes. The re port notes that Bo gota, Co lum - bia s TransMilenio Bus Rapid Tran sit is of ten cited as an ex em plary tran sit re or - ga ni za tion scheme for a city in the de vel - op ing world. It s been hailed for help ing re duce green house gas emis sions and im - prov ing travel times, but the im prove - ments that have come in safety have gar - nered less at ten tion. EMBARQ s brief notes that the BRT sys tem has con trib uted to a re duc tion in traf fic fa tal i ties on Avenida Ca ra cas of more than 50 per cent, help ing avoid an es ti mated 200 traf fic fa - tal i ties during its first nine years of operation. Ac cord ing to the brief, in Guadalajara, Mex ico, crashes on the Macrobus cor ri dor fell by 46 per cent af ter im ple men ta tion of the new BRT buses, and the ac ci dent rate con tin ued to de crease slightly through out the first two years of op er a tion. Fig ures re - ported for the Janmarg sys tem in Ahmedabad, India, indicate that average annual traffic fatalities have decreased by 55 per cent and in ju ries by 33 per cent on the streets where the BRT sys tem runs. EMBARQ says its find ings should be of par tic u lar im por tance in de vel op ing coun tries where a growth in mo tor iza tion is lead ing to high lev els of traf fic in ju ries and fatalities. How ever, the re port s au thors warn that traf fic vol ume is just one of many fac tors that need to be con sid ered in as sess ing the viability of a sustainable transport system. They note that tran sit ser vice with out high-qual ity in fra struc ture and safety over sight will not bring any safety ben e - fits. In ad di tion, they say that even in the most bike-friendly cit ies, cy clists re main more vul ner a ble than motor vehicle occupants. For more in for ma tion, visit : Saving-Lives-with-Sustainable-Transport -EMBARQ.pdf or con tact Ryan Shleeter at ryan.schleeter@wri.org. Traf fic Con ges tion Found to be Key in Development of New Activity Centers around Traditional City Center Long Com mutes Seen as Rea son for Polycentric Growth Re search ers at the Atomic En ergy Com - mis sion (CEA) in France are putt ing a new spin on why large cit ies tran si tion over time from hav ing one ma jor down town area, a monocentric sys tem, to a polycentric sys tem that has a num ber of subcenters. Remi Louf and Marc Barthelemy say traf fic con ges tion is a key fac tor in the change. Their re port, pub lished in Physical Re - view Let ters, makes the as sump tion that cit ies are un sta ble be cause of a ten sion be - tween the in hab it ants de sire for high pay - checks and their dread of long commutes. Barthelemy says their model uses some of the tra di tional eco nomic in gre di ents but with two ma jor changes. He ex plains that they be gin by con sid er ing the city an out-of-equi lib rium sys tem, rather than the re sult of global op ti mi za tion. They also did some simplification that allowed them to fo cus on the im pact of con ges tion. Us - ing an ap proach com mon in phys ics, Barthelemy says they took the com plex vari able of wages and de scribed the av er - age wage in secondary centers as random. With this ap proach, a key mech a nism Please turn to Page 11