THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

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1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2010 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 24, NO 3 APRIL 5, 2010 Down town Im provement Districts Play a Role in Trans por ta tion and Park ing Sup ple ment Munic i pal Ser vices, Pro vide Input, Advocacy, Marketing and Promotion Through out the United States, many cit ies have insti tuted down town improve ment dis tricts (DIDs) or down town man age ment dis tricts (DMDs) to help revi tal ize city cen ters. These dis tricts focus on a vari ety of issues but for many, trans por ta tion is a pri mary con cern. They know that the avail abil ity of tran sit, park ing and safe streets can have a major impact on a city s economic vitality. In gen eral, the dis tricts rep re sent the efforts of busi ness and prop erty own ers to over come the lim its of pub lic resources and trans form their down town areas into inter est ing places for other busi nesses to locate and to work, shop and visit. But no two down town improve ment dis tricts are alike because each is an attempt to respond to the needs of a spe cific area. Dis cus sions with rep re sen ta tives of sev eral DIDs reveal that many play a role in trans por ta tion plan ning and pol icy. Some con cen trate closely on bus ser vice, oth ers on rail, some on com mu ter access, and oth ers on trans por ta tion options for vis i tors. Many focus on park ing avail abil - ity. These orga ni za tions rep re sent the inter ests of their mem bers, and often pro - vide municipalities with technical assis - tance or fund ing for pro jects. For exam ple, The Down town Den ver Part ner ship, which man ages the Down town Den ver Busi ness Improve ment Dis trict, works closely with the Regional Trans por ta tion Dis trict and the city and county of Den ver. It has been par tic u larly suc cess ful as a par - tic i pant in the plan ning pro cess for the reha bil i ta tion of the land mark 16 th Street Mall, and in cre at ing inno va tive pro gram - ming to pro mote sus tain able trans por ta - tion options, such as Get Down town Uncon ven tion ally and Drive Less Denver. Hawaii Uses Sharks Teeth Road Mark ings to Slow Traf fic Inspired by Hawai ian War Club Speed ing is a prob lem on many roads, and traf fic engi neers have many stan dard ways for deal ing with it. But a traf fic engi neer in Hawaii County has devel oped a new, cost-effec tive way of get ting motor ists to slow down: Mark the roads with bold stripes like sharks teeth to get motor ists attention. Accord ing to Ron Thiel, head of the Hawaii County Depart ment of Pub lic The Hous ton DMD describes its trans - por ta tion role as that of a par tic i pant in plan ning the city s next five-year plan. Please turn to Page 6 Work s Traf fic Divi sion, the first mark - ings were fin ished being installed on Leilani Ave nue on Decem ber 15, Accord ing to news reports a blind curve just before the Leilani Ave nue-kaupili Street inter sec tion used to be the site of car crashes about once a month. Since the instal la tion of the mark ings, there have been no new incidents. Please turn to Page 7 Inside Sur veys....page 13 Requests for Pro pos als....page 26 Confer ences...page 27 Sharks' teeth installed along a high-accident location on Big Island, Hawaii. (Photo: Courtesy of Aaron Takaba, Hawaii County Department of Public Works)

2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24, NO. 3 Page 2 GM Un veils the EN-V: Claimed to be a Vi sion for Future Urban Mobility Gen eral Mo tors and its stra te gic part ner, Shang hai Au to mo tive In dus try Corp have an nounced that they share a com mon vi - sion for ad dress ing the need for per sonal mo bil ity through a rad i cal change in ur ban travel. One of the most prom is ing is a new ve hi cle form called EN-V. EN-V, short for Elec tric Net - worked-ve hi cle, main tains the core prin - ci ple of per sonal mo bil ity free dom while help ing re move the mo tor ve hi cle from the en vi ron men tal de bate. EN-V is a two-seat elec tric ve hi cle that was de signed to al le vi ate con cerns sur round ing traf fic con ges tion, park ing avail abil ity, air qual - ity and affordability for tomorrow s cit ies. By 2030, ur ban ar eas will be home to more than 60 per cent of the world s 8 bil - lion peo ple, putt ing tre men dous pres sure on a pub lic in fra struc ture that is al ready strug gling to meet the grow ing de mand for trans por ta tion and ba sic ser vices. Ac cord - ing to a Gen eral Mo tors press re lease, EN-V is suited to this future environment. Three EN-V mod els were un veiled March 24 in Shang hai. They rep re sent three different characteristics that empha - size the en joy able na ture of fu ture trans - GM EN-V Xiao (Laugh) ex te rior. (Photo: Cour tesy of Gen eral Mo tors) por ta tion: Jiao (Pride), Miao (Magic) and Xiao (Laugh). The con cepts will be showcased from May 1 through Oc to ber 31 at the SAIC-GM Pa vil ion at World Expo 2010 Shang hai. Shang hai is ex pected to be come one of the epi cen ters for the es tab - lish ment of per sonal mo bil ity solutions for the future. EN-V re in vents the au to mo bile by cre - at ing a new ve hi cle DNA through the con - vergence of electrification and connectiv - ity. It pro vides an ideal so lu tion for ur ban mo bil ity that en ables fu ture driv ing to be free from pe tro leum and emis sions, free from con ges tion and ac ci dents, and more fun and fash ion able than ever be fore, said Kevin Wale, Pres i dent and Man ag ing Director of the GM China Group. EN-V s plat form has evolved from the plat form of the Per sonal Ur ban Mo bil ity and Ac ces si bil ity (P.U.M.A.) pro to type that was de vel oped by Segway and debuted in April Segway has worked col - labor atively with GM to de velop and de - liver mul ti ple cop ies of the drivetrain plat - form that seamlessly con nect to and power the EN-Vs. EN-V is pro pelled by elec tric mo tors in each of its two driv ing-mode wheels. Dy - namic sta bi li za tion tech nol ogy gives the EN-V its unique abil ity to carry two pas - sen gers and light cargo in a foot print that s about a third of a tra di tional ve hi cle. It can lit er ally turn on a dime within its own op - er at ing en ve lope. In ad di tion, ev ery thing in EN-V is drive-by-wire, sup port ing its abil ity to op er ate au ton o mously or un der man ual con trol. The mo tors not only pro - vide power for ac cel er a tion, but also bring the vehicle to a stop. Power for the mo tors is pro vided by lith ium-ion bat ter ies that pro duce zero emis sions. Re charg ing can oc cur from a con ven tional wall out let us ing stan dard house hold power, al low ing EN-V to travel at least 40 kilometers (approximately 25 miles) on a sin gle charge. EN-V can also im prove the ef fi ciency of the pub lic elec - tric in fra struc ture since the ve hi cle can GM EN-V Jiao (Pride). (Photo: Cour tesy of Gen eral Mo tors) com mu ni cate with the elec tric grid to de - ter mine the best time to recharge based on overall usage. By com bin ing the Global Po si tion ing Sys tem (GPS) with ve hi cle-to-ve hi cle Please turn to Page 5 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 2010, 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. Assis tant Edi tor/researcher: J. Holden

3 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 3 USDOT: Treat Walk ing and Bi cy cling as Equal to Other Trans por ta tion Modes Policy Statement Calls for Full Consideration in Transportation Planning; No New Requirements U.S. Sec re tary of Trans por ta tion Ray LaHood has is sued a new pol icy state ment call ing for full con sid er ation of bi cy cling and walk ing in trans por ta tion plan ning at the state and com mu nity level. The new pol icy pro vides some rec om mended ac - tions to make walk ing and bi cy cling safer and more con ve nient, with par tic u lar at - ten tion to tran sit rid ers and peo ple of all ages and lev els of mo bil ity. The pol icy is an ex pres sion of the U.S. De part ment of Trans por ta tion (USDOT) lead er ship s com mit ment to walk ing and bi cy cling, but it does not cre ate any new re - quire ments for trans por ta tion agen cies. The pol icy state ment high lights sec tions from the U.S. Code and Code of Fed eral Reg u la tions that per tain to walking and bicycling. The state ment has been hailed as the stron gest state ment for bi cy cling and walk ing ever made by a sit ting sec re tary of trans por ta tion. Pro-bi cy cling or ga ni za - tions and com plete streets ad vo cates have called it a na tional com plete streets initiative. Trans por ta tion for Amer ica (T4America), a na tion wide co ali tion of groups and in di vid u als fo cused on cre at ing a na tional trans por ta tion sys tem for the 21st cen tury, had re cently met with LaHood and pre sented him with pe ti tions, signed by thou sands of Amer i cans, urg ing USDOT to make safe streets for bik ers and pe des tri ans a pri or ity. A T4America spokes man called LaHood s an nounce - ment rec og ni tion of the group s ac tions and a ma jor pol icy change ex press ing sup port for com plete streets pol i cies that in te grate safe walking and biking into transportation networks. LaHood an nounced the new pol icy on March 15 on Fast Lane, the of fi cial blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, saying: To day, I want to an nounce a sea change. Peo ple across Amer ica who value bi cy cling should have a voice when it comes to trans por ta tion plan ning. This is the end of fa vor ing mo tor ized trans por ta - tion at the ex pense of non-motorized. We are in te grat ing the needs of bi cy - clists in fed er ally funded road pro jects. We are dis cour ag ing trans por ta tion in vest - ments that neg a tively af fect cy clists and pe - des tri ans. And we are en cour ag ing in vest - ments that go be yond the min i mum re quire - ments and provide facilities for bicyclists and pe des tri ans of all ages and abilities. LaHood pointed out that the inter-agency DOT-EPA-HUD part ner ship on sus tain able com mu ni ties ac tively en - cour ages plan ning for walkability and bikeability. He added that bike pro jects are rel a tively fast and in ex pen sive to build and are en vi ron men tally sus tain able; they reduce travel costs, dramatically improve safety and pub lic health, and re con nect cit i - zens with their communities. Ac cord ing to the USDOT Pol icy State - ment on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommo - da tion, the DOT pol icy is to in cor po rate safe and con ve nient walk ing and bi cy cling facilities into transportation projects. Every trans por ta tion agency, in clud ing DOT, has the re spon si bil ity to im prove con di tions and op por tu ni ties for walk ing and bi cy - cling and to in te grate walk ing and bicycling into their transportation systems. To set this ap proach in mo tion, the pol - icy state ment in cludes the fol low ing key rec om men da tions for state DOTs and com - munities. Treat walk ing and bi cy cling as equal to other trans por ta tion modes: The pri mary goal of a trans por ta tion sys tem is to safely and ef fi ciently move peo ple and goods. Walking and bicycling are efficient trans - por ta tion modes for most short trips and, where con ve nient intermodal sys tems ex - ist, these non-mo tor ized trips can eas ily be linked with tran sit to sig nif i cantly increase trip distance. En sure that there are trans por ta tion choices for peo ple of all ages and abil i ties, especially children: Pedestrian and bicycle facilities should meet accessibility re - quire ments and pro vide safe, con ve nient, and in ter con nected trans por ta tion net - works. For ex am ple, chil dren should have safe and con ve nient op tions for walk ing or bicycling to school and parks. Go be yond min i mum de sign stan - dards: Trans por ta tion agen cies are en - cour aged, when pos si ble, to avoid de sign - ing walking and bicycling facilities to the min i mum stan dards. For ex am ple, shared-use paths that have been de signed to min i mum width re quire ments will need retro fits as more peo ple use them. It is more ef fec tive to plan for in creased us age than to retrofit an older facility. In te grate bi cy cle and pe des trian ac - com mo da tion on new, re ha bil i tated, and lim ited-ac cess bridges: DOT en cour ages bi cy cle and pe des trian ac com mo da tion on bridge pro jects in clud ing fa cil i ties on lim - ited-ac cess bridges with connections to streets or paths. Col lect data on walk ing and bik ing trips: The best way to im prove trans por ta - tion net works for any mode is to col lect and an a lyze trip data to op ti mize in vest - ments. Data is also valu able in link ing walk ing and bi cy cling with transit. Set mode share tar gets for walk ing and bi cy cling and track ing them over time: The by prod uct of im proved data col lec - tion is that com mu ni ties can es tab lish tar - gets for in creas ing the per cent age of trips made by walk ing and bicycling. Re move snow from side walks and shared-use paths. Im prove non-mo tor ized fa cil i ties dur - ing main te nance pro jects. For more in for ma tion, visit tml or con tact USDOT spokes man Gabe Rous seau at or gabe.rousseau@dot.gov.

4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL 24 NO. 3 Page 4 Intelligence Trans por ta tion Min is ters from as Many as 52 Coun tries to Par tic i pate in In ter na tional Fo rum to Ad dress Trans port and In no va tion; Event to be Held Next Month in Leipzig, Germany Paris, France How the trans port sec tor can in no vate for a sus tain able fu ture will be the sub ject of the 2010 In ter na tional Trans port Fo rum, which will be held on May 26-28, 2010 in Leip zig Ger many. This event is be ing or - ga nized un der the Pres i dency of Can ada. The In ter na tional Trans port Fo rum is a stra te gic think tank for the trans port sec tor. An in ter gov ern men tal or ga ni za - tion within the Or ga ni za tion for Eco - nomic Co op er a tion and De vel op ment (OECD) with its of fice in Paris, the Fo - rum aims to shape the trans port pol icy agenda and en sure that it con trib utes to sus tain able de vel op ment, pros per ity, so - cial in clu sion and the pro tec tion of hu - man life and well-be ing. At this year s fo rum meet ing, min is ters from most of the 52 mem ber coun tries will meet with de ci sion mak ers and top think ers from business, civil society, international orga ni za tions, and re search groups to dis - cuss the theme, Trans port and In no va - tion: Un leash ing the Po ten tial. Al - though the an nual meet ing is an in vi ta - tion-only event, an In ter na tional Trans - port Fo rum spokes man said that in ter - ested in di vid u als can con tact their coun - tries delegations to request invitations. The stan dard reg is tra tion fee is 500 be - fore April 30 and 600 on site. There is a re duced fee for those per sons with a pub - lic body, re search/ac a de mia, or an in ter - na tional or ga ni za tion. The an nual Fo rum in cludes panel dis - cus sions, as well as work shops and an ex - hi bi tion. More than 800 se nior-level in - di vid u als are ex pected to at tend. This year s key note speak ers will in clude Dr. Amar Bhidé, vis it ing scholar at Har - vard s Ken nedy School of Gov ern ment; Law rence D. Glaubinger, pro fes sor of busi ness at Co lum bia Uni ver sity and au - thor of The Ven ture some Econ omy: How In no va tion Sus tains Pros per ity in a More Con nected World ; Dr. Ian Goldin, di rec - tor, James Mar tin 21st Cen tury School, Uni ver sity of Ox ford; John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of The Econ o mist; and Dr. Bertrand Piccard, president and initiator, So lar Im pulse. Other high-level speak ers will in clude Scott Belch er, pres i dent, ITS Amer ica; Enrique Baron Crespo, for mer Pres i dent of the Eu ro pean Par lia ment and for mer Trans port Min is ter of Spain; Robin Chase, CEO, GoLoco; George Dragnich, Ex ec u - tive Di rec tor, In ter na tional La bor Or ga ni - za tion; Marc Juhel, Trans port Sec tor Man - ager, World Bank; Hans Rat, Sec re tary Gen eral, In ter na tional As so ci a tion of Pub - lic Trans port (UITP); Chris to pher Ward, Ex ec u tive Di rec tor, Port Au thor ity of New York and New Jer sey; Katsuaki Watanabe, Vice Chairman and Representative Direc - tor, Toy ota Mo tor Cor po ra tion; and Pe ter Ap pel, Ad min is tra tor, Re search and In no - va tion Tech nol ogy Ad min is tra tion, U.S. De part ment of Trans portation, among oth - ers. Main top ics of ses sions will in clude: The Global Trans port Sys tem of the Fu - ture Sus tain able Trans port: Is the Fu ture Electric? Sup ply Chains: Green and More Ef fi - cient? What is the Fu ture of Air Trans port? Getting to Seamless Passenger Trans - port In ter con nected and In te grated: Op ti - mizing Intelligent Infrastructure Public Sector Leadership: New Ideas Need In no va tive Pub lic Pol icy The Wire less Rev o lu tion and the Trans - for ma tion of Trans port Over com ing Bar ri ers to In no va tion Dis sem i nat ing In no va tion: Meet ing the De mands of a Chang ing World Part ner ships for a More In no va tive Trans port Sys tem The Fo rum s ex hi bi tion, in clud ing tech - nology demonstrations, will allow partici - pants to see some of the in no va tions that could change the fu ture of trans port. For more in for ma tion re gard ing the In ter na tional Trans port Fo rum, visit or con tact In ter na tional Trans port Fo - rum Prin ci pal Ad min is tra tor Colin Stacey, tel.: + 33 (0) or by at colin.stacey@oecd.org. Fitch Con firms Neg a tive Out look for Rev e nue Re fund ing Bonds; Rates $215 Mil lion Florida Turn pike Rev e nue Re fund ing Bonds as AA- New York, NY Fitch Rat ings has as signed an AA- rat - ing to the ap prox i mately $215-mil lion Florida De part ment of Trans por ta tion (FDOT) turn pike rev e nue re fund ing bonds. In ad di tion, Fitch has af firmed the AA- rat ing on $2.7 bil lion in out stand - ing turn pike rev e nue and rev e nue re - fund ing bonds. The Rat ing Out look re - mains Negative. The Neg a tive Out look re flects con - tin ued un cer tainty of near-term traf fic growth on the turn pike s fa cil i ties stem - ming from con tin ued weak eco nomic con di tions in Florida and the ex pec ta tion that there could po ten tially be ero sion in his tor i cally ro bust debt cov er age lev els over the next sev eral years. It also re - flects Fitch s opin ion that the eco nomic con di tions that fu eled traf fic growth over the past de cade may not re turn, pres sur - ing the turn pike to man age ex penses and cap i tal much more closely than be fore and po ten tially raise toll rates in ex cess of an tic i pated lev els. How ever, Fitch notes that traf fic de clines have sta bi lized as trans ac tions the first six months of FY 2010 are generally flat. The AA- rat ing re flects the turn - pike s historically stable financial pro - file and di verse ser vice area, which has driven the ex pan sion of turn pike traf fic and toll rev e nue in the past de cade. In ad - di tion to proactively man ag ing ex pense Please turn to Page 5

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 5 Intelligence (continued) and capital needs historically, manage - ment took sig nif i cant steps to re duce the work pro gram and lower near-term debt fi nanc ing. Lower amounts of prin ci pal and in ter est in the me dium will pro vide flex i bil ity should pro jected toll rev e nues not ma te ri al ize. The turn pike s proactive stance to ward plan ning for and de liv er - ing toll in creases when needed is also a rat ing fac tor. The leg is la tion HB 985, en - acted in July 2007 by the Florida Leg is la - ture re quir ing the turn pike to in dex toll rates on ex ist ing fa cil i ties to the an nual con sumer price in dex or sim i lar in fla tion in di ca tor, pro vides bond hold ers with an ad di tional layer of se cu rity in that toll rev e nue should gen er ally in crease de - spite changes in po lit i cal will. The bill does not limit turn pike rate in creases to in fla tion, but al lows the turn pike to raise rates in ac cor dance with pro vi sions in the bond doc u ments, which will likely be needed to main tain a fi nan cial pro file con sis tent with the cur rent rat ing cat e - gory. Pri mary risks for the turn pike in - clude, sim i lar to other toll roads, un cer tain - ties with traf fic growth lev els in the nearto me dium-term, given the cur rent eco - nomic con di tions im pact ing hous ing mar - kets and un em ploy ment rates in Florida. Ad di tional risks in cluded the abil ity for management to achieve forecasted operating ex pense ef fi cien cies and con trol costs re lated to the large $3.0 bil lion work pro - gram. While cap i tal and wid en ing needs to ac com mo date grow ing traf fic along the main line and to re lieve con ges tion in ur ban ar eas have soft ened, there could be po lit i - cal pres sure to con tinue these pro jects. How ever, Fitch s rat ing rec og nizes the turn pike s well-es tab lished track re cord of pru dent and con ser va tive pro ject de vel op - ment and financial management. Toll rev e nues for FYs 2008 and 2009 were $635.6 mil lion and $590.5 mil lion, re spec tively, and rep re sent 4.3% and 7.1% de creases over the prior year s rev e nue. De spite toll rev e nue de clines, debt ser vice cov er age for 2008 and 2009 was 2.4 times and 2.0 times re spec tively, re flect - ing man age ment s ef forts to curb op er at - ing and maintenance costs. De spite re duc tions in the work pro - gram, the turn pike ex pects to is sue $736 mil lion in bonds to fi nance the pro jects in the $3 bil lion work pro gram. The work pro gram ap pears to ap pro pri - ately bal ance state of good re pair pro - jects on the ex ist ing sys tem with toll op - eration and management initiatives as well as ca pac ity and wid en ing pro jects in key locations. System maintenance rat - ing lev els well in ex cess of min i mum stan dards set by FDOT pro vide as sur - ance that ad e quate lev els of funding are being directed to that effort. For more in for ma tion, visit at or con tact Fitch Rat ings spokes per son Cindy Stoller at (212) or cindy.stoller@ fitchratings.com. Con tin ued from Page 2 GM Un veils the EN-V: Vi sion for Fu ture Ur ban Mobility com mu ni ca tions and dis tance-sens ing tech nol o gies, the EN-V con cept can be driven both man u ally and au ton o mously. Its au ton o mous op er at ing ca pa bil ity holds the prom ise of re duc ing traf fic con ges tion by allowing EN-V to automatically select the fast est route based on real-time traf fic in for ma tion. This com bi na tion of sens ing tech nol ogy, wire less com mu ni ca tion and GPS-based navigation establishes a tech - nol ogy foun da tion which could po ten tially lead the way to fu ture ad vanced ve hi cle GM EN-V Xiao (Laugh) in te rior. (Photo: Cour tesy of Gen eral Mo tors) safety sys tems. The abil ity to com mu ni - cate with other ve hi cles and with the in fra - struc ture could dra mat i cally re duce the num ber of ve hi cle ac ci dents. Us ing ve hi - cle-based sen sor and cam era sys tems, EN-V can sense what s around it, al low - ing the ve hi cle to re act quickly to ob sta cles or changes in driv ing con di tions. For ex - am ple, if a pe des trian steps out in front of the ve hi cle, EN-V will de cel er ate to a slower and safer speed and stop sooner than to day s ve hi cles. Each EN-V weighs less than 500 ki lo - grams (1100 pounds) and is about 1.5 me - ters (al most 5 feet) in length. By com par i - son, to day s typ i cal au to mo bile weighs more than three times as much and is three times as long. EN-V s smaller size and greater maneuverability mean the same park ing lot can ac com mo date five times as many EN-Vs as typ i cal automobiles. The body and can opy of EN-V are con - structed from car bon fi ber, cus tom-tinted Lexan and acrylic, ma te ri als com monly used in race cars, mil i tary air planes and space craft be cause of their strength and lightweight characteristics. For its de but, GM had de sign teams around the world pro vide their vi sion of what fu ture mo bil ity will look like. Xiao (Laugh) was de signed by GM Holden s de sign team in Aus tra lia, while Jiao (Pride) was de signed at GM Eu rope and Miao (Magic) was de signed at the Gen eral Mo tors Ad vanced De sign Stu dio in Cal i - for nia. Xiao of fers a light hearted ap peal, with gumball blue paint and a nauticalin spired de sign. Miao takes de sign cues from the con sumer elec tron ics in dus try, with sleek looks and ex ten sive use of LED ac cent light ing. Jiao s de sign in flu ence co mes from bullet trains and Chinese opera masks. For more in for ma tion, visit i/2010/public/cn/en/env/news.html or con tact Dan iel Flores at tel. (313) or Dan iel.flores@gm.com.

6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 6 Con tin ued from Page 1 Downtown Im prove ment Dis tricts Play a Role in Trans por ta tion Ac cord ing to Angie Bertinot, the dis trict s di rec tor of mar ket ing and com mu ni ca - tions, im proved ac cess and mo bil ity are ma jor con cerns, and the dis trict works closely with the city, METRO and TxDOT. Bertinot told UTM, We are cur - rently in the plan ning pro cess and se cur ing fund ing for a down town circulator that is in ad di tion to the METRO bus sys tem that runs down town. It would be a free circulator... The Down town Dis trict would pur chase the equip ment and hire an op er a - tor to man age and op er ate the ser vice. In con trast, the Fort Wayne DID is ac - tively in volved with the North east In di ana Passenger Rail Association (NIPRA) to fa - cil i tate the re turn of pas sen ger train ser vice to Fort Wayne. Rich ard Da vis, the dis trict pres i dent, told UTM that DID staff pro - vides stra te gic mar ket ing, tech no log i cal and ad min is tra tive sup port to NIPRA, a non-profit group that ad vo cates for pas - sen ger rail. As a re sult of NIPRA s ef forts in 2009, the In di ana De part ment of Trans - por ta tion ap plied for $2.8 bil lion in fed eral stim u lus money to fund a high-speed rail line from Cleveland to Chicago, through Fort Wayne. The mem ber ship of DIDs tends to be busi nesses and com mer cial prop erty own - ers within the or ga ni za tion s geo graphic area; they im pose an as sess ment upon them selves as an in vest ment in the fu ture of their busi ness and prop erty. For ex am - ple, the Down town Den ver Part ner ship s mem ber ship in cludes more than 600 var - ied busi nesses lo cated in and around down town Den ver. The Down town Den ver Busi ness Im prove ment Dis trict is funded by commercial property owners. City traf fic en gi neers seem to agree that DIDs play an im por tant role in trans por ta - tion. As Hous ton s City Traf fic En gi neer Jeff Weatherford ex plained, the Down - town Man age ment Dis trict co or di nates ef - forts with the city, and we en gage in on-go - ing dis cus sions re volv ing around mo bil ity in the down town area... The Down town Man age ment Dis trict acts as a clear ing house for in for ma tion com ing from the down town busi nesses and build ing own - ers and acts as an ad vo cate for them. Hav - ing one point of con tact to dis cuss mo bil ity is sues as opposed to hundreds is of benefit to the city. Many DIDs bring the con cerns of com - mu ters and down town vis i tors to the plan - ning ta ble. Bertinot said that the Hous ton DMD re cently con ducted a sur vey of down town work ers and more than 13,000 re sponded. The goal was to iden tify cur - rent com mute mode split and ways to fur - ther im prove em ployee ac cess to down - town. We con tinue to help sup port and pro mote strong pe des trian, bi cy cle and tran sit con nec tions from ad ja cent neigh - bor hoods into downtown, she said. None of the DIDs said they play a sig - nif i cant role in rezoning ap pli ca tions for down town prop er ties, though on oc ca sion they advocate for certain applications or projects. Mike Breitinger, executive director of the El Paso Down town Man age ment Dis - trict, said that stake holders con cerns in - clude park ing me ters and rates, mass tran - sit routes and street con struc tion and co or - di na tion. More over, he stressed, the El Paso dis trict works on In ter na tional Bridge wait-time is sues, which are of ma jor con - cern to the en tire com mu nity. Thou sands of peo ple cross the bridge from El Paso to get to Juarez, Mexico. In Knox ville, Ten nes see, Cen tral Busi - ness Im prove ment Dis trict (CBID) Di rec - tor Michele Hummel says the dis trict works with the city, the DOT, and stake - holders not only on trans por ta tion pol icy, traf fic flow and new con struc tion pro jects, but also on re pair of older bridges or side - walks. Sim i larly, Rich ard Da vis says that the Fort Wayne DID will be work ing with city plan ners to better con fig ure Wash ing - ton and Jef fer son Bou le vards, a one-way pair of roads that were orig i nally en gi - neered to carry ve hi cle traf fic through down town as ef fi ciently as pos si ble. Da vis said these roads cur rently di vide the south - ern half of down town from the north ern half, and they need to be made more ac ces - si ble and friendly to pedestrians crossing those corridors. Park ing avail abil ity and pric ing is a cen tral con cern. In Fort Wayne, the DID is ac tively in volved in help ing the city come up wit a more bal anced on-street, off-street park ing strat egy and rate struc ture. In Knox ville, the CBID pro vides a park ing to ken pro gram for busi nesses, which al - lows them to pur chase to kens to give to cus tom ers for free park ing down town. The CBID also pro vides a res i den tial on-street park ing pro gram and helps busi nesses and Please turn to Page 7 The Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District. (Photo: Cour tesy of Andre Allegre, Fort Wayne DID)

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 7 Con tin ued from Page 6 Downtown Im prove ment Dis tricts Play a Role in Trans por ta tion res i dents with meeting their parking needs. Some down town im prove ment dis tricts work to sup ple ment mu nic i pal sign age pro grams. The Knox ville CBID is work - ing with the city on a new wayfinding pro - gram for down town that will help dis pel the no tion that "there is no place to park" and take the un eas i ness out of travel for those un fa mil iar with down town des ti na - tions. Sim i larly the Down town Den ver Part ner ship (DDP) is work ing with the city and county and lo cal park ing op er a tors to cre ate a new pub lic park ing sign age pro - gram. Ac cord ing to DDP Trans por ta tion & Spe cial Pro jects Man ager Aylene McCallum, this will help cre ate a con sis - tent and uniform brand for all public parking options. Many DIDs help mu nic i pal ser vice pro - vid ers with pro mo tion and mar ket ing. In El Paso, the dis trict pro duced a map/guide for the pub lic which in cluded bus routes, park ing in for ma tion and tour ist high lights. The Knox ville CBID helps mar ket park ing pro grams, such as free park ing on nights and week ends down town. In Fort Wayne, the DID website, fea tures an in ter ac tive park ing Transit options in downtown Houston. (Photo: Cour tesy of Katya Horner, Houston DMD) sug ges tion map, park ing tips and strat e - gies, and parking alerts and updates. Bertinot says that the great est achieve - ment of the Hous ton DMD to date is as a facilitator or coordinator between multiple agen cies, or ga ni za tions and prop erty own - ers on ma jor tran sit pro jects, such as METRO s East End line. The role we have as sumed is to work with the ma jor prop erty own ers along the rail line in down town to make sure they are not only well-in formed about the line but also have in put re gard ing con struc tion, rail stops and how it af fects their property, she said. For more in for ma tion, please visit or con tact Aylene McCallum at amccallum@downtowndenver.com, visit or con tact Angie Bertinot at angie@downtowndistrict.org, visit or con tact Rich ard Da vis at Richard@downtownfortwayne.com, visit ct.org or con tact Mike Breitinger at mikeb@elpasodowntownshopping.com, or visit or con tact Michele Hummel at mhummel@downtownknoxville.org. Con tin ued from Page 1 Ha waii Uses Sharks Teeth Road Mark ings to Slow Traf fic Thiel, a traf fic en gi neer, told UTM that the new mark ings were in stalled on three curves thoroughout the length of Leilani Av e nue, a ru ral road in Puna, the east - ern-most of the six dis tricts on the Is land of Ha waii (Big Is land). The en tire con nec tor, Leilani Ave., is 3.5 miles long. Asked how this lo ca tion was cho sen for the new mark - ings, Thiel said that this road has had many re quests for slow ing driv ers down. The mark ings, which some says re sem - ble a zip per, con sist of white and yel low hash marks that stand out from reg u lar road mark ings. The yel low lines ex tend two feet on ei ther side of the dou ble yel low cen ter line around curves. The white mark ings are the same length but they stick out at the shoul der near the in ter sec tions. The mark ings cost $1.22 per foot and were in stalled by a pri vate con trac tor as part of a larger work or der to add strip ing to the county-owned Leilani Avenue. Thiel said that the very first re quest that he re ceived when he started his job five years ago was to find a way to com bat speed ing on Leilani Av e nue. It took this long to find a way for deal ing with it, he said. The in spi ra tion for the marks, Thiel ex plained, was a Ha wai ian war club that he saw in the of fice of Wally Lau, the Mayor s ex ec u tive as sis tant. The club was dec o rated with at ten tion-get ting sharks teeth. Ac cord ing to a staff mem ber in Ha waii County Coun cil mem ber Em ily Naeole s of fice, the res i dents in the area are pleased with the re sults of the sharks teeth mark - ings be cause the strip ing has slowed driv - ers down. She added that the unique strip - ing is es pe cially ef fec tive at night due to the high re flec tivity of the striping. Thiel wants to keep mo tor ists from get - ting too fa mil iar with the mark ings and for - get ting about the dan ger ous curves or in - ter sec tions that they in di cate. For this rea - son, he is look ing at us ing sev eral dif fer ent ver sions in sev eral dif fer ent lo ca tions. One is said to be along Kahakai Bou le vard at the turn near Keonepoko El e men tary school, where the cur rent plan is to add typical roadway reflectors spaced more closely than typ i cal 3-foot in cre ments. An other is at the in ter sec tion of Aloha Kona Drive, where Thiel may add stripes sim i lar to the Leilani Av e nue version in a design that looks like a triangle. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Ron Thiel at tel.: (808) or by at rthiel@co.hawaii.hi.us.

8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 8 First Di verg ing Di a mond In ter change in U.S. Suc cess fully Re duces Con ges tion, De crease Crashes Sec ond In ter change Be ing Con structed The Mis souri De part ment of Trans por ta - tion (MoDOT), which built the first di - verg ing di a mond in ter change in the United States, is find ing this un or tho dox de sign so suc cess ful in re duc ing traf fic con ges tion that it has started con struc tion of an other such in ter change, which should open in Au gust Af ter years of traf fic back ups and ac ci - dents in volv ing mo tor ists try ing to turn left, MoDOT un veiled the first di verg ing di a mond in ter change in June 2009 at the in ter sec tion of Mis souri Route 13 and I-44 in Spring field. The op pos ing lanes of the Kan sas Ex press way (Rt. 13) now criss-cross at traf fic sig nals at the ends of the bridge over I-44. Cross ing the bridge, on com ing traf fic is on the right, sep a rated by con crete bar ri ers. This gives left-turn - ing ve hi cles on the Kan sas Ex press way a free left onto the I-44 on-ramps. At the same time, two lanes of traf fic con tin u ing north or south on Kan sas Ex press way are able to travel more steadily through the interchange. The di verg ing di a mond in ter change is de signed to move traf fic more ef fi ciently by giv ing left-turn ing cars un in ter rupted, or free, ac cess to the high way through their own ramps by chan nel ing traf fic, tem po - rarily, to the op po site side of the road. The goals of the pro ject were to al le vi ate con - ges tion and make the in ter change safer, said MoDOT Trans por ta tion Pro ject Man - ager for District 8 Don Saiko. Saiko told UTM that the di verg ing di a - mond in ter change (DDI) is suc cess ful in terms of safety, say ing that within the first six months, crashes have been re duced 50% com pared to the same time pe riod the pre vi ous year be tween the ramp ter mi nals (the area be tween the ramps and over the bridge). There are sig nal ized in ter sec - tions both 700 north and 800 south of the in ter change, and crashes be tween these lim its have been re duced ap prox i mately 25% as com pared to the same pe riod the pre vi ous year, he said. Saiko added that traf fic con ges tion has been nearly elim i - nated at that pop u lar in ter sec tion. Pre vi - ously, he said, cars lined up for left turns backed up into the through-lanes, re sult ing in back ups of three-quar ters of a mile to a mile dur ing rush hour. Now, he said, The first op er a tional diverging di a mond in ter change in the U.S. in Spring field, MO. (Photo: Cour tesy of MoDOT) traffic is moving smoothly. The DDI also has made this in ter change safer for pe des trian and bi cy clists by pro - vid ing a walk way down the cen ter of the bridge, which con nects re tail and res i den - tial ar eas to the south with rec re ational cen - ters (fair grounds and zoo) to the north, he added. The pub lic re sponse to the DDI has been very pos i tive be cause the in ter change has elim i nated the con ges tion. I have re ceived many com ments from mo tor ists that stated they were skep ti cal dur ing the de sign phase and now that they have driven it and use it daily, they love it and state it has saved them a great deal of time, he said. Saiko pointed out that the de sign of this DDI was cost-ef fec tive be cause it uses ex - ist ing lane space with out re quir ing new land for ad di tional bridge struc ture. The cost of the pro ject was $3.2 mil lion and we es ti mated that if we re placed the bridge struc ture and con structed a new bridge us - ing a sin gle point ur ban in ter change de sign, the cost would have ex ceeded $10 mil lion. This is a sig nif i cant cost savings, he said. Asked what was learned from the first months of op er a tion of the DDI, Saiko said that at first MoDOT did not sig nal ize the right-turn move ments from the in ter state to Kan sas Ex press way (MO-13). The right turns were set up with yield signs. Af ter watch ing the op er a tion, we no ticed as driv ers came up the off ramps they would look for traf fic on the nor mal side of the bridge in stead of the op po site side and think it was safe to pro ceed, he said. We were ob serv ing many close calls so we added sig nals for the right-turn move - ments. We also re vised some of the over head truss signs on Route 13 to help driv ers un der stand that the out side lanes were com bi na tion through/left-turn lanes. Some of the driv ers thought the out side lane was only a left-turn lane, he said. Saiko stressed, how ever, that a di verg - ing di a mond in ter change is not the fix for ev ery con gested in ter change. I would highly rec om mend that each agency con - duct a com puter traf fic sim u la tion and com pare it to other al ter na tives be fore de - cid ing the di verg ing di a mond in ter change is the correct solution, he said. For more in for ma tion about the first DDI, visit ajor_projects/greene/i-44androute13.ht ml, or con tact Don Saiko at Donald.Saiko@modot.mo.gov. For more in for ma tion about the DDI cur rently un - der con struc tion, visit ajor_projects/stone/nationaljrfddi.ht ml.

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 9 Inspector General Faults FHWA for its Han dling of Traf fic Flow Mon i tor ing Pro gram Crit ics Ar gue that Wrong do ing Goes Be yond the FHWA The U.S. De part ment of Trans por ta tion s Of fice of the In spec tor Gen eral (OIG) has found the Fed eral High way Ad min is tra - tion s (FHWA s) man age ment and over - sight of the $54 mil lion awarded un der the Trans por ta tion Tech nol ogy In no va tion Dem on stra tion Pro gram (TTID) de fi cient. The OIG faults the FHWA for hav ing al - lowed the ser vice pro vider, Traf fic.com, to con trol sig nif i cant as pects of the pro gram to install and operate a sophisticated sys - tem of sen sors to mon i tor traf fic flow in major metropolitan areas. The OIG in ves ti ga tion was un der taken fol low ing re quests from Sen a tor Orrin Hatch and U.S. Rep re sen ta tive An thony Weiner. The OIG agreed to as sess whether FHWA achieved stat u tory goals and op ti - mized TTID ben e fits for the pub lic part - ners and com plied with 2005 stat u tory pro - vi sions for a com pet i tive pri vate partner selection process. The TTID pro gram was con ceived as a part ner ship be tween the pub lic and pri vate sec tors, the OIG said. The ser vice pro vider was to in stall and op er ate tech nol ogy that would col lect traf fic data from pub lic road - ways in ex change for the ex clu sive right to gen er ate rev e nue from the data, such as by mar ket ing on-air traf fic re ports. If rev e nue reached a cer tain thresh old, the ser vice pro vider, would share the pro ceeds with the pub lic part ner. The ser vice pro vider would also give the data to the pub lic partner to manage traffic congestion. To im ple ment the pro gram, FHWA paid Traf fic.com $2 mil lion per met ro pol i - tan area to pro vide traf fic data ser vices by in stall ing and op er at ing sen sors and data trans mis sion equip ment in pub lic rights-of-way. Traf fic.com then ne go ti - ated agree ments with met ro pol i tan ar - eas ad dress ing terms such as where, when, and how the ser vice pro vider would in stall its equip ment and how the part ners would cal cu late rev e nue shar ing and use of the col lected traf fic data. The TTID pro - gram was de signed to help state and lo cal agen cies man age traf fic flow on in creas - ingly con gested roads. But crit ics have com plained that the main ben e fi ciary of the pro gram has been Traf fic.com. Traffic.com is a subsidiary of the digital mapmaker NAVTEQ. The OIG found that TTID did ad dress stat u tory goals, but it faulted the FHWA for not op ti miz ing the pro gram s ben e fits for the pub lic part ners. Traf fic.com de ployed traffic data collection systems in metropolitan ar eas; shared rev e nues; and pro duced soft ware to gen er ate traf fic re ports for fed - eral and state agen cies. How ever, the FHWA al lowed Traf fic.com to con trol sig - nif i cant as pects of the pro gram. Con se - quently, participating metropolitan areas re ceived less shared rev e nue, achieved less than full in fra struc ture in te gra tion and ob - tained less reliable travel time estimates and traffic operations. For ex am ple, the FHWA al lowed Traf - fic.com to de ter mine the ba sis for cal cu lat - ing rev e nue shar ing with the lo cal part ners and did not en sure that the de ter mi na tion was op ti mal. This re sulted in less rev e - nue-shar ing funds be ing paid to the lo cal part ner than should have been pro vided. More over, the OIG found that the FHWA al lowed Traf fic.com to re serve the pub lic part ners shares for sys tem op er a tions and capital improvements. The OIG also found that the FHWA used some atyp i cal mea sures to im prove the ser vice pro vider s fis cal sta bil ity. Most no ta bly, FHWA paid the ser vice pro vider most of the fed eral $2 mil lion per met ro pol i tan area well in ad vance of re - ceiv ing any traf fic data even though the pri mary fed eral in ter est was in the data, not the infrastructure. The OIG con cludes that, with sev eral years re main ing on the FHWA s task or der with Traf fic.com, the FHWA should take steps to en sure a more op ti mal dis tri bu tion be tween the pub lic and pri vate part ners. To this end, it rec om mends that the Fed eral Highway Administrator: De fine and doc u ment a more op ti mal meth od ol ogy for rev e nue shar ing be - tween the ser vice pro vider and the met - ro pol i tan ar eas, con sid er ing any ex clu - sions or de duc tions from the ser vice pro - vider s gross rev e nues. Test the ser vice pro vider s rev e nue shar - ing for ac cu racy ac cord ing to the doc u - mented meth od ol ogy. De velop and im ple ment op tions to in - crease integration of traffic information and post ing on high way mes sage signs. De velop and im ple ment a data ser vice plan that re quires timely com mu ni ca - tion of test re sults and prompts remediation of any re sults be low the min i mum per for mance level. Re gard ing com pe ti tion, for TTID ser vice pro vi sion, the OIG found that FHWA took ac tion to com ply with the 2005 stat u - tory pro vi sions call ing for a com pet i tive private partner selection process. However, it said that the FHWA had lim ited TTID funds re main ing and ex pe ri enced delays during the competitive solicitation pro cess. Then, Con gress re scinded the re - main ing money be fore FHWA com pleted the com pe ti tion. For this rea son, the FHWA was not able to com ply with com - petitive selection provisions. The OIG re view of the FHWA s man - age ment of the TTID pro gram was trig - gered by re quests from U.S. Sen a tor Orrin Hatch and U.S. Rep re sen ta tive An thony Weiner. Wiener ques tioned the ar range - ment with Traf fic.com both in terms of whether proper pro cure ment prac tices were used and in terms of the ser vice pro - vider s abil ity to dou ble dip that is, to re ceive fed eral funds to de velop its in for - ma tion col lec tion sys tems and then to charge pub lic agen cies for the use of that information. Re ac tion to the OIG re port has been un fa vor able. Jerry Werner, a for mer con - sul tant with the USDOT and the for mer editorial director of the National Trans - portation Operations Coalition, believes that the OIG s find ings were re ally an easy out. Werner told UTM that the real cul prits were high-level elected and ap - pointed of fi cials who were in volved over many years in set ting up and sus tain ing a very lop sided and coun ter pro duc tive fed - eral pro gram for "an ex traor di - narily-well-po lit i cally-con nected com - pany." A re cent ar ti cle writ ten by Werner with Pe ter Sam uel, the ed i tor of Please turn to Page 12

10 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 5, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 3 Page 10 Transportation Tort Liability: Case in Review Il li nois Ap pel late Court Finds City of Evanston Not Entitled to Discretionary Immunity After an Injury in an Un im proved Al ley On July 10, 2004, plain tiff-ap pel lee in - jured her el bow when she fell in the un im - proved al ley next to her house, while car ry - ing yard waste to a city-sup plied trash bin. She brought suit against the city of Evanston claim ing her in ju ries arose from the municipality s negligent maintenance of the al ley. The Cir cuit Court of Cook County found in fa vor of the home owner. City ap - pealed, ar gu ing that plain tiff was not an in - tended user of the mu nic i pal al ley; sec ond, that the trial court abused its dis cre tion in de ter min ing as a mat ter of law that plain tiff was an in tended user of the al ley and fi - nally, that it had im mu nity from li a bil ity pur su ant to of the Lo cal Gov ern - men tal and Gov ern men tal Employees Tort Immunity Act. The Ap pel late Court, held that: (1) home owner was an in tended user of al - ley, as re quired for city to owe her a duty of or di nary care un der the Act, and (2) city was not en ti tled to dis cre tion ary immunity. Back ground Plain tiff s yard waste bin, along with dis - posal con tain ers for re cy cling and trash, sit out side her prop erty along the east-west al - ley abut ting the prop erty. The bin site is reached through a gated fence that en cir - cles the yard, one of a num ber of im prove - ments made to the prop erty when plain tiff bought it in Plain tiff trip ped in a soft ball-sized de pres sion in the un im - proved al ley, caus ing her to fall and suf fer in ju ries to her el bow. The al ley was un im proved, i.e. un - paved, and dur ing win ters sig nif i cant dam - age was caused to the sur face of the al ley. In or der to ad dress this prob lem, the city had in sti tuted a pro gram of an nu ally re - grad ing its unimproved alleys. At trial plain tiff s part ner tes ti fied she had com plained to the city about the con di - tion of the east-west al ley for years, leav - ing voic mes sages and fi nally, in March 2004, ing a city al der man re - gard ing traf fic dam age to the al ley which cre ated a dan ger ous con di tion in the vi cin - ity of the gate to the prop erty. Shortly there - af ter the alderman vis ited the al ley and agreed the area around the gate was in poor con di tion. The al der man told plain tiff she would place plain tiff s res i dence on the city s pri or ity list for al ley re pairs and in - structed her to tele phone the city to fol - low-up and con firm that this was done. A city Pub lic Work s su per vi sor tes ti - fied that the city did not main tain its un im - proved alleys for pe des trian traf fic; it main - tained them only for ve hic u lar traf fic. As weather per mit ted in the spring, he would un der take the re grad ing of the un im proved al leys, say ing it was his prac tice to en sure that the al ley ad ja cent to plain tiff s prop erty was regraded prior to the city s Fourth of July pa rade be cause of in creased pe des trian traf fic in the area. How ever, he tes ti fied he did not keep re cords dem on strat ing the prog ress of the an nual re grad ing pro gram, nor could he con firm that the al ley had been regraded prior to the ac ci dent. He fur ther tes ti fied that he would per form spe cific re - pairs re quested by res i dents only af ter the city-wide re grad ing pro gram was com - plete. He con firmed that the city would not pick up re fuse, yard waste, or re cy cling from pri vate prop erty and that, ac cord ing to city pol icy, if a res i dent s prop erty abuts an al ley, the resident must place his or her garbage containers in the alley. Rulings At ap peal, the court up held the trial court s ver dict that plain tiff was an in tended user of the al ley and there fore the city owed her a duty of or di nary care. It found that a mu nic i pal ity owes a duty of or di nary care only to those who are both in tended and per mit ted us ers of mu nic i pal prop erty. It found that an in tended user of prop erty is, by def i ni tion, also a per mit ted user. As both par ties agreed that plain tiff was a per mit ted user of the al ley, it there - fore had to de ter mine whether plain tiff was also an in tended user, which came down to the is sue of in tent re gard ing the use of the property. It found that gen er ally an al ley is a road way de signed for ve hic u lar traf fic, and the duty im posed on a mu nic i pal ity is that im posed for a street, i.e. mu nic i pal i - ties do not owe a duty of or di nary care to pe des tri ans walking in the street. How ever, it noted that Il li nois courts have rec og nized nar row ex cep tions to this rule, while still hold ing that mere ne ces - sity is not enough in or der for a pe des trian to be an in tended user in a roadway. One of these ex cep tions is where a city has es tab lished a pol icy re quir ing its res i - dents to place their trash, re cy cling, and yard waste con tain ers in an al ley, which is mu nic i pal prop erty. This the city of Evanston had done, in its pol icy that ex - pressly states that the city will not pick up the re fuse from pri vate prop erty; res i dents must use the city prop erty. The court found that the log i cal in fer ence was that the city also in tended that plain tiff be able to ac cess her waste con tain ers, which meant walk ing in the alley in order to reach them. Fur ther, it cited an ear lier, pre ce - dent-set ting case, where the judge had noted that al leys were "ease ments for peo - ple to get to their ga rages, util i ties, elec - tric, ca ble and gar bage" and that the mu - nicipality had created a safe har bor in which a home owner was an in tended user of the al ley so long as s/he walked along the al ley in or der to reach the garbage containers. In the cur rent case it found plain tiff had com plied with the city s or di nance and gar bage pick-up pol icy when she placed her waste con tain ers in the al ley and thus should fall within a safe har bor, where pe - des tri ans are in tended us ers of the al ley when they walk in the al ley only to ac cess their waste containers. The fact that plain tiff had made im - prove ments to her prop erty, in clud ing a Please turn to Page 11