THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

Transcription

1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2014 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 28, NO 1 FEB RU ARY 28, 2014 Environmental Re views Stream lined for Some Trans por tation Projects New Fed eral Rule Took Effect Feb ru ary 12 A new rule is in effect that s designed to help stream line envi ron men tal reviews for tran sit and high way pro jects. As pub lished in the Fed eral Reg is ter, the final rule amends the Fed eral High - way Admin is tra tion (FHWA) and Fed eral Transit Administration (FTA) joint proce - dures that imple ment the National Envi - ron men tal Pol icy Act (NEPA). It amends the pro ce dures by add ing new cat e gor i cal exclu sions (CE) for pro jects within an exist ing oper a tional right-of-way and pro - jects receiv ing limited Federal funding. The changes are required by the 2012 trans por ta tion autho ri za tion bill, known as the Mov ing Ahead for Prog ress in the 21st Cen tury Act (MAP-21). Both the FTA and FHWA antic i pate the new rule will speed deliv ery of tran sit and high way pro jects that fall into two cat e go ries: those to be built within an exist ing right-of-way where trans por ta tion already exists and those that receive less than $5 mil lion in fed eral fund ing or with a total esti mated cost of not more than $30 mil lion and Fed eral funds com pris ing less than 15 per cent of the total esti mated project cost, respectively. In announc ing the rule, the U.S. Depart - ment of Trans por ta tion said it will encour - age pro ject spon sors and state and regional trans por ta tion author i ties to build high way and tran sit pro jects with fewer impacts to reap the ben e fits of the quicker, sim pler pro cess, which requires less doc u - men ta tion for qual i fied pro jects. FTA Admin is tra tor Peter Rogoff says these com mon sense changes may shave more than a year off the envi ron men tal review pro cess while help ing to bal ance respon - si ble envi ron men tal stew ard ship with deliv er ing trans por ta tion solutions to communities more quickly. Research ers Study ing Ways to use Drones for Trans por ta tion Oper a tions and Plan ning Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Show Potential for Improving Safety and Saving Money Research ers in Mich i gan are hop ing to help trans por ta tion agen cies hit the ground run ning when the com mer cial mar ket for unmanned aerial vehi cles (UAVs) opens next year. The Mich i gan Tech Research Insti tute (MTRI) is look ing into ways these UAVs, more com monly known as drones, can be used for trans por - ta tion plan ning and oper a tions. For now, UAV use is lim ited to gov ern - ment agen cies, includ ing pub lic uni ver si - ties, but that will likely be chang ing next FHWA Dep uty Admin is tra tor Greg Nadeau adds that the change in Envi ron - men tal Impact and Related Pro ce dures Please turn to Page 5 Sep tem ber when the Fed eral Avi a tion Admin is tra tion (FAA) is expected to issue new reg u la tions allow ing com mer cial use of UAVs. They hold poten tial for use in a wide range of ways for trans por ta tion, from assess ing the con di tion of roads and infra struc ture to pro vid ing aerial traf fic infor ma tion during major sporting events. MTRI Senior Research Sci en tist Colin Brooks says research ers are cur rently work ing on a $2.4 mil lion pro ject for the Please turn to Page 6 Inside Sur veys....page 12 Requests for Pro pos als....page 22 Confer ences...page 23 A Bergen hexacopter drone used by the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI). (Photo: Courtesy of MTRI)

2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28, NO. 1 Page 2 Mixed Suc cess at State Level for Bi cy cle Reg is tra tion Fees Col lec tion and En force ment Among Hur dles to be Con sid ered As bi cy cling grows in pop u lar ity, some motorists are telling lawmakers that cy - clists should help pay for ex pand ing bi cy - cle in fra struc ture through taxes or reg is tra - tion fees, but the his tory of such leg is la tion is a mixed bag. The Na tional Con fer ence of State Leg is la tures (NCSL) says there are no new state wide bi cy cle fee pro pos als on the books so far this year, though mea - sures in some states are still pend ing. NCSL Pro gram Prin ci pal Doug Shinkle says Ha waii has had a stat u tory state wide reg is tra tion re quire ment on the books for years. The $15 fee is col lected at the point of sale. When cy clists pur chase a bike, deal ers give them a reg is tra tion form that must be filled out on-site. The dealer then sub mits the form to the county, and it sends the li cense de cal and reg is tra tion to the bi - cy cle owner. Fees col lected through the reg is tra tion pro cess go to ward build ing and improving bikeways. How ever, Shinkle notes that Ha waii s reg is tra tion pro gram is used mainly as a means for re cov er ing lost and sto len bi cy - cles. The bike way fund has been gen er at - ing about $400,000 a year for the city and county of Ho no lulu, which has been see ing bi cy cle reg is tra tions steadily in crease despite the fee. Utah re quires all bi cy cles to be li censed to as sist own ers in re cov er ing their bi cy - cles if sto len, but the pro gram is run at the lo cal level. The state code man dates that county, city and town gov ern ments re quire cy cle deal ers in their ju ris dic tion to li cense the bi cy cles at the time of sale. The cost is $2. Minnesota tried a statewide bicycle reg - is tra tion pro gram in the past, but Shinkle says it was re pealed in 2005 on the rec om - men da tion of the state De part ment of Trans por ta tion be cause of underperformance. The $9 reg is tra tion fee Min ne sota im posed was not col lected at the point of sale. In stead, cy clists were sup posed to vol un tarily con tact the DOT to reg is ter. The DOT even tu ally asked for the registration system to be repealed because the ad min is tra tive costs in volved ex ceeded the rev e nue gen er ated. Money that was col lected was sup posed to be used to support bicycle facilities and safety. In Shinkle s roundup of state pol i cies on bi cy cle reg is tra tion, he notes that there are a num ber of road blocks to the ap proval of statewide bicycle policies. Registration pro grams could be a dis in cen tive to ride or cre ate an un due bur den on lo cal law en - force ment agen cies. Some see the fees as an un fair pre text to stop cy clists. There are also lo gis ti cal con sid er ations, such as how and where a reg is tra tion sys tem would be im ple mented, and whether chil dren s bikes should be registered, as well as adult bicycles. A bill in tro duced in Geor gia last year would have re quired a $15 yearly reg is tra - tion fee for bi cy cles, but that mea sure is ex - pected to die in com mit tee. Even spon sors of the leg is la tion said it was de signed mostly to spark a di a logue about bi cy cling in the state. Leg is la tion has been pend ing since last Feb ru ary in Ver mont that would re quire adults to pay an an nual bi cy cle registration fee of $20. A state wide bill that was in tro duced in Or e gon would have re quired a $10 bi cy cle reg is tra tion fee. It failed to win pas sage. Lan guage re gard ing bi cy cle reg is tra tion fees was re moved from a bill in Washington state. Some states, such as Cal i for nia and Wisconsin, leave it up to local municipalities to de cide whether to im ple ment a reg is - tra tion fee. How ever, Shinkle says Cal i for - nia does im pose some lim its on the fees. If a municipality votes for a registration fee, the state distributes the registration forms and bike li cense stick ers. It re ceives money for ad min is ter ing the pro gram and lim its the reg is tra tion fee to no more than $4 for a new reg is tra tion and no more than $2 for a renewal or replacement. A Massachusetts law that allowed municipalities to require bicycle registration was repealed in 2009 due to lack of use. A $4 reg is tra tion fee in Col o rado Springs was ac tu ally pro moted by the cy - cling com mu nity to give cy cling en thu si - asts some po lit i cal mus cle when it co mes to fund ing bi cy cle pro jects, but the idea was n t as pop u lar when a bi cy cle fee pro - posal came be fore the city coun cil in Chi - cago. Some mo tor ists spoke in fa vor of the fee, but bi cy clists ar gued it would be like charg ing pe des tri ans a shoe tax for using the sidewalks. Shinkle says that ul ti mately, the main intent of bicycle registration systems is to track and re cover lost or sto len bi cy cles and get a better tally of just how many bi - cy clists there are in a state. While some of the fees that have been col lected in these pro grams have gone to fund bike pro jects, the pros pects for ad di tional fund ing through state wide reg is tra tion fees is looking dim for For more in for ma tion, visit: or con tact info@ncsl.org. 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 2014, 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, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO. 1 Page 3 New Guide Paves Way to Suc cess ful Bike Share Pro grams Five El e ments Iden ti fied as Keys to Boost ing Bike Share Us age Bike shar ing pro grams are in creas ing in the United States and around the world, and the In sti tute for Trans por ta tion and De vel op ment Pol icy (ITDP) is out with a guide to help cit ies de velop bike-share sys - tems. The organization estimates there are now 400 cit ies on five con ti nents that of fer bike shares, and the vast ma jor ity of those sys tems have sprouted in the last ten years. The Bike Share Plan ning Guide identifies seven cit ies it clas si fies as hav ing al - ready achieved world-class sta tus in their bike shar ing pro grams. It high lights two met rics for de ter min ing whether a bike-share system is efficient, reliable and cost-ef fec tive, and it iden ti fies five el e - ments of a bike share sys tem that are crit i - cal to mak ing it top-rate. ITDP s re port of - fers its guid ance through best practices and case studies. Bar ce lona, Lyon, Mex ico City, Mon - treal, New York City, Paris and Rio de Ja - neiro are cited as cit ies that are lead ing the way for oth ers in two key met rics: the av er - age num ber of daily uses for each pub lic bi cy cle and the av er age daily trips per res i - dent within the cov er age area. Top-rated Bar ce lona av er ages 10.8 trips per bike and 67.9 trips per 1,000 res i dents with its bike share pro gram. New York, the only U.S. city in the top seven, has a sys tem that av er - ages 8.3 trips per bike and 42.7 trips per 1,000 residents. ITDP s guide says the five el e ments that are crit i cal to boost ing ridership num - bers are sta tion den sity, bikes per res i dent, cov er age area, bike qual ity and easy to use stations. If bike share sta tions are too far apart, us age suf fers. The ITDP finds that a qual - ity sys tem needs sta tions for ev ery square mile with an av er age spac ing of ap - prox i mately 1,000 feet be tween sta tions and a con ve nient walk ing dis tance from each sta tion to any point in between. Ide ally, there should be bikes avail able for ev ery 1,000 res i dents in the cov er age area. The ITDP says very large, dense cit ies with a high com mu ter rate should have more bikes to of fer com mu - ters and res i dents. Cit ies that of fer fewer bikes may see a prob lem with avail abil ity dur ing peak pe ri ods, and that af fects the sys tem s reliability and usage. The ITDP guide also says the min i mum area cov ered by a bike share sys tem should be three square miles. If a sys tem is too small, us age can suf fer. It must be large enough to en velop a sig nif i cant num ber of user or i gins and des ti na tions. Bicycle quality also affects usage rates. The ITDP rec om mends us ing bikes that are durable and attractive but practical enough to of fer the con ve nience of a front bas ket to carry pack ages and gro cery bags. It s also im por tant to of fer bikes that have spe cially de signed parts and sizes to dis cour age theft and resale. Please turn to Page 6 Bike stations in New York City (top photo) and Guangzhou (China). (Photo: Cour tesy of ITDP)

4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO. 1 Page 4 USDOT Seek ing In put on Con nected Ve hi cle Sys tems Stake holders En cour aged to Share Ideas about De ci sion-mak ing and De ploy ment at State and Lo cal Levels The Fed eral High way Ad min is tra tion (FHWA) is plan ning to is sue de ploy ment guid ance next year to trans por ta tion in fra - struc ture owner/op er a tors work ing with con nected ve hi cles. In the mean time, it s seek ing in put from a wide va ri ety of stake - holders to fig ure out the best ways to make de ci sions about con nected ve hi cles and put the "smart" tech nol ogy to use. The FHWA says the na tion s high way sys tem is burst ing at its seams and the U.S. can no lon ger sim ply build its way out of the con ges tion prob lem. It sees con nected ve hi cles that talk to each other and to traf fic sig nals, work zones, toll booths, school zones and other in fra - struc ture el e ments as a key so lu tion to the congestion problem. Ear lier this month, U.S. Trans por ta tion Sec re tary An thony Foxx an nounced that the USDOT and the Na tional High way Traf fic Safety Ad min is tra tion (NHTSA) will be gin to take steps to en able ve hi - cle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication tech - nol ogy for light ve hi cles. In ad di tion to its prom ise for re duc ing con ges tion, Foxx called V2V tech nol o gies the next gen er a - tion of auto safety im prove ments, build ing on the life-sav ing achieve ments we ve already seen with safety belts and air bags. The U.S. De part ment of Trans por ta tion has been in vest ing in con nected ve hi cle re - search and sees its vi sion of con nected ve - hicles and smart infrastructure becoming a re al ity in the not-too-dis tant fu ture. Brian Cronin, re search team leader at USDOT s Intelligent Sys - Connected vehicle systems will be able to determine imminent danger and provide a warning. (Photo: Cour tesy of RITA) Con nected ve hi cles sens e the lo ca tion of other ve hi cles rel a tive to their own lo ca tion as well as com mu ni cate with smart in fra struc ture. (Photo: Cour tesy of RITA) tems (ITS) Joint Pro gram Of fice, says con - nected vehicles can im prove mo bil ity, re - duce trans por ta tion s en vi ron men tal im - pacts, pro vide cost sav ings and reduce traffic fatalities and injuries. Be fore this con nected fu ture be comes a re al ity, the FHWA and the Re search and In no va tive Tech nol ogy Ad min is tra tion (RITA) are ask ing for help on the kinds of guide lines that are needed and the tools, re - sources and pol i cies nec es sary to sup port con nected ve hi cle tech nol o gies. Last month, they hosted a pub lic meet ing to get stake holder in put and pub lic sec tor guid - ance. The FHWA and RITA tar geted the meet ing to ward state and lo cal trans por ta - tion de part ments, tran sit op er a tors and in - fra struc ture own ers who are start ing to plan for the de ploy ment and use of connected vehicle technologies in their areas. For those who missed the meet ing but still want their voices to be heard, the USDOT has set up a website (Connected Vehicle Technology) that in cludes a link for com ments. It asks those who are in ter - ested to con sider three key ques tions: What type of guid ance is needed to best sup port the suc cess ful de ploy ment of con nected ve hi cle tech nol o gies? What spe cific is sues would you like to see ad dressed for plan ning, de sign and integration, institutional and legal is - sues, im ple men ta tion and/or op er a - tions? Are there any ad di tional tools, train ing, or re sources that you would like to see de vel oped? A sum mary of the pub lic meet ing will be posted to the site, as soon as it be comes available. Mean time, NHTSA is fi nal iz ing an anal y sis of the data it gath ered dur ing a year-long pi lot pro gram and will pub lish a re search re port on V2V com mu ni ca tion tech nol ogy for pub lic com ment. The re port will look at is sues such as tech ni cal fea si - bility, privacy and security, preliminary es - ti mates on costs and safety benefits. For more in for ma tion, visit: _Hlt eBM_1_BM_2 _hicle/fhwa2015_co_hlt nbm _3_nected_vehicles.htm or con tact Rob - ert Ar nold at Robert.arnold@dot.gov.

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO. 1 Page 5 Transit Toolkit Offers Communities Help with Comprehensive Planning Updates Les sons from Puget Sound and Other Metro Ar eas May Ben e fit Plan ners Na tion wide A new tran sit-ori ented toolkit is avail able to help lo cal ju ris dic tions up date their long-range plan ning doc u ments and de - velop reg u la tions to im ple ment those plans. The Transit Supportive Planning Toolkit was de vel oped by the Puget Sound Re gional Council s (PSRC) Operators Com mit tee and the Grow ing Tran sit Com - mu ni ties Part ner ship. The PSRC says the doc u ment is par tic u larly timely on a lo cal ba - sis be cause ju ris dic tions within King, Pierce and Snohomish coun ties are re quired to complete comprehensive updates in While the toolkit is tar geted at the Puget Sound re gion, it can pro vide guid ance to those out side the lo cal bor ders. Gil Ce rise, Se nior Tran sit Plan ner for Con tin ued from Page 1 En vi ron men tal Reviews Streamlined will have a pos i tive im pact on the vast ma jor ity of high way pro jects and save time and money by get ting pro jects un der con struc tion more quickly. Be fore pub lish ing a fi nal rule, the agen - cies sought pub lic com ment on the pro - posed changes over a two-month pe riod last year. The agen cies re ceived com ments from a to tal of 40 en ti ties, which in cluded 12 State DOTs and agen cies, four tran sit agencies, eight state/local transportation entities, ten transportation interest groups, three na tional/re gional en vi ron men tal in - ter est groups, one Federal agency and two individuals. All 40 par ties gen er ally sup ported the pro posed cat e gor i cal ex clu sions. The ma - jor ity of those com ment ing sug gested ad - di tional clar i fi ca tions on the use of the CEs, in clud ing ex pand ing or limiting their scope. To read the rule as pub lished in the Federal Register, visit: or for more information, contact Angela Gates at angela.gates@dot.gov. the PSRC, says the con sul tant on the toolkit pro ject re viewed tran sit-sup port ive plan - ning prac tices within the Puget Sound re - gion and be yond. Ce rise notes the website re sources in clude ex am ples from places such as British Columbia, California, Colorado, Min ne sota and Or e gon. He adds, Al - though some of the spe cific ter mi nol ogy may vary, these prin ci ples are more broadly applicable. To be gin, the toolkit iden ti fies three key com po nents of a re gional trans por ta tion net work: core tran sit ser vices, such as buses and light rail; com mu nity con nec tor tran sit ser vices that run be tween or through ar eas not dense enough for core ser vice; and spe - cial ized tran sit ser vices, such as peak-pe - riod ex press ser vices that run to em ploy - ment cen ters. The strat e gies dis cussed in the toolkit are de signed to apply to all three transit types. The toolkit goes on to iden tify the three el e ments key to any tran sit-sup port ive plans co or di nat ing land use and trans - por ta tion, sup port ing multi-modal mo bil ity and con nect ing peo ple to tran sit. Within each cat e gory, the toolkit of fers strat e gies to im ple ment these el e ments and of fers ex - am ples of how these strat e gies have been shown to work in policy and in practice. For ex am ple, the toolkit notes that one strat egy to sup port multi-modal mo bil ity is to work closely with tran sit agen cies, neigh bor ing ju ris dic tions and the com mu - nity. It high lights a pol icy in Com mu nity Tran sit s long-range tran sit plan that in - volves build ing a ser vice net work around tran sit-em pha sis cor ri dors that pro vide con ve nient travel op tions along ar te rial streets. In prac tice, it notes that the city of Lynwood is plan ning to re vi tal - ize SR99, which is a bus rapid tran sit cor - ri dor. The plan calls for mak ing the cor ri - dor pe des trian friendly while re con nect - ing neigh bor hoods to and across SR 99. Lynwood sees BRT as a catalyst for new development. When it co mes to con nect ing peo ple with tran sit, the toolkit cites as an ex am ple the ad vance ment of Ta coma s Com plete Street pol i cies through the Sta dium Way Com plete Streets Pro ject. This $13 mil - lion cap i tal fa cil i ties pro ject, which is near ing com ple tion, in cludes el e ments such as side walks, bike lanes, rain gar - dens and an over all de sign that could ac - com mo date a light rail extension. The toolkit draws from a wide va ri ety of na tional and lo cal best prac tices and is available online for any local jurisdiction look ing for guid ance and case stud ies in de vel op ing its own com pre hen sive plans. For more in for ma tion, visit: tplanningtoolkit.pdf or con tact Gil Ce - rise at gcerise@psrc.org. The tran sit toolkit was de vel oped in Se at tle, and the city's street car and mono rail track are shown above. (Photo: Cour tesy: Puget Sound Re gional Coun cil)

6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO. 1 Page 6 Con tin ued from Page 1 Re search ers Study ing Ways to use Drones for U.S. De part ment of Trans por ta tion s Re - search and In no va tion Tech nol ogy Ad - ministration (USDOT/RITA) to develop a pro to type for an a lyz ing un paved road con - di tions a re search area that has not re - ceived much at ten tion. A pi lot on the ground uses the UAV to fly about 100 feet above the ground to shoot pho tos, which are later stitched to gether in a three-di men - sional model that can re veal char ac ter is tics such as the num ber and depth of pot holes, rut ting con di tions and crown in a road way. Brooks says, Be cause we can get these high-res o lu tion, short, rep re sen ta tive sam - ples of roads, we can make road con di tion mon i tor ing cheaper than it cur rently is. The Michigan scientists are using two UAVs in this re search that re sem ble min ia - ture he li cop ters the U.S.-built Bergen hexacopter and DJI Phan tom quadcopter. The hexacopter, the larger of the two, has six blades and a four-foot ro tor span. The model be ing used costs $5,000 and weighs just over 11 pounds. It can fly a dig i tal cam era such as the Nikon D800. The smaller UAV has four blades that spin in a two-foot di am e ter. Weigh ing in at just two pounds, it costs $700 and can carry smaller cam eras, such as the sports-ori ented Go Pro. Brooks says the UAVs cur rent flights are lim ited to the 30-min ute ca pac ity of the bat ter ies be ing used, but the re search ers don t need lon ger than that to do their work. While the UAVs have a range of a cou ple ki lo me ters, un der cur rent FAA reg - u la tions, they must stay within the re - search ers line of sight. Drones have be come a light ing rod for some pri vacy ad vo cates who worry about their reach, and Brooks says the re search - ers are sen si tive to the po lit i cal is sues sur - round ing their use. How ever, he notes that the use of ae rial im ag ery to study con di - tions on the ground has been around since the Civil War when the Un ion Army used bal loons to take pho tos of Con fed er ate earth works. He adds, We re just mak ing data-gath er ing quicker, eas ier, safer and more de tailed for rap idly un der stand ing our transportation infrastructure. For in stance, rather than send ing peo ple into po ten tially dan ger ous sit u a tions to as - sess flood-rav aged roads or po ten tially dan ger ous bridges, the re mote units can be used to gather in for ma tion. MTRI is also ex per i ment ing with an even smaller quadcopter to in spect con fined spaces to see whether it s safe to send a per son in - side. Brooks says the con trol ler on the $179 Crazyflie, which weighs just two-thirds of an ounce, is bigger than the vehicle itself. Ac cord ing to Brooks, we are on the cusp of an ex plo sion in UAV data col lec - tion, and he s hope ful the re search at MTRI will help lead the way. For more in for ma tion, visit: or con tact Colin Brooks at cnbrooks@mtu.edu. Con tin ued from Page 3 New Guide Paves Way to Suc cess ful Bike Share Pro grams Fi nally, the ITDP says it s crit i cal to make check ing out a bi cy cle easy to do, and there needs to be a real-time method for mon i tor ing oc cu pancy rates. That way, bike share sys tems can track us age to de - ter mine where more bikes are needed and which sta tions have too many. A pop u lar bike share sys tem also tends to be a safer sys tem. Colin Hughes, Di rec - tor of Na tional Pol icy and Pro ject Eval u a - tion at ITDP, notes that there is a wide ar - ray of re search that shows that the more cy clists there are on the street, the safer they be come be cause cars be come more aware of them due to in creased num bers and driv ers are better ac quainted with how to drive safely amongst cy clists. Ac cord - ing to Hughes, one of the great things about bike shar ing is that it drives up the num ber of peo ple who are cycling over night. While putt ing more bi cy clists on the street may lead to an in crease in the ac tual num ber of cy clist ac ci dents, the ITDP says the rate of crashes and in ju ries has been shown to go down. In some cases, the ab - so lute num ber of ac ci dents has de clined as well. In jury rates among bike share us ers also tend to be lower than other cy clists, and the ITDP says there s spec u la tion it may be be cause the bikes tend to be slower and the users less daring. There is no sin gle best way to fi nance bike shar ing. ITDP s guide notes that cit - ies have found suc cess with a va ri ety of fi - nanc ing and op er a tions sys tem. Some, such as Bue nos Ai res, Mon treal and Shang hai, have pub licly-run pro grams. Non-profit or ga ni za tions run the sys tems in Den ver, Min ne ap o lis and San An to nio. In some of the top-rated cit ies, such as Bar - ce lona, Mex ico City and New York, pri - vate en ter prises con trol the op er a tions. In all cases, the ITDP found that the most suc - cess ful sys tems en cour age the use of shared bi cy cles for short trips of about a half-hour or less to increase turnover rates. ITDP s re search ers found that bike shar ing not only of fers air pol lu tion ben e - fits and health ben e fits for the rid ers, it co - mes at a low price. They found that bike-share sys tems can be among the most cost-effective transit modes. For example, the guide says Wash ing ton, D.C. pays a pri vate en ter prise to run its bike share sys - tem, but the rev e nue it re ceives from the fee col lec tion cov ers the op er at ing pay - ments. The city s sub way and bus fare boxes cover only half the systems operating costs. In ad di tion, bike share pro grams score in the po lit i cal arena. The ITDP says that be cause the pro grams come at a low cost and with a short im ple men ta tion time, it s pos si ble to see a pro gram de vel oped and im ple mented in the span of just one mayoral term. For more in for ma tion, visit: e-share-boom/ or Share+Planning+Guide?/bikeshare= or contact jemilah.magnusson@itdp.org.

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 27, 2012, VOL. 26 NO. 6 Page 7 Tran sit Sto ries Be ing Told Through Graphics and Few Words New Infographics Tell the Tale of Tran sit in Top Tran sit-ori ented U.S. Cit ies In a twist on the the ory that a pic ture s worth a thou sand words, ed u ca tors in North Carolina have re leased a set of infographics that try to cap ture the scope of pub lic mass tran sit in a city with a sin gle image. The Uni ver sity of North Carolina School of Gov ern ment s on line Mas ter of Pub lic Adminsitration pro gram (MPA@UNC) has cre ated infographics for some of the na tion s larg est, most ex - ten sive pub lic tran sit sys tems. These infographics, Let s Take a Ride: 5 Larg est US Pub lic Tran sit Sys tems, cover key tran - sit el e ments such as ridership, rev e nue, up - com ing im prove ments and fre quent con - sumer com plaints for tran sit sys tems in Boston, Chi cago, New York City, San Fran cisco and Wash ing ton, D.C. The graphics also cover a lit tle his tory, fun facts, key met rics and the num ber of employees in the transit systems. MPA@UNC says the infographics were cre ated to cap ture the his tory and scope of each city s pub lic trans por ta tion sys tem in an ef fort to show how mil lions of Amer i cans travel daily via mass tran sit. The de sign ers hope that the infographics will help to in crease the aware ness around the use and scale of our larg est pub - lic transit systems. The uni ver sity points to sta tis tics from the Amer i can Pub lic Trans por ta tion As so - ci a tion that show pub lic trans por ta tion ridership in creased by 34 per cent from 1995 to 2012 with peo ple across the U.S. board ing pub lic trans por ta tion 35 mil lion times each week day. While the folks at MPA@UNC ac knowl edge short com ings in these sys tems, they note, It s re mark - able how many peo ple they trans port safely each day. Lead ers in lo cal gov ern - ment need good in for ma tion to un der stand and evaluate the use of such systems. MPA@UNC says the tran sit infographics are in tended for use by all those who live and work in the tar get cit ies, as well as oth ers around the coun try, so ev - ery one can better un der stand the com plex - ity of public transportation systems inside and out side their areas. Please turn to Page 8 The infographic of one of the five largest transit agencies in the U.S.A. (Photo: Cour tesy of University of North Carolina s School of Government)

8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO. 1 Page 8 Tort Liability: Case in Review Supreme Court Reaffirms Requirement of Immediacy in Cases Where Af fir ma tive Acts of Neg li gence are Al leged In a re cent de ter mi na tion, the Su preme Court of Rich mond County, NY, granted a mo tion for sum mary judg ment by the City of New York, in a case aris ing out of a head-on col li sion that left plain tiff with se - vere in ju ries. Plain tiff al leged City was neg li gent in its de sign, con trol and main te nance of the sub ject road way. She claimed the wheels on the right side of her ve hi cle left the paved sur face of the road way and went into a rut. At tempt ing to re gain con trol, she turned the steer ing wheel to the left, caus - ing her ve hi cle to veer into, and col lide with, an oncoming vehicle. In sup port of her al le ga tions, plain tiff pre sented af fi da vits from a pro fes sional en gi neer and an ac ci dent reconstructionist. Both agreed that a driver whose tires left the road would be forced to steer to the left, as plain tiff had. Fur ther, that the drop-off was not caused by ero sion but was intentionally created and maintained; that this constituted an immediate danger and was the prox i mate cause of plain tiff s ac ci dent. That, in ef fect, the City caused and created the defect. Plain tiff also ar gued that the City had re ceived prior writ ten no tice of the dan ger - ous con di tion, as its own in ter nal doc u - ments doc u mented pre vi ous ac ci dents, as well as work done in the area of the ac ci - dent in re sponse to com plaints. Al ter na - tively, that the City was not en ti tled to prior writ ten no tice since it caused and cre ated the con di tion which led to the ac ci dent through affirmative acts of neg li gence. City re sponded by claim ing it was not li a ble for the hap pen ing of the ac ci dent; it was im mune from suit; the sub ject stretch of road way was not de fec tive; and the fault for the ac ci dent lay with the plaintiff. The Court found that the ev i dence pro - vided by the City showed it had a for mal pro gram in place to eval u ate its road ways on an on-go ing ba sis to de ter mine whether and what was re quired by its duty to make its streets rea son ably safe for travel. Also, that it had re ceived prior writ ten no tice of con di tions in the area, but none of these were rel e vant to the case at issue. This ev i dence in cluded: Re cords show ing that its De part ment of Trans por ta tion had re viewed the sub ject stretch of road within the year prior to the ac ci dent, and it had a re ceived a pos - i tive rat ing of 8 out of 10; Doc u ments which es tab lished that the City had last re-paved the road way in the area of plain tiff s ac ci dent ap prox i - mately nine years be fore the ac ci dent; All its re cords of mo tor ve hi cle ac ci - dents in the sub ject area which had oc - curred dur ing the pre ced ing five years, and that none of them were anal o gous to plain - tiff s accident. The Court up held City s ar gu ment that plain tiff failed to prove it had caused and cre ated the cited con di tion be cause that par tic u lar sec tion of road way had not been worked on for nine years prior to plain - tiff s accident. It held that the ac ci dents re cords for the pre vi ous five years showed that, even closer in time to the work hav ing been com pleted, no im me di ate dan ger had been By tak ing a quick look at the infographics, a reader can learn that Boston s first elec - tric street car line be gan op er a tion in 1889, 11 mil lion rid ers use New York City s tran sit sys tem each day, rid ers in Chi cago com plain about op er a tors talk ing on their cell phones while driv ing buses and trains, Wash ing ton s metro sys tem in cludes 11,490 bus stops and rid ers on San Fran - cisco s BART sys tem save 44 pounds of pol lut ants each day by tak ing tran sit. The infographics are also filled with fun facts about the five tran sit sys tems. New York s Met ro pol i tan Trans por ta tion Au thor ity pro vides ser vice for one-third of the tran sit rid ers in Amer ica. Chi cago s Tran sit Au thor ity is one of the few pub lic tran sit sys tems to of fer rail ser vice to two ma jor air ports. The Mas sa chu setts Bay Tran sit Au thor ity serves 176 cit ies and towns. Wash ing ton s Met ro pol i tan Area cre ated. Given the ab sence of any sim i lar ac ci dents over such a long pe riod, the re-pav ing work done then could not con sti - tute an af fir ma tive act of neg li gence which re sulted in an immediate danger. Cit ing a pre vi ous rul ing, the Court noted that an affirmative negligence ex - cep tion to the prior writ ten no tice re quire - ment is lim ited to work that im me di ately re sults in the ex is tence of a dan ger ous condition. It stressed that the re quire ment of im - me di acy is nec es sary to avoid the ex cep - tion be ing ex tended to cases where a dan - ger ous con di tion has de vel oped over time from, e.g., an al leg edly neg li gent municipal repair. In ad di tion, it found that the ex is tence of the City s re view pro gram was a clear in di ca tion of its rea son able ef forts to as cer - tain which road ways within its ju ris dic tion re quired re me dial work, and to make mean ing ful de ci sions in light of op er a - tional ex pe ri ence to keep them safe. Con tin ued from Page 7 Tran sit Sto ries Be ing Told Through Graphics Tran sit Au thor ity boasts the lon gest es ca - la tor in the West ern Hemi sphere, and the to tal cost of the orig i nal Bay Area Rapid Transit system was $1.6 billion. For oth ers who might be con sid er ing a graphic ap proach to tell ing their tran sit sto - ries, MPA@UNC rec om mends the graphics be in for ma tive, en gag ing and pro vide new facts that com mu ters may not have known be fore. When it co mes to de - sign, the ed u ca tors say it s im por tant that the im ag ery sup ports the in for ma tion not the other way around. For more in for ma tion, visit: uBM_1_BM_2_nc.edu/5-largest -us-public-transit-systems-inforgraphic/ and or con tact Alexa DiGaetano at alexa@resoundmarketing.com.

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO.1 Page 9 Product and Industry News MindMixer Of fers Tech no log i cal Twist on Old-Fash ioned Town Hall Meet ings; Com mu nity En gage ment Plat form Aids in Trans por ta tion Plan ning and Op er a tions MindMixer is of fer ing trans por ta tion agen cies an al ter na tive to com mu nity meet ings to gather in for ma tion, gauge cit i - zen sen ti ment or seek so lu tions to trans - por ta tion is sues. It en cour ages agen cies to try its on line com mu nity en gage ment and so cial me dia tools to gather a wider range of in put than is usu ally found through offline means. The found ers of MindMixer note that offline meet ings are tra di tion ally not well at tended, and those who do at tend may not necessarily be reflective of the community as a whole. MindMixer al lows trans por ta - tion agen cies, as well as cit ies, schools, healthcare agen cies and oth ers, to reach out to a wider au di ence of peo ple through on line means. Those who want to take part in a dis cus sion can sign up us ing their Facebook ac count or ad dress and start weigh ing in at a time and lo ca tion that s convenient to them. MindMixer says its ser vice can be used in a num ber of dif fer ent ways. Agen cies can use it to dis cover great ideas by post - ing a chal lenge and let ting the com mu nity help find so lu tions. It can be used to gather valu able feed back through the use of polls and sur veys to quickly gauge community interest and sentiment. Finally, it can be used to mea sure the im pact of cer tain ac tions by gain ing in sights and im - por tant data from the community. Mi chael Ash ford, mar ket ing man ager with MindMixer, says all of the com pany s trans por ta tion cli ents have come to MindMixer with the same goal to im - prove pub lic en gage ment around their pro - jects or top ics. He says offline meet ings have not been work ing well as a standalone tool for get ting com mu nity feed back. MindMixer helps cli ents add an on line tool to make the conversation more interactive and trans par ent than a simple message board. Once that con ver sa tion has started, Ash ford says it s more likely com mu nity mem bers will en gage offline, too. He notes, What we have seen in the cit ies we work with is that there s a much higher like li hood that some one who has never at - tended an offline meet ing will show up in the fu ture be cause they were en gaged online first. Those who are not - or so cial me - dia-savvy are not over looked in the pro - cess. Ash ford says cli ents are still en cour - aged to con tinue us ing tra di tional out reach ef forts, such as con tact ing lo cal press, post ing fly ers in a lo cal li brary or post ing in for ma tion to com mu nity websites. In ad - di tion, in for ma tion found on MindMixer is of ten spread by word-of-mouth throughout a community. In the realm of trans por ta tion, MindMixer has been used on such pro jects as the Santa Monica Bike and Pe des trian Safety Study, North Carolina Bike Pe des - trian Plan, NYMTC Re gional Trans por ta - tion Plan, Salt Lake City Trans por ta tion Pro ject and Phase 2 of the Los An geles Trans por ta tion Plan. Ash ford says Trans form CT has used Mind Mixer s photo share fea ture to much suc cess. Trans form CT is the Con - nect i cut De part ment of Trans por ta tion s vi sion ing fo rum for streets and high - ways, tran sit, trails and any mo bil ity changes state wide. Res i dents were asked to use MindMixer to post im ages show - ing Con nect i cut s as sets: submit-your-photos-show-us-what-make s-connecticut-great. Kan sas City is us ing MindMixer to ask res i dents for their pref er ences on where a new street car should run. Ash ford says the pop u lar Next Rail KC site al lows res i dents to pin point their de sired street car stops along the dif fer ent fu ture rail lines: -and-route-end-points/archived. MindMixer counts al most 500 civic, ed u ca tion and healthcare or ga ni za tions in the U.S. among its cli ents. It touts the plat - Please turn to Page 10 MindMixer participation. (Image: Cour tesy of MindMixer)

10 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO.1 Page 10 Con tin ued from Page 10 Product and Industry News (continued) form s abil ity to help lead ers en gage in two-way com mu ni ca tions for more pro - duc tive and ef fi cient con ver sa tions while allowing community members to let their voices be heard. For more in for ma tion, visit: or con tact Tory Carroll at tory.carroll@grayling.com. Audi Test ing Sys tem to In crease the Use of Traf fic Sig nal Green Bands and Re duc ing In ter sec tion De lay; Carmaker States Abil ity to Save Fuel while Help ing the En vi ron ment Audi used last month s Con sumer Elec - tron ics Show in Las Ve gas to show case a new tech nol ogy de signed to help mo tor ists see more green in their fu ture. Its On line Traffic Light Information service will net - work a car with the cen tral traf fic con trol com puter that con trols traf fic sig nals in a city to help driv ers reach more sig nals dur - ing the green phase. Audi s dash board sys tem shows driv ers the speed they should use to reach the next traf fic sig nal while it s green, and it dis - plays the time re main ing while wait ing for a traf fic sig nal to turn green. Driv ers us ing the tech nol ogy may en joy a smoother, faster com mute, but Audi says it also ben e - fits the en vi ron ment and saves fuel. The Ger man car com pany says the sys tem could re duce CO2 emis sions by up to 15 per cent, and if de ployed through out Ger - many, Audi es ti mates nearly 238 mil lion gal lons of fuel could be saved each year. The carmaker is con duct ing mul ti ple field tri als of the sys tem in Eu rope, and the prin ci ple is be ing dem on strated with 50 traf fic sig nals in Las Ve gas. Audi says Traf fic Tech nol ogy So lu tions (TTS) de - vel oped the backend tech nol ogy for the Las Ve gas dem on stra tion sys tem. It worked with staff from the Free way and Ar te rial Sys tem of Trans por ta tion (FAST) in Las Ve gas to es tab lish real-time data con nec tion to all 50 dem on stra tion sig nals, which operate in semi-actuated mode. TTS uses its pro pri etary pre dic tion meth od ol ogy to take all of the in ter sec tion move ments into ac count, in clud ing the pres ence of pe des tri ans, in de ter min ing the switch times for the lights. The in for - ma tion is then con verted to stan dard for - mat and re layed to Audi s servers. It s un cer tain when the tech nol ogy will make its way into Audi cars in the U.S. The com pany says the tech nol ogy for the On line Traf fic Light In for ma tion sys tem has reached mar ket ma tu rity, and if enough cit ies make their data avail able, there is noth ing stand ing in the way of a broad rollout. The Online Traffic Light Information system provides the recommended speed (30 mph) on the dashboard. (Photo: Courtesy, Traffic Technolology Solutions) For more in for ma tion, visit: or or con tact Thomas Bauer at thomas.bauer@traffictechnologysolution s.com. Traf fic Cam eras Be ing Used for Weather De tec tion; Exelis Us ing TrafficLand Net work to Pro vide Hyperlocal Weather Data TrafficLand and Exelis have joined forces to put traf fic cam eras to work de tect ing and as sess ing weather con di tions on a hyperlocal level. Exelis says that in the year since the launch of its Helios en vi ron - mental intelligence platform, it has worked with all the ma jor weather com pa nies in some ca pac ity and is start ing to work with all the ma jor play ers in traf fic and trans - por ta tion, too. Helios pro vides a fourth type of weather ob ser va tion data, com pli ment ing data al ready be ing gath ered through ra dar, sat el lite and fixed weather sta tions. By us - ing TrafficLand s net work of 17,000 cam - eras in the United States, it can pro vide weather in for ma tion at street level on a real-time basis. The Helios plat form can both show and an a lyze cur rent con di tions, and us ers can set their sys tem to mon i tor and track im - ages in an area of in ter est. For in stance, dur ing a Na tional Weather Ser vice alert, the sys tem can be used to mon i tor the alert area to see when bad weather moves in. Helios also uses al go rithms to an a lyze the cam era im ages to detect if a par tic u lar road is wet or dry, if it s rain ing at that lo - ca tion and how vis i bil ity is chang ing. While the Helios sys tem can not fore cast weather, the ana lyt ics can be pro vided to ex ist ing now-casting models to improve prediction. Brian Bell, Helios Prod uct Man ager for Exelis, says that when cus tom ers see what the plat form can do, their eyes get re ally big and peo ple are just amazed. He says the plat form may be up dated in the fu ture to de tect weather con di tions such as snow, ice and hail, but the rea son Exelis chose to con cen trate first on wet roads, rain and vis - ibility is because they have the most im - pact in caus ing in jury ac ci dents and death. Exelis says the Helios plat form is tar - geted to ward any en ter prise or or ga ni za - tion that can be im pacted by weather, in - clud ing weather com pa nies, trans por ta - tion com pa nies, in sur ance com pa nies, mo - bile phone ap pli ca tion de vel op ers, fed eral and state de part ments of trans por ta tion, municipal transit agencies and emergency re sponse units. Costs are based on the num ber of cam eras be ing used in the sys - tem, the num ber of mar kets, how many of the three ana lyt ics prod ucts are be ing used and the desired refresh rate of the analytics. Helios can be used in a va ri ety of ways. For ex am ple, Exelis says nav i ga tion com - pa nies can use the plat form to pro vide haz - ard alerts, weather con di tion re ports and re rout ing sug ges tions, as well as vi sual con fir ma tion of con di tions. Emer gency re spond ers can use Helios to pro vide aware ness and alerts as road con di tions de te ri o rate and weather con di tions Please turn to Page 11

11 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, VOL. 28 NO.1 Page 11 Con tin ued from Page 10 Product and Industry News (continued) A display of "hyperlocal" weather conditions. (Image: Courtesy, Exelis) change. It can even be used in ar eas where vari able tolls are in use. The real-time road con di tions data can be cap tured and used in the sup ply/de mand model to de ter mine pric ing more ac cu rately than con ven tional weather data. Bell says us ers some times de scribe the wealth of in for ma tion pro vided by the cam eras Helios can ac cess as mag i cal. He ex plains that cam eras can be set at a va ri ety of an gles and each has its own per son al - ity, which may make some better at de - tect ing whether it s rain ing and oth ers better at judg ing vis i bil ity. Bell says that with Helios, Part of the magic is that our al go rithms have to work on any cam era. Con tent from the Helios plat form can be de liv ered through an Ap pli ca tion Pro - gram ming In ter face (API) or the Helios User In ter face (UI). For more in for ma tion, visit: s/pages/default.aspx or con tact: Jay Co hen at jcohen@trafficland.com or Kristin Jones at kristin.jones@exelisinc.com. New Ac tive Traf fic Man age ment Con trol Sys tem Be ing Of fered in U.S.; Off-the-Shelf Sys tem Draws on Years of Ex pe ri ence Over seas An off-the-shelf Ac tive Traf fic Man - age ment (ATM) con trol sys tem that has been used widely in Eu rope is now com ing to North Amer ica. Traf fic Tech nol ogy So - lu tions and Heusch/Boesefeldt are join ing forces to of fer GeoDyn2 to the Amer i can market. The com pa nies de scribe GeoDyn2 as a ma ture and re li able off-the-shelf man age - ment con trol soft ware for ATM free way con trol that in cor po rates op er a tional ex pe - ri ence from ap prox i mately 70 op er a tional sys tems in Ger many, Aus tria, It aly and the Neth er lands and more than 30 years of traf fic man age ment and con trol ex pe ri - ence. It sup ports the ATM strat e gies of speed har mo ni za tion, hard shoul der run - ning and tem po rary pass ing bans for trucks, as well as warn ings for con ges - tion/queues, ve hi cle head way, wrong-way driver, fog, wetness, ice and cross winds. This ATM Lab was de vel oped by in te - grat ing the ATM con trol and man age ment soft ware GeoDyn2 with the mi cro scopic traf fic sim u la tion tool VISSIM. It al lows users to interactively test various traffic and in ci dent sce nar ios in microsimulation, ob serve their im pact on the whole net work through VISSIM and de ter mine the best ATM con trol strat e gies. The ATM Lab also pro vides re al is tic 2D and 3D an i ma - tions that can help com mu ni cate the strat e - gies and their impacts to a wide audience. Traf fic Tech nol ogy So lu tions says the ATM Lab out paces tra di tional ITS sim u la - tion mod el ing be cause it pro vides a vir - tual reality for operators to interact with traffic management systems more realistically with quicker re sponse feed back. For more in for ma tion, visit: or con tact Thomas Bauer at thomas.bauer@traffictechnologysolution s.com.