THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2015 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 29, NO 5 JUNE 26, 2015 San Fran cisco In creasing Enforcement of Vi o la tions Caus ing Traffic Congestion Dou ble Park ing, Con struc tion Lane Clo sures, and Block ing the Box among Con ges tion Trig gers San Fran cisco is bat tling con ges tion on down town streets by step ping up enforce - ment of laws already on the books to help traf fic move smoothly. Last month, Mayor Ed Lee announced a new Rush Hour Con - ges tion Strat egy that involves crack ing down on cer tain traf fic vio la tors dur ing the morn ing rush (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and the after noon rush (4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.). In mak ing the announce ment, Lee said, San Fran cisco s econ omy and pop u la tion are grow ing, and the demand on our City streets is grow ing along with them. Lee believes that the use of tar geted inter ven tions and increased enforce ment will allow all users of our roads whether they are walk ing, bik ing, rid ing Muni, or driv ing, to get from Point A to Point B faster and eas ier. Enforce ment efforts are focus ing on four con ges tion trig gers: con struc tion pro - jects, dou ble park ing, deliv ery trucks, and block ing the box. As part of this anti-con ges tion strat egy, the city says it will: Eval u ate con struc tion lane clo sures along major traf fic routes and enforce ment teams will ensure compliance with regulations. City work Down town Shut tle Planned for San Diego Receives Oppo si tion from Taxi Driv ers Unnec es sary Dupli ca tion of Ser vice Claimed The city of San Diego is con sid er ing start - ing an on-demand shut tle ser vice to help ease park ing prob lems in the down town area and the new vehi cles could hit the road later this year. But not every one s happy. Taxi driv ers see the move as a slap at small busi ness. Steph a nie Shook, the pro gram man ager for the Civic San Diego shut tle pro ject, says the idea of a shut tle ser vice in Down - town San Diego has been explored for many years based on feed back from the com mu nity, stake holders, res i dents and local busi nesses. She notes that with the increas ing growth of the down town area, stud ies sup port the need for a mobil ity option that offers an on-demand tran sit sys tem to alle vi ate the per ceived park ing prob lems of the downtown area. crews will be instructed to not impede the right-of-way dur ing rush hours, except in the case of pub lic safety. Please turn to Page 10 Accord ing to Shook, a shut tle could meet those mobil ity needs by pro vid ing trans por ta tion to avail able and afford able park ing options; allow ing vis i tors to park once with ease and move freely through out short dis tances within down town; decongesting city streets; and allow ing res i dents to get from their home to any des - ti na tion within down town with out the need to drive, park, or even own a personal vehicle. Sarah Saez, pro gram direc tor for the United Taxi Work ers of San Diego (UTWSD), fears the shut tle ser vice will hurt taxi driv ers and their fam i lies. She notes that driv ers already live on a very lim ited income, as illus trated in a San Diego State Uni ver sity Study called Please turn to Page 10 Ve hi cles block ing an in ter sec tion in down town San Fran cisco. (Photo: Cour tesy of the SFMTA) Inside Sur veys....page 11 Requests for Pro pos als....page 19 Confer ences...page 20 A vehicle that can be used for San Diego's downtown shuttle. (Photo: Courtesy of Civic San Diego)
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29, NO. 5 Page 2 United Na tions Con fer ence: Cit i zen In volve ment When In tro duc ing New Tech nol ogy Is Important Technology Op tions Don t Need to Be Costly to be Ef fec tive A re port from the United Na tions Con fer - ence on Trade and De vel op ment (UNCTAD) states that while to day s in no - va tive tech nol ogy can help cit ies be come more sus tain able, to be suc cess ful, city lead ers need to in volve the city s res i dents in their plans for in tro duc ing the new tech - nol ogy. The 10 th pub li ca tion in the UNCTAD Cur rent Stud ies on Sci ence, Tech nol ogy and In no va tion is de signed to con trib ute to the world wide di a logue about the roles sci ence, tech nol ogy and in no va tion (STI) will play in ef forts to make cit ies more sus - tain able as the num ber of city dwell ers rises around the globe. Ac cord ing to the re - port, just over half the world s pop u la tion now lives in ur ban ar eas. By 2050, that num ber is ex pected to grow to two-thirds of the pop u la tion, and mo bil ity will be a key fac tor in the sustainability of these developing urban areas. P. Gehl Sampath heads the taskforce pro duc ing the Sci ence, Tech nol ogy and In no va tion Re port se ries. She says the main mes sage they hope to send with this re port is that sci ence and tech nol ogy have a wide range of con tri bu tions to make in the pro cess of city plan ning, and these need to be in te grated where pos si ble. The good news from Sampath is that in te grat ing sci - ence, tech nol ogy and in no va tion in city plan ning does not have to be a costly, longer-term plan. Ac cord ing to au thor Tansung Ok, The next wave of ur ban iza tion will pre dom i - nantly take place in de vel op ing coun tries, and many of the tech nol ogy so lu tions orig - i nat ing in the cit ies in these coun tries may not nec es sar ily re quire high fi nan cial re - sources or in vest ments. How ever, he says urbanization in these areas often takes place in a hap haz ard man ner which can lead to huge eco nomic losses from such is - sues as traf fic con ges tion. He urges lo cal gov ern ments across the world to use STI to re ap ply some of the good ex am ples of sustainability cited in the report to avoid such economic loss. The re port high lights the key role of cit i zens in this pro cess, and Sampath says it showcases how citizen participation can en hance ev ery stage of the pro cess from feed back on what is not work ing, to par tic i - pa tion in pro posed changes, to im ple men - ta tion. Ok says cit i zens can be come in - volved by both passive and active means. For ex am ple, the re port dis cusses the use of Pavegen, a floor ing that har nesses the use of en ergy. In this ex am ple, cit i zens con trib ute to en ergy gen er a tion sim ply by walk ing to the metro sta tion. Ok says crowdsourcing from mo bile phones is an - other way to get cit i zens in volved. Tech - nol ogy makes it pos si ble for cit i zens to con trib ute with out nec es sar ily thinking about it actively. A second means of citizen participation is where citizens directly, personally ben - e fit from the ini tia tive. Ok says ex am ples include waste collection initiatives that al - low peo ple to earn money or en cour ag ing peo ple to switch to bus rapid tran sit to re - duce their com mute time and overall transportation costs. When cit i zens are left out of the loop, sustainability can suf fer. In an other ex am - ple from the re port, the au thors write, when plan ning roads with a tech no cratic mindset, one might achieve per fec tion in terms of engineering, yet actually destroy the fab ric of a city as a place where peo ple en joy liv ing, as is of ten true in the use of elevated highways. As an al ter na tive means of mo bil ity, the re port cites the rel a tively in ex pen sive pro - mo tion of bi cy cles as an af ford able, healthy, clean and en ergy-ef fi cient tech - nol ogy that may be the best op tion to im - prove mo bil ity in many cit ies, for both youn ger and older cit i zens. The re port goes on to say that such ini tia tives can not suc ceed with out ded i cated lanes, laws that clar ify pri or i ties in traf fic and, most im por tantly, ed u ca tion and aware - ness-rais ing so that cit i zens no longer rely on their automobiles for all travel. The re port stresses that de spite all that sci ence and tech nol ogy have to of fer, so - lu tions must ad dress hu man needs. It urges cit ies to em bed sustainability in their plan ning across all sec tors in the hope that a sustainability mindset will in crease the like li hood of suc cess. The re - port con cludes that mo bi liz ing cit i zens to sup port this mindset is crit i cal be cause ul ti mately, cit i zens are the ones who make de ci sions on consumption patterns. Ok adds, De vel op ing coun tries will ur ban ize any way. Us ing STI right from the start will pay off, par tic u larly in the long run, by avoid ing the un nec es sary costs of cor rect ing course. For more in for ma tion, visit: http://unctad.org/en/publicationslibrary/ dtlstict2014d2_en.pdf The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, ISSN 10404880, 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)764-0512, Fax: (703)764-0516, e-mail: 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 22009-2300. 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 2015, 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
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 3 Wash ing ton Us ing Ramp Me ters to Im prove Traf fic Flow on I-5 Me ters are Part of Smart High way Pro gram to Ease Con ges tion The Wash ing ton State De part ment of Trans por ta tion (WSDOT) is turn ing to ramp me ter ing as a way to help ease con - ges tion along slow-mov ing I-5 near Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). A to tal of 18 ramp me ters along a 15-mile stretch of the in ter state were ac ti vated in mid-may to help reg u late the flow of traf fic onto the high way. WSDOT hopes that ramp me ters will not only help to ease con ges tion but also im prove safety. By al low ing only one ve - hi cle to pro ceed ev ery four- to 15 sec onds, dis rup tions to free way traf fic are re duced along with the risk of col li sions. WSDOT Olym pic Re gion Ad min is tra tor Kevin Dayton says the me ters are a proven, cost-effective approach to reducing free - way con ges tion and col li sions and pro vide driv ers a better, more reliable trip. Ramp me ters have long been used in King and Snohomish coun ties. Ac cord ing to state transportation officials, the meters have been shown to re duce col li sions sys tem-wide by at least 30 per cent, and ramp me ters in stalled on I-405 in Renton have pro vided a travel time sav ings of 3 to 16 min utes. State transportation officials say it s too early to tell just how ef fec tive the new me - ters will be, but a spokes woman says the new me ters have been work ing well. Some back ups were noted on one of the ramps dur ing the af ter noon com mute, but the de part ment is mak ing some strip ing and sign ing changes to help traf fic on that ramp move better. Overall, preliminary trends indicate a de crease in the amount of time traf fic is con gested in the JBLM area. In ad di tion, A ramp me ter sign along I-5. (Photo: Cour tesy of WSDOT) Ramp metering signals at an on-ramp along I-5. (Photo: Cour tesy of WSDOT) WSDOT says it has re ceived anecdoctal re - ports from driv ers that their com mute has im proved be tween Ta coma and Olym pia. The de part ment hopes to have a more com - prehensive picture of the meters effective - ness in about three months. The ramp me ters are part of a large com - puter-op er ated sys tem man aged in WSDOT s Traf fic Man age ment Cen ters (TMCs). A va ri ety of free way de tec tion sys - tems, in clud ing mag netic loops and ra dar, pro vide the TMCs in for ma tion about traf fic flow, such as the vol ume and speed of ve hi - cles on free ways and ramps. Based on that information, the ramp meters automatically al ter their cy cles to max i mize traf fic flow on both the ramps and the free ways. The new me ter ing sys tem is just one part of a WSDOT pro ject to in stall smart high - way" de vices along I-5 be tween Lacey and Lakewood. High way crews also added seven closed-cir cuit traf fic cam eras, three vari able-mes sage signs and sup port ing elec tronic hard ware and travel time signs and data sta tions. WSDOT says all the changes be ing made in the cor ri dor have helped, but there is no data avail able yet to quantify the impacts. Much of the fund ing for these im - prove ments is com ing from a fed eral pro - gram tar geted at al le vi at ing con ges tion in the cor ri dor, and WSDOT is con tin u ing to mon i tor traf fic flow and make ad just - ments as nec es sary to im prove con ges tion prob lems. The me ters were placed be - tween State Route 510 in Thurston County and State Route 512 in Pierce County and are typ i cally ac tive dur ing morn ing and af ter noon rush pe ri ods, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more in for ma tion, visit: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/nr/rdonlyres/ 1BC62117-0B7F-45B0-8909-E21350F7 2188/105464/FinalRMflierweb.pdf
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 4 Australian City Weighing Benefits of Lowering Speed Lim its Adelaide Con sid er ing 30 km/h Speed Lim its to Im prove Pe des trian Safety New York City made head lines last fall when it dropped the speed limit on city streets to just 25 mph in an ef fort to im - prove safety. In one of Aus tra lia s larg est cit ies, there s de bate over whether speed lim its in the city should go even lower to 30 ki lo me ters per hour, or just un der 19 mph. The cur rent speed limit in Adelaide, with a pop u la tion of roughly 1.28 mil lion peo ple, is gen er ally 50 km/h with some multi-lane roads lead ing into the city posted at 60km/h. A spokes per son for the Adelaide City Coun cil says that over the past five years, the coun cil, in col lab o ra - tion with the state gov ern ment, has been try ing to im prove the vi brancy and safety of city streets by test ing out lower speed lim its. Re sults have been mixed. A 40 km/h speed limit was tested for eight months last year on Hutt Street and on lo cal streets in the south east ern por tion of the city. Though ben e fits were ob - served, the re duced speed limit was not sup ported by the lo cal com mu nity and was re moved. How ever, the coun cil found that peo ple did sup port the idea of lower speed lim its on high-vol ume pe des trian streets. As a re sult, speed lim its were dropped to 30 km/h on some other city streets, and lim its as low as 20 km/h have been ap plied at a localized level. Additionally, 10km/h shared zones have been im ple mented in highly pedestrianized streets where low vol ume traf fic access is still required. A coun cil spokes per son says the les son seems to be that 30 km/h speed lim its are a great idea on streets with high lev els of on-street, pedestrian and cyclist activity. In an ed i to rial in Adelaide s InDaily In de - pend ent News, Gayle Buckby, se nior move ment plan ner at plan ning con sul - tancy InfraPlan, calls for a 30 km/h limit through out the city s cen tral busi ness dis - trict. Buckby ar gues against the com mon myth that lower speeds mean it will take lon ger to get around. In stead, Buckby writes, Lower speeds in built-up ar eas can in crease road ca pac ity by re duc ing the stop/start at in ter sec tions, which im proves traf fic flow. Smart Move, the City of Adelaide s Trans port and Move ment Strat egy 2012-22, is set ting the di rec tion for the A low-speed street in downtown Adelaide, Australia. (Photo: Cour tesy of the City of Adelaide) city s ef forts to cre ate great streets that are safer and more ac ces si ble for ev ery one. To calm traf fic, it of fers stra te gic di rec - tions to re duce speed lim its in city streets, with spe cial em pha sis on res i den tial streets, and de sign for traf fic speeds be low 30 km/h in high-ac tiv ity streets. The speed lim its were not cho sen ar bi - trarily. To wards Zero To gether, South Aus tra lia s Road Safety Strat egy 2020, states, Biomechanical re search into the ca pac ity of the hu man body to ab sorb crash en ergy with out sig nif i cant harm sug gests that safe travel speeds would ide ally be less than 30km/h in ar eas where con flict with peo ple walk ing and cy cling is pos si ble. In Adelaide, the coun cil re ports there were three pedestrian fatalities over the five-year pe riod be tween 2010 and 2014. Since 2001, the to tal num ber of ca su alty crashes in the city has dropped from 1163 to 603. Over the last three years, the coun cil says it has com mit ted more than $6 mil lion dol lars to a range of pro jects to im prove the safety of city streets for pe des tri ans and cy - clists. The mea sures in clude changes to in - tersection controls, traffic signal improve - ments and the im ple men ta tion of shared zones. Adelaide has also un der taken a num ber of pro mo tional and ed u ca tional ini tia tives to pro mote road safety, such as the Be Aware and Share campaign. Mak ing any changes to city speed lim its does take time. The coun cil spokes per son ex plains that while the City of Adelaide is re spon si ble for the con trol, care and main - te nance of its roads, the De part ment of Plan ning, Trans port and In fra struc ture (DPTI) re mains the de ter min ing au thor ity for speed lim its for any road or area. Any re quests for speed limit changes must be made by the City of Adelaide to DPTI, and the spokes per son says any ap pli ca tion for a pre cinct-wide speed limit should be based on the out comes of a con sul ta tion pro cess un der taken with the lo cal com mu nity. For more in for ma tion, con tact: city@adelaidecitycouncil.com.
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 26 NO. 5 Page 5 Bik ing and Shar ing Econ omy Hold Po ten tial to Cut Traffic Congestion New Re port Helps Cit ies Avoid Cookie-cut ter Ap proach to Al ter nate Modes of Travel Four al ter na tive modes of trans por ta tion hold con sid er able prom ise for eas ing grid lock at a much lower cost than tra di - tional ap proaches to con ges tion re duc tion. How ever, which modes will be most ef fec - tive can vary be tween cit ies and even within cit ies. Those are among the find ings in a new re port from Deloitte s Pub lic Sec tor Re - search organization entitled Smart Mo - bil ity: Re duc ing con ges tion and fos ter ing faster, greener, and cheaper trans por ta tion op tions. The study (lim ited to cit ies in the USA) of fers a break down of where ridesharing (carpooling), bike com mut ing, carsharing and on-de mand ride ser vices, such as Uber and Lyft, hold the most prom - ise for improving traffic flow. Ac cord ing to the Deloitte re search, carsharing works well in dense ur ban cores and on-de mand ser vices are use ful in ex - tend ing ser vices to underserved por tions of cit ies. Ridesharing works best in a ring 10 to 15 miles out side a city cen ter. Bike shar ing of fers the most ben e fits in ur ban core neigh bor hoods and neigh bor hoods clus tered around commercial centers. Over all, the re port found that ridesharing has the po ten tial to of fer $30.3 bil lion in an nual sav ings to in di vid u - als and cit ies in the form of re duced con - ges tion, de ferred road con struc tion, safety im prove ments and lower car bon emis - sions. It es ti mates ridesharing could cut traf fic ac ci dents by 22,915 a year and lower car bon emis sions by 9.1 mil lion metric tons each year. Re search ers found that bike com mut - ing has sim i lar po ten tial to ridesharing. They es ti mate bike com mut ing could save $27.6 bil lion an nu ally for com mu ters and cit ies and re duce an nual car bon emis sions by 5 million metric tons. Carsharing was es ti mated to of fer up to $4.3 bil lion in sav ings, lower an nual ac ci - dents by more than 2,000 and cut car bon emis sions by nearly a mil lion met ric tons an nu ally. If on-de mand ser vices can reach underserved pop u la tions who might oth er - wise have to take a taxi, these shared rides could cut to tal taxi trips miles by as much as 30 per cent, which could reduce congestion. To put those num bers in per spec tive, the Deloitte study cites the na tional cost of grid lock as $121 bil lion, which is equiv a - lent to slightly more than one per cent of all an nual U.S. per sonal con sump tion. It notes the av er age Amer i can spends about 34 hours ev ery year sit ting in traf fic, which adds up to 5.5 bil lion hours for all com mu - ters. The au thors also cite re search that puts the eco nomic op por tu nity cost for Amer i - cans at about $124 billion every year. Pe ter Viechnicki, Data Sci en tist at Deloitte Re search, says the dol lar value of the time saved was fig ured by us ing a na - tional av er age wage of $16.79 per hour, which is the fac tor used by Texas Trans port In sti tute (TTI) in their 2012 Ur ban Mo bil - ity Re port. The car shar ing ac ci dent re - duc tion was cal cu lated based on our es ti - mate of ve hi cle mile re duc tion from car shar ing and a fac tor of 0.8114 ac ci dents per million vehicle-miles traveled estimated by a nationwide federal study. Cit ies can use the re port to see which al - ter na tive modes of travel would hold the most prom ise for them. The re port in cludes a po ten tial sav ings ta ble (http://dupress.com/articles/smart-mobility -trends-interactive-table/) that lists all the cit ies in cluded in the sur vey and de tails how much each could po ten tially save through ridesharing, bike com mut ing and carsharing. To reach their find ings, Deloitte says the researchers used geospatial analytics, such as cou pling lo ca tion data with ex ist ing gov - ern ment data, to ex am ine the po ten tial con - ges tion re duc tion ben e fits in ma jor met ro - pol i tan ar eas across the U.S. They an a - lyzed com mu ter-be hav ior data at the cen - sus-tract level and for mu lated es ti mates based on the po ten tial sav ings if com mu - ters who could rea son ably use alternative commuting modes did so. The au thors ad mit it won t be easy to achieve all the ben e fits out lined in their re port, but they do of fer ad vice on how to get peo ple to em brace these al ter na tive modes of travel. For ex am ple, they sug - gest eight ways to en cour age ridesharing. Their rec om men da tions in clude ex pand - ing tax in cen tives to rideshare, im prov ing ridematching plat forms cus tomer ex pe ri - ence, us ing in fra struc ture in vest ments to sup port ridesharing, and putt ing a fo cus on build ing crit i cal ridesharing mass in key corridors. When it co mes to bike com mut ing, the au thors make nine sug ges tions, in clud ing in vest ing in bike in fra struc ture, en cour ag - ing bikesharing pro grams, de vel op ing re - gional bike plans and link ing bike com - mut ing to pub lic health. To en cour age more carsharing, the au thors rec om mend five ways to ac cel er ate growth in the pro - grams in clud ing as sist ing pro vid ers with start-up costs, pro vid ing pub lic park ing spaces for carshare ve hi cles and supporting carsharing through fleet sharing. On-de mand ser vices, which al low pri - vate in di vid u als to sell rides to cus tom ers, have been a topic of se ri ous de bate in many cit ies. The Deloitte study of fers seven rec om men da tions for help ing in - crease the pub lic value of these ser vices. Those steps in clude en sur ing that gov ern - ment data col lec tion cap tures on-de mand services, encouraging cities to release taxi trip and fare data on line, sup port ing pi lot part ner ships be tween gov ern ment agen - cies and on-de mand ser vice com pa nies, and con tract ing with on-de mand ride services to provide guaranteed rides home. For more in for ma tion, visit: http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/misc/sea rch.html#qr=smart%20mobility%3a%2 0Reducing
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 6 Product and Industry News Sen sors are Be ing Added to Streetlights To Go Be yond Sim ple Il lu mi na tion GE Test ing Lights to Ease Park ing Prob lems and Pro vide Pub lic Alerts GE will soon be launch ing a bi-coastal pi - lot pro gram to test whether its new streetlights can help cit ies solve some of their park ing prob lems. The com pany will be in stall ing 50 sen sor-equipped LED light ing fix tures in both San Diego, Cal i - for nia, and Jack son ville, Florida, so the cit ies can test the lights car de tec tion and park ing ap pli ca tions. Aus tin Ashe, GE Light ing In tel li gent Devices Product Manager, says munici - The intelligent environment for cities. (Image: Cour tesy of GE) pal i ties around the world are al ready adopt ing LEDs to save en ergy and main te - nance costs and for their su pe rior qual ity of light. With this new pro gram, GE will con nect those LEDs with state-of-the-art soft ware and sen sors to un leash a whole new po ten tial for how we light our world. With GE s Predix soft ware, Ashe says that in the fu ture, the GE LED so lu tion will be able to de tect open spots and send op - tions to driv ers on their mo bile de vices, help cit ies mon i tor traf fic flow in real-time, send out emer gency weather warn ings and of fer many other po ten tial big data so lu tions to give cit ies a real-time view of what s going on. The test ing pe riod in San Diego and Jack son ville is ex pected to last up to six months. Dur ing the pi lot pro gram, of fi - cials will be re view ing park ing-re - lated data, such as open park ing spaces and il le gal parking. At some later point, these new lights could be used to help ease traf fic con ges tion, which Ashe says cur rently costs the U.S. econ - omy $100 bil lion year. With GE s Intelligent Environment for Cities, cit ies could re ceive real-time traf - fic data and vi su al iza tion to im - prove traf fic flow in real time. In ad di tion, Ashe notes that if the sys - tem de tects an in ci dent caus ing con ges tion, alerts could im me di - ately be sent to city of fi cials, prompt ing traf fic sig nal changes or deployment of traffic officers. Sen sors on the lights might also be used to give warn ings in the event of a hur ri cane or other emer - gency through a pub lic-ad dress speaker con cealed within the light post. Mi cro pro ces sors and other sen sors could also work to gether to give first re spond ers real-time views of emer gency ar eas be fore they ar rive on the scene. This ini tial test ing co mes at no cost to the cit ies. Ashe ex plains this will be a col lab o ra tive pro gram that al lows the cit ies to en joy the ben e fits of a state-of-the-art so lu - im prove the prod ucts for fu ture commercialization. Once the lights do hit the mar ket, the cost of the LED up grade will be de pend on a va ri ety of fac tors. One key com po nent will be the cost of en ergy. Ashe notes that the higher the cost, the better the pay back. In some cases, the en ergy sav ings from LED can pay for the en tire pro ject. GE is will ing to work with each cus tomer to dis - cuss pos si ble fi nanc ing options. The tech nol ogy to power GE s In tel li - gent En vi ron ments for Cit ies so lu tion is still in de vel op ment, and be cause it s still in a beta test ing phase, pric ing is not yet avail able. Ashe says prices won t be de ter - mined un til the pi lots are com plete and GE is closer to full commercial launch. For more in for ma tion, visit: http://www.gelighting.com/lightingweb/ na/industrial-internet/overview/index.jsp SIDRA INTERSECTION 6.1 Con tains Fea tures of Ver sion 7 SIDRA SO LU TIONS re cently an nounced the re lease of SIDRA IN TER SEC TION 6.1. SIDRA IN TER SEC TION 6.1 s a ma - jor new re lease that builds on Ver sion 6.0 and brings for ward some of the fea tures which have been un der de vel op ment for Ver sion 7. The main new fea tures in clude the fol - low ing: New and Im proved Mod els New model for sig nal co or di na tion ef - fects us ing Sig nal Off sets and lane-based sec ond-by-sec ond pla toon pat terns in clud ing lane changes and pla - toon dis per sion. New method for the pro gram to cal cu - late Ex tra Bunch ing val ues for round - abouts and two-way sign con trolled in - tersections with upstream signalised in - tersections in Network analysis. In Net work anal y sis, ex cess back of queue will be passed on to up stream con tin u ous lanes to al low for queue block age from a down stream in ter sec - tion to ap ply to in ter sec tions fur ther up - stream. Pe des trian Ac tu a tion method for im - proved sig nal tim ing cal cu la tions when tion and gives GE a chance to mon i tor the per for mance of each ap pli ca tion and work on ways to Please turn to Page 7
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 7 No Big Toll Hike for Katy Man aged Lanes Hous ton Au thor i ties De cide Against Planned Hike At Least for Now Of fi cials in Hous ton have de cided not to put a planned toll hike into ef fect on the Katy Man aged Lanes (KML). The in - crease, which was to go into ef fect on May 30, would have brought the price of a peak-hour, one-way trip on the 12-mile tollway to $10 an in crease of 43 per cent. When plans for the toll hike were ini - tially an nounced, the Har ris County Toll Road Au thor ity (HCTRA) said the in - crease was needed to help curb con ges tion in the lanes. The hope was to re duce vol - ume in the toll lanes by 20 per cent for at least three or four months by en cour ag ing more peo ple to drive dur ing non-peak hours and con sider op tions such as carpooling and METRO Park and Ride. HCTRA spokes per son Mary Benton says the de ci sion to sus pend the toll in - crease was made af ter care ful con sid er - ation and will give the agency and its mo - bil ity part ners time to weigh ad di tional op - tions to man age con ges tion on the Katy Man aged Lanes. In ad di tion, she notes that HCTRA is sched uled to trans fer re - spon si bil ity of the lanes to the Texas De - part ment of Trans por ta tion (TxDOT) on De cem ber 31, and sus pend ing the toll hike al lows both agen cies an op por tu nity to work on the details of the transfer. A fu ture toll in crease is still pos si ble, but Benton says HCTRA won t make any sig nif i cant changes un til de tails of the TxDOT trans fer are es tab lished. HCTRA has the au thor ity to set vari able toll rates based on de mand, and the pol icy giv ing it toll au thor ity does not define limits. Some mo tor ists had com plained about the planned toll hike, but the tollway has been ex tremely pop u lar with driv ers. It has shown a con sis tent in crease in tolls col lected each year since the KML opened for full op - er a tions in April 2009. The man aged lanes are the four lanes in the mid dle of IH 10, with two run ning in each direction. Vehicles have access 24/7 for a toll. METRO ve hi cles are granted free us age 24-hours a day, and HOVs are granted free us age in both di rec tions of travel dur ing peak times Mon day through Fri day, 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sin gle oc cu pancy ve hi cles (SOV) are al lowed to use the lanes 24 hours a day for a toll. No cash is ac cepted. Tolls are charged elec tron i cally via an EZ TAG or other interoperable Texas toll payment tag. Rates are posted on mes sage boards at all en trances, and the Au thor ity says rates are changed through out the day to main tain an op ti mum level of ser vice on the fa cil ity at all times. Those rates are based on time of day, ve hi cle oc cu pancy and axle count. Man aged toll lanes or HOT lanes have been dubbed Lexus lanes by some who com plain they ca ter to the rich. HCTRA ar - gues such lanes are de signed to help all mo tor ists on the high way. Toll ing of fi cials say that those who pay to ac cess the toll lanes help to ease con ges tion in the main lanes. In ad di tion, they say man aged lanes en cour age ride shar ing since HOV us ers can take the lanes for free during peak hours. The toll road s web page also cites a re port from a Los An geles-based think tank that con cluded peo ple of all in come lev els use man aged lanes when they are short of time. For ex am ple, it notes, a par ent who s run ning late to pick up a child at daycare will likely spend $2 or $3 on tolls rather than $20 on late fees. For more in for ma tion, visit: https://www.hctra.org/katymanagedlane s/?csrt=2029083420351421998 The Katy Free way man aged lanes in Hous ton. (Photo: Cour tesy of Google Inc.) Product and Industry News (continued) pe des trian vol umes are low. Phase Ac tu a tion method for im proved sig nal tim ing cal cu la tions when ve hi cle vol umes are low. Im proved de lay cal cu la tions for move - ments in shared lanes at two-way sign con trolled in ter sec tions and round abouts in clud ing shared con tin u ous and op posed move ment lanes. New model for the ef fect of op posed turns in Ma jor Road short lanes at Two-Way Sign Con trol Sites on the ca - pac ity and per for mance of the ad ja cent through (con tin u ous) move ment when there is over flow from the back of the short lane. Sig nif i cant en hance ments to han dling of two-seg ment lanes in clud ing cases when the two seg ment lane is treated as a short lane. Cost model pa ram e ters up dated. User Interface Improvements Net work Lay out dis play with de tailed ge om e try as in Site Lay out pic tures. Im proved Site Lay out di a grams. Multiple Site and Network selections for open ing or print ing re ports and dis - plays, and for var i ous user in ter face func tions (Pro cess, Clone, etc). New Staged Cross ing and Merge tem - plates. The pro cess ing time for Sites and Net - works and pro gram mem ory us age for large Net works im proved sig nif i - cantly. User Guide and Help sys tem are fi nal ized. For more in for ma tion, please go to http://www.sidrasolutions.com/
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 8 Tort Liability: Case in Review Ken tucky Court of Ap peals Re af firms Role of En gi neer ing Judg ment Vis-A-Vis MUTCD Stan dards, Guid ance and Options In 2010 a driver was killed when his ve hi - cle left the road when trav el ing through an s-bend on High way 922 in Scott County, KY, and struck a tree. His es tate brought ac tion against the Trans por ta tion Cab i net al leg ing neg li gence in the con struc tion of the road way, in suf fi cient warn ings, im - proper post ing of speed, and lack of guard - rails had con trib uted to the fa tal ac ci dent. At the hear ing held be fore a hear ing of - ficer, local residents testified that there had been nu mer ous ac ci dents at the same spot, in clud ing an other fa tal ity only ten weeks ear lier, and they had sub mit ted writ ten and oral no ti fi ca tion of their con cerns to the Cabinet. Plaintiff/appellant s expert witness, an ac ci dent re-con struc tion ist and en gi neer, al leged the sharp curve was banked the wrong way. This would have thrown him off the road at the 25 miles per hour ad vi - sory speed and would have made it im pos - si ble for him to re cover from hav ing gone into the drop-off on the side of the road at the pave ment edge. This wit ness also al - leged, based on his use of a ball bank in di - ca tor and his mea sure ment of the slope at the curve, that there should have been a guardrail at the site. In re sponse, the Trans por ta tion Cab i net claimed the driver s inattentiveness and ex ces sive speed were the sole causes of the ac ci dent and pro duced tes ti mony from a traf fic en gi neer and their own ac ci dent re-con struc tion ist. Based on their own ball bank in di ca tor tests, the ex perts had de ter - mined that the ad vi sory speed and sign age around the curve met the min i mum re - quire ments of the Man ual on Uni form Traf fic Con trol De vices (MUTCD). They also found that most of the ball bank read - ings mea sured in the curve were at or be - low the MUTCD guide lines of 14 de grees, the limit for trav el ing safely at the advised speed of 25 miles per hour. How ever, these ex perts had not rep li - cated nor re futed plain tiff s slope mea sure - ments, nor had they mea sured the slope of the sub ject curve, even though they ac - knowl edged that the slope of a curve is rel - e vant to whether a per son stays on the road. They claimed that be cause the MUTCD did not re quire fur ther sign age or traf fic con trol de vices, they had not rec - om mended changes to con trol the speed in the s-curve. They also tes ti fied that the Trans por ta - tion Cab i net al most ex clu sively used a ball bank in di ca tor to set speed lim its on its road ways, and pre ex ist ing roads, such as High way 922, were not eval u ated for safety based on the same cri te ria as roads de signed and con structed by the Cabinet. The hear ing of fi cer con cluded that the fault for the driver s death was 50 per cent at trib ut able to his own ac tions and 50 per - cent at trib ut able to the Trans por ta tion Cab i net. He found that: The Trans por ta tion Cab i net s de ci sion to in stall speed ad vi sory sign age con sti - tuted a de lin ea tion of prob lems at the curve and as such was a dis cre tion ary act; Once the dis cre tion ary de ci sion was made, the Cab i net had a duty to ex er cise or di nary care in the min is te rial act of car ry ing out that de ci sion; The Trans por ta tion Cab i net was neg li - gent be cause at a min i mum, given the num ber of ac ci dents at the curve, it should have mea sured the slope and cal - cu lated the safe speed, rather than es ti - mat ing an ad vi sory speed based on ball bank read ings; Mea sur ing the slope and per form ing the speed calculations are ministerial acts, which had they been per formed would have in di cated that the ad vised speed of 25 miles per hour was dan ger ous and that 15 miles per hour was a safe speed; The MUTCD, like any other in dus try stan dard or code, was only a min i mum stan dard and was not in tended to be a sub sti tute for en gi neer ing judg ment; and The Cab i net should have done more to warn or pro tect the pub lic from the un - rea son able dan ger pre sented in the S-curve. Based on these find ings, the Board of Claims held the Cabinet liable for fail ure to set a safe speed in the s-curve and awarded plain tiff dam ages, where upon the Cabinet appealed. The Cir cuit Court up held the Board of Claims, rul ing that the Trans por ta tion Cab - i net was both bound by the op tions set out within the MUTCD and that it must ex er - cise any ad di tional op tion as de ter mined by its en gi neers for a given situation. The Trans por ta tion Cab i net also ap - pealed this judg ment, ar gu ing that be cause it eval u ated the s-curve us ing the ball bank in di ca tor guide lines in the MUTCD, the re - sults fell within the safety lim its, and the sign age and ad vi sory speed met the tech ni - cal stan dards set forth in MUTCD, it could not be li a ble for neg li gence in the per for - mance of its ministerial functions. The Court of Ap peals noted that The Board of Claims Act, Ken tucky Re vised Stat utes (KRS), pro vides for a waiver of sov er eign im mu nity for neg li gence in the performance of ministerial acts only. However, un der the KRS the De part ment of High ways had pro mul gated a rule that coun ties must im ple ment the MUTCD in their road main te nance pol i cies, and there - fore im ple men ta tion of the MUTCD by lo - cal officials is ministerial, removing the pro tec tion of qual i fied immunity for the exercise of the duty. It also af firmed the cir cuit court s hold - ing that the Cab i net is bound by the pro vi - sions in the MUTCD and must also ex er - cise any ad di tional op tions as de ter mined by en gi neers in a given sit u a tion. Fur ther, it said that while the MUTCD pro vides Stan - dards, Guid ance, and Op tions for de sign and ap pli ca tion of traf fic con trol de vices, it should not be con sid ered a sub sti tute for en gi neer ing judg ment. It quoted the plain lan guage of the MUTCD (Sec tion 1A.09) that the de ci sion to use a par tic u lar de - vice at a par tic u lar lo ca tion should be made on the ba sis of ei ther an en gi neer ing study or the application of engineering judgment. Please turn to Page 9
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 9 World War II Air plane Plant to Be come New Cen ter for Con nected Ve hi cle Test ing Fed eral Grant to Spur De vel op ment of CAV Cen ter A manufacturing facility that once cranked out War War II air craft un der the eyes of Henry Ford is now poised to be on the frontlines of the new era of con nected ve - hi cle trans por ta tion. A fed eral grant will be used to spur con struc tion of a Con nected Vehicle (CAV) Development Center at the for mer Wil low Run man u fac tur ing com - plex in Ypsilanti Town ship, Mich i gan. Ann Ar bor SPARK, a non-profit or ga - ni za tion ded i cated to eco nomic de vel op - ment in the re gion, has been awarded a 2014 Re gional In no va tion Strat e gies Pro - gram Sci ence and Re search Park De vel op - ment Grant from the U.S. De part ment of Com merce, Eco nomic De vel op ment Ad - min is tra tion. Paul Krutko, pres i dent and CEO of Ann Ar bor SPARK, says the re - cently awarded grant will al low the or ga ni - za tion to ac cel er ate our ef forts and work with a range of ex perts who can inform and shape the Willow Run plan. Phil Santer, SPARK s vice pres i dent of busi ness de vel op ment, says that in its hey - day, 40,000 work ers a day crossed into Wil low Run to mass pro duce war mu ni - tions, in clud ing the B-24 Lib er a tor heavy bomber. While the orig i nal build ings have been razed to make way for the new CAV cen ter, Santer ex plains the sprawl ing 335-acre site has in fra struc ture that will make it an ideal test ing fa cil ity for con - nected ve hi cle tech nol ogy many roads, two dou ble over passes and even a curved tun nel that could be used to test issues with signal interference. Ann Ar bor SPARK, in part ner ship with Walbridge De vel op ment, will be work ing with re gional busi ness, ac a demic, gov ern - ment and eco nomic de vel op ment part ners to plan the CAV De vel op ment Cen ter. Their vi sion is to pro vide a fa cil ity that will help com pa nies both large and small, from the U.S. and around the world, have a place to de velop and test their con nected vehicle technology. The first step in de vel op ing the cen ter will be con ven ing a group of stake holders from the pub lic side, the au to mo tive re - search and de vel op ment com mu nity, and ac a demic fa cil i ties to make plans for the site. Santer sees the cen ter as a step ping stone for commercializing CAV technol - ogy. He says the idea is to have a shared The planned lay out of the CAV De vel op ment Cen ter. (Graphic: Cour tesy of SPARK) fa cil ity where com pa nies can come in and test prod ucts in a real-world capacity. Com pa nies will have plenty of op tions in how they use the cen ter. It will al low de - vel op ers to come in on their own, pro vide parallel access for companies working on different areas, and allow for collaborative test ing across dif fer ent tech nol o gies and dif fer ent man u fac tur ers. Fu ture fund ing for the fa cil ity is ex pected to come from both the private and public sectors. There has al ready been a ter rific amount of in ter est, ac cord ing to Santer, who says that the re sponse from the ini tial en gi neer fo cus groups sug gests there will be plenty of busi ness to keep the cen ter op - er at ing year round. Though much test ing is al ready go ing on in the field of con nected Con tin ued from Page 8 Tort Liability It held that the Trans por ta tion Cab i net failed to use any en gi neer ing judg ment de - spite sub stan tial ev i dence that the sub ject curve was un rea son ably dan ger ous and that it had been on no tice of the num ber of ac ci - dents, in clud ing fa tal i ties, which had oc - ve hi cles, which are be ing her alded for their safety po ten tial, Santer says the cur - rent test ing is not enough. He notes the Wil low Run fa cil ity will give both busi - nesses and gov ern ment a large area in which to test and dem on strate the safety of CAV tech nol ogy at higher speeds and greater distances. Santer calls the pro ject a la bor of love that speaks to the re gion s strength as an au to mo tive cen ter. The cur rent timeline calls for the cen ter to open to ward the end of 2016 or early 2017, and Santer says those in volved want to make sure the Ann Ar bor area re mains a ma jor player in the fu ture of mobility. For more in for ma tion, visit: http://www.annarborusa.org/ curred at that site. It found that the Trans - portation Cabinet had a ministerial duty un der the MUTCD to con duct an en gi - neer ing study and re eval u ate the ex ist ing ad vi sory speed and sign age of the s-curve, and it had breached that duty.
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JUNE 26, 2015, VOL. 29 NO. 5 Page 10 Con tin ued from Page 1 San Fran cisco Step ping Up En force ment of Com mon Vi o la tions In crease en force ment for dou ble park - ing dur ing peak com mute hours to ease con ges tion caused by dou ble parked cars. Park ing con trol of fi cers (PCOs) will ini tially tar get key tran sit cor ri dors to en sure re li abil ity for driv ers and Muni rid ers. Tar get de liv ery trucks that block traf fic for cars and bikes. This be hav ior re - duces lanes of traf fic and im pedes trans - por ta tion flow, which causes un safe con di tions for pe des tri ans and cy clists, and ad di tional con ges tion. Ex pand the part ner ship be tween the San Fran cisco Mu nic i pal Trans por ta tion Agency and the San Fran cisco Po lice De part ment for Don t Block the Box en force ment vi o la tions. This prac tice has tra di tion ally ob structed in ter sec - tions on traf fic ar ter ies lead ing up to the free ways. San Fran cisco Mu nic i pal Trans por ta tion Agency Board Chair man Tom Nolan has noted, When one mode of trans por ta tion suf fers, it has a dom ino ef fect on other modes. For in stance, ev ery time a Muni (bus) ve hi cle gets stuck be hind a dou ble parked car, 40 or 50 peo ple lose a few min - utes of their day. The city is al ready re port ing prog ress as a re sult of a Con ges tion Strat egy the mayor launched late last year. Since then, there has been a 53 per cent in crease in ci ta tions for dou ble park ing, and park ing con trol of - fi cers have is sued 3,514 grid lock ci ta tions - a 25 per cent in crease com pared to the pre ced ing five months and a 102 percent hike since 2014. In ad di tion, the mayor s of fice says a Rush Hour Multimodal Con ges tion Work - ing Group will be con vened to work on both short-term and long-term strat e gies. It will in clude lo cal gov ern ment, re gional gov ern ment, busi ness stake holders, the de - vel op ment com mu nity and other com mu - nity stakeholders. For more in for ma tion, visit: https://www_hlt421793643.bm_1_sfmta.com/about-sfmta/blog/stepping-rush-hou r-congestion-enforcement or con tact MayorsPressOffice@sfgov.org or Paul.Rose@sfmta.com. Con tin ued from Page 1 Down town On-De mand Shut tle Be ing Planned for San Diego Re ceives Opposition from Taxi Drivers Driven to De spair. That study found that driv ers in San Diego earn a me dian in come of less than $5 per hour. The study also re vealed that in comes were low be cause most driv ers in the city were lease driv ers, pay ing high lease prices to own ers for the chance to drive a taxi. The shut tle plan co mes along just as that taxi pol icy is chang ing. Saez says UTWSD pushed for ground-break ing pol icy re form that lifts the cap on taxi per - mits which was the crux of the prob lem keep ing driv ers in pov erty. Since the pol - icy change, Saez says the Met ro pol i tan Tran sit Sys tem has re ceived over 1,500 let ters of in tent of driv ers who want to be - come owner-op er a tors, which means many more taxis will be on the road in the next few months ea ger to serve their community. Shook says res i dents, em ploy ees and vis i tors to Down town San Diego could all ben e fit from the shut tle ser vice, and she adds that the goal is not to com pete with but to com ple ment ex ist ing trans por ta - tion sys tems pri vate cars, bikes/bike share, car share, Uber, Lyft, taxis, trol ley, buses and other pub lic trans por ta tion. She notes the shut tle sys tem would also pro vide a trans por ta tion op tion in lieu of walk ing short dis tances or travelling the last few blocks. De tails are still be ing worked out, but the city en vi sions a shut tle that would op - er ate on de mand and stop at key lo ca tions through out down town. The goal is to of fer a low- or no-cost ser vice. Shook says the fund ing op tions be ing con sid ered range from zero pub lic fund ing and full in vest - ment from a pri vate op er a tor to funds pro - vided by the Down town Park ing Dis trict for up-front cap i tal costs or on-going operational support. The UTWSD is ar gu ing against what Saez calls a tax payer sub si dized shut - tle ser vice to serve tour ists. In stead, she says, The city should con sider a voucher sys tem so that tour ists can use taxis in the down town area to get around. An other op - tion we have pro posed is us ing the money for stu dent bus passes for City Col lege students. Saez says both of those op tions would meet the cri te ria for the use of Down town Park ing Dis trict funds, which are set aside for park ing-re lated pro jects that help to man age and in crease the sup ply of park ing down town. How the funds get used is dic - tated by a City Coun cil pol icy, and they are ear marked for spe cific pro jects each budget year. Now that the taxi cap has been lifted, Saez says taxi cus tom ers will know that ev - ery time they get into a taxi they are sup - port ing a small busi ness owner, and she adds other steps are be ing taken to make taxis an even better op tion. Driv ers are de - vel op ing their own app and non profit ra dio ser vice, United Dis patch, which will fea - ture low- to no-emis sion ve hi cles and strong cus tomer ser vice train ing. They are also re duc ing the amount it costs to take a taxi in or der make it affordable for riders. There s still no word on how many ve - hi cles would be come part of the city s planned shut tle ser vice. Shook says they re still work ing on the de tails and ex pect the num ber of ve hi cles to meet the de mand of the ser vice. Work con tin ues on a shut tle con tract, and Shook ex pects the ini tial launch of the shut tle ser vice to come be fore the end of 2015. For more in for ma tion, con tact: info@civicsd.com and sarah@utwsd.org or visit http://www.onlinecpi.org/driven_to_desp air