Tufts UniversityDepartment of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning

Transportation Planning UEP 0173-01 (Spring 2011)

Course Instructor Mark Chase, 617-290-3876 mark.e.chase@gmail.com

Tuesday 6:00- 8:30 Location TBAOffice hours: By appointment only

Course Description

Transportation systems are a web made up of vehicles, networks andterminals. We will focus on the skills and tools needed to effectively plantransportation projects- both directly through planning skills and indirectlythrough managing consultants. These skills will be presented within thecontext of how transportation intersects with communities.

Course Objectives-- At the end of the course students will understand theprofession of transportation planning including the institutions, professionalsand citizen groups that impact transportation policy. The course will look at:

• Transportation from the perspective of economic and environmentalefficiency

• Professional disciplines and sub-disciplines of transportation planningincluding walking, bicycling, transit, para-transit and cars.

• Transportation problems and solutions presented within the context ofsocial change, technological advancement and environmentalconstraints.

• Physical and institutional contexts of transportation planning includingstreetscape design, local zoning, and regional planning.

• Social contexts of transportation including: disadvantagedcommunities, affordable housing and livable streets

Within every session of the course we will be presenting specific planningtools that are used to determine how well transportation systems areworking and what corrective measures are needed to improve the system.

This is a survey course. We will be examining transportation broadly.Students will be expected to research their own specialty and interest areasas part of two major projects in the course. For efficiencies sake you should

try to ascertain what areas you are interested in focusing on as early aspossible in the course so that you can use your independent research to gaindepth in this area (more on that below).

Structure of Course/ Assessment

Each class will cover a major theme of urban transportation planning. Withsome variation, the general format of each class will have three parts: Thefirst hour will be a lecture/ slide show-overview of a major transportationtopic. The second hour will involve a presentation by transportationprofessional. The final hour will focus on technical skills related to thesubject area at hand.

Grades

Student grades will be based on class participation (15%), a neighborhoodtransportation survey (15%), a mid term exam (30%), and a finalpresentation and paper(40%). These are described in more detail below:

Class participation (15%): This is a intense/ condensed summer course.Each class is the equivalent of a full week in a normal Spring/ Fall semesterclass. Arrange your schedule so you can make it to ALL the classes. Besure to do the readings and come prepared to participate in classdiscussions. As you do the readings think about questions or provocativeideas that are brought up in the readings. Be prepared to talk about thesein class. If you are a sit-back-and-watch student, you need to push yourselfto participate in class discussion. Each class will begin with a smallpresentation by one or two students in the class on items-in-the-news thatare related to the class topic for that day. Please read over the syllabus andpick a few classes that you are interested in leading this discussion on.

Neighborhood Transportation Survey 15%

This exercise helps you to apply class concepts to a neighborhood orbusiness district that you care about. Pick a geographic area to analyzethat includes at least one intersection and a section of street (100 to 300yards). Keep a journal on Google Docs that includes an analysis of the street(share this with me). For each class through class 6 (Streetscape Design)apply class concepts to this area. Consider the following concepts:

• Networks/ Nodes and Vehicles for each mode of transportation thatwe cover. What are the assets and deficiencies that you observe?

• Social impacts--> young old and infirm? Opportunities for socialinteraction?

• Environmental impacts: noise, air pollution• Aesthetics: is this area beautiful when considered from each modes

viewpoint?• What modes are missing? Is it a problem that they are missing or is

the mode inappropriate for the segment that you are analyzing?

Suggest Improvements and/or Solutions to deficits. Address the following:• Costs?• Political barriers to excellence?• Institutional barriers to excellence?• Financial Barriers?• Prospects for change... political/ transportation strategies• Other issues and opportunities that you noticed

Note: You do not need to cover each of the above for every journal entry,but relevant areas should be touched on when appropriate.

Midterm exam (30%): This is a take home exam that is comprised of thefollowing question: Tell me succinctly in (1000 to 1200 words) whatelements of transportation planning most directly impact a policy or planningissue that you are concerned about. Your challenge is to communicateclearly the nature of the problem, the most cost effective and importantsolutions and policies that can help remedy the situation, and political,economic or social barriers to implementation. A key element here is writingan extremely tight paper. If you have concerns about your writing skills, besure to get help editing from your good-writing-editing friends.

Final Project: Students will work in teams or alone towards a finalpresentation and paper that will highlight either a specific transportationmode, technology or problem, or focus on the intersection of transportationand their particular focus or interest area at UEPP. You must have a projectoutline to me by February 15th. Please contact me before February 8th ifyou are having trouble coming up with a project.

Please submit all work electronically (no paper please!).

Class Schedule

Class 1 (January 25) INTRODUCTORY CLASS

The wonderful world of transportation-- student interests and what this classwill cover.

Review of format of class, grading and getting the most from the class

Mind map of class mates interests in transportation

Speaker: Jackie Douglas, Program Manager, Livable Streets Alliance

Walk Score

Class 2 (February 1) PEDESTRIAN PLANNING BASICS

Walking: the oldest and most important mode of transportation.

Speaker-- Rosa Carson, Program Coordinator, WalkBoston: the nexusbetween the pedestrian environment, multi-modal transportation and qualityof life.

Readings

Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Safe Routes to Transit (Pedestriansection) for Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

Dumbaugh, Eric. 2005. Safe Streets Livable Streets. Journal of the AmericanPlanning Association. Vol 71(3) pp 283-300.

Jacobsen, P.L. 2003. Safety in Numbers: more walkers and bicyclists, saferwalking and bicycling. Injury Prevention Vol. 9. pp 205-209

Hamilton-Baillie, Benjamin. Home Zones - Reconciling People, Places andTransport

Pucher, John and Lewis Dijkstra. 2003. Promoting Safe Walking and Cyclingto Improve Public Health: Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany.American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 93(9) Use the following link:http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/full/93/9/1509

Class 3 (2/8) BICYCLE PLANNING

Please contact me by today if you are having any trouble designingyour final project.

The worlds most efficient transportation: Climate Change/ EnergyA world tour

An overview of the politics of bicycle advocacy

Guest Speaker: Kathleen Ziegenfuss, City of Somerville

Technical Skills-- Analyzing a section of street and intersection to designbicycle accommodations

Readings

"A lot can happen between the lines: Completing NYC streets,"Transportation Alternatives Magazine, Fall 2007.http://www.transalt.org/files/newsroom/magazine/2007/fall/10-13.pdf

"Building a Better Bike Lane," (Bike-friendly cities in Europe arelaunching a new attack on car culture. Can the U.S. catch up?) byNancy Keates, The Wall Street Journal, May 4 2007.http://livablestreets.info/files/wsj_4may07_bikes.pdf

Thunderhead benchmarking reporthttp://peoplepoweredmovement.org/pdf/benchmarking2007.pdf

World Transport Policy and Practice, Volume 15, Number 1, April2009--> Read only Pages 47- 63http://www.eco-logica.co.uk/pdf/wtpp15.1.pdf

FHWA "University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation",http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pedbike/pubs/05085/toc.htm#tocIn the guide read only the following sections:Sections: 3.6 (bike section),Lesson 13: Selecting Bicycle Facility TypesLesson 15: Bicycle Lanes

MUTCD Shared Lane Markings Guidance:http://members.cox.net/ncutcdbtc/sls/slmtoncjan07.pdf

Cambridge Massachusetts Bicycle Parking Guidelines:http://www.cambridgema.gov/CityOfCambridge_Content/documents/tpat_BikeParkingBrochure.pdf

Class 4 (2/15) NOTE: Your final project outline/ proposal is duetoday!

TRANSIT PLANNING I

Introduction to service planning using Bus and Bus Rapid Transit

BRT Expert & Consultant, Paul SchimekTransSystems

Readings

Making Transit Work: TCRP Special Report 257: Skim pages 1-59

Better Public Transit Systems, Eric Bruun, pp 9-23, 45-72 (skipexamples) & 111-120.

Peruse the Embarq website with special attention the the Bus RapidTransit secitons: http://www.embarq.org/

Latin American Busways: Moving People Rather than Cars:http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/111/1/Latin_American_Busways,_Lloyd_Wright,_Natural_Resources_Forum,_May_2001.pdf

World Resources Institute/ Embarq: How We Move: Sustainable

Transport Around the World, Dr. Nancy Kete and Dr. Dario Hidalgo --

visit all the cities on the map and click through to the links. Some of

the more important links are also listed below. http://www.embarq.org/en/

news/08/06/25/how-we-move-sustainable-transport-around-world

Curitiba's urban experiment/ Frontline: Be sure to read through allthe pages of this nifty website! It's a little confusing to navigate, butspend some time on it. http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/brazil1203/ Key Transportation page:http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/brazil1203/solutions.html

NYTimes Article on Curitiba: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EED91231F933A15756C0A9619C8B63

International Herald Tribune, December 28, 2007:http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/28/business/wbspot29.php

An interesting article on the politics of transportation and how ideasneed to survive political adminsitrations:http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/561

Quantifying the Importance of Image and Perception to Bus Rapid

Transit, National Bus Rapid Transit Institute

Critque of the Silver Line Phase 1: Boston:http://www.sierraclubmass.org/issues/conservation/silverline/slreport.pdf

Critique of TranSantiago: http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2008/Mungerbus.html

Supplemental BRT Resources

BRT in Developing Countries: http://www.itdp.org/index.php/program_areas/detail/developing_high_quality_low_cost_mass_transit/

Bus Rapid Transit Policy Center: http://www.gobrt.org/

Class 5 (3/1) NOTE: Mid Term is Due Today!

TRANSIT PLANNING II

Financing Transit & the Politics of Transit Funding

Speaker: Brian Kane, Budget and Policy Analyst, MBTA Advisory Board

Technical skills: Introduction to transit planning/ bus service concepts

Readings

Born Broke, Brian Kane, 2009, MBTA Advisory Board

MBTA Advisory Board Proposed Budget: http://www.mbtaadvisoryboard.org/Reports/FY10_Budget-Report.pdf

Eric Bruun, Better Public Transit Systems, Analyzing Investments andPerformance (PAGES TBA)

Classes 6 & 7 (3/8 & 3/15) STREETSCAPE DESIGN

March 15: Final Project Proposal Due

Designing streets for all modes (not just cars)

Technical Presentation: Brian Postlewaite, Civil Engineer, Sims Maini &McKee Associates-- Understanding the world of traffic engineers and thecomplexities of designing intersections/ roads for multiple modes and users

Readings

Reclaiming City Streets for People: European Commission, DirectorateGeneral for the Environment: Disappearing traffic in Europe:http://ec.europa.eu/environment/pubs/pdf/streets_people.pdf

"Rethinking the Urban Speedway," (For decades, highway engineersfocused on designing wider, straighter, faster roads. Now, moving trafficquickly is no longer the sole goal), Governing Magazine, October 2005.http://livablestreets.info/files/governing_oct2005_engineeringspeed.pdf

Disappearing Traffic? The Story So Far: Just skim this article for data ontraffic recuctions:http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/content/reading/disappearing-traffic/

ITE Context Sensitive Solutions. This is a big document:

Skim Chapters 1-4 paying particular attention to the following sections:

"Introduction to CSS" from bottom of page 4 through page 6 (using thenumbering in the document/ not the pdf page number). Although we'refocusing on the design components of CSS be sure to understand Tables 1.1and 1.2.

Read Chapters 5-9 and understand all Terms in Glossary on page 216.

New York City Street Design Manual

Read carefully through page 39. Skim the rest of the manual.

Compare the content and format of this manual with the ITE Street DesignManual

Understand all Glossary terms on page 200

Washington Post Article on VA efforts to limit cul de sacs:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/21/AR2009032102248.html

Classes 8 & 9 (3/29 & 4/5) CARS AND THEIR ROLE IN SUSTAINABLETRANSPORTATION

Planning for the Car:Techniques for reducing auto dependence

Transportation Demand Management: Why getting people out of cars isalways cheaper than expanding auto-based facilities/ cost benefits

Using management techniques to pay for transportation goods and serviceswe want.

Technical Skills: Parking management techniques that support sustainabletransportation

Speaker: Stephanie Groll, Parking and Transportation Demand ManagementPlanning Officer, City of Cambridge

Readings

Skim this page: Why manage transportation demand? http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm51.htm

Browse Cambridge PTDM Program Summary http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/et/tdm/index.html

Donald Shoup: High Cost of Free Parking (PDF on Blackboard)

Donald Shoup: Cruising article (PDF on Blackboard)

Congestion pricing primer on FHWA website: http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/congestionpricing/index.htm

Equity Impacts of Congestion Pricing: http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop08040/fhwahop08040.pdf

Todd Litman, London Congestion Pricing: Implications for Other Cities

Shobhakar Dhakal, April 2004, Appendix A: , Urban Transportation andEnvironmental Management in Singapore

Key abbreviations in Singapore Article as they are not immediatelyapparent--

ARF: Additional Registration Fee (essentially a tax you pay when you licenseyour car)ALS: Area Licensing System (pay to enter an area of the city)ERP: Electronic Road PricingMRT: Subway system...

Optional Reading:

Technologies to enable Congestion Pricing (Skim this article: has some goodnuggets): http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop08042/fhwahop08042.pdf

Class 10-- (4/12) MPO PROCESS & FUNDING

NOTE: Neighborhood Transportation Survey must be complete forgrading today.

Speaker: Hayes Morrison, Transportation Improvement Program Manager,Boston MPO

Technical Skills-- Understanding the Federal/ State/ MPO funding processand funding categories-- getting the green for your projects

Readings

The Metropolitan Planning Organization, Present and Future, TRBConverence Proceedings 39, KATHERINE F. TURNBULL, August 27–29, 2006:http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conf/CP39.pdf READ:

The Evolution of MPO's: Kevin Heanue Page 4-6The State of the MPO: Jim McKenzie, 8-11

Boston MPO Brochure: Be Informed Be Involved:http://www.bostonmpo.org/bostonmpo/4_resources/1_reports/1_studies/4_bicycle/be_informed.pdf

Boston MPO TIP Program Web Page: Review the links in the main body ofthis page http://www.bostonmpo.org/bostonmpo/3_programs/2_tip/tip.html Pay special attention to this page:

http://www.bostonmpo.org/bostonmpo/3_programs/2_tip/FFY_2007_2010_TIP.pdf

Skim this document: UPWP http://www.bostonmpo.org/bostonmpo/3_programs/3_upwp/Circulation_Draft_FFY_2010_UPWP.pdf

The Political Calculus of Congestion Pricing, 9/17/2007, UCLA/ Forthcomingin Access: David King, Michael Manville, and Donald Shoup

Class 11 (4/19) PARA TRANSIT& DISADVANTAGED POPULATIONS

Para transit, jitneys and gypsy cabs-- serving the disabled/ privatetransportation and informal transportation

Speaker-- Reed Cochran, Exec Director SCM Transportation: meeting theneeds of elders today and tomorrow.

Readings

Boston Globe, Your Brain in Drive: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/07/26/your_brain_in_drive/?s_campaign=8315

Sacramento ADA Transit Plan, Nelson Nygaard, June 2008: You need onlyskim this document.

Read Chapter 1: Robert Cevero, Informal Transport in the Developing World:http://books.google.com/books?id=_4z7AI6XuH8C&printsec=frontcover

Institute for Transportation & Development Policy: It's car vs Rickshaw...http://www.itdp.org/index.php/news_events/news_detail/car_vs_rickshaw_delhi/

Nicole Stelle Garnett, The Road from Welfare to Work: Skim up to page198. Read pp's 198 -229

http://www.eukn.org/binaries/eukn/eukn/research/2007/12/ssrn-67-bijlage.pdf

Class 12 (4/26) SOCIAL JUSTICE & TRANSPORTATION (WigZAMORE)

Environmental Justice and Transportation:• Public participation• Negative impacts• Poor service

Speaker: Wig Zamore, Community Organizer/ Urban Planner

Panel: Community members from East Boston, Chelsea, Roxbury andSomerville

Readings/ Class preparation

To prepare for class: You need to come up with three examples ofenvironmental justice issues that you know about or have seen. In thinkingabout this (or in your research) consider this basic definition of EJ intransportation:

1. Are transportation needs and service levels disproportionately unmetin environmental justice populations?

2. Are environmental justice populations participating sufficiently inthe transportation decisions that affect them?

3. Is the health of environmental justice populations unfairly burdenedby impacts from regional transportation systems?

4. Do higher income or more privileged populations benefit fromdisproportionate financial subsidies to the regional transportation systemsthat they use?

READINGS-- All on Blackboard

Executive Order 12898

FHWA ACTIONS TO ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Marshall, Braeur and Frank on Healthy Neighborhoods, Walkability and AirPollution

Brugge 2007 EHJ Near highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust a reviewof epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health effects

Lopez 2006 EHJ Obesity physical activity and the urban environment publichealth needs

Federal Disapprovals of Boston MPO Certification Process

Boston Amended Regional Transportation Plan

Zamore Comments on Transportation Reform

T proponents say expansion is a matter of life or death

Is Logan Airport Making People Sick

Crowd to MBTA Dont give us no stinking buses

Skim the following:

Wig Zamore 01 23 08 Comment on ENF for Logan SWSA Redevelopment

Wig Zamore 05 09 07 Assembly Square MUD MEPA Waiver Comment

CLASS 13 (5/10) PRESENTATIONS

Student Presentations

Final paper due-- on research of significant transportation planning problemor community based planning project

Readings

Read Presentation tips on Blackboard!