Performance Planning/Scenario Planning …...project 0-6848, Transportation Planning Implications of Automated/Connected Vehicles, tested six different scenarios in an effort to study

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A2 Performance Planning/Scenario Planning

Performance-Based Planning/Scenario Planning – Public Participation and Performance Based Project

Prioritization

JD Allen, AICP Alliance Transportation Group, Inc.

748 Bayou Pines East, Suite C Lake Charles, LA 70601

337.310.7020 [email protected]

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are tasked with developing long-range transportation plans or Metropolitan Transportation Plans that address the future mobility needs of a region. During plan development the MPO must take into consideration certain planning factors, provide an opportunity for the public and key stakeholders to participate in the process, and develop investment strategies to deliver programs and projects that deliver measurable outcome based results. At its core, transportation is all about mobility and access. However, determining a set of programs and projects to achieve an area’s long-term mobility and access goals and advance the community’s shared vision for the future is a monumental task. A major step in the process is developing a community vision that guides future project development. This involves gathering and integrating the future mobility needs and desires of the traveling public and stakeholders and integrating that community vision into the project prioritization process. This presentation presents several methodologies to utilize the federally mandated performance based planning factors in conjunction with community values to develop a process that includes quantitative and qualitative project prioritization criteria.

mailto:[email protected]

A2 Performance Based Planning/Scenario Planning

PERFORMANCE BASED PLANNING & SCENARIO PLANNING – AN OVERVIEW ON APPROACHES,

BENEFITS, AND CHALLENGES

Jeff Carroll High Street Consulting Group

1301 Murraywood Ct. Columbia, SC 29212 240-252-5111 Ext 109

[email protected] Many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and rural planning organizations (RPOs), are developing and testing different future scenarios during the long range planning process to improve system performance and inform decision-makers on allocating scarce financial resources. There are many types of scenarios. Some scenarios tell a story about the future as a way of visioning possible changes while others set assumptions that examine future possibilities. Each scenario is unique and that they can evaluate system performance based on land use changes, technology advancements, population growth/declines, economic competiveness, etc. The presentation will set the stage for the Performance Planning/Scenario Planning track by providing an overview of the scenario process and how MAP-21/FAST Act performance measures can be integrated to help transportation agencies evaluate performance and assist in identify reasonable performance targets. Different scenario planning approaches will be shared and the benefits of the process and challenges to overcome will be discussed. We’ll also share how agencies can involve the public in the scenario planning through using innovative visualization tools, polls, and surveys so stakeholders can provide input on desired actions, policies, and investments that support long-range plan goals and objectives.



PERFORMANCE-BASED PLANNING/SCENARIO PLANNING – APPLYING TRAVEL DEMAND

MODELS FOR SCENARIO-BASED PLANNING

J. Michael Heath, P.E. Alliance Transportation Group, Inc.

11500 Metric Boulevard, Building M-1, Suite 150 Austin, TX 78758 (512) 821-2081

[email protected]

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are tasked with developing long range transportation plans or Metropolitan Transportation Plans that address the future mobility needs of a region. During plan development MPOs must take into consideration certain planning factors, provide an opportunity for the public and key stakeholders to participate in the process, and develop investment strategies to deliver programs and projects that deliver measurable outcome based results. Determining a set of programs and projects to achieve an area’s long-term mobility and access goals and advance the community’s shared vision for the future is the core responsibility of the MPO. Applying travel demand models using varying development patterns and bundles of projects help the public and decision makers identify and prioritize projects that have the greatest potential of help achieve the regions goals and objectives. This presentation presents processes and methodologies that employ travel demand models to inform scenario based planning and develop performance metrics. Evaluating plausible scenarios helps MPOs evaluate and develop policy and investment decisions, which allow MPOs to create a vision of how the community, region, or study area might look and function in the future, and the associated performance metrics of each of the identified scenarios. These processes and methodologies help planners, elected officials, and the public prioritize and select transportation projects and programs. Scenarios provide a common framework to delineate costs and benefits of transportation decisions while taking into consideration future transportation and land use scenarios.



INNOVATIONS IN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE SCENARIOS – A STATE’S PERSPECTIVE

Jessie Jones

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department P.O. Box 2261, Little Rock, AR 72203-2261

501-569-2201 [email protected]

Performance management is becoming increasingly applied in the transportation industry. While the concepts of performance management and performance measures are generally understood, deciding how to best allocate limited resources across various types of investments to provide acceptable transportation system performance continues to pose a persistent and difficult challenge. While agencies often use management systems to understand the impacts of short-term investments on transportation system performance, a longer-term approach to performance-based resource allocation is often not considered even though it is required under MAP-21.

During the development of the Arkansas Long Range Intermodal Transportation Plan (LRITP), Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) developed the following four alternative future scenarios:

1. Keep it Smooth – Preserve the Investment. This scenario would maintain and preserve the

existing highway and bridge system in a State-of-Good-Repair.

2. Think Locally – Trade Globally. This scenario would enhance infrastructure investments that

support industry retention and attraction.

3. Connecting Communities – Forging Opportunities. This scenario would complete Arkansas’

Four-lane Grid System for a better connected economy.

4. Bigger Cities – More Mobility. This scenario would alleviate urban congestion by focusing on congested corridors (TDM improvements), increasing transit operations, preserving the existing urban system, and addressing gaps in the bicycle and pedestrian network.

Planning tools were utilized to link quantitative and qualitative performance impacts to investment levels in each of the following six program investment areas safety, pavement, bridge, capacity, maintenance and non-highway (urban and rural public transportation, and bicycle and pedestrian). A cross-asset decision support solution was developed to test and evaluate the results of allocating resources to each of the scenarios across the six investment programs and an on-line engagement tool was used to solicit feedback and input on each scenario.

The alternative future scenarios and associated performance dashboard provide AHTD transparency and accountability and a step-by-step process to implement performance management concepts at the programmatic level. The scenario process and performance levels inform AHTD decision-makers and assist in allocating limited resources across various types of investments to provide acceptable transportation system performance.



NCHRP’S FORESIGHT 750 SERIES: INFORMING TRANSPORTATION’S FUTURE

Thera Black

8730 Tallon Lane NE Lacey, WA 98516


The only thing certain about the future is that it is uncertain. Despite this, transportation professionals are responsible for engaging the community in planning processes that describe and define future visions, prioritize investments to support that vision, build and maintain the infrastructure we depend on, and craft performance measures to guide the way from “here” to “there.” What happens when the future is different than envisioned? How robust will the decisions and investments we’re making today be when the future turns out differently than planned? In 2008, the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research initiated far-reaching analysis into some of the driving forces of change we’re likely to encounter over the next 40 or 50 years. While the lens of the analysis is DOT-centric, the findings are relevant across the spectrum of transportation agencies and processes. The resulting Foresight 750 series of reports developed through the National Cooperative Highways Research Program (NCHRP) explores implications of five disruptive forces that are beyond the control of our best planning processes yet will dramatically reshape transportation needs and priorities: the global economy, technology, politics, society, and the environment. The NCHRP research series, published as the aptly named Foresight 750 Series, includes subjects as diverse and impactful as:

Economic changes driving the future of freight, using scenario planning as an exploratory tool.

Climate change and extreme weather events – implications for infrastructure and guidance on adaptation strategies.

Expediting future technologies to achieve long-term transportation system performance goals.

Sustainability as an organizing principle for transportation agencies to meet rapidly changing societal, economic, and environmental challenges.

Energy and fuels, and strategic thinking about our uncertain energy future.

Demographics and their cascading effect on future travel demand. We plan for the future, but the process of getting there is messy and filled with questions that have not yet been answered. We don’t have a crystal ball to help us understand and address the greatest transportation challenges of the next 50 years, but NCHRP’s Foresight 750 Series is perhaps the next best thing. Think of this as your guide to the future as these reports identify signposts to watch for that will help you navigate and interpret different scenarios about the future and make choices about transportation today that will provide our successors with flexibility to solve future challenges.



Accounting for AV/CV in Long-Range Plans Using Current Travel Models

Kevin Hall

Texas A&M Transportation Institute 505 E. Huntland Drive, Suite 32020

Austin, Texas 78752 512-407-1120 Ext. 12120

[email protected]

Tom Williams Texas A&M Transportation Institute

505 E. Huntland Drive Austin, Texas 78752

512-407-1122 Ext. 12122 [email protected]

Hao Pang

Texas A&M Transportation Institute 505 E. Huntland Drive Austin, Texas 78752

512-407-1100, Ext. 12100 [email protected]

Even with the most optimistic forecasts, the impact of autonomous vehicles and connected vehicles (AV/CV) is not easily quantifiable. Long-range travel demand models have long been the tool used to document system deficiencies and to test alternative systems (e.g., rail) and enhancements (e.g., additional highway lanes). Travel demand models are calibrated to matched observed behavior –using surveys and traffic counts- and are carried forward into the future. Public reactions to AV/CV technology have yet to be observed and the widespread market penetration has yet to be realized or even initiated. However, the horizon for many of these innovations within the public domain may be realized within the typical 20 to 30 year planning period of most metropolitan transportation plans (MTPs). Forecasting travel demand in an autonomous vehicle environment and potential impacts to available capacity, mobility, and legacy systems is difficult at best using current modeling conventions. However, the transformative potential of AV/CV technologies is possibly significant by improving the efficiency, reliability and safety of personal travel. Therefore, how do Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) attempt to address and acknowledge these impacts using current tools, without significant, expensive and time consuming investment and upgrades to existing tool sets, to support the development of upcoming long-range transportation plans? The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) attempts to answer these questions to support long-range plan development in the state and the possible inclusion of AV/CV scenario planning. Research project 0-6848, Transportation Planning Implications of Automated/Connected Vehicles, tested six different scenarios in an effort to study the long range implications of AV/CV technology and quantify the potential impacts to vehicle miles of travel, travel time speeds and delay. The project used the current Capital Area (Austin, Texas) travel demand model to develop approaches that could be adopted in the state, including 3-step models for small-to-medium sized MPOs. The presentation will describe and identify the challenges associated with using current demand models and will offer potential options that could be easily implemented throughout the state - using current tools. Ultimately, the project is directed at developing a common system by which Texas MPOs can use to study the impacts of these technologies on demand in a scenario planning context using existing long range planning models.





PERFORMANCE-BASED PLANNING FOR CONNECTED AND AUTOMATED VEHICLES

Jeremy Raw, Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington DC 20590

Phone: 202-366-0986 Email: [email protected]

Connected and automated vehicles are coming fast, along with important challenges for planners. This presentation will sort out the connections (and distinctions) between “connected” and “automated” vehicles, and offer suggestions about how to handle the specific needs of each technology in an effective performance-based planning process. Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies have the potential to deliver important safety, mobility and environmental benefits. USDOT is offering many technical resources to encourage and facilitate the installation of connected infrastructure. At the same time, numerous companies are developing and deploying various levels of vehicle automation, and fully autonomous vehicles are moving from the laboratory to public highways. Significant shifts in travel behavior may result as these technologies mature, with important implications for what investments should best be made in the future. Unfortunately, there is very little “real world” data to extrapolate from as we attempt to determine whether supportive investments will be relevant or useful, when such investments should be made (especially to support autonomous vehicles), or how to quantify the magnitude of benefits or the time frame in which they might be realized. The complex and uncertain future presents a major planning challenge. Laboratory and limited field tests have demonstrated specific potential benefits from connected vehicle infrastructure investment, and these investments could deliver benefits rapidly as more and more vehicles are equipped with compatible technology. On the other hand, fully automated vehicles, heavily under development by auto manufacturers and information technology firms, are highly visible, but the ramifications of their widespread deployment are poorly understood. They may have few consequences (simply delivering an easier and safer way to drive). But they could also have potentially revolutionary implications for the transportation system as a whole, by changing how we provide transit or taxi services, how we manage parking requirements (and “zero occupancy” cars cruising around as they wait for their next passenger), or perhaps even how many private vehicles households need to maintain. The good news is that we probably don't need to make radical changes to our plans in the short run. The bad news is that we may be called upon to address unexpected emerging trends in a big hurry later on. Fortunately, there are planning tools available to help navigate these challenges successfully. In particular, most agencies can benefit by systematically employing a performance-based process to set goals, measure progress, and adjust plans as new data become available. The aim is to develop a comprehensive and realistic vision of the future transportation system and revisit it regularly as new information becomes available. Establishing specific planning goals based on community values and visioning, identifying effective performance measures, and gathering sufficient data will equip planning agencies to evaluate emerging technologies and respond promptly to new developments. Such a process is not just beneficial for handling vehicle automation. By expanding the limited set of mobility performance measures that have historically been applied to highway and transit planning, and using them to stay abreast of system performance as new technology arrives and new travel behavior emerges, planners will be well-equipped to approach the uncertain future with confidence. No one today can precisely identify everything that needs to happen to maximize the benefits of connected and automated vehicle technology, but by establishing an effective and agile planning process, agencies will be able to make the best and most timely decisions as new challenges emerge.



MAKING PERFOMANCE MANAGEMENT REAL AND RELEVANT TO JOHN AND JANE Q PUBLIC

Evan Enarson

Cambridge Systematics 999 18th Street, Denver CO 80202 303 357 4663

[email protected] With the performance management requirements of MAP-21, many transportation agencies are beginning to develop performance-based approaches to programming, resource allocation, and planning. Traditionally, these processes are often developed from the top-down with relatively little direct public involvement in decision-making. Public and stakeholder input is often limited to broad themes, such as regional goals and priorities, while decisions on investment levels, performance, and project selection criteria are made by technical and policy committees. Sometimes internal decision processes can appear to be black boxes, though they have a direct impact on what investments are made in a region. Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC) recently developed a performance management approach for the Spokane region. A core outcome of this effort was comprehensive outreach and engagement with stakeholders to make performance management real and relevant. SRTC used a variety of techniques to communicate and educate to help stakeholders understand how regional and local decisions would be impacted and to involve stakeholders directly in creating performance processes, measures, and decision tools. Spokane’s stakeholder group included local governments, transit, health, economic development, bicycle and pedestrian, state DOT, and other interests. Through interactive workshops, surveys, meetings, interactive performance webtools and iPads, and learning exercises, SRTC enabled stakeholders to make first round decisions on what performance measures should be tracked, how performance programming should be approached, and what investment levels and regional performance targets should be adopted by the region. This session provides an overview of SRTC’s major activities and approaches as well as lessons learned. The highlights SRTC’s of approach to engaging stakeholders and the public in establishing measures, setting targets, and communicating financial needs and constraints in a performance-based world can be applied to other regions.


INNOVATIONS AND EFFECTIVE USE OF SCENARIO PLANNING

Philip W. Hanegraaf, FAICP

1371 Cranbrook Circle, Aurora IL 60502 630-269-9861

[email protected]

Scenario planning can be a very effective tool in normalizing complex land use and transportation planning variables over a single platform and providing comparative performance outcomes from different planning assumptions. Scenario modeling tools that have interactive capability and allow on-the-fly scenario testing in meetings and workshops are very valuable to provide active demonstration of how changes in planning variables and their relative importance affect outcomes in the decision process. Very often, understanding the inter-relationships among variables is as insightful in determining preferences as the outcomes of scenarios themselves. Developing a successful and effective approach is a complex process requiring transparency and simplicity in the user interface for effective stakeholder and citizen involvement in their community’s future. This presentation will discuss experiences and lessons learned in data and user applications, and how they are interpreted in their results. It will also discuss relationships to goal setting, scenario development and performance measurement.


NEW TOOLS FOR INTEGRATING SAFETY INTO PERFORMANCE BASED PLANNING

Audrey Wennink

Cambridge Systematics, Inc 115 S. Lasalle St., Suite 2200

Chicago, IL 60603 312-665-0218

[email protected]

Chimai Ngo Federal Highway Administration

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington DC 20590


Performance-based planning is not a new concept—for years transportation agencies have been tracking performance metrics. However, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21

st Century Act (MAP-21) and the

Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) Act refined the focus on performance measurement, requiring State departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to demonstrate progress in meeting seven national transportation goals. One of the national goal areas is safety. In addition to this requirement, more states and regions are moving towards policies on zero fatalities, recognizing that even one transportation-related death is unacceptable. The combination of these two developments has sparked a cultural change as transportation planners are being challenged to renew their focus on safety, using performance-based planning methods to:

Understand past, current, and potential future safety trends—where we are now;

Develop safety goals, objectives, measures, and targets—where we want to go; and

Identify transportation safety programs and projects to achieve results—how we get there. The Applying Safety Data and Analysis to Performance-Based Transportation Planning Guidebook provides DOT and MPO planners with a step-by-step approach for understanding the types of safety data used during planning and where they can be accessed; analysis techniques (from basic trend analysis all the way to network screening) that can be applied to identify the key safety concerns; and most importantly, how the results of safety analysis can be applied to the performance-based transportation planning process to develop safety goals, objectives, performance measures, and targets; identify and prioritize projects; and evaluate progress towards safety priorities. To inform the contents of the Guidebook, DOT and MPO planners from Alabama, Ohio, Michigan, New Mexico, and Tennessee were interviewed. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project on Integrating Safety into MPO Project Prioritization identifies methods that MPO planners can use to ensure safety is fully incorporated into future transportation infrastructure by identifying opportunities to score the safety benefits for all transportation projects (not just safety specific projects). To meet future safety targets, it will be critical for MPOs to prioritize projects that will improve safety. To collect information, planning documents from more than 50 MPO were reviewed and practitioners were reviewed to understand the different methodologies used to incorporate safety considerations into selection of transportation projects. The research documents current approaches for conducting project prioritization and how safety is incorporated into those methods. The project identifies strengths and limitations of the current approaches to using safety as a project prioritization criterion, and recommends a range of approaches with the best likelihood of selecting projects that will reduce fatal and serious injury crashes.




SMALL COMMUNITY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PLANNING WITH DECREASING TRAFFIC

VOLUMES

Mat Dolata 720 SW Washington St., Suite 500

Portland, OR 97205 503-972-1210

[email protected] Many transportation improvement programs are based on needs identified to address issues related to motor vehicle congestion. What happens when traffic volumes in a small community decrease and those needs go away? How do you effectively pursue project funding without having a demonstrated need for traffic operations improvements? The Transportation System Plan Update for the City of Cottage Grove, OR (approximate population of 10,000) illustrates a case study in pivoting away from mobility-oriented projects to multi-modal access, safety, and connectivity improvements. Despite increasing population and an expanding urban growth boundary, traffic volumes in Cottage Grove decreased by 10 to 30 percent between 2006 and 2014. The adopted Transportation System Plan (TSP) had identified a series of roadway capacity expansions and extensions to better serve mobility needs. With new traffic analysis results, most of those needs were no longer applicable. The City even turned down committed project funding from ODOT in one instance. The updated Transportation System Plan (TSP) was revised to include lane reconfigurations, new pedestrian and bicycle facilities, safe street crossings, and new local street connections. The project list was reoriented to focus on improving safety and increasing opportunities for residents to make healthier transportation choices. Projects were packaged together to work in coordination to support community goals and provide an excellent candidate for pursuit of external funding opportunities. The updated TSP better supports Historic Downtown Cottage Grove and enhances recreational opportunities that drive the burgeoning tourism activities in the community.



THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUDING FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY PROPERTIES IN THE

STATEWIDE AND METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNNIG PROCESS

Lewis G. Grimm, P.E. Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division

Federal Highway Administration 21400 Ridgetop Circle

Sterling, VA 20166 703-404-6289

[email protected]

Although few people live or work within their boundaries, the lands owned and managed by federal land management agencies attract large numbers of visitors each year, generate substantial economic revenues for local economies, typically occupy considerable geographic areas, and are predominantly located in proximity to small and medium sized urban areas. For these reasons, it is important for these properties to be appropriately considered in both the statewide and metropolitan transportation planning processes. The United States depends on a safe and efficient transportation system to strengthen communities, provide access to jobs, services, and centers of trade, and retain and enhance our economic competitiveness in the global marketplace. The transportation planning process is a forum through which transportation investment decisions are made to address these issues. The State departments of transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and Federal Land management Agencies are required to conduct continuing, comprehensive, and collaborative intermodal transportation planning activities that facilitates the efficient, economic movement of people and goods in all areas. Title 23 U.S.C. Section 204 requires the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Federal Lands Highway (FLH), in consultation with the Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs), to develop transportation planning processes and procedures that are generally consistent with the metropolitan and statewide planning processes as defined in 23 U.S.C. Sections 134 and 135. These complimentary legislative directions thus create the requirement for a two way flow of information and activity between the traditional State and MPO planning partners on one side and the FLMAs on the other side. In the middle of these interactions are the rural communities, small and medium-sized urban areas that have been historically identified as the "gateway communities" to these federal land properties. Moreover, through the regular and continuous involvement of federal land management agencies in their respective statewide and metropolitan transportation planning processes, State DOTs and MPOs also have the opportunity to address the planning emphasis areas that have been identified by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. First publicized in 2014 and emphasized again in the spring of 2015, these planning emphasis areas highlight the importance of: transitioning to a performance based planning and programming process as called for in the MAP-21 legislation, the benefits of regional models of cooperation, and the need to give appropriate consideration to addressing ladders of opportunity. The better integration of the transportation issues and concerns facing federal land management agencies such as the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, and the US Army Corps of Engineers into the statewide and metropolitan planning processes administered by small and medium size communities and state DOTs can thus provide the opportunities for a collective "win - win" outcome for all involved parties. This presentation/paper will highlight some recent examples of how the Office of Federal Lands Highways and its FLMA partners are becoming more regularly involved in the well-established statewide and metropolitan transportation planning processes and note some potential opportunities for future improvements to this process.



TOOLS TO RE-IMAGINE AND RE-DISCOVER AMERICA'S BUSINESS HIGHWAY

- A TALE FROM FLORIDA’S EAST COAST

Stephan C. Harris 2570 W International Speedway Boulevard, Suite 100, Daytona Beach, FL 32114

(386) 226-0422 [email protected]

The US 1 Action Plan used Performance-based Planning practices and developed Interactive Screening Tools to refocus transportation investments to support revitalization of the communities along US1. US 1 in Volusia County, Florida has been the subject of more than 140 studies and plans in the past 15 years, ranging from contrasting proposals to widen the roadway to plans to develop it as a Complete Street and enhance bicycle, pedestrian and transit travel. Recognizing the desire to transform the corridor, the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization (R2CTPO) partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and local governments along the corridor to develop an Action Plan for US 1 to guide this transformation. History and Transformation of US 1: Early on, US 1 functioned as the main street in the various hamlets and towns that formed at crossroads or rail depots. As the automobile became more prevalent, its effects were felt on Florida’s tourism landscape and these small communities. Interstate 95 (I-95) was built to parallel US 1, drawing development and travel away from the corridor. Local governments began leading US1’s transformation by designating Community Redevelopment Areas (CRAs) along most of the US 1 corridor. US 1 Action Plan: The US 1 Action Plan used Performance-Based Planning practices to develop a set of corridor themes, goals and objectives which were used to narrow a long list of 425 potential projects (developed over 15 years prior to the Action Plan) to focus on those that best met the collective goals of the US 1 communities. The study team developed an interactive screening tool to map each of the projects and describe their status (i.e. planning, design, funded) and key details so that communities could track their projects and identify potential partnering opportunities to advance and fund various projects. The communities along US 1 varied in context, size and desire. Some were primarily rural communities that wanted to remain rural while others were suburban and urban communities that wanted to be even more urban. While these communities had a shared desired for a more multi-modal US 1, they wanted the roadway to reflect and support their community contexts. Based on both the land use and transportation context of these areas, the study team worked with the communities to define their distinct character along US 1. For each of these Character Districts, various options for US 1 were developed, to facilitate safe and effective travel for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit passengers and how to support economic revitalization through wider sidewalks and on-street parking. Resulting Actions and Grassroots Movement: An Action Plan was developed to advance projects and to foster continued coordination and outreach with community and corridor stakeholders. Some of the key actions that advanced included increased transit service (which resulted in a 41% increase in transit ridership), key intersection safety improvements, filling of sidewalk gaps, and landscaping and streetscaping along US1. The corridor communities and CRAs also partnered to lead a grass roots effort to help residents and visitors to Rediscover US 1, Americas Business Highway. This Rediscover US 1 initiative has fostered a renewed interest in the history and significance of US 1 through a series of community events (https://www.facebook.com/Businesshighway1/). The first was a US 1 Scavenger Hunt – where participants discovered and rediscovered many of the environmental gems, unique waypoints, small businesses and visitor opportunities along US 1.



ASSESSING THE WIDER ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS AT THE

MIDDLE-STAGE PLANNING

Davis Chacon-Hurtado, Graduate Research Assistant Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907


Eleni Bardaka, PhD Candidate


Ruiman Yang, Graduate Research Assistant


Konstantina Gkritza, Ph.D., Associate Professor (765) 494-4597

[email protected]

Jon D. Fricker, Ph.D., Professor, (765) 494-2205

[email protected]

The traditional framework of transportation project evaluation considers travel time, vehicle operating cost, and safety as the main benefits. However, it is now widely recognized that the impact of transportation projects goes beyond these standard travel benefits (STB). These efforts have become even more relevant because the evidence shows that wider economic benefits (W.E.B.) can be as large as 30% of the STB. This has the potential to influence current prioritization and programming of projects. In view of the above, a set of spreadsheet-based tools were developed under the Capacity program of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) in an effort to evaluate W.E.B. related to reliability, market access, and intermodal connectivity. Currently, several state and local agencies, such as the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and a few Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in Indiana, are undertaking efforts to expand their processes with respect to the assessment of the economic development potential of highway corridor improvements at the middle-stage or during scenario planning.

In an attempt to contribute to these efforts and assist practitioners in understanding the scope, data requirements, methodological assumptions, and limitations of these tools, this study presents an application of the EconWorks W.E.B. tools (formerly SHPR2 C11 tools) with particular focus on the input sources and the sensitivity of the outputs. After data inputs were retrieved from readily-available sources as well as from travel demand models, the tools’ outputs using these two data sources were compared. Subsequently, the sensitivity of the tools’ results in relation to certain critical input parameters was investigated. In specific, two of the EconWorks W.E.B. tools: the Reliability and Buyer-Supplier Market Access tool were examined through two case studies in Indiana. The Reliability tool aims to measure the benefits of reducing the variability in travel times. The tool was used in a case study in Marion County, IN where the project consisted of adding lanes on a 1.6-mile segment of the US 36 corridor. Results indicate that the reliability outcomes such as recurring and non-recurring delay costs increase rapidly with volume to capacity ratios greater than 0.85, while the incident delay costs decrease proportionally to the reduction in incident frequency and duration. The EconWorks Buyer-Supplier Market Access tool focuses on measuring economies of scale triggered by the expansion of the customer delivery market served from a certain business site and the expansion of supplier locations that can deliver to that business site in a day, due to a highway transportation improvement in the region. This tool was applied to estimate the total business productivity benefits associated with a proposed project that includes adding one lane per direction to a 36-mile segment of SR-3 between I-70 and I-74. It was found that the productivity benefits, due to market access expansion, highly depend on the assumed decay parameter and productivity elasticity.

This study demonstrates the significance, magnitude and tools that can be used to measure the W.E.B. of transportation projects and shows the processes needed to adapt these tools to local conditions. By integrating the estimation of these benefits in the decision-making process, agencies can improve their understanding of the expected impacts associated with transportation project alternatives at the middle stage planning processes and therefore, better-informed decisions can be reached.





A7

Performance Based Planning/Scenario Planning

A SCENARIO PLANNING TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING A COMMUNITY’S ACCESSIBILITY

Matthew Pettit, Robert Kohler

1 west court sq. Ste 750

Decatur, GA 30030

(678) 890-5245

[email protected]

Accessibility has become an increasingly popular topic and metric moving forward in transportation planning. Metrics such as access to jobs or walking accessibility scores have become a popular way to ensure our transportation systems are delivering people to their desired destinations. This presentation presents a new tool, Sugar Access, which allows planners to conduct accessibility analyses and compare scenarios using a prepackaged and integrated data source. The tool, which is an ArcGIS add-in, allows users to develop their own accessibility based metrics across different modes of transportation. Planners now have the ability to understand one’s ability to walk or bike to their daily errands, analyze the benefits of bike infrastructure improvements, and compute the increased accessibility resulting from simple transit improvements. Not only can Sugar Access analyze present day accessibility, but it also allows users to model and compare future scenarios based on these types of accessibility metrics. In addition to its analytic capability, the tool integrates with ArcGIS Online to easily share the benefits of a project with its stakeholders. A user case on bike accessibility and lessons learned during the evaluation will also be presented in this session.



THE USE OF ARCHIVED TRAVEL SPEED DATA IN MODEL CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION

Paul Ricotta

Caliper Corporation 1172 Beacon Street, Suite 302

Newton, MA 02461 617 527 4700 x307 [email protected]

The ability of regional planning models to provide reasonable forecasts of transportation projects is fundamentally dependent on their ability to generate accurate congested highway travel times. Historically, use of speed data was limited in modeling, and only a handful of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) collected travel time data for use in calibrating or validating their models. The data collected were often quite limited in terms of model links or origin-destination pairs sampled, and typically the sample sizes were too small to provide statistically significant results. The availability of new sources of travel time data provides an opportunity to make more detailed assessments of congested travel speeds produced by travel models than have been previously possible. Congested travel times vary by time of day, day of the week, and seasons of the year, and are directly influenced by incidents of various types, weather, and the presence and operation of work zones, among other factors. This variability greatly complicates the assessment of model data, but also opens the door to addressing many unanswered questions about the performance and reliability of regional transportation systems. In this paper, we report on some exploratory comparisons between travel model output and commercially available travel time data that can assist in the model calibration and validation process. The paper mainly uses HERE Traffic data that was collected for various MPO regions. We also used INRIX data that were provided for a particular MPO, and we performed a supplementary analysis of point-to-point travel times using data licensed from Google. With the new availability of speed data, there is reason to believe that modelers will be able to produce regional models that do a better job of matching both observed counts and speeds.



PERFORMANCE-BASED PLANNING 2.0: RAISING THE BAR WITH SHRP-2

Saleem Salameh, Ph.D., P.E.

KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission 400 Third Avenue

Huntington, WV 25712 304-523-7434

[email protected]

Allison Fluitt, P.E., AICP Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. 421 Fayetteville Street, Suite 600

Raleigh, NC 27601 919-653-2947

[email protected]

Performance-based planning continues to grow in its breadth and importance. At the metropolitan transportation planning level, we are beginning to understand the application of MAP-21 and its focus on quantifiable evaluation metrics. Although the planning goals and focus areas for MAP-21 are the same nationwide, every area has a different take on how best to apply them. By focusing on the similarities and differences in various metropolitan areas and drawing on best practices, we can move performance-based planning to a new level of effectiveness. The KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission (Huntington, WV – Ashland, KY – Ironton, OH metropolitan area) chose to explore the performance-based planning process in more detail through the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP-2). KYOVA was awarded a grant to improve their project prioritization process for all the major planning efforts in the MPO. This process afforded the opportunity to conduct a two-day workshop with major stakeholders within the region, state DOTs, and the federal government. KYOVA used this unique opportunity to come up with a prioritization process that built upon previous plans, drew from ongoing statewide efforts, and borrowed from techniques being applied successfully elsewhere in the country. Most importantly, the prioritization process looked at data sources that were easily obtainable or currently available in the area. KYOVA was able to draw from new tools available to the area such as an integrated travel demand model, a Congestion Management Plan, and a Spatial Decision Support System. This approach allowed KYOVA to come up with solutions that were grounded in the data management process already in place across the region. This presentation will focus on two different elements of the performance-based planning process:

1. Review of prioritization processes – We will provide examples of how prioritization criteria are being developed and applied for metropolitan areas from around the country. A special focus will be placed on how each prioritization process maximizes the effectiveness of existing data while giving the MPO the flexibility it needs to streamline its day to day operations.

2. KYOVA’s SHRP-2 process – We will focus special attention on how the SHRP-2 program was used to develop a performance-based planning process for the MPO. This discussion will highlight the process used to develop these performance measures as well as the application of these measures.

Using these examples, this presentation will help communities view a variety of approaches and tools for performance-based planning, and to better understand what methods may work best in their areas.



A8 Asset Management

PERFORMANCE-BASED TOOLS TO ENHANCE INVESTMENT DECISION MAKING: ASSESSING A

REGIONAL BRIDGE NETWORK AND THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF UNDERINVESTMENT

Roberto Alvarado, Brian ten Siethoff, Richard Perrin 730 Peachtree Street, Suite 1000, Atlanta, Georgia, 30308

404-460-2613 [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

A key challenge faced by transportation professionals is where and how best to allocate financial resources. This challenge is exacerbated in the current planning context given that revenue sources are not sufficient to meet infrastructure needs. Following the emergency closure of a primary bridge linking Rochester, NY to one of its suburbs, the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) commissioned an analysis to determine the long-term consequences of underinvestment in its bridge network and what improvements would be possible with additional revenue support. The effort consisted of assessing the conditions of the nearly 1,600 bridges in the region and in developing two flexible, practical MS Excel-based tools to support more informed investment decisions to maximize the limited revenues expected to be available for bridge repairs and replacements. The first tool – Bridge Asset Management Planning Tool – identifies a cost-effective balance between work types for bridges in the Region based on available revenues. It incorporates data on average annual daily traffic and annual daily truck traffic to emphasize the impacts of structural deficiency and functional obsolescence on bridge users, treating the users of the bridges as a critical prioritization factor rather than solely focusing on the number of deficient bridges. The tool deemphasizes a “worst first” approach to asset management and focuses on the customer and the broader system. The Bridge Asset Management Planning Tool selects work types based on the long-term economic optimization models from the National Bridge Investment Analysis System (NBIAS) and allows the user to conduct performance-based condition assessments. The tool revealed that attaining a State of Good Repair would require a doubling of annual investments in the Region’s bridges over a ten year period, or a 60 percent increase in annual investments over a 25-year period. The second tool – the Bridge Prioritization Screening Tool – provides a flexible approach to creating customized rankings of bridges based on user-defined criteria and identifying potential candidates for decommissioning if investment levels are not adequate to address future bridge preservation needs. Decommissioning a bridge has socioeconomic implications, but the versatility of the model assists the user in identifying bridge clusters to determine where traffic could potentially be diverted if a bridge is closed to reduce the impact to users and businesses. This tool provides an objective basis for discussions about investment priorities, enhancing but not replacing performance-driven project evaluation processes. These tools provide cost-effective applications that small and medium-sized communities can consider developing to assess their specific bridge networks and enhance their capital programming processes. These tools provide an objective basis to assess and articulate the impacts of continued underinvestment in bridges and support performance-based, data-driven analysis to identify investment priorities.




A8 Asset Management

ADA AND RESURACING: ALTERATIONS VS MAINTENANCE

Dean Perkins, Architect, ADA Coordinator

Florida Department of Transportation Office of Design

605 Suwannee St., MS-40 Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450


This session describes the recent US Department of Justice / US Department of Transportation Joint Technical Assistance on Resurfacing and Curb Ramps under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Nationally, there was a lot of confusion on this issue and different interpretations by state agencies and by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division offices. The Joint TA provides detailed descriptions of what DOJ & DOT consider to be ‘alterations’ of a roadway during resurface projects, which requires construction and/or reconstruction of curb ramps. The Joint TA also describes what they consider to be ‘maintenance’, which does not require curb ramp work. This course describes when resurfacing projects must include curb ramp construction or upgrades, and when it does not. It is based on direction from USDOT FHWA.


A8 Asset Management

EXPANDING THE ROLE OF COMPLETE STREETS: A PRACTIONER’S GUIDE

Mike Rutkowski

801 Jones Franklin Road, Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27606 919.277.3106

[email protected] Communities across the country - more than 700 so far - have adopted some form of Complete Street policy to help ensure that the planning, design, construction and maintenance of new transportation facilities safely accommodate all types of users. Complete streets improve mobility for seniors and children; reduce the pace of climate change; promote healthier lifestyles; lower transportation costs; and increase equity across a community. Even in locations where there is less interest in walking, transit, and biking, communities want to compete successfully for Millennials and the companies that employ them through urban design elements that incorporate complete street design principles. As a National Complete Streets Platinum-Level Partner, Stantec Consulting Services has been helping communities across North America achieve these same objectives for over 50 years, well before the complete street term was coined. We have begun to develop a practical guidance document for small- and medium-sized communities that want to know how to integrate these principles in practice. Our presentation will highlight the core content of this guide, including elements that represent an expanded view of complete streets that go beyond modal choices, like "green" street design, calculating economic returns-on-investment, and integrating crime prevention into the design process. These additional elements often create much more interest for many stakeholders than the benefits centered on direct transportation benefits. Traditional elements of complete street planning and design will be addressed as well, focusing on measuring performance and creating a level playing field analytically with traffic delay-oriented metrics. Data sources and analytical practices will also be touched on in our presentation. We will also cover how to address the political and study framework biases that often prevent well-intentioned policy from maturing into great projects. Our presentation will make use of interactive polling technology to engage the audience, and show how biases can play a major role in project selection and development. Our presentation will feature many examples of our guidance in action with past projects, as well as encouraging the audience to discuss their experiences.

B2 Transit

SMALL CITY LIVABILITY AND TRANSIT SERVICES:

MEASURING AND PLANNING FOR BOTH

Jonathan Brooks, Smita Sharma 701 N Post Oak Rd, Ste 430, Houston, TX 77024-3827


The presenter is the principal investigator for an ongoing research study for the U.S. Department of Transportation about rural community livability and the role of public transportation, titled Exploring Transit’s Contribution to Livability in Rural Communities. The definition of livability varies from community to community across a region, state, or nation. Public transit may contribute to livability in one or more ways. The presenter will share a recently developed methodology to define livability locally and identify the potential transit markets specific to a community (both internally and due to regional context). The methodology was developed and tested in communities across the country. Case studies in small communities were conducted in the following states: Texas, Maine, Missouri, Florida, Oregon, and North Dakota. The methodology was developed through literature review, case studies, and will conclude with a national survey (2016-2017) of public opinion. The presentation proposed for this conference will focus on practical how-to findings. For example, the presenter will share survey templates (for both public and transit user surveys) and stakeholder interview script. The presentation will cover how to evaluate livability, transit awareness, willingness-to-pay, preference for services, and GIS approaches to identify latent transit markets.

B2 Transit

IS MY COMMUNITY READY FOR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT?

A TOOL FOR ASSESSING TOD READINESS

Jessica Dimmick, AICP, EIT 355 NE 5

th Avenue, Suite 7

Delray Beach, FL 33436 (561) 404-7261 x304

[email protected]

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a comprehensive growth management strategy to accommodate population growth and provide access to jobs and other destinations without the negative effects associated with urban sprawl. While TOD is often associated with large metropolitan areas, it is also applicable to small and medium-sized communities and can provide transportation, environmental, and social benefits at a smaller scale. TODs in smaller communities may look very different from those in large cities, but the core components – compact development with a mix of uses, emphasizing walk access to a transit station and other destinations – remain the same. The differences lie in the scale of development and type of transit service. Small and medium-sized communities may find it difficult to achieve TOD, especially in areas with largely sprawling auto-oriented suburban development patterns. There are a variety of factors that influence whether an area is “ready” for TOD. Readiness for TOD depends on governmental policies, market forces, physical infrastructure, and social elements. Achieving TOD is an evolutionary process, and cultivating an environment from which TOD can emerge requires diligent planning to address the variety of factors. The Florida Department of Transportation developed a tool that assesses how ready an area is for TOD through an evaluation of 20 measures that reflect the various facets of TOD potential. Users can apply the tool to existing and potential future transit station areas. The tool uses readily available data for quantitative measures, and prompts the user to answer a series of questions for more qualitative policy measures. The readiness evaluation identifies an area’s strengths and weaknesses. Planners and other stakeholders can use the tool to develop strategies to increase an area’s TOD readiness by building upon its strengths and addresses its weaknesses. This presentation will first briefly introduce the concept of TOD Placetypes, which describe the ways in which TODs differ depending on levels of activity, accessibility, transit type, and community context. The main focus of the presentation will be an overview of the TOD Readiness Tool, which includes three components:

1. A User Guide, which provides instruction on how to use the tool, the purpose of each measure, and technical notes

2. An interactive Excel spreadsheet that performs the readiness assessment 3. A two-page summary template for clearly presenting the assessment results

This presentation will describe the purpose behind the tool, show attendees how to use the tool, and provide an example of an application of the tool to a medium-sized city in South Florida to complement the city’s economic development efforts.


B2 Transit

EVALUATING PARKING BEHAVIOR IN THE RALEIGH-DURHAM REGION AND

EXAMINING HOW A TRANSIT AGENCY MAY INFLUENCE PARKING DECISIONS?

Michelle Lee RSG, 2200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 205 Arlington, VA 22201 [email protected]

Darcy Downs

GoTriangle, PO Box 13787, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 [email protected]

Patrick McDonough GoTriangle, PO Box 13787, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 [email protected]

Joann Lynch

RSG, 2200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 205 Arlington, VA 22201 [email protected]

GoTriangle (formerly Triangle Transit Authority) is the regional public transportation agency for the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area. The region itself is complex and growing, with more than 85,000 students in the region enrolled at four major universities; Duke University, North Carolina Central University (NCCU), North Carolina State University (NCSU), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Similarly, the four major central business districts (CBDs) of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham, and Raleigh employ large numbers of public and private sector employees and receive large numbers of visitors/customers. In fall 2015 through winter 2016, GoTriangle and RSG conducted an online stated preference (SP) survey in order to understand the parking facility usage and parking preferences of the region’s three major population segments (university, employee, and visitor/customer). The goals of the study were: to collect data for the regional parking model, to inform the region’s planning agencies about current parking behaviors and parking facility preferences, and to determine the elasticity of parking demand, so that GoTriangle can consider policies and strategies in light of how travelers would respond to different parking conditions in the future (pricing of, capacity therein). In order to successfully conduct the project, several recruitment approaches were taken for each of the three major segments. Success in this study was highly contingent on the strong relationship transportation agencies have with the universities, major employers and CBDs in the region. University students, staff, and faculty were invited to participate in the survey by an email invitation to their university email account, or via a print advertisement in the university paper. Employers/employees in the four CBDs were invited to participate by email invitation via major employers and listservs managed by local Chambers of Commerce. Last, visitors/customers and some employees/residents to the CBDs were recruited via in-person intercept at parking facilities or by print/digital advertisements in local papers, newsletters and websites. The resulting dataset will be weighted and used to estimate a parking mode choice model and these results will be shared at the conference. GoTriangle hopes to explore various policies and strategies that may include adjusting parking requirements and parking pricing. By evaluating the tradeoffs travelers consider between parking and taking transit, GoTriangle hopes to work with municipalities on cross-modal policies to increase the likelihood of meeting mode share goals This presentation will include both the GoTriangle and the consultant experience collaborating across universities and agencies. Other presentation topics will include funding the study, designing and implementing the survey, and performing the data analysis and weighting. In conclusion, lessons learned and recommendations to agencies that may seek to conduct a similar study in the future will be discussed.





B2 Transit

A METHOD FOR ESTIMATING STATEWIDE RURAL AND SMALL URBAN TRANSIT NEEDS AND

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES

Jeremy Mattson, Ranjit Godavarthy, Jill Hough NDSU Dept. 2880, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108-6050


This study demonstrates a method for identifying statewide transit needs and gaps, prioritizing investment needs for statewide transit planning, collecting better data for demand-response transit level of service, estimating costs of needed improvements, and projecting future service needs based on projected population growth. The method was applied to the state of North Dakota and is transferable to any state, especially those with a large number of rural demand-response transit agencies that are not located within metropolitan planning areas. Currently, data in the National Transit Database is insufficient for analyzing level of service for rural transit agencies, as it lacks information on geographic service area and span of service. A survey conducted for this study filled this data need by collecting detailed data regarding each agency’s service area and the number of days and hours of service being provided. These data, when combined with population and demographic data are useful for identifying gaps in transit service and prioritizing needed service improvements. The study also calculated per capita trips, per capita vehicle miles, and per capita vehicle hours provided in regions across the state. These performance measures were compared to benchmark values to identify areas where the transit system may not be meeting the needs of the service area population, understanding that needs are not identical in all areas. The study estimated necessary increases in service and funding to meet target levels in different scenarios. Population projections were also considered for estimating needed increases in service and funding.

B4 Programs to Reduce Vehicle Dependence

PLANNING FOR HEALTH & WALKABILITY IN SMALL COMMUNITIES

Jean Crowther, Ian Sansom, Aileen Daney

638 E. Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601 864.205.5650

[email protected]

Through a recent grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is leading an effort to increase pedestrian planning efforts occurring in South Carolina. The effort is part of the DHEC SC Prevention and Health Across Systems and Environments (PHASE) Pedestrian Planning Project. SC PHASE Pedestrian Planning is a 3 year project in which Alta Planning + Design (Alta) will develop a pedestrian-focused master plan, neighborhood/area plan, or implementation plan for 16 communities in specific counties in the state. Beyond the basic tenets of walkability and pedestrian safety, key elements of the program initiative are: 1) equity-based planning 2) community engagement and 3) safe pedestrian access to healthy foods. DHEC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) is leading the initiative. The division recognizes the critical need to address both sides of the equation, when it comes to behavioral strategies for obesity prevention: physical activity and healthy eating. With that in mind, the program is designed to leverage efforts in both realms. The scope of each community pedestrian plan includes a "Healthy Food Access Analysis" which offers a GIS-based analysis of outlets for healthy foods and the pedestrian environment around them. By examining the "walk-shed" surrounding grocery stores, farmers markets, community gardens, and similar healthy food outlets, in conjunction with an analysis of the community's most vulnerable populations (such as Non English speaking populations, low-income levels, poverty levels, or limited access to vehicles), this pedestrian planning tool can identify safety needs in areas where community members are most likely to rely on walking trips to access foods. The tool can identify potential pedestrian improvements, as well as help prioritize community investments in walkability. The SC PHASE Pedestrian Planning Project is also pioneering targeted, equity-oriented community engagement strategies. The outreach programming is focused on reaching the community members most reliant on active transportation and transit and empowering those community members within the decision-making process. This includes creative ways of attracting a broader audience at public events, partnering with HYPE (Healthy Young People Empowerment Project), engaging special needs populations, generating grassroots solutions for existing trails/sidewalks that do not feel safe (in terms of crime), and other approaches. This paper explores the purpose and process behind SC DHEC’s program to develop pedestrian plans for 16 SC communities, the largest of which is under 40,000 population and most of which fall in the realm of 3,000 to 15,000 in population. The paper provides detailed explanations of the unique health-focused planning tools and the equity-focused outreach strategies used in this effort, as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of these tools.


B4 COLLABORATING TO IMPROVE SAFETY AND ACCESSIBILITY TO BUS STOPS: BETTER DATA,

SIDEWALKS AND AMENITIES

Erik C.B. Olsen, PhD Town of Blacksburg

540-443-7100, ext. 2601 [email protected]

This presentation includes an overview of two relevant projects conducted within the New River Valley in southwestern Virginia. The first project was a regional GIS transit database to collect transit route and bus stop data from several agencies, so that data are available in a single location online. A GIS data portal was developed in support of transit planning efforts, and as an integrated information sharing resource for transit systems in the region. Transit route and stop data was gathered from public service providers and then made available through the New River Valley (NRV) Regional Transit GIS Portal with web map, FTP site link for data downloads, and resources. In addition to providing a single location for regional transit data, the project served as a catalyst for additional interactions with transit providers, and has helped increase communication and collaboration among stakeholders. Lessons from project included the value gained by fostering relationships among transit agencies, the importance of face-to-face meetings, as well as a need for standards to assist in efficient data use and sharing, and data maintenance. This presentation focuses on lessons applicable to other regions, including the partnering with multiple stakeholders to create and support the Portal. As an additional benefit, the project served as an applied learning experience for student interns, who completed the majority of the work on the project. The second project was a consultant-led study aimed to improve the safety and accessibility to bus stops within the Town of Blacksburg, VA. The project identified candidate bus stops and then prioritized them for improvement as high, medium, and low priority stops. Specific improvements were then provided for the high priority stops including cost. Besides improving safety and accessibility, the goal was to support increasing ridership on transit, while supporting a more walkable, connected system, in alignment with other Town improvement planning efforts. How these projects were conducted, along with lessons applicable to other regions will be described. The challenge of balancing planning efforts with day-to-day constraints will also be discussed. Additionally the need for education will be discussed, knowing that designing great tools and solutions are just the first step. On-going dissemination and discussion is needed to allow great plans to be realized.

B4 Programs to Reduce Vehicle Dependence

NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER’S DOT: HOW FDOT DISTRICT 5 IS STRENGTHENING

MULTIMODAL PLANNING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITIES

Heather Garcia Florida Department of Transportation, District 5

719 S. Woodland Blvd. DeLand, FL 32720


Mary Taylor Raulerson Kittelson & Associates, Inc. 225 East Robinson Street

Orlando, Florida 32801 407-373-1105

[email protected]

Today’s changing financial, environmental, social, and economic realities are requiring Departments of Transportation (DOTs) around the Country to rethink the previous approach towards transportation planning and decision-making. FDOT District 5 recognizes this new challenge facing the Department and has refined its transportation planning approach, particularly on transportation solutions for urban, suburban, and rural town corridors that require multimodal considerations. The District recognizes that effective and efficient planning can lead to better defined problems, exceptional project development and delivery, more streamlined and stable work program, and eventually to implemented projects that are supported by community stakeholders. The Guidebook as a Tool for Communities This session will present how the District has taken a proactive step in developing and implementing a set of Planning Guidance for Multimodal Corridor Planning Studies. For FDOT, strengthening planning at the corridor level is critical in bridging community visions and project programming. Planning at FDOT District 5 is not about “blue sky visioning”, but entails truly understanding a problem through real data and stakeholder engagement, defining a broad range of solutions, and advancing solutions that are fiscally responsible and community supported. The Planning Guidance is a tool that is helping not only the DOT but small and medium sized city partners of DOTs:

Define a consistent approach for multimodal corridor planning that results in well-defined problem, a range of solutions, understanding of costs, schedules, and level of community support

Understand the unique roles and responsibilities for DOT staff and partner agencies for each of the project development phases (from planning to construction/maintenance)

Define the elements needed for a well-defined planning solution (or set of solutions) that can be delivered to the concept development, environmental review (NEPA), and design phases

Institutionalizing a Stronger Planning Phase District 5 sees the Planning Guidebook as a key step to advance FDOT’s recently adopted Complete Streets policy. To communicate its commitment to this new approach, the District is currently conducting internal DOT training and external workshops on the Guidebook across all of Central Florida. In the last two years, ten external and internal workshops have been conducted to almost 400 external partners and internal FDOT staff. Workshop participants learn how land use and transportation strategies should be integrated to sustainably address future multimodal mobility needs while meeting local community goals. Participants also learn about innovative planning tools and techniques available to understand issues, synthesize information, and engage stakeholders. The Guidebook is being already used as a tool by small and medium sized communities throughout District 5. It will continue to help transportation and land use planners, engineers, and designers, elected officials, who plan transportation facilities understand how stronger planning can help streamline the project development process and develop alternatives that are more fiscally realistic and community acceptable, before these are even put on a priority list or programmed.



B5 Data and Bicycle and Pedestrian Demand

GIS BASED PRIORITIZATION OF BICYCLE, PEDESTRIAN, AND TRAIL PROJECTS

Jean Crowther, Aileen Daney, John Cock

638 E. Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601 864.205.5650

[email protected]

Whether through a MPO Long Range Transportation Plan, a countywide master plan, or a local municipality plan, crafting a vision for a connected pedestrian, bicycle, and trail network is the first step. But what happens next? Ensuring a practical, feasible, and fundable strategy for implementing a proposed active transportation network is critical to moving from concept to reality. This paper uses Charleston County, SC and the City of Columbia, SC as case studies for innovative and customized approaches to prioritizing a bikeway, walkway, and trail network. In 2015, Charleston County Parks & Recreation Commission (CCPRC) began an effort to prioritize a countywide bikeway and trail network developed originally as part of the county's Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Trails master plan (2012). CCPRC contracted with Alta Planning + Design to develop a GIS-based approach to creating a capital improvement plan. The resultant effort includes two phases of analysis. A set of prioritization criteria was established and weighted, and then used to determine project priorities across the county based on need and demand. Following this analysis, Alta developed a feasibility scoring methodology to refine the prioritization not just on need and demand, but based on the practicality of funding and building each proposed facility. Through this process, Alta worked with CCPRC and a stakeholder committee to develop a phased capital improvement plan that is objective, defensible, and broadly supported. In 2014, the Central Midlands Council of Governments commissioned a Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and Bike Share Plan for the City of Columbia. The Plan focused on improving access to transit across the Columbia metro area and included a robust Pedestrian Level of Service Analysis and Pedestrian Suitability Analysis. Through this intensive GIS-based analysis, the entire roadway network of the City could be evaluated based on both "supply" (the safety and condition of the existing pedestrian environment) and "demand" (estimated pedestrian activity). The results provide a unique tool for prioritizing the universe of pedestrian needs in a community including sidewalk gaps, new construction, midblock crossings, and intersection improvements. This paper explains the methodologies used in each community's prioritization process, the resultant capital improvement plans, and how the plan is being used to seek funding and implement new projects.



A GIS-BASED BICYCLE FACILITY DEMAND-SUITABILITY PRIORITIZATION TOOL

Jeffrey LaMondia, PhD & Nathan Spence

238 Harbert Engineering Center, Auburn University, Auburn 36849 334.844.6284

[email protected]

Bicycle facility planning is increasingly important for many small and medium-sized communities as they seek to develop livable communities, either to reduce congestion, manage air quality or improve the quality of life. In fact, many metropolitan planning organizations are developing bicycle and pedestrian master plans in accordance with Federal Highway Administration’s new requirements. Some of the most significant challenges when developing a bicycle master plan are determining where the bicycle facility network should be placed as well as the types of facilities that should be constructed. While continuous facilities throughout a small or medium-sized community would be ideal, there are many constraints that limit this, including costs, right-of-way, traffic flow, and accessibility. Additionally, planners wish to avoid the worst-case scenario: spending funds on a bicycle facility that ends up not being used. This work introduces an ArcGIS-based Bicycle Facility Demand-Suitability Prioritization Tool that identifies the specific road segments within community that should be prioritized for constructing bicycle facilities. The tool includes a user-friendly interface that utilizes local GIS road network and land use data to create a bicycle network prioritization map that 1) provides access to the places cyclists seek to travel to/from and 2) promotes the roadway routes that cyclists feel most comfortable cycling on. Planners can use this tool to effectively and efficiently develop maps of a preferred cycling network in any region as well as compare the preferred network with currently existing cycling facilities. Data required to use the tool includes census block group data, land use data, and roadway network data (with roadway characteristics).The tool operates in three stages:

First, community cycling movements are calculated, in the form of an origin-destination cycling trip matrix. This matrix, which describes the amount of cycling travel between every pair of census block groups in the region, is calculated using a gravity model of cycling demand and cycling attractiveness. Cycling demand from each block group is calculated based on household cycling trip data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Cycling attractiveness to each block group is calculated by weighting popular cycling destinations.

Second, the preferred cycling roadway network paths between every pair of block groups is identified. Rather than just shortest path, these routes are identified based on cycling suitability, which seeks roads with wider outside lane widths, lower traffic volumes, lower traffic speeds, shorter segment distances, fewer number of driveways, and fewer number of lanes. These paths are identified by weighting these factors in a route choice equation in ArcGIS network analyst.

Third, the final Bicycle Facility Demand-Suitability Prioritization Map is generated, highlighting the road segments on which bicycle facilities should be prioritized. These segments are identified by joining the number of cyclists traveling between each pair of block groups (from Stage 1) with each roadway segment that is part of the preferred cycling route between that pair of block groups (from Stage 2). The total number of cyclists for each segment is then summed for all the routes across every pair of block groups. Cycling facilities can be prioritized based on usage, cycling suitability or a combination of both. Planners can use the tool to determine which is more important: road segments that need to support more cyclists (from Stage 1), road segments with lower cycling suitability measures (from Stage 2), or segments with lower cycling suitability that need to support more cyclists (both Stages 1 and 2).

The GIS-based Bicycle Facility Demand-Suitability Prioritization Tool is flexible to be used in any region, although it is calibrated to ideally support small and medium-sized communities. Perhaps the most significant output of the Tool are the GIS maps that can be used for public outreach and information gathering. These maps can improve regional cycling, coordinate cycling efforts, and efficiently allocate funds.


AN INTERIM SYNTHETIC APPROACH FOR ESTIMATING PEDESTRIAN VOLUMES IN SMALLER

COMMUNITIES

John S. Miller, Peter B. Ohlms, John Bolecek, and Zachary T. Herrman Virginia Transportation Research Council

530 Edgemont Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22903


As multimodal transportation infrastructure becomes common, planners need estimates of nonmotorized travel demand in order to fairly evaluate investment choices. Especially in urban locations, agencies have begun to routinely collect bicycle and pedestrian count data (e.g., Bike Arlington, 2015) or to acquire data made available by bicyclists and pedestrians (e.g., Strava, Inc., 2014). With such counts, planners can quantify the benefits of various alternatives appropriate for nonmotorized modes, such as geometric improvements (e.g., the addition of bicycle lanes, sidewalks, or curb treatments), maintenance practices (e.g., sweeping the gutter pan of debris), and operational changes (e.g., signal retiming). Just as transportation agencies rely on an established motor-vehicle traffic monitoring program (FHWA, 2014) to identify auto-oriented improvements, agencies recognize the necessity of a parallel nonmotorized traffic monitoring program. Yet a challenge for establishing such a program is the cost of data collection, especially for rural roadways. In urban locations, the cost of automated bicycle and pedestrian counters tends to be offset by two characteristics: a smaller geographical area and a larger tax base of users who can justify the cost of this equipment. The same tends to be true for major trails in rural areas. By contrast, roadways in less urban locations serve a large geographic area yet have a smaller population, leading to a relatively higher cost to obtain area-wide count data. For example, in Virginia, 92% of the land area is comprised of jurisdictions with a population density of fewer than 500 people per square mile. While such locations represent roughly one-third of the state’s population, the 3 million people in low-density areas may also generate some demand for nonmotorized trips. At present, however, with a few exceptions, Virginia does not have link-by-link observed data for pedestrians and bicyclists. Accordingly, this paper reports on a relatively simple three-stage approach to estimate pedestrian and bicycle volumes on Virginia’s statewide road network, which includes both primary roads and the secondary system (which in most other states, except for Alaska, Delaware, North Carolina, and West Virginia, would be county or local roads). The first stage uses residential density (people per square mile), National Household Travel Survey 2009 data, and motorized traffic volumes to obtain an estimate of pedestrian traffic on each Virginia link. The second stage modifies the estimated volumes based on each link’s appeal to pedestrians; for instance, a lower-speed facility is expected to capture more pedestrian traffic than a higher-speed facility (if all other characteristics are equal). The third stage specifies calibration parameters based on observed data at a few locations where such data are available. The paper illustrates how to apply this method conceptually, the data required to implement this approach, and, based on a few locations where pedestrian counts are available, how to use those counts to calibrate the approach to a specific state or region. The approach presented here will not replace more advanced methods that can take advantage of a full counting program or robust travel demand models. However, this approach may be of value for smaller locations that either do not have such a program or are considering incremental improvements to initiate a counting program. Further, the use of the three stages allows one to evaluate how improvements in data enable improvements in accuracy, which may help agencies decide whether the cost of establishing a nonmotorized count program is justified.

B6 Improving the Cyclist Experience

BIKE SHARE PLANNING FOR SMALL & MEDIUM SIZED COMMUNITIES

Jean Crowther, Phil Goff, John Cock 638 E. Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601


Nearly every major city in the U.S. has implemented a bike share system or begun the process to fund and develop one. In the last two years, the trend has shifted toward small and medium sized cities who see the potential benefits of increasing access to bicycles, improving first/last mile connections, creating a visitor/tourism-friendly form of transportation, generating new activity and focus in their downtown, and offering a fun and practical way to increase levels physical activity. This paper explores trends in bike share implementation across the U.S. and present specific case studies of bike share in small- to mid-sized cities, exploring what works and what doesn't, lessons learned and industry surprises. Bike share systems in SC, UT, and TN will be included as case studies. Initial planning and fundraising for Spartanburg, SC's bike share system began in 2008 and by 2011, Spartanburg (a city of just under 40,000) became one of the first bike share systems in the Southeast. Starting with two stations and ten bikes, Spartanburg has since grown to five stations and forty bikes with an equally strong increase in partners, sponsors, members and riders. Spartanburg's sister city Greenville, SC is just 30 minutes away and has a population of around 60,000. Their bike share system launched in 2013 with six stations and provides a regional complement to the Spartanburg and Charlotte (NC) B-cycle systems. Each system has tested numerous strategies to increase membership, usage, and sponsor contributions, including membership drives, rivalry ridership competitions (college vs college), bike share tricycle bikes, mileage competitions among members, a specialty-painted bike share bike, and more. Salt Lake City, UT and Chattanooga, TN provide examples of cities with population under 200,000. Salt Lake City's GREENbike system increased its size by 34% in 2015 and experienced a 292% increase in ridership. The system is averaging 2.5 trips per bike per day for the season with some months averaging 3.3, putting the system on par with much larger programs like Boston's Hubway and DC's Capital Bikeshare. Chattanooga's Bicycle Transit System does not have the same density of stations that Salt Lake City has achieved and has experienced closer to 0.8 trips per bike per day (on par with other lower-density systems like Denver B-Cycle and Columbus CoGo bike share). Through examination of the different governance models used by these systems, the variations in system footprint and station density, and the variety of outreach and promotional strategies used to foster a successful, fully-utilized bike share system, this paper provides a useful and practical insight into what works for bike share in small- and medium-sized cities in the U.S.



BROWNSVILLE MPO: COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS & INNOVATIONS

IN BICYCLE & PEDESTRIAN PLANNING

Mark Lund, MPO Director Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

c/o City of Brownsville P.O. Box 911

Brownsville, TX 78520 Tel: (956) 548-6154

Email: [email protected]

The Brownsville MPO became a Transportation Management Area (TMA) in 2012. Selection of Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) improvements is the responsibility of the MPO. Prior to 2012, the Brownsville MPO achieved notable successes in the realm of bicycle/pedestrian planning despite severe funding restrictions. How were these results achieved? How can other small MPOs learn from the BMPO experience? An informal narrative will outline both successes and failures in a Texas MPO.



MAPPING BICYCLE FACILITIES BY LEVELS OF TRAFFIC STRESS

Allie Scrivener

9366 Redwood Drive, Apt J, La Jolla, CA 92037 (408) 307-1795

[email protected]

Jurisdictions in the San Diego region aim to improve cycling as a viable mode of transportation, and to provide continuous bikeways and increase cycling trips. Provision of bicycle facilities is generally measured by facility type; however, bicycle facilities of the same type are not created equal. Studies show that roadway characteristics such as traffic speed, road size, and type influence bicyclists’ traffic stress levels and can affect what types of riders are willing to travel certain routes.

This research uses ArcGIS to map roadway data gathered from the San Diego Regional Data Warehouse, and categorizes road segments into traffic stress levels based on traffic speed, roadway classification, bicycle facility type, and slope steepness. The study also creates an origin-destination matrix, which quantifies the relative numbers of locations accessible under each traffic stress network.

Using an aggregated score of factors relevant to bicyclists called "bicycle level of traffic stress" as a performance measure for bicycle facilities allows jurisdictions to measure bicycle infrastructure the same way bicyclists do. It also allows planners to distinguish whether connectivity would be improved by more of a given facility type, or improved connections between bicycle facilities.


B7

Considering Community and Transportation Assets for the Future

SIDEWALK SCOUT, SIDEWALK SENTRY, AND THE SIDEWALK PRIORITY INDEX:

COST-EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR INVENTORYING AND MANAGING SIDEWALK ASSETS AND

PRIORITIZING IMPROVEMENTS IN SMALL TO LARGE COMMUNITIES

Cebe, J., A. Grossman, C. Dyess, Li H., A. Akanser, and R. Guensler

790 Atlantic Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332

(864)-918-3380

[email protected]

Walkable and accessible environments encourage pedestrian activity, improve safety, livability, and

economic competitiveness. Developing an asset management system for sidewalks, curb ramps, and

other pedestrian features on the roadway is an essential step in tracking asset condition, managing

repairs, and implementing the most cost-effective improvements. Creating an asset management plan

and a budget for pedestrian infrastructure can also save cities considerable amounts of money by

reducing the community's exposure to injury liability and costly ADA litigation. However, many

communities struggle with addressing pedestrian accessibility due to a lack of accurate sidewalk

inventory, condition data, and serious construction and maintenance backlogs.

Because the need and stakes for better pedestrian accessibility and connectivity are so great, strategic

programs for managing sidewalks as a transportation asset are needed. This approach should include

inventorying pedestrian infrastructure, assessing system conditions, prioritizing improvements, and

programming projects. Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed methods for creating sidewalk

networks, and easy to use tools for tablets and smart phones that inventory and assess sidewalks, curb

ramps, crossings, and curb cuts. The research outputs that will be covered are as follows:

1) Sidewalk Scout: A crowdsourcing smartphone app used by agencies and the public to report sidewalk

problems. The app allows users to submit a picture of a sidewalk problem (such as a pothole,

obstruction, or surface discontinuity) along with the description of the problem and automatically geotags

the location of the report. An advanced user mode allows ramp data entry. Data are then publicly

available to view on an Open Streets Map overlay at http://sidewalkscout.ce.gatech.edu

2) Sidewalk Sentry: A tablet application used to inventory sidewalks and assess sidewalk quality. A smart

tablet attached to a basic wheelchair collects vibration data and records video, tagged to the GPS. Data

are used to evaluate where sidewalks may need repair or reconstruction. Post-processing obtains width

and other variables for analysis. Results are displayed through an online interface, which communities

can use to assess overall system conditions and target areas for improvement.

3) The Sidewalk Prioritization Index is a prioritization and programming tool under development that

utilizes the data collected through Sidewalk Scout and Sidewalk Sentry, in conjunction with stakeholder

input, to help communities program sidewalk projects that reflect the needs and desires of the community

and maximize return on investment. An online survey gathers input from the community on their

preferences for sidewalk investment, which will be used to rate and rank sidewalk segments based on

current sidewalk conditions, community goals and objectives (e.g. mobility, ADA compliance, safety, etc.),

and estimated cost.

This paper will provide an overview of the tools mentioned above, and how they operate together as a

comprehensive asset management system. It will focus specifically on the Sidewalk Prioritization Index

component of the system, detailing the structure of the survey and the results from a test-community, and

portraying how this interfaces with data collected through the Sidewalk Sentry and Sidewalk Scout

systems to output sidewalk infrastructure improvement priorities and planning-level cost estimates.


B7 Considering Community and Transportation Assets for the Future

INTERAGENCY COORDINATION IN LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Alena R. Cook, PE, CPM, NCDOT

NCDOT: 1554 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1554 919-707-0910

[email protected]

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Transportation Planning Branch identified an opportunity to improve coordination between natural and cultural resource agencies and long-range transportation planners, in advance of project development. NCDOT’s Transportation Planning Branch contracted with the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) at North Carolina State University to provide assistance in the development of an Interagency Coordination Protocol (‘Protocol’). The purpose of this guidance is to document best practices for how data sharing and coordination can occur during the development of a long-range transportation plan. The goals of developing a consistent approach to agency coordination include improving the quality of transportation planning decisions, enhancing the usefulness of transportation planning products (both for long range planning purposes and in project development), and potential benefits and efficiencies for all agencies from sharing data and meaningful coordination. The Protocol is applicable to a variety of transportation planning processes, including the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP), which is required by state law for all areas in North Carolina, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) developed based on federal requirements in MPO areas. This guidance is intended for use by NCDOT’s Transportation Planning Branch (TPB) and process partners, such as Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs), FHWA, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), environmental resource agencies, local governments, land use agencies and other entities participating in the development of a long-range transportation plan. The Protocol was developed through a multi-year process that included extensive outreach to numerous agencies. Telephone interviews, webinars, workshops, meetings, and surveys were utilized to gather information and develop the best practice recommendations. Development of the Protocol began with education of all resource partners on transportation planning. Additionally, the resource agencies were able to discuss information, plans, and data available to support transportation planning. The agencies were then engaged to discuss what kind of information should be shared and how it could best be shared in order to get their input in a way that is both meaningful and as efficient as possible, given limited staff resources and time constraints. The resulting Protocol describes the best practices for engagement of agencies throughout the transportation planning process. It identifies at what points in the planning process it is most important to coordinate, as well as the information to be shared and methods for obtaining input. The readers will learn about the best practices described in the Protocol for coordination with various agencies during the long-range transportation planning process. The benefits of meaningful coordination, as well as challenges and critical success factors in implementing a standard method of coordinating, will be described.


B7

Considering Community and Transportation Assets for the Future

CONSIDERING COMMUNITY ATTRIBUTES AND IMPACTS IN LONG RANGE PLANNING

Pam R. Cook

1 S. Wilmington Street; Raleigh, NC 27601

(919)707-0975

[email protected]

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has undertaken a major process improvement with the goal of integrating the long range transportation planning process with the project development process (National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and its state counterpart State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)). As part of this process improvement, a multi-agency team (FHWA, NCDOT, MPO, and RPO staff) developed tools to assist with Community Impacts Assessment (CIA) in long range planning. The purpose of these tools is to help appropriately identify, consider, and address community attributes and potential community impacts in long range transportation planning and to provide useful information to the project development process under NEPA/SEPA.

1. The Community Understanding Report (CUR) is a template for gathering information about a community in order to support a transportation planning effort in either an MPO or non-MPO area. The information gathered relates to population trends and projections, population diversity, community character, schools/ parks, public safety/ emergency response, centers of community, community events and special event venues, economic conditions/ jobs, development goals, farming operations, natural resources, and transportation choices.

2. Other tools developed as part of the Community Impacts Assessment effort include lists of potential stakeholders and transportation plan steering committee members to aide in the development of a well-rounded transportation plan.

3. A Stakeholder/Steering Committee matrix table serves as a check that identified stakeholders are represented during the long range planning process.

The CUR and other products from this NCDOT Integration sub-committee have been implemented in several county comprehensive transportation plans (CTPs) and have been helpful throughout the development of the CTP. NCDOT is giving MPOs the option to use these products as they develop their long-range plans. This presentation will provide an overview of the data that is included in the CUR and how that information can be used in the transportation planning process (such as establishing a steering committee, visioning, establishing goals and objectives, planning and conducting public involvement, identification of deficiencies and constraints, and analysis of project proposals). Learning Objectives:

a. Integration of long-range planning and project planning b. Ways to identify and consider community impacts in long-range planning c. Ways early identification of community attributes may benefit project level analysis d. Lessons learned from implementation in several county CTP studies


B7 Considering Community and Transportation Assets for the Future

REGIONAL TRAILS CORRIDOR ASSESSMENT OF THE RIVER TO SEA TPO PLANNING AREA

Stephan C. Harris 2570 W. International Speedway Boulevard

Suite 100 Daytona Beach, FL 32114

386-226-0422, extension 20428 [email protected]

In anticipation of potential funding changes that would support the construction of regional trails, the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization (R2CTPO) undertook a comprehensive assessment of 195 miles of multi-use trails to identify gaps within the regional trail network. Completion of the Regional Trails Corridor Assessment (RTCA), included input from citizens, advocacy groups, governmental agencies, and municipalities within and adjacent to the R2CTPO’s planning area. This process was supported by a quantitative and qualitative analysis utilizing data collected through previously conducted studies, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), field reviews and information provided through an extensive stakeholder outreach process. The RTCA was beneficial to the citizens, visitors, and stakeholders within the R2CTPO study area by supporting the development of the following:

• A comprehensive understanding of the overall status of regional trails in the R2CTPO planning area;

• Regional Trail System Gap Identification; • Data to update the Land Trails Opportunity Map of the Florida Greenways & Trails System Plan; • Funding plan for closing trail gaps, including partnering, grant opportunities, federal, state, and

local funding. The RTCA resulted in concept designs and cost estimates for identified trail gap segments, as well as an interactive Google Earth mapping resource to ensure 24/7 access to the RTCA for interested parties. The effort encouraged collaboration among area partners and has positioned the R2CTPO members for funding opportunities developing within the State of Florida, including $25 million allocated annually by the Florida Legislature to develop and maintain the statewide SunTrail System. The RTCA was adopted by the R2CTPO Board and then transmitted to the Office of Greenways and Trails within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to update the Land Trails Opportunity Map of the Florida Greenways & Trails System Plan. The adopted RTCA is accessible at this Internet link: http://www.r2ctpo.org/bicycle-pedestrian-program/regional-trails-corridor-assessment-rtca/.


http://www.r2ctpo.org/bicycle-pedestrian-program/regional-trails-corridor-assessment-rtca/

B8 Transit & Finance

SUPPLEMENTING RURAL TRANSIT REVENUE VIA PACKAGE DELIVERY SERVICE

Zachary Elgart

701 North Post Oak, Suite 430 Houston, Texas 77024


Provision of transit service in rural areas is costly because of large distances and limited ridership. Alternative revenue streams offer rural transit operators diversified funding and potentially leverage increased typical funding by providing a local match. Rural areas also face a challenge related to efficient and affordable “last mile” package delivery. Many delivery companies are shrinking routes or increasing delivery fees for rural services to offset increased costs. As an alternative revenue generating service and a solution to the need for package delivery services in rural areas, transit operators could partner with package delivery companies to provide last mile package delivery services via existing demand response door-to-door transit service. To determine the viability of this concept and draft guidance for rural transit operators that wish to provide such service, existing literature is reviewed, the current state of the package delivery industry is summarized, and data and best practices—gathered directly from stakeholders, including transit operators, intercity bus operators, and freight companies—are translated into a guidebook format. This presentation will summarize the findings and outcomes of this research project and discuss the potential for supplementing rural transit revenue through providing package delivery services in rural areas via transit vehicles. The presentation will also introduce the project’s major outcome—working with a transit operator and a package delivery company, we will launch a pilot, transit based, package delivery service in a rural area of Texas in September 2016.


THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF TRANSIT IN YAVAPAI COUNTY- TRANLATING BENEFITS AND LESSONS

FOR OTHER URBANIZING COMMUNITIES

*Charlotte Frei, PhD and Suzanne O'Neill (*corresponding author) Wight & Company, 211 N Clinton St, Suite 300N, Chicago IL 60661


This presentation summarizes efforts to identify and estimate the economic benefits of transit in central Yavapai County, Arizona, a largely rural county in north-central Arizona with a population of 200,000 residents, half of which are in a small urbanized area. In this report, we summarize how improved mobility and access to transportation could enhance educational, employment, and health outcomes for different groups. First, we describe the community and its needs in an introductory section. The second section provides a background and literature review of economic frameworks and findings of other studies. The next section is divided into sections discussing the pathways by which mobility improves the employment, educational, health and other outcomes of this particular community, drawing on local, regional and national datasets to define estimates for this county. We conclude with recommendations for understanding the value of transit services to this region in order to make informed community-based decisions about transit investment. We also offer general recommendations that could be applied to communities with similar constraints and constituencies to estimate the value of transit. The research effort being presented stems from a larger mobility management study that involved coordinating services across multiple existing transportation providers, including private, public and non-profit transit and human services agencies that operate across rural and urban boundaries. The challenges involved with coordinating rural and urban transit funds and the various needs of customers traveling long distances, as is common in rural areas, had to be considered in estimating the benefits. Thus, financial strategies for funding services that cross urban and rural boundaries were taken into consideration.



FINANCIAL STRATEGIES FOR THE COMMUNITY OF INNOVATIVE TRANSIT

Barry M. Goodman

3200 Travis Suite 200, Houston, TX 77006 (713) 951-7951

[email protected]

The United States Congress, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) encourage recipients of federal funding to utilize a variety of tools to assist in the development and implementation of federally funded public infrastructure improvements and transit operations. The innovative federal tools available to grant recipients enable not just the development and operation of transit systems, but enable transit to be utilized as a catalyst for community revitalization and joint development. The objectives are bettering the pedestrian environment, which leads to a higher utilization of public transportation, and utilizing community betterments to provide opportunities for economic development and revitalization. The 1998 Transportation Equity Act of the 21

st Century (TEA-21) transportation authorization established

the strong financial commitment of the Executive Branch and the United States Congress to the improvement of communities under the federal Livable Communities Initiative program. In 2012 the United States Congress maintained this commitment when it approved the current transportation authorization Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), now under continuing resolution. The provisions contained therein, which provide federal tools for creative transit development solutions have also been extended with the continuing resolutions. It is anticipated that a new authorizing bill will also include federal tools similar to those which exist today. The proposed presentation will identify and describe innovative funding tools and financial strategies and provide successful applications in small and medium sized communities; drawing upon projects completed in The Woodlands, Texas and Miramar, Florida as well as small Texas communities such as Galveston and Dickinson. An interactive companion presentation will provide participants with an opportunity to apply what they have learned to a fictitious “Community of Innovative Transit”. The exercise will contrast two transit development approaches for the Community of Innovative Transit and will emphasize the power of federal tools and innovative financial strategies to small and medium-sized communities. The proposed interactive presentation to accompany the paper, entitled “The Community of Innovative Transit” demonstrates how the simultaneous use of the federal tools to support financial sustainability for public transportation can significantly reduce local cash outlays, leverage local investment and maximize the availability of public and provide resources. When applying the traditional approach to the funding of transit capital and operating expenses, associated with the components presented for the City of Innovative Transit, the amount of available federal, state, and local public and private resources fell short $1,542,500 of the resources required to support the City’s capital development and transit operating objectives. In contrast, when utilizing the innovative federal funding tools which support and encourage public/private partnerships, leverage of local resources, and the generation of joint use revenues, the City of Innovative Transit is able to generate a surplus of $977,500. The use of all available federal tools to connect transit to the community within which it operates, encourage public/private partnerships in the development of capital facilities, and capture local value which is eligible for federal match, can creatively achieve project goals and objectives which, otherwise, might seem unattainable.


C2 Advances in Data Collection and Analytics

INNOVATIVE ANALYSIS METHODS OF MOBILE PHONE DATA IN THE BEST TRAVEL DEMAND

MODELING PRACTICE IN KENTUCKY

Yang Han, PhD, PE The Corradino Group, 200 S. Meridian Street, Suite 330, Indianapolis, IN 46225


Ken Kaltenbach, PE

The Corradino Group, 200 S. 5th Street, Suite 503 North, Louisville, KY 40202 502.587.7221

[email protected]

Scott Thomson, PE Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 200 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40622


Jayalakshmi Balaji, PE

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 200 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40622 502.782.5045

[email protected]

Daniel Hulker Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 200 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40622


Mobile phone data has been increasingly used in travel demand modeling in recent years. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has achieved a state-of-the-practice modeling procedure of utilizing AirSage data in development of regional models. This paper highlights the KYTC’s innovative analysis methods of AirSage data by integrating available data sources, statistical analysis and calibration approaches, which are based on recent modeling activities in non-metropolitan areas of Kentucky. The raw AirSage data is pre-processed by time-of-day and trip purpose, then assessed in terms of data coverage and reasonableness of intrazonal trips. AirSage data is not directly used for trip rates estimation. Instead, area type factors are developed using AirSage trip tables and land use data, which improves trip production modeling in rural and non-rural areas. Depending on project needs and data availability, the raw AirSage trip tables are refined by trip purpose to meet NCHRP estimations by a Fratar model, or calibrated to traffic counts through an origin-destination matrix estimation (ODME) process. The ODME process was followed by a sub-model to disaggregate trips by purpose. The refined or calibrated AirSage trip tables are successfully used to develop friction factors which significantly improves trip distribution results and minimizes modeling time. The development of traffic time-of-day and directional factors heavily rely on AirSage data. The paper finds AirSage is a useful resource for travel demand modeling in non-metropolitan areas. Assessment of AirSage data is necessary to understand how the data fits the regional modeling needs. Refinement or calibration is recommended as needed to achieve better modeling results, particularly for trip generation and distribution (e.g., possibly large share of non-work intrazonal trips). AirSage data is a good starting point to be used for developing customized parameters (e.g., area type) to enhance trip generation, and can effectively facilitate trip distribution, time-of-day modeling and model calibration.







DUBUQUE SMARTER TRAVEL

Chandra Ravada, Chi Wah Wu

Dubuque Metropolitan Planning Organization, 7600 Commerce Park, Dubuque, IA 52002 563-556-4166

[email protected]

In 2014, the City of Dubuque, and its transit partners: East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA), Dubuque Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (DMATS), Iowa Department of Transportation (IADOT), and IBM Research launched the “Smarter Travel Study (STS).” The STS is designed to collect data on participant’s travel patterns through smartphone technology. The STS utilizes the systems, algorithms, and analytics developed by IBM Research in combination with real-time origin, destination data. The research will assist in increasing transit ridership by capturing 8% of overall transportation trips within the metro area over the three-year study. The results will help implement practices and policies that incorporate lower-cost and lower-impact travel options within Dubuque; and is designed to be replicated in Metro areas with populations less than 200,000. Smartphones enable both individual trip summary and regional travel demand analysis. Through this technology, trips are decomposed into different modes of transportation (driving, walking, or biking). More specifically, categorized OD based on purpose of trips gives rich information for designing/providing transportation services to the community. The ODs are generated by augmenting the GPS data with a manually input travel diary and survey. The STS targets the general public in the Dubuque area. The trip analysis system (TAS) consists of a mobile app and a centralized analytics engine. The TAS segments the trips and identifies the travel mode by using embedded GPS; and provides trip summaries and generates meaningful patterns to support traffic operation planning and transit system design. The trip purposes are classified based on the destination, trip time, trip day, and stop time at the destination. Smartphone data is validated with the participant’s travel diary data - as well as screen line testing utilizing the regional Travel Demand Forecast model. IBM and DMATS staff developed optimized transit routes for the Jule transit system using a volume algorithm heuristic to efficiently solve a mixed integer program; which will minimize average travel time for bus routes, while keeping the operating costs constant; and provide routes based on demand during peak/off peak times. The first set of routes was provided in November 2015 (implementing fall of 2016). The second set of routes will be provided in August 2016. The conclusion of this study will help the City make educated decisions on where to utilize their limited transportation resources for transit and transportation infrastructure and will make road, trail, and transit improvements based on the travel patterns in the Dubuque area.



ALTERNATE METHODOLOGIES FOR ORIGIN-DESTINATION DATA COLLECTION

Robert G. Schiffer, AICP

Stantec, 1441 Maclay Commerce Drive, Suite 101 Tallahassee, Florida 32312-3908 (850) 878-5001

[email protected] Today there are a wide range of origin/destination (O/D) data sources, approaches, technologies, and techniques that did not exist even 10 years ago. Many of these are “passive” data extraction techniques that make use of devices with built in global positioning systems (GPS). Anonymous tracking of GPS signals provides for considerable savings in data collection and allows for much larger sample sizes than would be achievable using traditional O/D survey techniques. There are a multitude of considerations in evaluating and selecting approaches to collecting data on trip origins and destinations. The most obvious of these is cost, although this is perhaps the most difficult consideration to nail down. While data vendors usually have a standard cost template that includes a variety of factors, the competitive nature of data acquisition also means there is some level of flexibility on the part of vendors in order to win the job. Some of the most important criteria in selecting an O/D data collection approach would include the study area size and geography, the type of information needed, trip purposes to be covered, and the transportation modes of interest. The study area size and geography are crucial considerations in selecting the best approach as different travel patterns might dominate within a single transportation corridor vs. a subarea vs. an entire region. The type of information needed can vary as well; for example, the best data source for general trip origins and destinations may differ from a study that needs information on auto occupancy. Likewise, collecting information on trip purpose necessitates different methodologies than studies limited to general traffic. Focus on specific travel modes is also an important consideration as different data collection methodologies are used to collect data on autos vs. trucks vs. transit vehicles. This proposed presentation will cover a wide range of data sources and considerations in selecting appropriate methodologies including vendor/product name, approach, sampling unit, survey periods, relative vintage, pros/benefits, cons/disadvantages, and relative cost. This information was obtained through Stantec experience using these alternative methodologies in toll corridor feasibility studies, demonstrations and discussions with vendors, and a project for the Polk County Transportation Planning Organization focused on comparing alternative methodologies.



PREPARING GTFS FEED DATA FOR SMALL URBAN AND RURAL TRANSIT SYSTEMS

Shuman Tan

950 Colgate Dr. Apt 377, College Station, TX 77840 979-739-6801

[email protected]

Google launched a Google Transit Partner Program in December 2005. The program provides transit agencies a cost-efficient option to share routes, stations/stops, schedules, fares, and transfer information with the general public through the Google Maps for Transit (GMT). Transit riders can easily plan trips through GMT on their desktop, tablets, and smart phones. To join the program, a transit agency first needs to prepare a dataset that meets Google’s General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) and then contacts the Google Transit Team to sign up for a partnership and test the data.

The Transit Mobility Program at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has successfully developed GTFS feed for several small urban and rural transit systems, including Bastrop Transit (2014 estimated population: 7,469), San Marcos Transit (2014 estimated population: 51,289), and Port Arthur Transit (2014 estimated population: 54,685). The objective of this presentation is to share methodologies used to prepare the GTFS feed and lessons learned during the preparation process. TTI researchers map and calibrate bus routes and stop/station locations using geographic information system (GIS) tools—ArcGIS and Google Earth, and then convert GIS exports and other data into the GTFS feed format in Excel. The presenter will share Python scripts for geoprocessing and Excel macros for formatting in the presentation to facilitate the communication on the topic.

C4 Doing More with Limited Data Collection Budgets

BIG DATA AND ADVANCED MODELS ON A MID-SIZED CITY’S BUDGET:

THE CHATTANOOGA EXPERIENCE

Vincent Bernardin Jr., PhD Director, RSG

2709 Washington Ave., Ste. 9 Evansville, Indiana 47714


Yuen Lee, AICP, GISP Director of Research & Analysis Chattanooga-Hamilton County

Planning Agency 1250 Market St., Ste. 2000

Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 (423) 643-5946

[email protected]

David Kall Associate, Cambridge

Systematics 730 Peachtree Street, Ste. 1000

Atlanta, Georgia 30308 (404) 460-2608

[email protected]

The Chattanooga TPO faces similar challenges as other mid-sized cities including limited funding and staff resources for planning and analysis. In response to these challenges, the TPO has made a concerted effort to evaluate the opportunities provided by new data and technologies and to take advantage of these where they can provide added value within their budget. After adopting their most recent plan, before diving into a new round of data collection and model updates to support the next plan, the TPO stepped back to evaluate their options in terms of new data sources and models. First, they developed a process and schedule for data development and then a model design to capitalize on new opportunities available while respecting their planning budget. The TPO identified critical data sources to support their planning efforts including both traditional, tried and true data such as traffic counts and floating car GPS travel time runs as well as some exciting new sources of “Big Data” such as cell-phone based data from AirSage and HERE and truck GPS data from ATRI. Ultimately, the TPO purchased additional classification counts and travel time runs from a local engineering firm, some limited travel time data from HERE, general origin-destination data from AirSage, and obtained ATRI truck origin-destination data from the state DOT. The TPO also evaluated their options for the design of their new travel model, including trip-based, hybrid, and full activity-based designs and ultimately chose to develop a new Daysim activity-based model since it cost only slightly more than a new trip-based or hybrid model and would support additional planning features, particularly for bicycle and pedestrian planning. The new travel model incorporates and takes full advantage of the TPO’s data investments. HERE data was used to review new free-flow speeds. ATRI data was used to develop new truck models, and the AirSage data was used to calibrate constants for Daysim’s destination choice models. This last accomplishment actually represents the first such incorporation of big data in an activity-based model in the world, by agencies big or small. Both the data and models still have their limitations. Chattanooga made efforts to validate their new data against traditional data sources. For instance, comparing new HERE data to floating car GPS travel time runs, and AirSage data to both traffic counts and their previous travel survey. In both cases, these investigations identified key issues and limitations of the data, but none that could not be accounted for and corrected. The TPO also chose a basic Daysim model design, without explicit intra-household interactions or advanced bicycle and pedestrian path finding and route choice modeling, so that the current investment moved them forward while still respecting their budget, and positioned them to make further enhancements in the future. Although initially the TPO doubted that it could afford much new data or an advanced model, by carefully researching their options and making careful and prudent decisions about where to limit their investments, Chattanooga has found ways to take advantage of new data and technologies within their budget. Their next plan update will be supported by more and better data and analysis than ever before, allowing them to analyze improvements for active modes and generally produce forecasts with greater confidence.





HOW OLD IS TOO OLD? THE AGING OF HOUSEHOLD TRAVEL SURVEY DATA AND WHAT YOU

CAN DO ABOUT IT

Stacey G. Bricka, PhD 725 W Frontier Circle, Olathe, KS 6606


Leta F. Huntsinger, PhD, PE

434 Fayetteville St., Suite 150, Raleigh, NC 27601 919-836-4086

[email protected] The collection of travel behavior data to support travel demand model updates can be an expensive and time consuming effort for many small and medium-sized MPOs. Unfortunately, survey response rates continue to decline, which means increased data collection costs. Ten years ago, it was possible to conduct a travel survey for about $100 per household. Today, that cost is between $185 and $225 per household. While fresh new data is essential for capturing origin-destination patterns in a region, what is often overlooked is the value remaining in the previous data set. Changing demographic patterns, land use patterns, and travel mode options lead to changes in travel for a portion of the population in a region, but what about those demographic cohorts that live and commute in the established land use areas with established transportation modes? To what extent do trip rates and trip lengths change over time for specific demographic groups and specific geographic areas of the region? The purpose of this paper is to review established methods for “refreshing” data sets through collecting a smaller sample (in lieu of conducting a full wide-scale large sample survey). This will be accomplished through a review of methods developed in the 1980s by Stopher to refresh the data, as well as a review of travel behavior patterns by life cycle to develop a checklist that agencies can use to determine whether they can refresh or if they need a new data set. The analysis will draw on the publicly available National Household Travel Survey, as well as research conducted by the authors on the relationship between life cycle and travel patterns.




AN AGILE TOUR-BASED MODEL BUILT FROM PASSIVE DATA: A CASE STUDY IN ASHEVILLE,

NORTH CAROLINA

Josephine D. Kressner PhD Gregory S. Macfarlane PhD

Leta Huntsinger PhD PE Rick Donnelly PhD AICP

Transport Foundry

3423 Piedmont Rd NE Suite 481 Atlanta, GA 30305


For many small and medium-sized communities, household travel surveys are too expensive to collect regularly or adequately. Even for those communities that can afford a household travel survey, cost constraints often limit the survey to a small sample size, resulting in data that are behaviorally rich but too thin to produce detailed segmentations. As a result, these communities are often left with highly aggregate travel models that have limited response to land use and transportation alternatives. As an alternative to household travel surveys, many have been interested in using passive data (e.g., cellular phone or consumer data) to develop elements of travel models, but modern trip- and tour-based models require a link between demographics and trip-making behavior that is uncommon in passive data. Using multiple sources of passive data and an innovative person-based discrete event simulation framework, we are building an agile modeling approach that will offer the benefit of person- and tour-based analysis without the costs and development requirements of an activity-based model. We believe the agile modeling approach developed through this research will be a good fit for small and medium-sized communities due to the portability of the methodology and the reduced data requirements. Using data kindly shared by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization (FBRMPO), we will compare the proposed agile tour-based model with a modern trip-based model recently developed for the Asheville region in North Carolina. The main result from this project will be a detailed comparison of costs, development time, complexity, usability, and accuracy between NCDOT's recent aggregate trip-based model and this new tour-based model constructed from passive data.

C5 Environmental/Health

USE OF NOISE BARRIERS AND ROADSIDE VEGETATION AS POTENTIAL MITIGATION METHODS

FOR TRAFFIC EMISSIONS NEAR LARGE ROADWAYS

Rich Baldauf U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

109 TW Alexander Drive, Durham, NC 27711 919-541-4386

[email protected] Public health concerns for populations spending time near high traffic roadways has increased substantially in recent years. Air quality measurements indicate high pollutant concentrations near these large roads. However, roadside features have been shown to substantially affect the concentrations and exposures for the nearby populace. Recently, mobile monitoring has been implemented to identify the spatial variability of pollutant concentrations near large roads. These measurements have been used to identify the potential for noise barriers and roadside vegetation to reduce near-road air pollution concentrations, including the development of air dispersion model algorithms to simulate pollutant transport and dispersion around these features. This presentation will provide an overview of studies that have investigated how roadside features alter near-road air quality; how combinations of mobile monitoring measurements and wind tunnel assessments have been used to develop dispersion modeling algorithms; and recommendations on the design and location of these features to maximize opportunities for pollution reduction and minimize potential increases in near-road pollutant concentrations. The presentation will focus on how small and medium sized communities can incorporate these results into transportation planning projects.


C5 Environmental/Health

ASSESSMENT OF NEAR-SOURCE AIR POLLUTION AT A FINE SPATIAL SCALE UTILIZING A

MOBILE MONITORING APPROACH

Jonathan Steffens1,2

, Sue Kimbrough1, Gayle Hagler

1, Vlad Isakov

1, Tim Barzyk

1

1US EPA Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC

2Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Postdoctoral Fellow

109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Durham NC, 27711 (919) 541-0225

[email protected]

Mobile monitoring is an emerging strategy to characterize spatially and temporally variable air pollution in areas near sources. EPA’s Geospatial Monitoring of Air Pollution (GMAP) vehicle, an all-electric vehicle measuring real-time concentrations of particulate and gaseous pollutants, was utilized to map air pollution trends near the Port of Charleston in South Carolina. High-resolution monitoring was performed along driving routes near several port terminals and rail yard facilities, recording geospatial coordinates and measurements of pollutants including black carbon, size-resolved particle count ranging from ultrafine to coarse (6 nm to 20 µm), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Additionally, a portable meteorological station was used to characterize local meteorology. Port activity data was provided by the Port Authority of Charleston and includes counts of ships and trucks, and port service operations such as cranes and forklifts during the sampling time periods. Measurements are supplemented with modeling performed with AERMOD and RLINE in order to characterize the impact of the various terminals at the Port of Charleston on local air quality. Specifically, the data are used to determine the magnitude of the increase in local, near-port pollutant concentrations as well as the spatial extent to which concentration is elevated above background. These effects are studied in relation to a number of potentially significant factors such as 1) source emissions as characterized by port activity data, 2) time of day, 3) type of pollutant, and 4) local meteorological characteristics.

C5

Environmental/Health

PAVE THE WAY FOR LEED ND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Jing Zhang

144 Donna Ave

Morgantown, WV 26505

864-207-0749

[email protected]

The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate how small and medium sized MPOs can 1) contribute to expand LEED ND eligible areas and improve ND scoring conditions; and 2) leverage the resources from LEED ND to accelerate the development of sustainable communities. The presentation attempts to answer three questions: 1) what is the role of transportation in LEED ND? 2) What are opportunities for small and medium sized metropolitan areas to achieve in LEED ND certification? And 3) How MPOs can use LEED ND to promote sustainable communities?

In 2012, the U.S. Green Building Council issued a local government guide to LEED ND. The guide mostly targeted on municipal government with land use authority. Very little has been discussed on the role of MPOs in LEED ND. This presentation intends to provide some thoughts to fill that gap.

Transportation planning agencies can make a significant contribution to the success of a LEED ND project; More than 25 percent of LEED ND credits are directly related to transportation, through which a project team can earn up to 38 points in the rating system (a minimum of 40 points is required for certification). Transportation issues included in LEED ND are: 1) Street connectivity, 2) transportation demand management; 3) multi-model traveling, and 4) streetscape.

Small and medium sized metropolitan areas have extraordinary opportunities to achieve their sustainability goals under LEED ND. Prerequisites for credits under the category of Smart Locations and Linkage strongly favor development projects at or near developed urban areas. The bulk of urban growth is forecast to occur in communities of 100,000 to 250,000 people. Most of those communities are considered small and medium sized metropolitan areas, where neighborhoods will be the fundamental units of urban change and innovation.

Transportation professionals at small and medium sized MPOs sit squarely at the intersection of transportation, community development, and the public interest and possess a unique position to catalyze sustainable community developments by paving the way for potential projects seeking LEED ND certifications. Specifically, the opportunities include: 1) Integrating the principles of LEED ND in to the policies of governing organization operation and system level planning. For example, a project selection and prioritization policy that encourages transportation investments in areas with sustainable characteristics; 2) using specific metrics in the LEED ND rating system as a guidance for subarea and/or corridor planning practices. This could include borrowing specific achievement thresholds from the prerequisites, such as minimum density levels, walk distance thresholds, and street connectivity levels; and 3) compiling relevant data and providing direct technical assistance for LEED ND developments. Transportation data necessary for a LEED ND certification process include highway network, transit service, intersection densities, parking, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities.


C6 Freight & Logistics

MEASURING FREIGHT ACCESSIBILITY IN SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITIES

Chandler Duncan

155 Federal Street, Suite 600, Boston MA 02110 (617) 338-6775

[email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]

In today’s global economy, access to regional, national, and international markets is critical to the ability of small- and medium-sized communities to attract and sustain business activity. Understanding your community’s place within a larger freight transportation network is more important than ever. This paper will present a step-by-step process developed for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) that practitioners can use to measure freight accessibility. Freight accessibility is an important indicator of regional economic development potential. The performance and availability of highway, rail, and marine transportation systems directly impacts businesses’ ability to access material inputs and deliver their final products to market. And because supply chains are increasingly global in nature, transportation planners in small and medium-sized communities, especially, may feel powerless in their ability to influence and even understand the flow of goods to, from, and through their region. This need not be the case, however; using readily available data sources and basic analytical techniques, communities can measure freight accessibility just like any other performance based metric. Using this information, policymakers can make transportation planning decisions accordingly. The process presented in this paper encourages analysis of transportation performance relative to the needs of freight generators (i.e., businesses). Rather than simply tracking travel delay, road conditions, or congestion at the infrastructure level, analysis through the lens of freight accessibility allows planners to understand and measure the degree to which their local transportation system meets the needs of export industries. In addition, this tool will help planners understand potential gains and risks to consider under different growth and investment scenarios. Offering practical guidance to practitioners, this paper will (1) define available types of freight accessibility metrics and their appropriate uses, keeping in mind data and resource constraints; (2) outline an approach for evaluating freight accessibility; and (3) present case examples involving the use of real-world data.




C6 Freight and Logistics

FREIGHT PLANNING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM MPOs: PRACTICAL TOOLS AND LESSONS LEARNED

Steven B. Gayle, PTP

RSG 143 Copes Corners Road

South New Berlin NY 13843 607-437-2397

[email protected]

There has been an increasing interest in freight planning among MPOs of all sizes. This is driven in part

by the recognition of the importance of efficient goods movement to regional economies, which in turn

gains the interest of local officials on MPO Boards. Since MAP-21 encourages state freight plans, and

future authorizations may require them, there is interest in some states in having regional freight plans

form the basis of the State DOT’s effort.

This presentation will report on two MPO freight plans in New York. The Elmira Chemung Transportation

Council (ECTC) is located in a small metropolitan area in the Southern Tier of New York. The Capital

District Transportation Committee (CDTC) includes a four county area around Albany NY. In both cases,

the MPO chose to complete a regional freight plan in the context of the long-range transportation plan

update. As such, the goals, objectives, and base data from the LRTP could be imported into the freight

plan; and the freight plan recommendations could be accommodated in the LRTP. [Note that RSG was

the lead consultant for both plans.]

Elmira is traversed by Interstate 86 and the Norfolk Southern Railroad’s Southern Tier line. It has retained

a reasonably active manufacturing sector, and attracted warehouse/distribution centers. While much of

the truck and rail traffic is through movement, there is also an active rail transload facility that supports

natural gas exploration in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale. As the ECTC Freight Plan proceeded, one of

the most beneficial activities was the use of representatives of the local freight industry to “ground truth”

the operational data and commodity flow data from FAF3.

The CDTC planning area is more complex, and that is reflected in their Freight and Goods Movement

Study. At a juncture of major Interstate highway corridors and Class 1 railroad lines, there are numerous

freight generators and two intermodal rail terminals. The Port of Albany is modest, but has a global reach

with export traffic. As part of CDTC’s New Visions 2040 planning process, this study was crafted to assist

the MPO not only in identifying appropriate investments to support goods movement, but also in working

with their local governments on land use decisions that would reflect both freight needs and community

goals. Of particular interest is the development of a freight supportive land use typology and a multimodal

Freight Priority Network (FPN). The typology provides context for local planners who may be addressing a

proposed distribution center or terminal, or proactively directing development to a preferred site. The FPN

is a tool for CDTC to notify their regional partners about corridors where they will consider freight-related

projects or programs.

The presentation will bring together the tools and lessons from the perspective of small and medium sized

MPOs with limited resources that want to do a useful freight plan to guide investment strategies.


C6 Freight and Logistics

UNDERSTANDING COMMERCIAL TRUCK USE THROUGH DOWNTOWN BOZEMAN

Natalie Villwock-Witte, PhD, PE

David Kack Justin Livingston (Formerly of WTI)

Western Transportation Institute (WTI) Montana State University (MSU)

P.O. Box 174250 Bozeman, MT 59717


Located in southwestern Montana, Bozeman has a population of just under 40,000. Downtown Bozeman is a thriving central business district that his home to over 200 stores, restaurants, and offices with over 3,000 employees. The downtown area is a community gathering place that features 50 public events each year ranging from music concerts to parades. Downtown Bozeman was designated as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, and contains over 794 buildings dating between the 1880’s and 1930’s. The primary objective of the project was to gain a better understanding of the commercial truck use of the primary arterial through downtown Bozeman (Main Street/US 191). City officials and local business owners have a perception that Main Street is heavily used by commercial trucks. The use of Main Street by commercial trucks conflicts with the interest of Main Street functioning as a livable, bikeable destination. The project identified the magnitude of use of Main Street by commercial trucks, as well as investigated other potential routes for the trucks. To do so, two video trailers were deployed for about a week and a half, recording approximately 264 hours of video. The numbers of “through trucks,” large commercial trucks that cross from East Main Street to West Main Street in a reasonable amount of time without any stops or detours, were counted. The data showed that while a larger number of through trucks traverse Main Street on weekdays than on weekends, the proportion of through trucks is lower during the week. The peak period was identified as 2 to 3pm. The average proportion of through truck traffic is 29%. When compared with other potential routes, Main Street was found to have the highest travel time. Therefore, an alternative route was identified for the commercial trucks to traverse.


C7 Travel Demand Modeling

CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH CREATING A COMBINED REGIONAL MODEL FOR THREE

SMALL-TO-MEDIUM SIZED MPOs

Kevin Hall Texas A&M Transportation Institute 505 E. Huntland Drive, Suite 32020

Austin, Texas 78752 512-407-1120 Ext. 12120

[email protected]

Dr. Jim Benson Texas A&M Transportation Institute

505 E. Huntland Drive Austin, Texas 78752

512-407-1124 Ext. 12124 [email protected]

Hang Pao

Texas A&M Transportation Institute 505 E. Huntland Drive Austin, Texas 78752


The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), in cooperation with the Hidalgo County Metropolitan Planning Organization (HCMPO), Harlingen-San-Benito MPO (HSB MPO), and the Brownsville MPO (BMPO), created a combined regional travel demand model (TDM) to address long-range capacity enhancement projects for the entire region. The region is commonly referred to as the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). Although geographically adjacent to each other, each MPO historically addressed modeling and planning individually. In the past 15 years, the LRGV has and continues to experience tremendous population growth. The region added over a quarter of a million people between 2000 and 2010. One million more people are expected to be added in the next 30 years. Because of this population growth and the need to look at transportation solutions regionally, a decision was made to combine the three individual travel models and to coordinate planning activities collectively. The purpose of this presentation is to convey the challenges associated with combining three study areas into one functioning regional travel demand model. This process begins with the development of a network and zone system for the region that retains the capability to extract individual study area data from the combined effort. Unique to this model, at least relative to most models developed in Texas, is the approach to trip generation and trip distribution. Trip ends are estimated for each individual MPO during the trip generation portion of the model but are combined for the trip distribution step. More accurately, trip attraction scaling for the internal trip purposes is performed at the MPO level rather than at the regional level. Following the trip generation step, the generation results are aggregated to the regional level for trip distribution. In this manner, any potentially unresolved socio-economic issues that might impact trip generation results (during scaling) are contained locally; thereby minimizing any further impact to the remaining two MPOs in the study area. Interchanges between study areas are allowed to occur during the trip distribution step by using a single combined production and attraction generation file segregated by trip purpose. Unlike the internal trip purposes, external and additional trips made by non-residents are addressed at the regional level.





MODELS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENT TRAVEL FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM CITIES

Joseph Huegy, AICP

ITRE Centennial Campus, Box 8601

Raleigh, NC 27695-8601 (919) 513-7378 (919) 515-8898

[email protected]

This presentation will report results of research conducted for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to prepare models of university student travel behavior based on surveys of university students conducted on six university campuses in North Carolina during 2013 and 2014. The campuses were selected based on a few criteria that were intended to reflect the characteristics of the university as well as of the community settings in which the universities are located such as: population within 50 minute driving distance, and percent part time undergraduate students. Each criterion covered a broad range of criterion values and selection of the campuses was intended to allow the data collected to be transferred for use in communities that were not surveyed. The campuses included two in small or medium size cities and four in large cities allowing comparisons to be made among the campuses with different characteristics and under various settings. Models that quantified the relationship between university student travel patterns and the characteristics of the campus and community were developed from the data for trip generation, distribution and mode choice. Findings from the surveys will be shared with an emphasis placed on how the data and models could be applied in small and medium cities to understand the impact of university campuses on the surrounding transportation system. The analysis focused on trips crossing the campus boundary (and outside the campus boundary, though these are a small portion of trips in the data), because these are the trips that most affect roads and transit systems surrounding the campus. The models developed based on the data could be added to local travel models in other communities by considering the context for the university provided by the campus selection criteria variables. The models will be generally described emphasizing ways they might be applied in small and medium cities.



INCORPORATING ADVANCED MODELS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE MPO TRAVEL MODELS

Bhupendra Patel, Ph.D., Director of Modeling

Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) 24580 Silver Cloud Court, Monterey, CA 93940


This paper discusses the development, estimation, and application of advanced travel models that replace traditional four-step aggregate models commonly found in small and medium sized MPO travel models. The advanced models consisted of population synthesis, population-based trip generation, and two-step destination choice. The models were estimated and applied to the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) Regional Travel Demand Model (RTDM). The AMBAG region includes Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz County of the Central Coast of California. AMBAG serves as both a federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Council of Governments (COG). Small and medium sized MPO travel models commonly consist of traditional aggregate four step procedures. In most cases, data and resource limitations restrict the development of more advanced travel models for these smaller regions. In the AMBAG regional travel demand model, several advanced models were developed that replaced traditional aggregate procedures but did not require any additional data. For trip generation, a population synthesis procedure was developed to generate full population and household records for the AMBAG area. Population-based trip rates were then estimated instead of traditional household-based rates, and the rates were applied to the individual population records as compare to zonal base. Both the population-based trip rates and the population synthesis were estimated from commonly available data sources which included the 2011 California Household Travel Survey (CHTS), American Community Survey (ACS) block-group data, Public Use Micro-Sample (PUMS) datasets, and 2010 Census data. This disaggregate approach allowed much more detailed trip rate estimations based on both person and household socio-demographic characteristics, and effectively modeled intra-household interactions. For trip distribution, a two-step destination choice model was developed instead of a more traditional gravity model. Destination choice models are generally considered to provide a better behavioral basis for trip distribution because they can include more behavioral variables compared to gravity models. Destination choice models are however limited by lack of data for estimation due to the sheer number of destination alternatives. This limitation was overcome by estimating the destination choice at the Census tract level rather than the transportation zone level. This pooled survey records into larger tracts and ensured that there was a sufficient number of survey records for each alternative. Once the destination tract was determined, the destination zone was estimated using a gravity model. These advanced models required the same amount of data for estimation that are used for standard aggregate travel models but yielded superior estimation and forecasting results. The models were also inserted within the framework of a common aggregate four-step model. This paper describes the development process and the results of using these models within the AMBAG framework. This paper also summarizes the results from these models compared to an earlier estimated aggregate travel model.


AN ONLINE TOOL FOR CHECKING TRAVEL MODEL ZONE DATA CONSISTENCY

Jeremy Raw, FHWA 1200 New Jersey Ave SE Washington DC 20590 202-366-0986 [email protected]

Sarah Sun, FHWA 1200 New Jersey Ave SE Washington, DC 20590 202-493-0071 [email protected]

John Gliebe, PhD, RSG 2200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 410 Arlington, VA 22201 240-283-0633, ext. 5633 [email protected]

The process of developing zonal socioeconomic data for travel demand modeling is prone to errors resulting from combining data sources, data preparation and coding mistakes and, in the case of inexperienced staff, lack of awareness of rules of thumb. The traffic analysis zone (TAZ) socioeconomic attributes are the primary demand-side inputs to travel forecasting models and are updated often for a variety of analyses, such as long-range planning and development impact studies. The consequences of errors in these processes could be misallocation of demand, inaccurate forecasts, and potentially misleading conclusions. Moreover, such mistakes are sometimes discovered late in a study and require costly reworking of analysis. Developing socioeconomic data sets for future-year scenarios is more prone to errors in logical consistency than preparing base-year forecasts because data values are based on projections rather than observed data. Analysts typically start with exogenously-derived household and employment control totals for a large area, such as a county or municipality. Using a variety of methods, some systematic and others more ad hoc, they then engage in a sub-area allocation process. This process often involves obtaining projections from local planners in multiple jurisdictions, but may also involve research and trend analysis to account for changing demographics, such as declining average household size, aging population, and future levels of auto ownership. The Travel Model Improvement Program (TMIP) has developed an on-line tool for checking the consistency of TAZ data for both base-year and future-year scenarios. The objective of the tool is to help transportation planners save time and avoid mistakes. Users are able to upload GIS shapefiles and/or tabular data through a web-based graphical user interface. The user is then able to specify which fields in the data set to check for consistency and the various attribute levels for categorical variables, such as households by number of persons, income group or auto ownership level. The user may also enter thresholds for tolerances, such as the ratio of regional workers to regional employment, median income values, acceptable deviations for TAZ average auto ownership, etc., that may be used to check reasonableness. The TMIP TAZ Checker is designed to trap common computational errors by TAZ, such the sum households in five household size variables not adding up to the total households in the TAZ, s well as consistency with acceptable ratios and threshold values for most of the variables and data types commonly used in TAZ data sets. For future-year scenarios, the user may supply a second TAZ shapefile or table, and the scenario comparison tool will make comparisons with key variables in the baseline scenario, flagging inputs where changes may be considered unreasonable or unusual. If shapefiles are provided, the TAZ Checker is capable of displaying thematic maps highlighting the TAZs where errors or exceptions have been found and can display the results of each field individually. In addition, the checked results are saved in tabular format and can be returned to the user in spreadsheet format as well as updated shapefile format. Now undergoing pilot testing, the TMIP TAZ checker will be made available in 2016. At the Tools of the Trade Conference, the authors will demonstrate the tool.





MODELING A SNAPSHIOT OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND IN 2015

Liza Runey Amar, AICP, EI

11490 Westheimer Road, Suite 700, Houston, TX 77077 (713) 423-7421

[email protected]

Jenny Humphreys, AICP 421 Wando Park Blvd, Suite 210, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464


Shea Farrar

One Town Center Court, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928 (843) 341-4768

[email protected]

The Town of Hilton Head Island continues to attract new residents (2% per year between 2010 and 2014), tourists (2.5+ million visitors per year), and businesses (Shelter Cove Towne Centre, Harbor Town Golf Course, Zipline Hilton Head, etc.). This growth indicates a greater demand for mobility which has a tremendous impact on maintaining the Town’s roadways. The makeup of tourism activity has changed in recent years for this resort Island with increased occupancy in hotels and villas, additional timeshare developments, more people making day visits to the island, and second homes becoming more like permanent residences. This has resulted in traffic growing at a faster pace than population growth and peak traffic conditions being spread out throughout the day instead of the typical morning and evening peaks. This study uses the existing travel demand model for this area, the Lowcountry Regional Model (LRM), as a starting point to assess the impacts of the changing socio-economic and tourism activity on traffic congestion. The LRM covers a four county region of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper County, where Hilton Head Island is part of Beaufort County. Enhancements are made to the tourism model of the LRM where tourism trips are a function of occupancy rates, seasonal dwelling units and seasonal daily visitors for peak season months of June, July and August. Further, a time of day model is developed to assess peaking characteristics for the Island which may differ from the rest of the Lowcountry region. This presentation will discuss the updates made to the Lowcountry Regional Model to develop a 2015 snapshot with a focus on the updates to the land use and tourism data. The discussion will expand upon the development of future planning scenarios to capture the impacts of various planned development and evolving tourism activity. The future planning scenarios will include land use, capacity, and modal policy scenarios. These policy scenarios are important as the Town considers acceptable levels of service and the impacts of potential infrastructure improvements on the resort Island’s natural character, including the availability and distribution of parking access for public beaches and other attractions as well as other modes of access that can help to accommodate this increased demand.





WHAT OPERATIONS AND RELIABLE TRAVEL ROUTES LOOK LIKE WITHIN THE MOST

INNOVATIVE SMALL MPO TRAVEL MODELS

Sam Granato Ohio Department of Transportation

1980 W. Broad Street – Mail Stop 3280 Columbus, OH 43223


Travel modeling efforts conducted for smaller urban areas/MPOs too often are driven by the needs or desires of large MPO staffs elsewhere within that state, rather than what is more appropriate for the smaller community. This presentation describes what works and what doesn’t from a 25-year history working directly in or with small MPOs and their customers for project design, alternatives (and some operations) analysis, programming of funding, and long-range planning – using software and data that combined costs less than $1,000, and needing less than 1 FTE staff for its development and maintenance. Both the customers and increasingly cash-strapped planning boards want to see that they are getting value for every dollar spent (a.k.a the Better Faster Cheaper test). The procedures that will be described have consistently run well ahead of (or counter to) many conventional wisdoms of the travel modeling profession, have been conducted more simply than standard processes, and consistently demonstrate better performance than the typical modeling process. Discussed are the features that enable operations-level analysis of forecasted traffic and travel times (such as intersection traffic controls and dynamic assignment), seasonal travel patterns (Sandusky region), and use of GIS/digital e911 street files, with minimal added burden on data collection. The work presented draws on a history of 6 years of modeling with travel time reliability: 10 years with dynamic traffic assignment (area wide, to assess duration as well as extent of congestion), and 25 years with networks incorporating the direct intersection-level controls (instead of use of “equilibrium” based on volume/delay curves), along with other constraints such as opposing-direction traffic on two-lane roads, horizontal and vertical alignment, and railroad crossing delays. A relatively new focus area is travel time reliability, which heavily influences the travel routes people choose. While there has been considerable discussion and SHRP2-level research on the topic recently, only two working travel models in this country to date incorporate estimation of travel paths based on most reliable travel times, both in small MPOs (Sandusky OH and Wheeling WV/OH). Travel paths are built to not (necessarily) have the shortest travel times, but have "reliable" times, by combining the sum of the average link (road segment) times with a portion of their calculated variation. The variations by link are estimated as a function of the roadway functional class, link distance, ratio of modeled time to "free flow" time, and travel time correlation with adjacent roadway segments. The weighting given to the variation in time relative to average time (reliability ratio) is not initially asserted or derived from surveys, but estimated as part of overall model validation. Various travel time data sources are used to estimate equation values.


NORTH CAROLINA MODELING GUIDELINES: THE NEXT GENERATION AND BEYOND

Daniel L. Thomas, PE

North Carolina Department of Transportation, Transportation Planning 1554 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-1554


Leta F. Huntsinger, PhD, PE

Parsons Brinckerhoff Systems Analysis Group 434 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1500, Raleigh NC 27601


In 2007 the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) collaborated with Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) to develop a standardized modeling platform for large non-Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) and small MPO regions in North Carolina. The standardized approach is called the North Carolina Small Area Model (NCSAM). It has been successfully applied in North Carolina for the past eight years, and has even been successfully transferred to communities outside of North Carolina by PB. One of the original goals for NCDOT was that the NCSAM platform along with the modeling guidelines and procedures be regularly reviewed to make sure the procedures stay updated and relevant. This presentation will first provide an overview of the original NCSAM. Next, enhancements currently under development will be presented along with the background information on why the enhancement was identified. In addition to current enhancements, planned future enhancements will be covered. Finally, the presentation will touch on the applicability and transferability to other communities outside of North Carolina.

D2 Show Me the Impacts!

DOWNTOWN LEXINGTON (KY) TRAFFIC MOVEMENT AND REVITALIZATION STUDY

F. Thomas Creasey, PE, PhD

Stantec Consulting Services Inc. 400 East Vine Street, Suite 300

Lexington, KY 40507 (859)422-1861

[email protected]

The purpose of the Downtown Lexington Traffic Movement and Revitalization Study was to provide a structured, systematic process for evaluating the potential conversion of one-way streets to two-way and to provide information to decision makers regarding the impacts and mitigation of these conversions. Study objectives were:

Assess the ability of the downtown street system to accommodate current and future traffic conditions with all streets converted to two-way

Determine if conversion can reduce driver confusion, increase accessibility of businesses, and moderate vehicle speeds for improved safety

Determine negative impacts and problem spots and propose practical solutions

Engage public participation

Provide information to decision makers The overall study area was subdivided into smaller, focused areas that were functionally homogenous in terms of land use, functional characteristics of the one-way streets, and affected stakeholders. The project was then executed as separate subarea analyses of these three focus areas and that the results and recommendations were integrated into an overall mobility plan for the entire Downtown Area. A downtown area microscopic traffic simulation model was developed and used to quantify the impacts of alternatives for converting one-way streets to two-way. The study also considered impacts on pedestrian, bicycle and transit travel modes. Conclusions for each of the three subarea analyses were provided to decision makers, along with area-wide recommendations for improving mobility, safety, wayfinding, walkability, parking and freight deliveries. The project also involved an extensive community involvement effort that included elected officials, stakeholders and the general public. The final report, including the recommended Mobility Plan, will be published in October 2016.


D2 Show Me the Impacts!

ADA FOR ROADWAY DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Dean Perkins, Architect, ADA Coordinator

Florida Department of Transportation Office of Design

605 Suwannee St., MS-40 Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450


This session discusses the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as they apply to the design and construction of road and bridge projects. The discussion includes the impact of these regulations on the responsibilities of transportation project managers & designers; construction project administrators, contractors & inspectors; and maintenance personnel. This course focuses on accessibility issues related to sidewalks, curb ramps, roadway crossings and detectable warnings. It covers state and federal accessibility requirements as published in ADA regulations, standards and guidelines, including the ADA Standards for Transportation Facilities and the proposed Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines.


D2 Show Me the Impacts

TRAFFIC OPERATIONS & SAFETY IMPROVEMENT STUDY FOR THE GIANT CITY ROAD

CORRIDOR IN CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS

Dustin B. Riechmann, PE, PTOE Lochmueller Group

1928 SrA Bradley Smith Drive Troy, Illinois 62294


Carbondale, Illinois is a diverse community of approximately 26,000 that is located 96 miles southeast of St. Louis and is home to Southern Illinois University. The newly formed Southern Illinois Metropolitan Planning Organization (SIMPO) chose to partner with the City and fund a study to improve traffic operations and safety within the Giant City Road corridor. This stretch of road was consistently rated as the top source of driver frustration during public involvement completed for the MPO's first Long-Range Transportation Plan. It is also the highest crash rate location in the entire MPO with 92 crashes reported over the most recent three-year period. The existing congestion, traffic spillbacks and safety problems are expected to be greatly exacerbated as traffic continues to grow in the corridor. By 2040, it is anticipated that volumes on the major crossroad (IL Route 13) will increase by 35% while traffic on Giant City Road will increase by nearly 80%. The purpose of the study was to develop improvement options for the corridor that would result in more efficient, safer traffic flow and accommodate all users. At the core of this analysis was the use of micro-simulation traffic modeling, which also facilitated the development of demonstration videos. These videos depicting the various alternatives and their true impact on traffic operations were key to the selection of a preferred alternative through interaction with stakeholders, public officials and area residents. After extensive evaluation, a series of improvements were recommended to correct the existing deficiencies and accommodate future growth in a manner that accommodates multi-modal use, including: - Roundabout intersections in both traditional applications as well as "turnaround" points when raised medians are implemented to enforce access management - Intersection capacity improvements at several key locations - Traffic signal operational improvements, including modified phasing, sequencing and progressive timing - Relocation of a frontage road with accommodations to enhance access to adjacent development parcels - The continued development of frontage road systems and cross-access along each side of the corridor - Integration of the sidewalks within the corridor with a planned adjacent multi-use path - Dedicated transit service locations with proper accommodations Upon implementation, it is anticipated that the prescribed improvements will significantly reduce delays and queuing as well as eliminate 60-80% of crashes within the corridor. The constraints present along the Giant City Road corridor are common to many small and medium sized communities. The road network is often planned for rural conditions, but as development continues on the edges of town, problems develop as a result of closely-spaced intersections and an outdated approach to access management. This study demonstrates how state-of-the art operational analysis tools can be leveraged to not only develop innovative solutions to these often complex problems, but interact with the public and local stakeholders to facilitate consensus. This project also provides a valuable case study regarding a small MPO's role in improving quality of life by partnering with its member communities to provide funding for special studies.


D2 Show Me the Impacts

CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC ANALYSIS: TO BE OR NOT TO BE: A CASE STUDY FOR NC-107

WIDENING, SYLVA NC

Taruna Tayal, VHB and Donald Bryson, PE, VHB (Corresponding Author: Taruna Tayal)

4000 West Chase Blvd.; Suite 530, Raleigh, NC 27607 919-741-5525

[email protected], [email protected]

NC 107 is an important arterial serving Jackson County in western North Carolina. The northern portion of the corridor is also the region’s major commercial corridor, resulting in AADTs as high as 30,000 vehicles/day on a predominantly 5-lane cross-section (4 lanes with TWLTL). In June 2013, NCDOT began focusing its efforts on improving existing NC-107 from south of NC 116 (Fairview Road) to US 23 Business (Asheville Highway) in Sylva, as opposed to constructing a controversial NC-107 bypass. However, concerns arose that with no viable detour route, businesses along NC-107 would suffer significant adverse economic impacts due to traffic congestion and access restrictions throughout a long construction process. In part to address these concerns, a traffic management study was conducted to analyze construction and final design traffic conditions to help assess (and minimize) potential economic impacts resulting from travel delays and access constraints. To effectively assess traffic impacts of construction activities, TransModeler software developed by Caliper Corporation was used to simulate and evaluate traffic patterns and operations for a range of construction scenarios and design year alternatives. Quantitative analyses considered and compared travel times, average travel speeds, levels of service (LOS), queue lengths, and average vehicle delays at intersections. Peak hour summary statistics were developed for each scenario analyzed. Benefit cost analysis was also performed to compare the construction scenario and final build design. The net impact of construction-related congestion delays on the project’s anticipated travel-time savings benefits was also estimated. Readers will be able to learning about how to improve construction management planning, realizing opportunities to revise interim or final designs based on construction analysis, recognizing and effectively exploiting linkages between regional travel demand models and micro-simulation models, applying benefit cost analyses to construction phasing and traffic maintenance, and identifying the advantages and disadvantages of performing construction traffic analysis.



D4 Advancing New Technology

REDUCED-FORM MODELS, CITIZEN SCIENCE SENSORS, AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: INFORMING LOCAL

DECISIONS ABOUT TRANSPORTATION-RELATED AIR POLLUTION

Timothy Barzyk 109 TW Alexander Dr., MD E205-02, RTP, NC, 27709


Reduced-form models and citizen science sensors are emerging technologies that can inform decisions about transportation-related air quality in communities. Coupled with local knowledge and expert advice, these tools can help to characterize existing conditions as well as impacts of future scenarios. The Community Line Source modeling system (C-LINE) maps near-road air quality concentrations for local scale areas across the country. It includes traffic and meteorological datasets for the community of interest, and is streamlined to perform what-if scenarios, such as the relative impacts of additional traffic or detours through a residential area. Citizen science sensors are available for a host of mobile source pollutants, and offer local residents the opportunity to collect measurements and assess trends and high-concentration areas affected by transportation corridors and activity. Even though both reduced-form models and citizen science sensors are becoming available, their value is based largely on the overall goals of the project. These tools are not designed to support regulatory decisions, and so the information they provide is largely used to assess the relative risk of transportation-related air quality in the context of multiple community concerns, and to prioritize actions to either 1) improve air quality, or 2) reduce personal exposures. We applied C-LINE and citizen science sensors to multiple community case studies in Newport News, Virginia; Newark, New Jersey; Charleston, South Carolina; and Portland, Oregon in order to not only inform local decisions, but to compile examples of best practices of their use and application, so that other communities across the country can learn from these examples. This presentation includes a summary of results to date, how they were used to guide decision-making, and lessons learned (i.e., benefits and limitations) for their general use in community-scale applications.


NEW METHODS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR COLLECTING ORIGIN-DESTINATION DATA

Ed Hard

Byron Chigoy Praprut Songchitruksa, Ph.D., P.E. Texas A&M Transportation Institute

2929 Research Parkway College Station, Texas 77845-3135

(979)845-8539 [email protected]

Data and information on the origin and destination of travel and human activity is a core component in transportation planning and modeling. Origin-destination (O-D) data are needed and used in a wide variety of transportation planning studies such as external surveys, household surveys, corridor studies, freight movement studies, and studies on long distance travel and population flows. The methods used to collect O-D data have been changing and evolving over about the past decade. Over the past 6 to 8 years, new technology methods such as Bluetooth (BT), cellular data mining, and analysis of secondary GPS data have emerged as new methods for collecting and/or capturing O-D data. During this time, a considerable amount research and studies have been conducted using these new methods to collect and estimate O-D data for various types of studies. More recently, the use of Wi-Fi technology is now also being studied as a possible source to obtain O-D data. The purpose of this paper/presentation is to provide an overview of the state-of-the-practice in new technology and methods to collect and develop O-D data for transportation planning and modeling purposes. The work will provide insights and guidance to public and private agencies considering purchasing and using this data for surveys, studies, and policy analyses. The synopsis will include the following.

The capabilities and limitations of cellular, private sector GPS, and BT O&D data considering each technology’s positional accuracy, sampling/ping frequency and continuity, and penetration/saturation.

The suitability of new/emerging methods/technologies in relation to different types of studies or travel data needs such as external O-D surveys, corridor studies, and long distance travel.

How trips and trip ends are estimated and defined in each technology and measures or processes used to anonymize data to retain confidentiality.

The paper/presentation will also include summary results, insights, and lessons learned from the latest research in this area, from various O-D studies across the country that have used new technology, and from field studies conducted by TTI designed to compare the results between these new technologies.



BLUETOAD TECHNOLOGY AND GOOGLE TRAFFIC MAPS FOR CONGESTION MANAGEMENT

Samuel Hu, Senior Planner

Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (LexMPO) Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG)

101 East Vine Street, Suite 700 Lexington, KY 40507


The presentation introduces BlueTOAD traffic monitoring technology as a tool for collecting and processing traffic data to analyze live and historical travel times and speeds over road segments. BlueTOAD (Bluetooth Travel-time Origination And Destination) devices detect anonymous MAC (Media Access Control) addresses and wireless identifications such as phones that connect Bluetooth technologies on mobile devices in vehicles. The system calculates travel time along a corridor through analysis of subsequent detections. It documents all live traffic data that may be used for historical, present and future analysis and research. The presentation addresses the BlueTOAD technology applications and the benefits of its use in the Lexington (KY) area. It demonstrates how the analysis and comparison of travel time index, buffer time index and planning time index are used for travel-time reliability reporting. The presentation addresses using live and typical Google Traffic maps to measure real-time and historical traffic congestion, and documenting congestion during traffic incidents/bad weather/special events and annual congestion trends in the Lexington Metropolitan Planning Organization Area. The presentation defines congestion and discusses causes of congestion and congestion management processes. Travel time index is used to identify the worst AM and PM peaks in a week and worst congested month in a year. Google Traffic map congestion colors are used to define relative traffic congestion index and identify relative road segment congestion levels. Examples are given to document road segment congestion levels by using relative traffic congestion index and plans are being developed to document congestion trends annually.


D5 Financial Strategies

EMPHASIZING FLEXIBILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS AS THE VALUE PROPOSITION OF THE

SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED MPO

Robert Herling / James Gittemeier 221 West First Street


The 2015/2016 rehabilitation of five miles of State Highway 23 in Duluth, Minnesota was shaped by an extensive, yet accelerated planning process that involved a great deal of participation among multiple partners and stakeholders within a 12 month period. Because of limited planning staff at MnDOT District 1, the Metropolitan Interstate Council (MIC) was invited to play an important role in enhancing the district’s outreach and planning effort for the project. This request did not come with much advance notice, however, and the work needed to be done in six months. It was the flexible structure of the MIC’s work program that allowed MPO staff to respond nimbly to the unexpected request and the tight timeline laid out by the MnDOT district. The MPO’s involvement in the planning for the Highway 23 project created additional planning and outreach capacity for District 1. MIC staff performed both technical analyses and stakeholder outreach activities. In addition to the input from a variety of community stakeholders, the extra effort afforded more access and input to different professionals from multiple departments at the City of Duluth – the other principal stakeholder with respect to the roadway. All the extra involvement produced an environment in which very specific low-cost, “micro-scale” improvements could be identified, while broader, big-picture concepts could also be brought up and discussed with MnDOT officials, who would likely not have entertained them otherwise. The collection and discussion of ideas subsequently allowed the City of Duluth’s Business and Economic Development department to respond to the unexpected but timely announcement of a competitive Corridor Investment Management Strategy (CIMS) grant made available through MnDOT’s Central Office in St. Paul, MN. Again, MIC staff was able to shift priorities to lend the city some technical expertise in putting together a grant proposal that was ultimately successful in securing $3,400,000 of additional enhancements to the district’s Highway 23 project. This injection of funds allowed the Highway 23 project to be reshaped to include more safety and multi-modal elements that could not otherwise be accommodated in the district’s original budget and scope for the project. This outcome underscores the importance of a cross-collaboration among public entities that goes beyond merely coordinating planning to also include the sharing of resources and the expanding of staffing capacity for regional partners at critical times. While the MIC’s approach may not be applicable to every small- or medium-sized MPO, there are several lessons learned that may help the personnel of other MPOs begin to rethink how they can create added value among the efforts of their regional partners and how they might better communicate their value proposition to those partners. In an era of constrained public finances, this approach may be the new critical strategy for shared regional success, and as the MIC’s experience shows, the MPO can be a key ingredient to that success. The tools of the trade that will be showcased in this presentation are 1) how the MIC’s unified work program (UWP) was structured to allow for responsive flexibility, 2) the stakeholder outreach strategy that was used to achieve meaningful engagement in a constrained timeframe; and 3) a suggested framework for how to market the MPO’s value proposition as a responsive ‘staff capacity building’ resource to regional stakeholders.


SHOW ME AT LEAST A LITTLE NEW MONEY: HOW SMALL AND MID-SIZE COMMUNITIES CAN

IMPLEMENT PROJECTS USING THE FEDERAL LANDS ACCESS PROGRAM

Lewis G. Grimm, P.E. Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division

Federal Highway Administration 21400 Ridgetop Circle

Sterling, VA 20166 703-404-6289

[email protected]

With budgetary constraints impacting the ability of Federal, State, and local government agencies to address transportation infrastructure needs, government agencies at all levels need to be aware of any opportunities to access new or modified funding programs. One such "somewhat new" funding program is the Federal Lands Access Program. Created by Section 1102 of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), and continued under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) is not truly a "new" surface transportation funding program, but rather a merger and melding of other previously defined surface transportation funding programs into a competitive financing program with funding levels explicitly defined at the statewide level.

The primary goal of the FLAP Program is to improve those transportation facilities that provide access to, are adjacent to, or are located within Federal lands. The FLAP Program supplements State and local agency resources for improvements to public roads, transit systems, and other transportation facilities, with an emphasis on access improvements to high use federal recreation sites and economic generators. The program is designed to provide flexibility for a wide range of transportation projects in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. A Programming Decisions Committee (PDC) within each State has the final responsibility for making project programming decisions.

The FLAP Program compliments the Federal Lands Transportation Program (FLTP), whose focus is on the improvement of transportation facilities and services that are owned, operated, and maintained by one of the Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs). The FLMAs include: the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The FLAP Program also compliments other Federal programs for transportation improvements, such as the Defense Access Roads Program and the Forest Development Roads and Trails Program. The FLAP program recognizes the importance of safe and seamless access to and within Federal lands.

Funds made available to each State under the FLAP Program are eligible to pay the cost of the following activities:

A. Transportation planning, research, engineering, preventive maintenance, rehabilitation, restoration, construction, and reconstruction of Federal Lands Access Transportation Facilities that are located on, or adjacent to, or which provide access to, Federal land;

B. Operation and maintenance of transit facilities; and C. Any transportation project eligible for assistance under Title 23 that is within or adjacent to, or that

provides access to, Federal land. This presentation will describe how the FLAP Program has been implemented across the country since its creation in MAP-21, The presentation will include a description of the process by which the national program authorizations are allocated to each state, the components of the state level Programming Decisions Committee, and the experience to date with the project application, review, programming, and implementation activities.



TRANSPORTATION ENERGY SERVICES COMPANIES (T-ESCOs): OPPORTUNTIIES AND

EXPERIENCES TO DATE

Bethany Whitaker 128 Lakeside Avenue, Suite 401

Burlington, VT 05401 802-541-7861

[email protected]

Energy services companies (ESCO) assist building and home owners in implementing energy efficiency technologies by leveraging – or financing - ongoing energy cost savings to reduce initial investment costs. In addition to providing capital, ESCO’s typically work with building owners to outline the costs and benefits of energy savings projects; manage the installation of projects; and monitor and verify that the energy savings are being realized. ESCOs first started operating in the 1970s in response to the energy crisis. ESCOs played an important role helping to develop and advance effective, appropriate energy efficiency technologies and systems. Today, ESCOs are a relatively standard service; they are also largely operated by private sector, for-profit organizations. The Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) is a mission driven non-profit organization focused on reducing the environmental and economic costs of energy use. As part of our mission, VEIC operates a public purpose energy savings company, Commons Energy, which serves a variety of non-profit entities, including municipalities, university, schools and hospitals. Building on this model and using funding provided by the Schmidt Family Foundation, VEIC investigated the potential of developing a transportation energy savings company, or T-ESCO with a particular focus on energy efficient light duty fleet vehicles, namely plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. VEIC’s motivation behind developing T-ESCO models is to advance adoption of electric vehicle technology, lower energy costs and reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The VEIC T-ESCO feasibility analysis was designed to understand the market potential for a T-ESCO model; evaluate the type and amount of support services needed to support fleet adoption of energy efficiency vehicles; and determine if a T-ESCO could reliable generate a revenue stream to support the needed services. Our analysis also inventoried the availability and reliability of technology systems required to support a T-ESCO, including vehicle monitoring devices that record driving patterns, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. VEIC’s analysis included focus group research and pilot projects as well as extensive financial and business case analysis. Our findings include an assessment of the market potential for T-ESCO, the potential benefits and opportunities. We will also present on VEIC’s perspective on including transportation services into our Commons Energy program. Findings and materials will be useful to transportation planners interested in advancing electric vehicle technology and/or new strategies to fund and finance transportation projects.


D6 Public Involvement: Every Voice Matters

LISTENING TO THE ONES WHO KNOW

Jamie A. Cochran, FAICP

Gresham, Smith and Partners 2325 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 300

Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 404-909-2331

[email protected] During 2015, the Douglas County (Georgia) Transportation Services Study, led by the county’s Multi-Modal/Rideshare Division, provided an opportunity for county residents, community stakeholders, and business, educational, and political leaders to actively participate in a forward-thinking, customer-driven approach to transportation planning. The study helped the county leaders and citizens think about the factors that are influencing residents’ current and future transportation needs. More specifically, citizens were asked to consider how demographic, economic, technology, and social changes would likely impact their mobility needs. The public was asked to actively participate in all of the study’s elements, including: Evaluation of the existing transportation services available to county residents, Analysis of important data, such as population and employment trends, statistics on certain sectors

of the population, including seniors, disabled people, part-time workers, and others, Examination of travel patterns within the county and to/from adjacent counties, and Consideration of case studies of similar transportation systems in Georgia and other states

Under the direction of the Board of County Commissioners, the study’s primary focus was on interacting with and listening to citizens and community stakeholders about how existing services should be improved and how and where new services could meet specific needs, such as enabling more seniors to access medical and shopping locations; helping workers access jobs, and other key activities. The study sought to identify and evaluate a menu of transportation service options and enhancements that had broad community support in order to make sure that County investments meet residents’ travel needs and are targeted to the most important needs now and in the future. In this way, the study was able to consider transportation options for people regardless of age, income, ability, or travel purpose and to identify a comprehensive, flexible program of services that is adaptable and able to be modified according to needs, technology, mobility, and resources. Through a series of engaging activities, including participating in community events, holding public meetings and town hall events, community leader interviews, and an extensive online survey, the study team gathered input from over 1,400 community members (from a county population of about 90,000) representing a range of people in terms of age, background, geography, and travel needs. The paper and presentation session will highlight creative approaches to drawing citizens into the planning process, listening to and understanding their needs, and designing services that will meet them.

A study team member talking with residents at the community’s Hydrangea Festival.


MILLENNIALS, WOW

Perry D. Gross 1490 Ash Street Napa, CA 94559

707 501-0786 [email protected]

Millennials (born between 1980 and 2004) will make a difference in the 21st century: just ask them. Personal research and emerging multi-disciplinary research indicate they're not just bragging: Millennials are fundamentally different than previous generations. This difference has significant implications for the mobility and transportation profession. The Council of Economic Advisors released 15 Economic Facts about Millennials in October 20014 revealing compelling comparisons between Millennials and previous generations: Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980); Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964); and the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945). Interestingly, children born since 2005 are characterized as the Homeland Generation and this ephemeral label has implications for Millennials and other generations. Millennials are one-third of the U.S. total population and 42 percent self-represent with a race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white. Millennials represent more foreign born (15%) citizens at any time in the U.S since the end of the 19

th century (20%). Further, about 61 percent of adult

Millennials have attended collage compared to 46 percent of Baby Boomers at the same age. The Millennial generation began entering the adult work force during the Great Recession occurring at the end of the first decade of the 21

st century. However, the Millennial’s investment in higher education appears to

be paying dividends. In 2013, workers age 25 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree were making salaries of $70,000 plus at 24 percent while high school diplomas where at 4 percent. Conversely, the same demographic with bachelor’s degrees were 16 percent and high school diplomas 41 percent earning salaries under $20,000. Among other generational differences, Millennials marry later, seek home ownership later, and college-educated Millennials tend to migrate to urban areas faster than previous generations. These fundamental economic tenants ensure Millennials will make a difference in the 21

st

century without even flexing their substantial This research explores the transportation planning and stakeholders engagement practice implications of these generational differences. An initial scan implies significant underlying preference differences with for example travel modes. The nation’s vehicle miles traveled (VMT) have been falling since well before the Great Recession. This is attributed in large measure to Millennial’s preferences to defer or omit vehicle ownership and/or driving in their lifestyles. Further, Millennials obtain and process information through sources integrated into the continuing emergence of 21

st century technology and communication

for which they are intimately responsible for. Their social and community engagement are often more impassioned, less confrontational that previous generations. They are used to being heard and respected. These preferences appear to include a predilection for built spaces that support street-focused social life with space for genuine interpersonal interactions. Their childhood community’s built form often is often not desirable to Millennials. Different preferences require engagement and planning approaches. This presentation/paper explores the diverse range of perspectives about the implications of these shifting conditions. Conclusions and strategies will be provided.



CITY OF WILMINGTON 2014 TRANSPORTATION BOND: PRIORITIZATION AND EDUCTION OF A

SUCCESSFUL TRANSPORTATION BOND INITIATIVE

Mike Kozlosky 305 Chestnut Street, 4

th Floor

Wilmington, North Carolina 28401 (910) 342-2781

[email protected]

Satisfaction with city streets and sidewalks and the management of traffic flow on city streets have consistently ranked at the bottom of citizen surveys dating back to 2007, yet also rank as being the most important city services other than public safety. In meetings held throughout the city in 2014 to garner input on the City's Comprehensive Plan, Wilmingtonians ranked pedestrian/bike trails as a top priority. At the same time, New Hanover County—where Wilmington is located—had the unfortunate distinction of having the most bicycle accidents of all 100 North Carolina counties and was among the top ranked for pedestrian accidents and deaths. It was apparent more pedestrian and bike accommodations were both wanted and needed. In early 2014, the City of Wilmington and Wilmington Urban Area MPO identified more than $240 million in transportation needs, but like other municipalities across the nation, was challenged by shrinking state and federal funding. The city utilized an evaluation matrix to analyze each of the projects under consideration. After several months of study, elected officials overlaid an exhaustive list of prioritized transportation needs with citizen input received through the biennial citizen survey and the ongoing comprehensive planning process, which included neighborhood meetings across the city. The result was a list of 38 projects throughout the city worth $55 million. The projects would require a $44 million transportation bond and a 2-cent property tax increase. The $11 million difference would be leveraged from existing funds. While the benefits of the bond seemed clear, the city faced a daunting challenge. Wilmington voters had not successfully passed a city bond since 2006, and New Hanover County Schools—whose bonds are historically viewed more favorably by taxpayers--introduced a $160 million bond to appear on the same ballot. For city taxpayers, this would mean a potential 5-cent tax increase if both bonds passed. The bond referendum was approved by city council in July 2014, leaving only three months and a very limited budget to develop and implement a multi-faceted communications plan to educate citizens and gain support for passage of the bond on November 4, 2014. This outreach and education campaign took on a number of different strategies. The Wilmington Urban Area MPO worked with the City of Wilmington's Communication Department to carefully craft the message and educate the community on the bond initiative. This presentation will further detail the selection process and outreach strategies used to educate the community on the 2014 City of Wilmington Transportation Bond initiative.


D7 Public Involvement

PERFROMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANS

Jason Carbee, AICP and Theresa McClure, ENVSP HDR, 8404 Indian Hills Drive

Omaha, NE 68114 402.399.1370

[email protected] and [email protected] Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTP) are Federally-required updates for Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) every 4 or 5 years. By their nature, LRTPs do not spur extensive, organic public engagement to the same extent that other planning projects might. That being said, public engagement is critical for these studies. The authors have used a performance-based assessment of a multifaceted set of traditional and innovative community-wide participation tools during the LRTP process. To assess the performance of each engagement tool, the authors have used performance measures to assess each tool’s effectiveness at soliciting public engagement, compared to the investment required. The engagement goal is to provide a full suite of tools and approaches that interact with unique stakeholder groups on their own terms. This engagement approach provides a more “implementable” LRTP, with a final set of projects and programs that reflect the community vision. The authors describe the range of tools used, along with each element’s objective, and the performance outcome of each tool. The range of involvement techniques, assessed from a cost and interaction value perspective, include: Project Website: The lynchpin of public communications for both receiving input and disseminating the latest news, communications and technical content. Tools are built into the study website, including:

Online Comment Mapping Tool: an ESRI-based interactive map form that provides users drawing tools on a map centered in the community. Connected comment forms allow citizens to draw issue areas or improvement ideas and tag that drawing to text input and their contact information.

Online Alternatives Open House: embedded video of presentation materials and voice-over presentations, coupled with open house maps and materials, and input forms to record comments. This branded “Alternatives Open House” page provided a 24/7 option for the community to understand the process and the range of candidate projects being considered for inclusion in the LRTP, and to provide their thoughts, ideas on the options being considered.

Virtual Town Hall: An LRTP-specific collaborative community forum established for community members to contribute through an idea submission, comment, or voting on a range of topic.

Grass roots events to generate community interest and gather community input on transportation issues. These include presentations during bike advocacy meetings, booths at community festivals, and online transportation photo-based contests with prizes.

Informational Kiosks: Large, high-quality boards with comment boxes, comment forms, and attached pencil on easels, placed in public spaces such as malls, department of motor vehicles, senior centers, and libraries. Provides early awareness of the LRTP effort (including QR code for scanning with smart phone) and an additional avenue for collecting public comment on transportation issues.

Social Media: to keep followers up-to-date on the project, with fresh content related to plan news and interesting national and local transportation stories to engage a wider, more active following.

Contact & Comment Management (CCM) Database: This in-house tool is a web-based system used to manage project contacts, comments, responses, earned media, and event participation.

Traditional tools such as focus groups and public open house meetings, newsletters, household opinion surveys, and email campaigns. The presentation objective is to provide example qualitative and quantitative performance measure approaches for assessing the interaction value of each engagement tool. Measures used include cost, citizens reached, social media followers, posts and shares, comments received, and meeting attendees. Example public engagement performance metrics / outcomes for MPO LRTP updates will be shared.




RESPONSIVE ENGAGEMENT: THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION MEETS THE FUTURE OF

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

Kathryn Caskey 395 John Ireland Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155


When doing engagement, there is often so much information to share but the audience only has so much time and attention. How do you decide what to focus on? The future of transportation meets the future of public involvement in a session on user-driven, responsive engagement. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is updating the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan and the Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan. Both are key documents in MnDOT’s Family of Plans and guide transportation decision-making for the future. The updates create an opportunity to increase public education and engagement on how MnDOT identifies transportation priorities and guides investments on the State highway system. In this interactive session, we will demonstrate a number of the public engagement tools used as part of the plan update process. Recognizing that there is limited time and a lot of information we could cover, just like at a public meeting, the presentation will start with a live poll of the conference audience to determine which engagement tools they want to learn more about and customize the presentation based on the feedback received. The presenter will be prepared to speak on a variety of engagement tools — workplace-based outreach, event-based outreach, underserved community engagement, MnDOT’s first online accessibility plan, a plain language approach, infographics, social media ads, social media campaigns, Prezi, Mentimeter, GetFeedback, MetroQuest, GoPro, a responsive website and more! This session will engage the audience like never before through a unique and dynamic presentation. It will give transportation professionals the information they want while demonstrating new ways to approach engagement: looking at the process from the user’s perspective. In addition to engagement, the presentation will also touch on future transportation trends and funding, performance measurement, and all transportation modes.

Session D7 Public Involvement

COMPLEXITY AND COLLABORATION: THE HARBOR TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AS A

MODEL FOR SUCCESSFUL STAKEHOLDER PLANNING AND COORDINATION

Rondi Watson 221 West First Street


Working through complex and controversial issues in a collaborative manner is a familiar challenge for all transportation planners, engineers and consultants. Often the main barrier to transitioning a group of willing stakeholders into a functioning working group is the lack of a champion or sponsor. The MPO is uniquely situated to serve this role, as a neutral transportation planning agency with a primary responsibility of creating opportunities for public participation. This presentation is a case study of a long-term, diverse stakeholder group supported by the Metropolitan Interstate Council (MIC), the MPO for the Duluth (MN)-Superior (WI) area. The MIC’s Harbor Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC) has coalesced into a mature, largely self-directed working group with a growing list of successful planning and policy initiatives. The HTAC is one of three advisory committees to the MIC Policy Board whose 30 diverse members all hold a stake in the continued success and health of the harbor. The MIC includes funding and staffing resources for this harbor group in its annual work program along with the typical MPO roadway, bicycle and pedestrian, transit and land use planning activities. Participation on the HTAC encourages representatives from industry, government, academic, environmental, regulatory and citizen groups on both states to recognize that although they have distinct missions they also have shared goals. Issues affecting the Port of Duluth-Superior – including harbor security, economic development initiatives, underwater infrastructure corrosion, invasive species, legacy environmental degradation and habitat restoration initiatives – are complex, often controversial and sometimes downright contentious. None of these problems affects one group alone, and none can be addressed except through the coordinated action of many diverse organizations and individuals. One recent example of the HTAC’s successful, collaborative planning process is their work on the Erie Pier dredge materials storage site. It might seem a little hard to get excited about this “hidden in plain sight” facility on the Duluth waterfront—but it represents an entirely new paradigm for dredge material handling, and has yielded significant economic and environmental benefits to the community. Thanks to the efforts of many HTAC members who undertook an intensive multi-year planning process, and to the US Army Corps of Engineers which subsequently agreed to make a significant investment in redesigning and re-engineering the facility, a major physical restructuring of the full-to-capacity Contained Disposal Facility (CDF) at Erie Pier was undertaken to convert it to a Recycle-Reuse Facility. It utilizes hydraulic sorting to separate out the clean, uncontaminated sand and silt that’s dredged from the shipping channels for reuse in large-scale projects such as road construction and landfill cover. The Duluth Seaway Port Authority now manages Erie Pier dredge materials as a valuable, re-usable resource instead of a waste product. By creating a cost effective and environmentally sound alternative to standard dredge material disposal practices, it will save local taxpayers the millions of dollars it would have cost to develop a new CDF. As the only stakeholder group of its kind in the country, the HTAC has emerged as a national model for planning, collaboration, information sharing and long-term institutional involvement. It is recognized in the US-Canadian port community and by the Army Corps of Engineering as a model that can and should be replicated in other communities.


RELEVANT ENGAGEMENT TO ATTRACT MORE CITIZEN FEEDBACK

Crystal Wilson

9415 S Ocean Drive Jensen Beach, FL 34957 Ph: (773) 547-7347

[email protected]

Many planners are using social media and citizen engagement tools as a component to their engagement strategy. In large, urban areas a variety of tools work well and provide a platform for continuous dialogue with residents who want to contribute their opinions. Not all communities are the same. What happens when you collect Fans on Facebook and have visitors to the plan website but they don’t participate? How can planners have a stronger presence in the community to engage with residents and have them share their opinions and ideas? There are several creative techniques to reach citizens that involve a combination of in-person and technology-based engagement. One example illustrated is in the St. Lucie, Florida planning area, which is predicted to double by 2040. The working family demographic live where most growth will occur and are difficult to reach, even through social media. A have a large student and snowbird population was not inclined to participate. The community engagement strategy for the 2040 long range transportation plan was slow to gain momentum and needed to be continuously tweaked after an initial round of grassroots efforts that failed to convert web traffic to public comments. This session will assist planners who have difficultly hearing from those that bike, ride, and drive the most in their community. It will show how a community engagement strategy evolves to experiment with pop-up engagement, targeted social media campaigns, and citizen storytelling by demonstrating the specific purpose, tools used, and outcome. There were many obstacles such as needing permits to show up in certain neighborhoods and selecting the most appropriate event where the target audience would be receptive. Innovation with the project’s online presence and relevancy opened the door to conversation rather than building the website and expecting comments to flow in.


D8 Planning for Emerging Technology

THE GOOD AND BAD NEWS ON INCORPORATING AUTOMATED AND CONNECTED VEHICLES IN

SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITIES

Jason Bittner Applied Research Associates

6324 Odana Road Madison, Wisconsin 53719


According to Morgan Stanley, complete autonomous capability is expected to be available by 2022, followed by massive market penetration as rapidly as 2026, and the vehicles we know today entirely extinct in another 20 years thereafter (one fleet generation). While this is one particularly optimistic estimate (of many), the exact impact and timeline for implementation of partially or fully automated and connected vehicles greatly influences planning decisions today. Regardless of expected adoption horizons, planners in small and medium sized communities need to pay close attention to the technology, adapt current modeling and traffic projection analysis to potential changes in activity and land use, start thinking about local regulations (particularly on-site parking requirements and access points) that can and will be altered by new technologies, and develop an understanding of the capital investments that could facilitate adoption of these new technologies. By drawing from a variety of existing planning efforts, this paper provides information that planners need to develop more flexible projects insulated from some of the uncertainty around the timing and impacts of self-driving cars. Such investments that include shifts from infrastructure-heavy projects with a long lifespan to shorter term, immediate impacts may be higher priorities under this alternative future. Many benefits can be realized with the move to improved vehicle technology. While safety and productivity top the consumer lists, a small community could have narrower streets because parking spots are less necessary (reducing the costs of system capacity expansions). Transit systems can become more personalized and less reliant on set operating schedules, increasing the mobility of citizens. As with any significant technological change, there are winners and losers. The former typically outweigh the latter, but the potential wealth-transferring impacts are as important for smaller communities to understand as the benefits. For example, small communities could suffer tremendously as professional driving positions are reduced; in many states the largest number of employees statewide are professional drivers -- trucking, delivery, transit, shuttles, taxi, and buses. As a result of automation, millions more jobs may be at risk for those who depend on truck drivers. In smaller areas, entire communities depend on drivers in more rural areas for lodging, fuel, meals, and auto services. With any amount of reduced consumer spending, these local economies will shrink. At the same time, smaller community residents may benefit from simpler commutes to larger employment areas, enhanced housing opportunities, changes to the definition of work schedules and flexibility, the aforementioned reduction in infrastructure costs, and a host of other positive influences. This paper discusses these issues and provides easy to understand definitions for connected, automated, and connected-automated vehicle technology and also provides basic overviews on how these different, but interrelated technologies work. The advantages and shortcomings of each are defined through a series of illustrations and case studies. A series of checklists and basic guides for incorporating technology advances in small and medium sized community planning efforts (including pedestrian plans, urban core redevelopment plans, transit development plans, and several other standalone planning exercises) is provided. The implementation and planning influences and expected horizons are also discussed. These observations all pull heavily from the lessons derived from ongoing work of the Federal Highway Administration, its Connected Vehicle Pilot program, and activities in several larger regional planning areas.



THE “TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION” – HOW DO PLANNERS GRAPPLE WITH AN UNCERTAIN

FUTURE?

Steven B. Gayle, PTP RSG 143 Copes Corners Road

South New Berlin NY 13843 607-437-2397

First issue: VMT trends. Early in 2015, the NYSAMPO Modeling Working Group was discussing how to address declining VMT, total and per capita, a trend that we had seen since the beginning of the recession in 2008. Discussions include the impact of different travel and auto ownership patterns of urban Millennials. Then this happened: FHWA published VMT figures for March and 1st quarter 2015; and then for April and four months of 2015. In each case, VMT was a record high. This has continued with each successive travel trends report into summer 2015.

Question for forecasters: Is the 2008-2014 downward trend an anomaly in an otherwise long term upward VMT trend, or is the 2015 upward trend an anomaly in the otherwise downward trend of the past 6 years?

Caveat for planners: While we need to pay attention to all sorts of trends, we should do so in a way that requires care about proclaiming them “accurate” versus proclaiming our methodology credible.

Second issue: Technology. Planners need to be thinking about the impact of disruptive technological advances ranging from connected and autonomous vehicles, to micro-manufacturing with 3D printers, to solar roads, self-healing pavements, and on-site 3-D printed bridge elements fabricated from non-metallic materials. The Connected Vehicle program has already generated a long list of safety benefits. Will V2V and V2I communications become commonplace enough to change MPO investments in safety projects? There are reasons AV might increase travel demand, including transport of non-drivers like seniors and children; and reasons it may reduce travel demand, like removing the need to hunt for parking. What is the ultimate impact, and how soon?

While there are limits on home-sized 3-D printers in terms of feedstocks and what can be fabricated, consider the idea of neighborhood fabrication sites with larger printers and lots of feedstocks. What does this do to urban goods movement/delivery?

How do changes in construction technology affect State and local transportation budgets, which are now heavily weighted in most parts of the country to system preservation/state of good repair?

Third issue: Sustainability. Looking at the NCHRP Report 750 Series: Informing Transportation’s Future, there are 6 volumes of really interesting stuff. As MPOs and state DOTs pay more attention to climate change adaptation (consider resiliency planning) and mitigation; and to creating sustainable transportation systems and sustainable communities, how does that change our thought processes in terms of what we include in short and long range plans to project designs? How will small MPOs in flood prone areas, for example, find the resources to plan and implement necessary system improvements? If MPOs place a high priority on sustainability, what does that actually mean? How do we both encourage and manage public expectations?


PILOT FOR ASSESSING INDIRECT AND CUMULATIVE EFFECTS DURING MTP

Taruna Tayal, VHB; Candice Andre, AICP, LEED GA, VHB; and Alena R. Cook, PE, NCDOT

(Corresponding Author – Taruna Tayal) VHB: 4000 WestChase Blvd. Suite 530 Raleigh, NC 27607

NCDOT: 1 South Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27699-1554 919-741-5525

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] The North Carolina Department of Transportation has undertaken a major process improvement with the goal of integrating the long range planning process with the project development process, essentially the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and its state counterpart State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). This integration will inform early decisions, improving the quality of transportation planning and producing products that may be built upon during project development. The proposed best practices for consideration of indirect and cumulative effects (ICE) in long range planning include four (4) work products: documenting existing conditions assessment, assessing future growth potential, screening proposed projects in the long range transportation plan for ICE, and identifying best management practices for local jurisdictions to minimize the effects. Analysis of indirect and cumulative effects is required under NEPA when evaluating environmental impacts associated with a specific proposed project. However, a planning level ICE assessment completed early in the project planning process can provide and improve consistency of the ICE analysis occurring later in the NEPA process, highlighting important issues early and potentially streamlining project delivery. A pilot study conducted for the New Bern Area MPO is the first effort in North Carolina to apply a planning level ICE assessment in preparing a metropolitan transportation plan (MTP). The detailing of the MTP ICE technical process will identify the potential outputs from systems planning that would be available and useful to inform the project level ICE analysis required by NEPA. The readers will learn the necessary context about project implementation from visioning to construction, as well as fundamentals about the relationship between MTPs, NEPA and ICE. How a planning level ICE assessment during development of a MTP can be conducted and used will be detailed. Benefits of such an assessment during an MTP, including benefit to the project level analysis will also be highlighted.




Documents

Performance Planning/Scenario Planning …...project 0-6848, Transportation Planning Implications of Automated/Connected Vehicles, tested six different scenarios in an effort to study