Travel Behavior Impacts of Transportation Demand Management Policies: May is Bike Month in Sacramento, California

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2018 - September 30, 2019

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Jai Malik, Farzad Alemi

Project Summary

Active modes of transportation like bicycling and walking are extremely beneficial to society. Encouraging more people to bike and walk helps reduce the amount of travel people may make by car (i.e., vehicle miles travelled) and in turn helps to reduce congestion and transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. Bicycling and walking also have direct and positive health impacts. A number of steps have been taken to promote active transportation in cities and regions, including awareness campaigns, transportation demand management (TDM) policies, building new bicycling infrastructure, and the launch of bikesharing programs. However, it is often unclear how much impact a specific strategy can have on actual rates of bicycling and walking in a community or region. UC Davis is assisting the Sacramento Council of Governments (SACOG) in evaluating the impact of the agency’s ‘May is Bike Month’ campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to motivate residents working and/or living in the region to start using (or increase use of) bicycles as a mode of transportation. SACOG conducted a survey as part of the 2018 “May is Bike Month” campaign, which collected self-reported information from participants on the frequency of bicycling before and after the campaign, perceived barriers to bicycling, motivations for bicycling, travel habits, household and individual sociodemographic, place of residence of the participants. UC Davis is analyzing the survey data to gain a better understanding of the role land use characteristics and transit accessibility have on bicycling rates. This information will be used to understand the variables that affect individuals’ decisions to increase, decrease or not change the level of bicycling during and after the end of the ‘May is Bike Month’ campaign. This project helps SACOG identify the groups which are most and least receptive to the campaign, and ways these groups of individuals have reacted (in terms of changing their bicycling behavior) in response to the campaign. SACOG can use this information to make strategic changes to its annual “May is Bike Month” campaign in order to optimize the campaign’s effectiveness in future years, and/or coordinate the campaign with additional initiatives to promote bicycling in the Sacramento region.

Develop plan to measure performance of broader TDM program (SACOG TDM match)

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2018 - September 30, 2019

Principal Investigator

Mollie Cohen D'Agostino

Campus(es)

UC Davis

Project Summary

[No abstract found on website]

Implementing SB 743: An Analysis of Vehicle Miles Traveled Banking and Exchange Frameworks

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UC Berkeley

Project Summary

In implementing Senate Bill 743, developers of proposed projects – such as real estate or transportation infrastructure – will need to change how they analyze the project’s potential impacts on transportation under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA requires lead agencies to analyze project impacts in advance and mitigate significant ones where feasible. To date, transportation impacts have been measured by a project’s effect on automobile “level of service” in the immediate vicinity. But recent legal and proposed regulatory changes in California now require a shift to analyzing a proposed project’s impact on regional vehicle miles traveled (VMT). In some cases, on-site mitigation of VMT impacts may be straightforward. But in other cases, cities, counties or regions may want to develop regional strategies to mitigate VMT using off-site, VMT-reducing projects, facilitated by VMT “mitigation banks.” This project will conduct a legal analysis to assess the prospects under existing state law for establishment of local or regional VMT mitigation strategies, including VMT mitigation banks. These mitigation structures and strategies could allow project developers to support off- site, but regionally beneficial, VMT-reducing projects as a means to mitigate impacts. The research could also include recommendations for new regulations or legislation to implement or improve VMT mitigation strategies.

Transportation Plans: Their Informational Content and Use Patterns in Southern California

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UC Irvine

Project Summary

Since 1937, “all cities and counties [have been] required to adopt master plans [called ‘general plans’ nowadays] … [and, in 1955] land use and circulation elements [became] required in the general plan” (California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, 2003). Recently, as the California Complete Streets Act (AB 1358) is implemented, “all cities and counties, upon the next update of their circulation element, must plan for the development of multimodal transportation networks.” Other state legislation (e.g., SB 375) has placed emphasis on internal consistency (e.g., consistency of a locality’s circulation element with other general plan elements or policies it has adopted) and cooperation among jurisdictions to achieve regional Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets and other goals set included in the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). However, despite the state-level guidelines and requirements, general plan making rests with individual localities, and the content/structure of plans does vary markedly across cities. Little is known about the informational contents of these plans and their use patterns. This project reviewed the content of eight recently adopted general plans in Orange County and conducted a plan use survey and follow-up analysis of survey responses. All plans analyzed were found to convey a variety of information about their visions, goals, policies, and implementation strategies, but the plan content analysis revealed substantial variation in the way cities composed their general plans and integrated them with other plans/players. Compared to land use elements, circulation elements tended to focus more on their connections with other agencies than on internal consistency. The plan use survey yielded a low response rate which may indicate limited use of plans in the field. However, a majority of the survey responses were positive about the usefulness and usability of general plans.

The Impacts of Infill Rail Transit Stations: Implications for the Shinn Station Proposal

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

Project Summary

Infill rail transit stations are added along an already built line or set of lines between existing stations. Such stations are relatively low cost because they take advantage of existing lines and services. They can support additional ridership in the short term by increasing station accessibility and also may support growth in the form of added economic activity, infill development, or redevelopment and revitalization, further increasing accessibility and ridership. In turn, growing ridership may support higher levels of service (larger trainsets, more frequent service) on the lines served. Existing activity centers and neighborhoods may be strengthened by the increased accessibility an infill station provides. New housing and economic development opportunities around infill stations can be substantial if the station location is well chosen, local government policies and community members support growth, and existing owners can expand or developers can secure suitable sites for new construction. On the other hand, economic opportunities can be limited if there is community opposition to growth, local policies are impediments, or there is limited interest in investing in the area from the business and development community. Unwanted neighborhood changes including displacement due to rising property values may be an issue. Transportation level of service plays a role; lines with limited service will offer lower development potential than lines with high levels of service. Also, because adding a station involves added deceleration, dwell time, and acceleration time to existing trips, there is a small negative impact on existing riders due to the added stop. For this project, we will examine the costs and benefits of infill transit stations. We consider transport capital, operating, and maintenance costs, costs to existing riders of additional trip duration due to added stop(s), and benefits to existing and new riders of improved accessibility (reduced travel time and costs) from both origins and to destinations. We further consider economic development potential and social environmental impacts of infill stations. We present evidence drawn primarily from U.S. experience with infill transit stations in the Boston, Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan areas. We apply the evidence to assess the potential cost and benefits of an infill station in the Shinn Station area in the East Bay near the Union City and Fremont, CA, border, linking Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) services.

Does Bundled Parking Influence Travel Behavior?

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

September 1, 2017

Principal Investigator

Miriam Pinski

Campus(es)

UCLA

Project Summary

Parking requirements hide the cost of storing a vehicle in housing costs, making driving a more attractive option for vehicle owners than using alternative modes of transportation.This study uses data from the 2013 American Housing Survey to determine if the presence of bundled parking is associated with a household’s transportation mode choice. After controlling for differences in socioeconomic and built environment characteristics, the presence of bundled parking is found to be associated with a 27 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled. Bundled households drive approximately 3,800 miles more, spend nearly $580 more on gasoline, and emit 14.47 more metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Bundled parking is also negatively correlated to transit use, and households with unbundled parking are significantly more likely to be frequent transit users. This provides further evidence for the already strong case against parking requirements.

Delayed Mobility and Retirement

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UCLA

Project Summary

The population of California is aging as life expectancy increases and birth rates decline. Projections from the U.S. Census Bureau show that by 2030, the number of seniors in California will increase to 10.6 million, almost a quarter of the state population. Closely related, but far less studied, is the aging of the workforce as the population ages and many older people delay retirement either because they enjoy working or depend upon earned income to meet their needs. From a recent low of less than 6 percent of the working population, the share of employed Americans who are older than age 60 has climbed to over 10 percent of all workers and is projected to exceed 13 percent of the employed population by the middle of the next decade. The objective of this study is to determine, using data from the California Household Travel Survey, whether there is a relationship in California between mobility (e.g. access to an automobile, the physical ability to drive, living in transit-accessible locations or proximate to business centers, and working from home) and delayed retirement. Delayed retirement will be measured as those who remain in the paid workforce past age 60. Specific research questions that will be explored include: Are the elderly who continue to work those living closer to jobs and transit routes and are they more able to drive or travel by public transit than those who have retired? Longitudinal trends will be examined using one earlier CHTS. While important statistical associations are expected to emerge from this analysis, they will not tell the whole story because it is difficult to disentangle cause from effect. Do people continue to drive or live near transit so that they can go to work or do they continue to go to work because they are able to drive or use public transit? To explore subtle causal relationships, we also will conduct interviews of older workers and recent retirees. The interviews will enable us to complement the statistical findings with insights from qualitative descriptions of personal decision making about work, residence, and commuting. The results of the qualitative analysis will allow useful interpretations of and lend confidence to the results of our quantitative analysis.

Assessing and Addressing the Mobility Needs of an Aging Population

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

David Ragland

Project Summary

By 2030 the older adult population in California is expected to nearly double to over 8.6 million people. Many if not most older adults will reduce and eventually stop driving for medical and non-medical reasons, which in turn can impact mental health and activities including accessing needed medical care. In order to plan for these mobility changes and to support healthy aging in California, this proposed project will build upon work that the research team has conducted in California (funded by National Institute of Health and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and nationally with members from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Aging Network (funded by the Federal Transit Administration) to understand the mobility needs of older adults in California. A comprehensive literature review is proposed followed by a representative survey of the aging adult population to assess: (i) mobility needs, (ii) impact of emerging technology on mobility, and (iii) impact of neighborhood characteristics on mobility. Through contracting with established survey companies, we have conducted successful surveys of representative samples of the California population.

Encouraging Mode Shift from Truck to Rail for California Produce

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

Project Summary

The movement of California goods is one of the largest employment generators within the state and is critical to both the structural health of the economy and the physical health of its citizens. However, the goods movement sector is subject to market failures that may result in suboptimal modal shares, in particular an excess of truck traffic some of which would ideally be diverted to rail. While opportunities for modal shift are limited within the state, there are significant possibilities for California exports. Examining the agricultural sector, California is one of the largest producers of perishable produce in the world and a majority of this produce leaves the state on a truck, despite the fact that rail dominated the market through the mid-1970’s. Significant inertia exists today among the grower-shipper- buyer network that has frozen in place the domination of the trucking industry among perishable produce, even though rail movement would reduce social cost in many cases. While the private sector is unlikely to invest in a modal shift given the historically low fuel prices, it is possible that there is an opening for a public-private partnership (PPP) that could provide a gentle push for change. This project will build on the initial work from the “Rail and the California Economy” project and explore the possibility of using public initiatives—including capital investment, risk sharing, subsidy, and other interventions—to support new rail infrastructure for the perishable produce industry. Specifically, the report will review the current state of affairs in two major growing regions, the Salinas Valley and the southern Central Valley, and analyze how goods move and the benefits of a modal shift to rail. The report will then identify public-private partnerships that might promote a shift to realize these benefits. Additionally, if time permits the project may review an existing PPP involving rail, the reconstruction of the Colton Crossing in southern California and the public benefits associated with its completion.

Regional Industrial Land Preservation: Perspectives from San Francisco Bay Area Cities on a Priority Production Area Program

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

Project Summary

Many regions in California have prepared long-term plans for goods movement, recognizing the need to develop freight facilities to accommodate the transformation and growth of logistics in the state. Yet, for most, planning for industrial lands – and related jobs –is an afterthought. The Metropolitan Planning Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have thus decided to enact a new program that allows jurisdictions to prioritize industrial uses (the Priority Production Areas or PPAs). PPAs will then be included in the region’s Sustainable Communities Strategies. Although ABAG’s Executive Board adopted the program in early 2017, and it is mentioned in the 2040 Plan Bay Area, the program has not yet been developed. This translational project will help the Bay Area’s regional agencies develop the program. Building on program guidelines suggested by our recent “Goods Movement and Industrial Land Supply” study (funded by Caltrans), this project will interview and convene UC, regional agency, local jurisdiction staff, and economic development organizations to discuss and develop potential guidelines for designating PPAs. UC-Berkeley will also assist by identifying possible incentives and other implementation mechanisms and providing data and analysis to assist jurisdictions interested in participating in the program.