Social Impacts of Transit Oriented Development on Disadvantaged Communities

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Michelle E. Zuniga

Project Summary

Planners need tools to better understand the social and community impacts of transit-oriented development (TOD) so they can proactively address barriers and challenges to equitable sustainable development for low-income and disadvantaged communities. Although TOD can help achieve regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emission goals and spur local revitalization, in some cases it results in gentrification and residential displacement of long-term residents. Fear of negative TOD impacts on housing affordability, neighborhood identify, and social cohesion have driven many community groups to forcefully oppose near-station developments and planners need new approaches for integrating community perspectives into the TOD planning process.

This study surveyed residents regarding their perceptions (negative and positive) of neighborhood change and associated development along an existing commuter rail corridor and planned route of the new OC Streetcar in the City of Santa Ana, a largely low-income, Latinx community in central Orange County, California. A total of 329 surveys were collected between August and October 2019. Findings from this study include that on average residents are satisfied with neighborhood access to transport and amenities, and that higher neighborhood satisfaction was associated with a more positive assessment of development and neighborhood change. Residents living near the streetcar route had more negative assessments of change, reflecting heightened concerns about housing costs, displacement, and parking.

Improving the Distribution of Densities in Southern California

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UC Irvine

Project Summary

Many of the biggest transportation challenges in Southern California arise from the lack of concentration of densities. However, little is known about how to address this critical problem and its adverse consequences. While recent years have witnessed increasing efforts to expand public transit services and encourage compact development in transit areas, there is a dearth of research providing detailed guidance for improving the distribution of densities in the region. Furthermore, existing studies have tended to focus on the City of Los Angeles, resulting in lost opportunities for understanding what challenges exist in the rest of the region, particularly in (suburban) places with great potential for density concentrations. This project will examine the complexity of urban densification dynamics with a focus on thirty selected cities in Southern California where public transit services will be widely available and thus land use intensification will be highly desired in the future. Specifically, the project will (i) conduct an exploratory analysis to identify ways in which urban densification takes place through zoning and actual land use changes that should be jointly addressed in coordination with transportation planning; (ii) develop a model to better understand how zoning has changed (in relation to the expansion of public transit services), to what extent zoning changes have led to shifts in actual land use patterns, and how changes in land use induce further zoning modifications in nearby areas; and (iii) identify hotspots that deserve attention for more strategic densification in the region.

Mobility of Older Adults in California: In the Era of Shared Mobility

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Suman Mitra

Project Summary

The older adult (65 and over) population in the United States is quickly growing in proportion, and it is expected to reach its highest point by 2030 when the baby boomers will have all passed age 65. In California, the elderly population is expected to grow more than twice as fast as the total population, and this growth will vary by region. Mobility is a critical element of one’s quality of life regardless of one’s age. Good mobility and decent transportation alternatives are important in enabling the older population to participate in daily activities and remain socially active. This study will examine the transportation mobility of older adults in California by analyzing data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, with an emphasis on those living in rural and disadvantaged areas. Individuals aging in rural and disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by poverty and other challenges that accompany poor economic circumstances, and in turn, may face greater challenges than their peers aging in large urban locations. Specific objectives of this research are to estimate the impact of age, and other demographic and geographic characteristics on various measures of mobility, including ability to drive, use of shared mobility services, use of public transportation, trip frequency for both discretionary and nondiscretionary travel, unmet travel demand, barriers to using public transportation, and satisfaction with available transportation options.

How the Built Environment Affects Car Ownership and Travel: Evidence from San Francisco Housing Lotteries

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

September 1, 2018 - May 1, 2020

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UC Santa Cruz

Project Summary

Residential location is arguably one of the most important aspects of a person’s lifestyle and relates to everything from individuals’ self-identities to their employment opportunities and transportation choices. From a policy perspective, matching the provision of residential options to the preferences of society is one of the most crucial roles of urban planning and infrastructure design. However, a major challenge for understanding how locational amenities, such as public transportation, affect residents’ behavior is that people choose where to live, and do so based in part on a neighborhood’s amenities. This research project overcomes challenges surrounding self-selection to provide credible causal inference about how residential location affects transportation and economic outcomes. The research leverages the lottery that allocates households in San Francisco to below-market rate (BMR) housing units, which effectively serves as a randomized experiment that removes self-selection. Given the scarcity of affordable housing, BMR lotteries can attract 60+ applicants per unit, and so, by design, lottery winners are randomly assigned to residences. Using administrative data, this project affirms that lottery-winning households’ baseline preferences are uncorrelated with their allotted residential features such as public transportation accessibility, parking availability, and bicycle infrastructure—meaning that neighborhood attributes and a building’s parking supply are effectively assigned at random. Successful lottery applicants were surveyed about their transportation choices and employment. Survey results demonstrate that neighborhood attributes (i.e., parking, transit access, and walkability) significantly affect transportation mode choices. Most notably, the amount of on-site parking greatly changes households’ car ownership decisions and driving frequency, with substitution away from public transit. In contrast, parking supply does not affect employment or job mobility. Overall, the evidence from this study robustly supports that local features of the built environment are important determinants of transportation behavior.

How Well Do New K-12 Public School Sites in California Incorporate Mitigation Measures Known to Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled?

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2018 - August 31, 2020

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Karen Frick, Sandra Mukasa, Jamie Albrecht

Campus(es)

UC Berkeley

Project Summary

A public school’s location has sizable impacts on transportation patterns and vehicle miles travelled (VMT). While California has made major policy strides to reduce VMT and greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation and support safe walking/biking (e.g., AB 32, SB 32, SB 375, AB 1358, AB 734, and SB 1), public school facility planning and siting are largely unconnected from these efforts. Despite the 2015 draft Governor’s Environmental Goals and Policy Report stating, “As the State prioritizes efficient, infill development, K-12 schools will be integrated into planning,” no reforms have yet been implemented. As California implements bold policies to reduce VMT—and at the same time the state and local school districts invest billions of dollars in public school facility infrastructure each year—it is imperative to align these efforts so state and local infrastructure dollars are working on shared purposes. This project aims to inform California state agencies on state policy reforms to link VMT and school siting outcomes as well as develop guidance and tools for local governments on joint planning.

The Impacts of Upzoning on Housing Production and Communities in California

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2018 - June 15, 2019

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Carol Galante, Elizabeth Kneebone, Karen Chapple, Jared Nolan, Simon Hochberg, David Garcia, Anna Cash

Campus(es)

UC Berkeley

Project Summary

Since the passage of Senate Bill 375, the State of California has mandated the coordination of land use and transportation planning in an effort to promote infill development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, housing production continues to fall far short of need, with the state struggling to concentrate new housing developments near transit lines. In addition, neighborhoods located near transit tend to be lower-income, raising concerns about displacement and the potential impacts of new development on housing affordability. This project will analyze the characteristics of neighborhoods surrounding transit station areas (both rail and bus) in the State of California. Using data on the demographic characteristics of affected communities, the real estate characteristics of local properties, and local housing ordinances, the research team will estimate how much development is feasible and at what price point, how many affordable units might be produced via local requirements, and how many renter households may be vulnerable to displacement. This research project is unique in that it will consider the potential for real estate development (i.e., production) in tandem with the concerns of residents (i.e., protection and preservation)—too often, work in this area focuses only on one perspective or the other. The research team will also hold two workshops, one in Southern California and the other in Northern California, with stakeholders representing different sides of the debate. The workshops will be designed to solicit feedback on the analysis, and to generate a discussion about policy approaches that can balance production and protection concerns.

Answers from the Margins: Participatory Planning with Disadvantaged Communities

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

October 1, 2018 - December 15, 2019

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UC Davis

Project Summary

Public engagement in transportation planning processes can sometimes be hard to conduct in a meaningful way, particularly when engaging with disadvantaged communities. The reasons for this are numerous: meeting times conflict with work or caretaking responsibilities, lack of advertisement, weak connection with local community, difficulties in transportation, lack of resources within planning agency, and other logistical and resource related challenges. Additional barriers to equitable transportation may include the structure of planning processes, as well as the historical structural inequalities in the distribution of transportation resources.This project will assess current practices for engaging disadvantaged communities in participatory planning processes for transportation projects in California. The goal will be to identify specific practices, projects, or processes that were particularly successful in engaging disadvantaged communities. Materials from transportation projects and agencies will be collected and analyzed in regard to the planning processes, the level of engagement achieved, and the resulting outcomes. Interviews will be conducted with transportation professionals who took part in these processes. The project will begin by connecting with professionals with a stated investment in disadvantaged communities through their participation in active conversations on transportation equity and mobility justice. Organizations such as Untokening Collective, a multiracial collective that centers the lived experiences of marginalized communities to address mobility justice, will participate in the analysis. Patterns and themes in the participatory planning processes will be analyzed, as will their efficacy through both qualitative and quantitative measures. A final report will share patterns and themes that highlight promising trends in engaging in meaningful participatory planning with disadvantaged communities.

Policy Brief: Electric Assisted Bikes (e-bikes) Show Promise in Getting People Out of Cars

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

Principal Investigator

Campus(es)

UC Davis

Project Summary

This project reviewed and summarized existing studies on the effects e-bicycling has on car travel, characteristics of e-bike incentive programs, and opportunities for increasing e-bicycling in California. The project found evidence from a variety of research studies indicating that e-bicycling, more so than conventional bicycling, substitutes for car travel. For example, several studies document approximately 35-50% of e-bike trips would have been made by car if an e-bike had been unavailable. In addition, e-bike incentive programs are rare in the U.S. but widespread in Europe with many lessons to offer California. For example, a California e-bicycling incentive program could be implemented in many forms such as a rebate to the buyer or a subsidy to e-bike dealers. Evaluating participants’ vehicle miles traveled reductions will be challenging but can be done with before-and-after travel surveys including data from passive GPS recording and odometer readings. The incentive amount in Europe (20-33% of purchase price) may be a good starting point for California; however, incentive caps may need to be different from those in Europe given the recent rise in e-bike retail prices. Also, e-bikes have numerous co-benefits (e.g., improving access to jobs and increasing physical activity) and should be considered in any cost-benefit analysis of an e-bike incentive program.

Travel Behavior Changes Among Users of Partially Automated Vehicles

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

October 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Project Summary

Current research on vehicle automation is primarily focused on fully automated vehicles, however partially-automated vehicles are already available on the market. These vehicles change the utility of driving (e.g., reduced driver fatigue, increased ability to multitask) and in turn have the potential to change travel patterns and increases vehicle miles travelled (VMT). These changes may have negative consequences for road networks and the environment. This project is one of the first to investigate the impact partially-automated vehicles are having on travel behavior. Researchers at UC Davis conducted in-depth interviews with 36 Tesla owners who have and use the Autopilot feature. Results from the interviews show that partial automation leads to consumers travelling by car more and that they are more willing to drive in congested traffic. These changes are due to increased comfort, reduced stress, and increased relaxation due to the partial automation system, and due to the lower running costs of a battery electric vehicle.

Investigating the Influence of Dockless Electric Bike-share on Travel Behavior, Attitudes, Health, and Equity

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

October 1, 2018 - September 30, 2019

Principal Investigator

Project Team

Campus(es)

UC Davis

Project Summary

Cities have implemented bike share systems as a strategy for expanding mobility options, increasing physical activity, and improving the sustainability of the transportation system. These systems have attracted substantial ridership, but the impact on overall levels of bicycling and other modes of travel have not been well documented, and evidence for in-equitable systems is widespread. Two recent technological advancements in shared mobility—electric assisted bikes and scooters, and dock-less parking—may help improve equity and expand the user base of traditional bike share systems. However, little is known about dock-less and e-bike share’s influence on travel behavior. The goal of this study is to examine the travel behavior and attitudes of users and non-users of Sacramento Area Council of Governments’ (SACOG) new dock-less electric-bike share system. This study includes the “after” phase of an already completed “before” portion of the “before-and-after” study of residents in the greater Sacramento area. By re-surveying residents (many of whom are not bike share users), this project will be able to measure how the bike share system influenced general travel behavior and attitudes. In addition, this project will survey bike share users twice over the course of a year. Survey questions will ask about travel behavior before the e-bike share (through retrospective questions), during early use of e-bike share, and late use of e-bike share.