Toward a Guide for Smart Mobility Corridors: Frameworks and Tools for Measuring, Understanding, and Realizing Transportation Land Use Coordination

The coordination of transportation and land use (also known as “smart growth”) has been a long-standing goal for planning and engineering professionals, but to this day it remains an elusive concept to realize. Leaving us with this central question -- how can we best achieve transportation and land use coordination at the corridor level? In response, this report provides a review of literature and practice related to sustainability, livability, and equity (SLE) with a focus on corridor-level planning. Using Caltrans’ Corridor Planning Process Guide and Smart Mobility Framework as guideposts, this report also reviews various principles, performance measures, and place typology frameworks, along with current mapping and planning support tools (PSTs). The aim being to serve as a guidebook that agency staff can use for reference, synergizing planning insights from various data sources that had not previously been brought together in a practical frame. With this knowledge and understanding, a key section provides a discussion of tools and metrics and how they can be used in corridor planning. For illustration purposes, this report uses the Smart Mobility Calculator (https://smartmobilitycalculator. netlify.app/), a novel online tool designed to make key data easily available for all stakeholders to make better decisions. For more information on this tool, see https://transweb.sjsu.edu/research/1899-Smart-Growth-Equity-Framework-Tool. The Smart Mobility Calculator is unique in that it incorporates statewide datasets on urban quality and livability which are then communicated through a straightforward visualization planners can readily use. Core sections of this report cover the framework and concepts upon which the Smart Mobility Calculator is built and provides examples of its functionality and implementation capabilities. The Calculator is designed to complement policies to help a variety of agencies (MPOs, DOTs, and local land use authorities) achieve coordination and balance between transportation and land use at the corridor level

2015 Annual Report Transportation Research Center for Livable Communities

Table of Contents Messages from the Director and Representatives TRCLC Mission and Objectives Center Personnel Research Investigators Consortia Our Research List of Research Projects Highlighted Projects Technology Transfer and Outreach Activities Student Awards Upcoming Event

GISualisation: a tool for visually supporting planning processes

The evaluation of quality of life in cities can be supported by the analysis of data coming from different sources and describing different aspects such as economic, social, environmental, energy, housing or mobility issues. Nevertheless, the analysis of such big amounts of data is difficult so that only expert technicians can access to their inner contents. Furthermore, the outcomes of these analyses are often presented in static outcomes which reproduce the reasoning of technicians who have not expertise in urban studies. Thus, planners and decision-makers have to base their own choices on given outcomes without opportunities for personally investigating the inner contents of data. In order to facilitate the data exploration and readability by non-technicians, a GIS-based visualization tool, namely “GISualisation”, has been realized to give to both planners and actors involved in planning processes, a decision support system useful to visualize the inter-relations between data which describe cities. The tool is a web-based interactive visual tool, which works on geo-referenced dynamic maps, currently created with free Web GIS applications. GISualisation displays data on a map and offers the possibility to select and filter data by single attributes, allowing users to interact readily with large databases and customise the visualisation of information. Thus, the tool offers a simple interface to visualise GIS data on the basis of users’ requests, providing a support for planners and decision-makers to explore data and detect issues of inefficiency, ineffectiveness or critical areas which needs further reasoning on their planning or design. Furthermore, it can be used in collaborative and participatory session so to improve the information sharing among participants. Depending on the case study, the tool can be adapted and customized to visualise different type of data, ensuring user-friendliness and possibility to explore the relationships between data. GISualisation has already been applied in investigating inefficiencies in a public transport system (Pensa, Masala, Arnone, & Rosa, 2013), in studying pedestrian paths in an urban area, in analysing urban population health and in the evaluation of social housing projects. Further developments will include the integration with the interactive Visualisation Tool (InViTo) (Pensa, Masala, & Lami, 2013; Pensa & Masala, 2014) and the possibility to include real-time data feeds. Through GISualisation, data on quality of life can be investigated and visually analysed so to offer a new tool to actors involved in planning process for detecting critical areas and improving the urban planning process

A Methodology to Evaluate Accessibility to Bus Stops as a Contribution to Improve Sustainability in Urban Mobility

Walking and transit are the backbone of sustainable mobility. Bus stops not only represent the connection between the two, but are also central in dictating the attractiveness of the latter. Accessibility of bus stops becomes, then, pivotal in increasing both attractiveness and sustainability of public transport. The paper describes a multi-step methodology to evaluate bus stops’ accessibility starting from a cluster of seven indicators describing objective and subjective features influencing passengers’ choice toward a given bus stop. The indicators are weighed by a questionnaire submitted to experts. Finally, a multicriteria analysis is developed to obtain a final score describing univocally the accessibility of each stop. Outcomes are mapped and a case study in Rome is reported as an example, with 231 bus and tram stops assessed accordingly. Results shows the relevance of the urban network and environment in evaluating the accessibility and in promoting more sustainable mobility patterns. Research innovation relies on the possibility to merge data from different fields into a specific GIS map and easily highlight for each bus stop the relationships between built environment, passengers’ comfort, and accessibility, with the concluding goal to provide advanced knowledge for further application

Walking Support System with Users’ Circumstances

In Japan, the central government started the promotion of citizens’ health by self-supervision in 2000, and walking is recently recognized as the most popular sport for many generations. Based on this background, the present study aimed to design, develop, operate, and evaluate a walking support system, which takes into account the users’ circumstances (each user’s health conditions, needs, and preferences). The system was developed by integrating Web-GIS (geographic information systems) as a base system and social networking services (SNS) as well as a registration system of walking information into a single system. Additionally, the system was operated for 5 weeks in Chofu City in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, and the total number of users was 73. Based on the results of the Web questionnaire survey, the usefulness of the system when selecting a walking course was high, and the further use of each function can be expected by the continuous operation of the system. From the results of access analysis of users’ log data, it is evident that the system has been used by two types of information terminals approximately in the same way, and that the entire system has been used according to the purpose of the present study, which is to effectively support the users’ walking

A Theoretical Framework on Retro-Fitting Process Based on Urban Ecology

Today, natural resources have been destroyed to make developed built environment. Furthermore, this destruction is on behalf of the creation of quality urban environments. It is necessary that dynamics of the planning, design, application processes which build urban environments should be taken into account and firstly these processes should be retrofitted. In this context, approaches, principles, action plans, and application tools from planning to architecture, from architecture to building material, from material to production and consumption technologies based on ecology should be ranked in a hierarchical row and this frame should be adopted. This ecological framework is the theoretical, legislative, administrative base for sustainable settlements, and sustainable and livable cities, in addition to the creation of the quality built environments in which the community has a chance for comfortable and quality living condition. In this chapter, urban ecology and ecosystems of the cities ,which can be embraced as living organisms, are mentioned. With the integrated approach, beginning ecological planning, importance and utilization of eco-technologies also are emphasized in the framework of ecological architecture and ecological urban design based on urban ecology

15-05 Infrastructure and Technology for Sustainable Livable Cities

Providing access and mobility for key installations and businesses located in cities become a challenge when there is limited public transport and non-motorized facilities. The challenges are significant in cities that are subjected to severe winter weather conditions. Improving access to sustainable mobility choices is a key aspect of developing livable cities. This project scope is limited to identifying methods and infrastructure to promote walking and cycling. With regards to cycling, bike-share program development and use of location-allocation models as planning tools are presented. To minimize exposure to adverse weather conditions, underground and above ground pedestrian systems are provided. These two infrastructure options are explored during this study. Providing energy efficient lighting systems to make pedestrians and cyclists feel safe to travel within cities is paramount to improve mobility. Energy efficient lighting systems, cost of implementation, and planning tools are discussed. In winter cities, providing snow and ice free streets and walkways promote walking and cycling. Technologies used for such endeavors and implementation case studies are presented. Electricity needed to operate kiosks at bike-share stations, pedestrian lighting, and snow melting systems can be generated through renewable sources. Solar and wind are two such resources discussed in this report. Also, a few tools that can be used for identifying optimal locations for placing solar and wind sensitive infrastructure are presented