Planning for Complementarity: An Examination of the Roll and Opportunities of First-Tier and Second-Tier Cities Along the High-Speed Rail Network in California, Research Report 11-17

The coming of California High-Speed Rail (HSR) offers opportunities for positive urban transformations in both first-tier and second-tier cities. The research in this report explores the different but complementary roles that first-tier and second-tier cities along the HSR network can play in making California more sustainable and less dependent on fossil fuels while reducing mobile sources of greenhouse gas emissions and congestion at airports and on the state’s roadways. Drawing from case studies of cities in Northern and Southern California, the study develops recommendations for the planning, design, and programming of areas around California stations for the formation of transit-supportive density nodes

Benefit-Cost Analysis for Transportation Planning and Public Policy: Towards Multimodal Demand Modeling

This report examines existing methods of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) in two areas, transportation policy and transportation planning, and suggests ways of modifying these methods to account for travel within a multimodal system. Although the planning and policy contexts differ substantially, this report shows how important multimodal impacts can be incorporated into both by using basic econometric techniques and even simpler rule-of-thumb methods. Case studies in transportation planning focus on the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), but benchmark California’s competencies by exploring methods used by other states and local governments. The report concludes with a list and discussion of recommendations for improving transportation planning models and methods. These will have immediate use to decision makers at Caltrans and other state DOTs as they consider directions for developing new planning capabilities. This project also identifies areas, and lays groundwork, for future research. Finally, by fitting the planning models into the broader context of transportation policy, this report will serve as a resource for students and others who wish to better understand BCA and its use in practice

Redesigning Large-Scale Multimodal Transit Networks with Shared Autonomous Mobility Services

Public transit systems have faced challenges and opportunities from emerging Shared Autonomous Mobility Services (SAMS). This study addresses a city-scale multimodal transit network design problem, with shared autonomous vehicles as both transit feeders and a direct interzonal mode. The framework captures spatial demand and modal characteristics, considers intermodal transfers and express services, determines transit infrastructure investment and path flows, and designs transit routes. A system-optimal multimodal transit network is designed with minimum total door-to-door generalized costs of users and operators, while satisfying existing transit origin-destination demand within a pre-set infrastructure budget. Firstly, the geography, demand, and modes in each clustered zone are characterized with continuous approximation. Afterward, the decisions of network link investment and multimodal path flows in zonal connection optimization are formulated as a minimum-cost multi-commodity network flow (MCNF) problem and solved efficiently with a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) solver. Subsequently, the route generation problem is solved by expanding the MCNF formulation to minimize intramodal transfers. To demonstrate the framework efficiency, this study uses transit demand from the Chicago metropolitan area to redesign a multimodal transit network. The computational results present savings in travelers' journey time and operators' costs, demonstrating the potential benefits of collaboration between multimodal transit systems and SAMS.Comment: 44 pages, 15 figures, under review for the 25th International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT25

A tram-train system to connect the urban area of Cosenza to its province: A simulation model of transport demand modal split and a territorial analysis to identify adapted transit oriented development prospects

International audienceThe purpose of this paper is to study possible prospects of regional development and of public transport demand evolution, resulting in the implementation of a new tramtrain service to suburban and a tramway for urban area of Cosenza and Rende and for municipalities of Savuto valley, in the southern Italian region of Calabria. This is an area that in recent decades has seen significant phenomena of urban de‐population, with consequent problems of urban sprawl into neighbouring small cities and land consumption. The mobility system is heavily focused on the use of private cars as the main and often the only way to travel; causing obvious problems of traffic congestionand poor urban quality of life for citizens. The modern tramway system project, next to be realized, will connect the urban area of Cosenza and Rende with the University of Calabria. It is a first important structural intervention that will hopefully help to significantly increase public transport modal share and to promote implementation of Transit Oriented Development policies, properly adapted to that specific territory. The decision to adopt such a narrow gauge tramway line, allows to consider the prospect of actually integrating this service with a tramtrain system linking Rogliano and municipalities of Savuto valley, with the urban area, using existing narrow gauge railways of Ferrovie della Calabria (main regional train operators). With this purpose was developed a transport demand simulation model, using the Tranus system, to estimate the evolution of the transport demand modal split in that area, caused by such changes in the mobility system. Through a spatial analysis were showed bsome areas that might be interested by interventions of urban renewal and regeneration, with greater access to public transport services and Transit Oriented Development policies. Results of this analysis and the simulation model will be presented and discussed in detail in this paper

The Rio Games Legacy in Mobility: Challenges Beyond Infrastructure

The City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a city of 6.5 million inhabitants, had several years to plan, invest, and prepare for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. A significant part of these efforts were in mobility infrastructure and operations, as they would become a fundamental legacy for the city. Silva, Maiolino and Torres, who were involved in these efforts in various capacities, discuss this experience and some of the challenges that go beyond investments in infrastructure such as behavior and operational changes

TDOT 25-Year Long-Range Transportation Policy Plan, Mobility Policy Paper

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-dept-transportation-25-year-transportation-policy/1005/thumbnail.jp

Promoting Intermodal Connectivity at California’s High Speed Rail Stations

High-speed rail (HSR) has emerged as one of the most revolutionary and transformative transportation technologies, having a profound impact on urban-regional accessibility and inter-city travel across Europe, Japan, and more recently China and other Asian countries. One of HSR’s biggest advantages over air travel is that it offers passengers a one-seat ride into the center of major cities, eliminating time-consuming airport transfers and wait times, and providing ample opportunities for intermodal transfers at these locales. Thus, HSR passengers are typically able to arrive at stations that are only a short walk away from central business districts and major tourist attractions, without experiencing any of the stress that car drivers often experience in negotiating such highly congested environments. Such an approach requires a high level of coordination and planning of the infrastructural and spatial aspects of the HSR service, and a high degree of intermodal connectivity. But what key elements can help the US high-speed rail system blend successfully with other existing rail and transit services? That question is critically important now that high-speed rail is under construction in California. The study seeks to understand the requirements for high levels of connectivity and spatial and operational integration of HSR stations and offer recommendations for seamless, and convenient integrated service in California intercity rail/HSR stations. The study draws data from a review of the literature on the connectivity, intermodality, and spatial and operational integration of transit systems; a survey of 26 high-speed rail experts from six different European countries; and an in-depth look of the German and Spanish HSR systems and some of their stations, which are deemed as exemplary models of station connectivity. The study offers recommendations on how to enhance both the spatial and the operational connectivity of high-speed rail systems giving emphasis on four spatial zones: the station, the station neighborhood, the municipality at large, and the region