Emergency Management Training and Exercises for Transportation Agency Operations, MTI Report 09-17

Training and exercises are an important part of emergency management. Plans are developed based on threat assessment, but they are not useful unless staff members are trained on how to use the plan, and then practice that training. Exercises are also essential for ensuring that the plan is effective, and outcomes from exercises are used to improve the plan. Exercises have been an important part of gauging the preparedness of response organizations since Civil Defense days when full-scale exercises often included the community. Today there are various types of exercises that can be used to evaluate the preparedness of public agencies and communities: seminars, drills, tabletop exercises, functional exercises, facilitated exercises and full-scale exercises. Police and fire agencies have long used drills and full-scale exercises to evaluate the ability of staff to use equipment, protocols and plans. Transit and transportation agencies have seldom been included in these plans, and have little guidance for their participation in the exercises. A research plan was designed to determine whether urban transit systems are holding exercises, and whether they have the training and guidance documents that they need to be successful. The main research question was whether there was a need for a practical handbook to guide the development of transit system exercises

Road Expansion and Urban Highways: Consequences Outweigh Benefits in Kathmandu

Rapid urbanization has transformed Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in South Asia. This urbanization, in turn, is leading to considerable social, economic, and environmental stress. The region has seen unplanned growth despite continued planning exercises. In 2011, in response to the rapid urbanization then Prime Minster Baburam Bhattarai initiated road expansion throughout the city to reduce traffic congestion. By mid 2015, it was clear that the road expansion induced greater demand leading to further traffic congestion rather than alleviating the problem. Today, non-motorized (pedestrians and bicycle) road users are more unsafe on the roads than ever before, and the plight of public transport users has remained the same. Traffic congestion has become a more serious problem. Air pollution associated with road construction and an increasing number of vehicles has turned the Kathmandu Valley into a dust bowl with potential for serious human health consequences. Along with road expansion, the government’s inability to regulate land use has contributed to Kathmandu’s current urban sprawl. Road expansion done without proper planning has threatened traditional settlements, many with heritage sites, and led to loss of public spaces and temple courtyards to make space for increasing demand for parking. Another major landscape change has been the building of concrete embankments and exclusive motor roads along the river corridors. The road expansion campaign is still ongoing and is a top priority of the government’s efforts to reduce congestion and improve urban transportation. It is high time the government of Nepal rethinks its vehicle-centric urban transport policy and adopts policy where mobility of people is prioritized. Urban transport planning should work to build a more equitable and inclusive city while addressing accessibility, safety, and environmental health risks of its growing urban population. Today, non-motorized users (pedestrians and bicycle users) are unsafe on the roads than ever before, and the plight of public transport users has remained the same. Road expansion has led to destruction of traditional settlements many with heritage sites and loss of public spaces and temple courtyards to make space for increasing parking demand. Another major landscape change has been the building of concrete embankments and exclusive motor roads along the river corridors. Air pollution associated with road construction and increasing number of vehicles has turned the valley into a dust bowl with potential for serious human health consequences. Along with the road expansion, the government’s inability to regulate proper landuse has contributed to Kathmandu’s current urban sprawl. The road expansion drive is still ongoing and is still the priority for government’s urban transportation initiatives within the Valley. It is high time the government of Nepal rethinks its vehicle-centric urban transport policy and adopts policy where mobility of people is prioritized. Urban transport planning should work on building more equitable and inclusive city while addressing accessibility, safety, and environmental health risk associated for its growing urban population

Transformation in Road Transport System in Bogota: An Overview

This article talks about how the transportation system in Bogota has been changed over the years after the introduction of the services of TRANSMILENIO. With TRANSMILENIO coming into operation, the public transit has been increased because it provides better service to the daily commuters. It talks about how management and operation are being done vis-à-vis how the revenue is being distributed. It is really remarkable to note how Pedestrian in Bogota is an important arrangement having well–defined guiding principles which aim at using Pedestrian as a tourist attraction since best stores and shopping are always on pedestrian streets. The article concludes saying that India must learn the best practices being adopted in the transport system of Bogota.Urban Transport,Infrastructure

Mumbai Urban Transport Project—Development and Challenges

The Suburban Railway system in Mumbai is perhaps the most complex, densely loaded and intensively utilized system in the world. Due to the magnitude of the project and the need for continuous assistance and involvement of the Government of Maharashtra, a separate corporation, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) was set up jointly between the Ministry of Railways and the Government of Maharashtra. MRVC has made substantial improvements in the Mumbai suburban railway system since its inception, but it has to go a long way. This paper discusses the developments and the challenges of MRVC and a brief description of suburban systems of different Indian metro cities has also been presented.Urban Transport Project

An analysis of various policy instruments to reduce congestion, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in Beijing

Using a nested multinomial logit model of car ownership and personal travel in Beijing circa 2005, this paper compares the effectiveness of different policy instruments to reduce traffic congestion and CO2 emissions. The study shows that a congestion toll is more efficient than a fuel tax in reducing traffic congestion, whereas a fuel tax is more effective as a policy instrument for reducing gasoline consumption and emissions. An improvement in car efficiency would also reduce congestion, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions significantly; however, this policy benefits only richer households that own a car. Low-income households do better under the fuel tax policy than under the efficiency improvement and congestion toll policies. The congestion toll and fuel tax require the travel cost per mile to more than triple. The responsiveness of aggregate fuel and CO2 are, approximately, a 1 percent drop for each 10 percent rise in the money cost of a car trip.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Airports and Air Services,Roads&Highways,Transport and Environment,Transport in Urban Areas,Urban Transport

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

The inhabited environment, infrastructure development and advanced urbanization in China's Yangtze River Delta Region

This paper analyzes the relationship among the inhabited environment, infrastructure development and environmental impacts in China's heavily urbanized Yangtze River Delta region. Using primary human environment data for the period 2006-2014, we examine factors affecting the inhabited environment and infrastructure development: urban population, GDP, built-up area, energy consumption, waste emission, transportation, real estate and urban greenery. Then we empirically investigate the impact of advanced urbanization with consideration of cities' differences. Results from this study show that the growth rate of the inhabited environment and infrastructure development is strongly influenced by regional development structure, functional orientations, traffic network and urban size and form. The effect of advanced urbanization is more significant in large and mid-size cities than huge and mega cities. Energy consumption, waste emission and real estate in large and mid-size cities developed at an unprecedented rate with the rapid increase of economy. However, urban development of huge and mega cities gradually tended to be saturated. The transition development in these cities improved the inhabited environment and ecological protection instead of the urban construction simply. To maintain a sustainable advanced urbanization process, policy implications included urban sprawl control polices, ecological development mechanisms and reforming the economic structure for huge and mega cities, and construct major cross-regional infrastructure, enhance the carrying capacity and improvement of energy efficiency and structure for large and mid-size cities

Assessing the Efficiency of Mass Transit Systems in the United States

Frustrated with increased parking problems, unstable gasoline prices, and stifling traffic congestion, a growing number of metropolitan city dwellers consider utilizing the mass transit system. Reflecting this sentiment, a ridership of the mass transit system across the United States has been on the rise for the past several years. A growing demand for the mass transit system, however, necessitates the expansion of service offerings, the improvement of basic infrastructure/routes, and the additional employment of mass transit workers, including drivers and maintenance crews. Such a need requires the optimal allocation of financial and human resources to the mass transit system in times of shrinking budgets and government downsizing. Thus, the public transit authority is faced with the dilemma of “doing more with less.” That is to say, the public transit authority needs to develop a “lean” strategy which can maximize transit services with the minimum expenses. To help the public transit authority develop such a lean strategy, this report identifies the best-in-class practices in the U.S. transit service sector and proposes transit policy guidelines that can best exploit lean principles built upon best-in-class practices