Passenger Flows in Underground Railway Stations and Platforms, MTI Report 12-43

Urban rail systems are designed to carry large volumes of people into and out of major activity centers. As a result, the stations at these major activity centers are often crowded with boarding and alighting passengers, resulting in passenger inconvenience, delays, and at times danger. This study examines the planning and analysis of station passenger queuing and flows to offer rail transit station designers and transit system operators guidance on how to best accommodate and manage their rail passengers. The objectives of the study are to: 1) Understand the particular infrastructural, operational, behavioral, and spatial factors that affect and may constrain passenger queuing and flows in different types of rail transit stations; 2) Identify, compare, and evaluate practices for efficient, expedient, and safe passenger flows in different types of station environments and during typical (rush hour) and atypical (evacuations, station maintenance/ refurbishment) situations; and 3) Compile short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations for optimizing passenger flows in different station environments

Automated Transit Networks (ATN): A Review of the State of the Industry and Prospects for the Future, MTI Report 12-31

The concept of Automated Transit Networks (ATN) - in which fully automated vehicles on exclusive, grade-separated guideways provide on-demand, primarily non-stop, origin-to-destination service over an area network – has been around since the 1950s. However, only a few systems are in current operation around the world. ATN does not appear “on the radar” of urban planners, transit professionals, or policy makers when it comes to designing solutions for current transit problems in urban areas. This study explains ATN technology, setting it in the larger context of Automated Guideway Transit (AGT); looks at the current status of ATN suppliers, the status of the ATN industry, and the prospects of a U.S.-based ATN industry; summarizes and organizes proceedings from the seven Podcar City conferences that have been held since 2006; documents the U.S./Sweden Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Transport; discusses how ATN could expand the coverage of existing transit systems; explains the opportunities and challenges in planning and funding ATN systems and approaches for procuring ATN systems; and concludes with a summary of the existing challenges and opportunities for ATN technology. The study is intended to be an informative tool for planners, urban designers, and those involved in public policy, especially for urban transit, to provide a reference for history and background on ATN, and to use for policy development and research

Improving Pathways to Transit for Persons with Disabilities

Persons with disabilities can achieve a greater degree of freedom when they have full access to a variety of transit modes, but this can only be achieved when the pathways to transit – the infrastructure and conditions in the built environment – allow full access to transit stops, stations, and vehicles. Since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, many transit agencies and governmental jurisdictions have made significant progress in this area. Policy initiatives, incremental enhancements, modifications, and other measures undertaken by transit agencies and their partners have significantly improved access to transit for persons with disabilities, others who rely on public transportation, and individuals who chose to utilize these services. This research study explores, through case study work, efforts that have been effective in improving pathways to transit. Interviews and site visits were conducted with five transit agencies, along with their partners, that are actively engaged in improving pathways to connect transit consumers – particularly people with disabilities – with transit stations and stops. These agencies are: Broward County Transit (Broward County, FL), Memphis Area Transit Authority (Memphis, TN), NJ TRANSIT (Newark and New Brunswick, NJ), Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Portland, OR), and Link Transit (Wenatchee, WA). Promising practices and/or lessons were identified through the case study analysis; these should be considered by any transit agency seeking to create improved access to its services for persons with disabilities

Fort Point Channel: Maglev Transit Hub and South Station Expansion Master Plan

This project entails the design of a Magnetic Levitation (or ‘maglev’) transportation hub that interacts with the urban environment of Boston, becoming a modern terminal for this new form of travel as well as a threshold into the heart of the city. Included is the focus on the junction of many scales of transportation (i.e., maglev, train, metro, bus, pedestrian…) currently present at South Station, while stimulating a community with many levels of commercial development and social interventions

Kowloon Tong railway station redevelopment.

Leung Tak Wai."Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 1996-97, design report."Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1.0 --- INTRODUCTIONChapter 1.1 --- ObjectivesChapter 1.2 --- MethodologyChapter 2.0 --- BACKGROUNDChapter 2.1 --- Client ProfileChapter 2.2 --- Project FinanceChapter 2.3 --- Existing conditions of Kowloon Tong Railway StationChapter 2.3.1 --- LocationChapter 2.3.2 --- AccessibilityChapter 2.3.3 --- Environmental ConditionsChapter 2.3.4 --- Lease ConstraintsChapter 2.3.5 --- FacilitiesChapter 2.3.6 --- UsersChapter 2.4 --- Previous KCRC Redevelopment ProposalChapter 3.0 --- SITE CONTEXTChapter 3.1 --- Regional ConditionsChapter 3.1.1 --- PopulationChapter 3.1.2 --- TopographyChapter 3.1.3 --- Existing development pattern of Kowloon TongChapter 3.1.4 --- Land UseChapter 3.1.5 --- Build FormChapter 3.1.6 --- TransportationChapter 3.2 --- SurroundingsChapter 3.2.1 --- Development of Festival WalkChapter 3.2.2 --- Nearby Traffic ConditionsChapter 3.3 --- Study of Traffic FlowChapter 3.3.1 --- Pedestrian FlowChapter 3.3.2 --- Vehicular FlowChapter 3.3.3 --- Estimation of Future Traffic DemandChapter 4.0 --- PROBLEMSChapter 5.0 --- DESIGN PROGRAMChapter 5.1 --- MissionChapter 5.2 --- Schedule of AccommodationChapter 5.3 --- Design GuidelinesChapter 5.4 --- Design StrategyChapter 6.0 --- APPENDI

Housing and Mobility Toolkit for San Mateo County

Since the end of the Great Recession, San Mateo County has attracted new workers at a record rate without building anywhere near enough housing. This jobs-housing imbalance drives the cost of housing up and forces many moderate and lower-income employees and their families out of the County. A lack of access to quality affordable housing in the County and the entire Bay Area along with limited transportation options means that an increased number of employees drive in and out of the County every workday. The resultant congestion, gridlock, and long commutes along with other negative environmental, social, and economic impacts create a major concern for communities in the County and beyond. Clearly, this problem has two distinct but interrelated dimensions: housing development and transportation planning. A select group of Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Research Associates worked closely with representatives from the San Mateo County Home for All initiative to help address this challenge by developing a toolkit of successful case studies with a holistic approach to housing development and transportation planning

Barbur Boulevard: Designing a Model Civic Corridor for the 21st Century

94 pagesThe transit infrastructure along Barbur Boulevard in southwest Portland creates significant safety hazards due to intermittent bicycle lanes and sidewalks. The need for improved pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorist safety, as well as increased housing and public transportation options in the Southwest Corridor (SWC) of Portland have spurred an assement of the potential for transit-oriented development along Barbur Boulevard. TriMet has asked students in the Landscape Architecture 4/594 Fall Planning Studio to analyze and experimentally design a 2.5-mile segment of Barbur Boulevard to accommodate a center-running light rail line. This project aims to reduce automobile congestion; improve safety for all modes of transportation; increase connectivity between neighborhoods adjacent to Barbur Boulevard and downtown Portland; promote a diversity of employment opportunities, mixed income housing, and urban amenities; and integrate stormwater facilities, trees, and public green spaces into the streetscape. The 2.5-mile segment of Barbur Boulevard was divided into seven distinct study areas. Threeperson design teams were responsible for conducting in-depth analyses of their study area and producing plans for three standard right-of-way cross sections identified by TriMet with potential for the final street design. Each team was responsible for analyzing current conditions within their site across six broad categories: property viability and future development; urban spatial patterns and boundaries; natural capital and systems; land use; off-arterial vehicular circulation; and pedestrian and bicycle safety and circulation. Each of these six categories required multiple analyses and methodological approaches. Analysis maps were used extensively to inform street design and planning decisions throughout the studio. In addition, each team created projections for building footprints and massing, land use classifications, and potential timeframe for redevelopment to accompany their finalized street design plans

Urban Hubs: Closing the Space, Time, Continuum

“It is known that the names of places change as many times as there are foreign languages: and that every place can be reached from other places, by the most various roads and routes by those who ride, or drive, or row, or fly.” Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities In this thesis, I will be exploring the role that architecture and urban design can play in transforming human behavior. I will develop the idea of a multi faceted transportation hub as a means to encourage people to use alternative modes of transportation, and through that development, evaluate influence fields as a mechanism for movement. In the United States, human behavior has proven to be a limiting factor in the construction of alternative transportation infrastructure. The increased desire to exercise on a treadmill or a stationary bike and inability to ride or walk to work illustrates how much people covet automobiles. The promotion of personal automobiles over the last century has been a major determining factor in the lack of established mass transit infrastructure. However, it is very hard to miss the expansive highway infrastructure and the problems that increased vehicle traffic has on accessibility and mobility. Many people in the US realize that the concept of accessibility and mobility is essential to maintaining a healthy and vibrant urban core. In Nashville, TN, construction has begun on a rail system to move suburban commuters into the city along major corridors. The question, Will people use it once it has proven to expedite commuting time and cost? As a case study, I will look at the urban creation surrounding a transportation hub in Lille, France. Rem Koolhaas and OMA were the master planners for Euralille, the “city-within-a city” surrounding a TGV station. Euralille has become a major area of convergence in Europe and has become the catalyst for revitalization for a defunct industrial town. Rotterdam, Holland has also become a modern model for infrastructural developments. By limiting automobile traffic, the plazas are teaming with pedestrians, bikes, and whisper light rail tracks embedded in the pavers. These transportation “hubs” exist, as more and more infrastructural planning links multiple modes of transportation throughout the city. I will examine the relationship of these developments and the growth of urban areas into a cityscape “defined by waterways, bridges, streets, arterial canals, avenues, and a rhomboid motorway system- together forming the backbone of the city’s structure.” These relationships will serve as a reference to interesting urban spaces and the people who choose to inhabit these spaces. Finally, I will prove that Human behavior will only be altered by increasing the positive experience towards a destination to a level comparable to the experience at the destination itself. It will prove this by exploring the spaces created by the convergence of the many different transportation systems and the quality of experience grained through myriad chance encounters. “Every story is a travel story – a spatial practice.”(Breathing cities

Rebuilding the Culture of Place: A Study in the Potentials of Neighborhood Transit Oriented Development

We are embarking on projects that will change the future of O'ahu. Among them include the mass transit project that will not directly serve many communities across the island and will also affect the character and experience of communities. When looking at transit oriented development, the focus is typically on a small radius within the station area. It fails to look into providing a seamless connection between other community districts at the neighborhood level. To remedy this detachment, the goal of this project is to create a subsystem that will identify transit corridors and the needs/desires of a community in order to create a dynamic system. The project will also identify the qualities of a neighborhood, by reinforcing that the fabric of a community hasn’t been lost, but rather, built upon. There must be a better understanding of what transit-oriented development (TOD) projects can and should accomplish, how goals must be aligned, and what the decision-making and development process entails. By using Kunia as an example, this model could help other communities within the district facing the same circumstances