Metropolitan Transportation Commission Discretionary Transit Funding Methods Evaluation

In 2021, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) approached the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) with a proposal to have MTI provide an evaluation of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC’s) operational discretionary funding allocation policies and methods for Bay Area transit operators. The research was done in two parts. Part 1 investigated MTC’s past and current allocation methods for discretionary operational transit funding programs; Part 2 involved the evaluation of outcomes if MTC employed alternative allocation methods. After the Part 1 review of MTC’s various transit funding programs, the federal pandemic relief funds and the Transportation Development Act/State Transit Assistance (TDA/STA) funding programs were selected and evaluated in Part 2 using a set of five alternative allocation metrics and compared to actual MTC allocations. Key findings include: (1) the population-based metric produced the largest increase for VTA’s pandemic relief funds, with VTA receiving 221 percent more than MTC actually allocated in 2020 and 2021, but the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) receiving 64 percent less; (2) the ridership-based metric yielded the smallest amount of VTA pandemic funding, but high ridership operators such as SFMTA would have a 41 percent increase; (3) the population-based metric produced the largest increase in STA funding to VTA but would come at the expense of other transit operators, with Sonoma County receiving 51 percent less; and (4) the ridership-based metric yielded the smallest amount of STA funds for VTA, with 50 percent less funding than actual, while high ridership operators such as SFMTA, would see a roughly 400 percent increase. Thoroughly investigating current and alternative funding allocation methods and policies is critical to understanding their effects on transit agencies and the communities they serve

Analysis of the Benefits of Green Streets

Green streets offer many potential benefits that include improving water quality, absorbing carbon (sequestration), and reducing urban heat island effects. This report summarizes: (1) the research team’s analysis of 14 tools calculating green streets benefits; and (2) the results of applying the most promising calculators to a select group of green streets case studies. The researchers are affiliated with the Mineta Transportation Institute, which serves the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”). The report presents the results of the case study analyses, with an emphasis on carbon sequestration benefits and improvements to pedestrian levels of service (PLOS). Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air, reducing the costs of future climate change mitigations and medical care. Key findings obtained using i-Tree Design suggest that the monetary value (CO2 and air quality) of planting street trees is small but significant, with total estimated benefits from street trees on seven case study sites ranging from a low of $1,466 to a high of$9,420 over a 20-year period. On a per tree basis, the lowest benefits come from site 3A (Cherry Avenue in San Jose) with $10 per tree, and the highest come from site 1A (San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito) at$175 per tree. While the Landis PLOS method accounts for the benefits of short street tree spacings (i.e., a high number of trees) and of having a continuous biostrip or planter strip serving as a pedestrian buffer, the method does not appear to be sensitive to tree spacings, though it is very sensitive to buffers. Therefore, the importance of having a biostrip or planter strip buffer between the sidewalk and street traffic is also reflected in the PLOS findings in this study. While the measurable benefits of a handful of street trees may seem small, this study suggests that using i-Tree Design to add together the trees planted by local and state agencies has the potential to provide a compelling picture of the carbon sequestration benefits across California. Similarly, the use of Highway Capacity Manual (HCM)-based pedestrian level of service methods by transportation professionals can bring significant gains in the appreciation of green streets’ benefits

Characteristics of Effective Metropolitan Areawide Public Transit: A Comparison of European, Canadian, and Australian Case Studies

This research project investigates the replicable characteristics, policies, and practices of successful metropolitan areawide public transportation networks that contribute to high usage and make transit an effective competitor to the private motor vehicle. The research method involves the qualitative and quantitative analysis of ten international (non-U.S.) case studies. The principal methods employed were web-based research and data collection, as well as telephone interviews with transit agency staff or regional planners as needed. The case studies were limited to developed western countries with similar metropolitan conditions to those in the United States. This research focuses on key characteristics of highly effective regional transit systems from the perspective of the metropolitan area, not the individual transit operators. These characteristics fall within three broad categories: the setting of the metropolitan area; the customer-apparent transit service features; and the behind-the-scenes or institutional characteristics. Key findings are: (1) all ten case studies have a metropolitan areawide regional transit coordinator (RTC); (2) RTCs yield benefits in terms of ridership and operating efficiencies that are discernable from the effects of high transit funding and subsidies; (3) all case studies had some degree of fare integration, and most had complete regionwide fare integration; and (4) transit service was frequent, abundant, and affordable in all cases. The features of excellent regionwide transit systems that have been identified in this research can be applied to U.S. metropolitan areas with multiple players, yielding effective, efficient, and high mode share public transit at the regional level. The research can help U.S. policy makers and planners begin to improve the appropriate aspects of their own regional transit systems, including by improving coordination and organizational structures

Comparative effectiveness of bimekizumab and secukinumab in patients with psoriatic arthritis at 52 weeks using a matching-adjusted indirect comparison

Introduction: Matching-adjusted indirect comparisons (MAICs) were used to compare the efficacy of bimekizumab and secukinumab 150 mg and 300 mg at 52 weeks for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients who were biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug-naı¨ve (bDMARD-naı¨ve) or with previous inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi-IR). Methods: Relevant trials were systematically identified. Individual patient data from bimekizumab randomized controlled trials, BE OPTIMAL (N = 431) and BE COMPLETE (N = 267), were matched to aggregate data from bDMARDnaı¨ve and TNFi-IR patient subgroups from FUTURE 2 using secukinumab 150 mg and 300 mg doses (bDMARD-naı¨ve: N = 63/37; TNFiIR:N = 67/33). To adjust for cross-trial differences, patients from the bimekizumab trials were reweighted using propensity scores to match the baseline characteristics of patients in the secukinumab trials. Unanchored comparisons of recalculated bimekizumab and secukinumab 52-week non-responder imputation outcomes for 20/50/70% improvement in American College of Rheumatology score (ACR20/50/70) and minimal disease activity (MDA) index were analyzed. Results: In patients who were bDMARD-naı¨ve, bimekizumab had a greater likelihood of ACR70 response than secukinumab 150 mg (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 2.39 [1.26, 4.53]; p = 0.008) and secukinumab 300 mg (2.03 [1.11, 3.72]; p = 0.021) at 52 weeks. In patients who were TNFi-IR, bimekizumab had a greater likelihood of response compared to secukinumab 150 mg for ACR20 (3.50 [1.64–7.49]; p = 0.001), ACR50 (3.32 [1.41, 7.80]; p = 0.006), ACR70 (2.95 [1.08, 8.07]; p = 0.035) and MDA (3.52 [1.38, 8.99]; p = 0.009), and a greater likelihood of response compared to secukinumab 300 mg for ACR50 (2.44 [1.06, 5.65]; p = 0.037) and MDA (2.92 [1.20, 7.09]; p = 0.018) at 52 weeks. Conclusion: In this MAIC analysis, the efficacy of bimekizumab, as demonstrated by the likelihood of ACR20/50/70 and MDA response at 52 weeks, was greater or comparable to secukinumab 150 mg and 300 mg for patients with PsA who were bDMARD-naive and TNFi-IR

A study of the magnetic amplifier

This thesis document was issued under the authority of another institution, not NPS. At the time it was written, a copy was added to the NPS Library collection for reasons not now known.  It has been included in the digital archive for its historical value to NPS.  Not believed to be a CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) title.In this thesis an attempt has been made to determine the fundamentals of magnetic-amplified performance both from experimental and theoretical studies. Although the steady-state behavior of the magnetic amplified has been discussed in some detail in the literature, relatively little concrete information is available in regard to the dynamic performance. Studies have been made in the thesis to put circuit performance on a quantitative basis. Steady-state behavior has been expressed in the form of modulation characteristics and power-gain and power-output curves. The dynamics of the system are express in terms of effective characteristic time as determined by means of both transient and frequency-response data.http://www.archive.org/details/studyofmagnetica00betzU.S. Navy (U.S.N.) authors