Modal Choices and Spending Patterns of Travelers to Downtown San Francisco, California: Impacts of Congestion Pricing on Retail Trade

Congestion pricing is a demand management strategy implemented on roadways to reduce traffic congestion, improve mobility, and encourage public transit ridership. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority in California is determining the feasibility of pricing to manage congestion, which is most severe in the downtown, Civic Center, and south of Market districts. These districts serve a variety of purposes that are not limited to office, restaurant, retail, hotel, and industrial and everyday attract a high number of workers and visitors—both local and tourist. The most vocal opponents to the potential congestion pricing program are downtown merchants. Many believe that their patrons primarily come by car and that drivers spend more money than transit riders and pedestrians. This study examined the travel to San Francisco’s major retail and entertainment centers and the spending patterns of those traveling to these centers, to assess whether these perceptions hold true. The survey found that most travelers get to downtown San Francisco by taking transit or walking, regardless of their income. Travelers using these modes spend more per month than those traveling by car, because they come more frequently to engage in recreational activities. The belief that recreational customers predominantly travel by car and spend more than transit riders is not reflected in the data, nor is this belief consistent with similar observations in other cities. Findings indicate the need for faster, more reliable multimodal transportation that supports a vibrant economy and provides viable travel choices to all

Housing in California's Future--Nature of the Problem and Priorities for Action

This paper examines current housing conditions and housing policy in California, describes key issues faced by different regions and segments of the population, identifies the major mechanisms for addressing these issues, and suggests where attention should be focused in addressing future growth pressures. California’s two key housing issues relate to affordability and location relative to jobs and transportation routes. These issues have been further complicated by the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 and 2008, which led to extensive foreclosures and price declines throughout the state. State regions with the least affordable housing going into the housing bubble have not experienced the greatest housing cost adjustments during the downturn. Improvements in affordability that have occurred at the outskirts of metropolitan areas may lead to worsening congestion and transportation access as the workforce moves away from job centers to more affordable housing. The addition of “global warming” legislation—AB 32 and SB 375—also complicates efforts to resolve California’s housing issues. Housing policy at the state level is dependent on funding that comes from federal and local sources and an implementation system that often requires interacting with multiple state agencies, other levels of government and the major private sector actors in the housing market (builders and financial institutions). Going forward, major roles for the state include providing coordination and direction for housing availability for all segments of the population, expanding funding resources for housing production and services for underserved income groups, and providing a venue for addressing the balance between housing needs and transportation planning

Housing in California's Future--Nature of the Problem and Priorities for Action

This paper examines current housing conditions and housing policy in California, describes key issues faced by different regions and segments of the population, identifies the major mechanisms for addressing these issues, and suggests where attention should be focused in addressing future growth pressures. California’s two key housing issues relate to affordability and location relative to jobs and transportation routes. These issues have been further complicated by the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 and 2008, which led to extensive foreclosures and price declines throughout the state. State regions with the least affordable housing going into the housing bubble have not experienced the greatest housing cost adjustments during the downturn. Improvements in affordability that have occurred at the outskirts of metropolitan areas may lead to worsening congestion and transportation access as the workforce moves away from job centers to more affordable housing. The addition of “global warming” legislation—AB 32 and SB 375—also complicates efforts to resolve California’s housing issues. Housing policy at the state level is dependent on funding that comes from federal and local sources and an implementation system that often requires interacting with multiple state agencies, other levels of government and the major private sector actors in the housing market (builders and financial institutions). Going forward, major roles for the state include providing coordination and direction for housing availability for all segments of the population, expanding funding resources for housing production and services for underserved income groups, and providing a venue for addressing the balance between housing needs and transportation planning

Implementation and Evaluation of Automated Vehicle Occupancy Verification

Vehicle occupancy verification is a principal impediment to more efficient HOV/HOT lane enforcement. However, no automated solution has yet been developed for permanent field implementation. Given widespread plans for development of HOV and HOT lanes in a number of metropolitan areas, improved vehicle occupancy verification techniques urgently need to be explored as well as the legal and institutional barriers to their implementation.A research project to evaluate the technologies for vehicle occupancy verification was conducted by California PATH of University of California at Berkeley. The main role of the research team, under the sponsorship of Caltrans, was to act as independent evaluators in the process of identifying, selecting and testing concepts and methods for automated vehicle occupancy verification (AVOV) that can be adopted for future field implementation. Two subject areas are covered within this report: one on the evaluation of automated enforcement via the use of roadside infrared camera and the other on surveys of self-declaration systems and implementations

Full-Featured Bus Rapid Transit in San Francisco, California: Toward a Comprehensive Planning Approach and Evaluation Framework

San Francisco, California, has two full-featured bus rapid transit (BRT) projects under development that would convert two major auto-oriented arterials into attractive multimodal corridors. BRT on Geary Boulevard, San Francisco’s primary east–west thoroughfare, and on Van Ness Avenue, a north–south connector, aims to improve transit, enhance pedestrian access, and install a package of urban design features to improve services for existing riders and attract new riders. Feasibility studies conducted for both corridors include a consistent planning framework for developing BRT on these corridors to meet broad multimodal goals. This paper describes the approach to developing full-featured BRT alternatives in these two distinct corridors. It also describes the evaluation framework, which is grounded in the project goals, and consists of seven categories, each with methodologies designed to meaningfully capture and compare the effects of BRT alternatives against the broad set of qualitative and quantitative goals. These categories include transit performance, rider experience, pedestrian access, urban design, traffic and parking impacts, and construction impacts. Going beyond the traditional evaluation criteria to include subcriteria like access to employment, landscaping, wayfinding ability, and equity helps to understand the degree to which each alternative achieves project goals and to anticipate opposition to the project by producing a complete impact evaluation