Transportation
What determines the demand for carsharing?
Carsharing has become a viable transportation option the world over. A new study, Empirical analysis of free-floating carsharing usage, analyzes customer demand for carsharing in Berlin and Munich, finding that both location and time of day impact customer choice. The researchers’ goal is simple: “to describe carsharing usage and to identify factors that have an […]
PIRG: Ohio millennials want transit investment, not highways
Young Ohioans are opting for public transit over cars, and they’re thinking about their time — and the environment. The Ohio PIRG Education Fund, a consumer group, just released a study of college students’ attitudes on driving and public transit. Turns out, millennials are “seeking a different transportation future, one that allows them to drive […]
How New York’s transit system may become car-funded
Could cars fund the New York City public transit system? A new Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) report proposes vehicle-based fees to fund the MTA for the next five years. The report, More than Fare: Options for Funding Future Capital Investments by the MTA, investigates the MTA’s existing financial obstacles and pinpoints methods of raising capital […]
Your commute feels longer because it probably is
Does it feel like your commute is getting longer? It probably is. A new study from the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, The Growing Distance Between People and Jobs in Metropolitan America, discovers that as people and jobs headed to the suburbs in the 2000s, the number of jobs located near the average resident dropped. And […]
Self-driving cars to decrease ownership but increase miles per car
A new study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Potential Impact of Self-Driving Vehicles on Household Vehicle Demand and Usage, analyzes the potential of the cars to lower vehicle ownership in households — while car aficionados’ opinions are being considered by AutoBlog. First, the study: As authors Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak report, […]
How policy leads to sprawl
Development policy leads to urban sprawl, and the resulting costs are enormous. A new report, Analysis of Public Policies That Unintentionally Encourage and Subsidize Urban Sprawl, authored by Todd Litman of the Victorian Transport Policy Institute, investigates. Sprawl results in drops in ecological and agricultural productivity, higher public infrastructure and service costs, and greater transportation […]
What makes a successful Bus Rapid Transit line?
Thirty-one million-plus people around the world make their way each day via BRT, or bus rapid transit. As The City Fix reports, over the last 15 years a “BRT boom” has meant a major move in favor of sustainable transport. New research recently debuted at the Transforming Transportation 2015 conference investigates how the built environment […]
Congress’s transportation problems (and projects)
Congress is currently facing a tempest of transportation issues. First and foremost is the impending budget deadline, fast approaching on May 31, but there are other looming problems and projects, too, including regulatory agency vacancies that are drawing attention to transportation safety, as well as renewed efforts to reinstate Amtrak service between New Orleans and […]
Sprawling Phoenix transportation plan awaits voter approval
Phoenix, Arizona’s $31-plus billion transportation plan is dependent upon voters’ appetite for a sales tax increase. As The Republic reports, the city’s sales tax would be raised from .4% to .7%, which, with the help of other funds, would support “a comprehensive transportation vision” with light-rail and bus expansion and street improvements. Detractors are questioning the amount […]
Prototype driving “coach” improves mileage, car safety
Sure, cars are useful… but they’re also energy-consuming, environmentally-unfriendly and even life-threatening. Recent research led by researchers from the University of Oulu, “Personalised Assistance for Fuel-efficient Driving,” develops a prototype for a driver assistance system that would — after gathering what we might call context clues — improve safety and fuel efficiency and reduce environmental […]
London’s congestion pricing has saved lives
Congestion pricing is saving lives and preventing injuries in dramatic numbers in London, inside and outside of the congestion zone. A new study, The Guardian reports, finds that accidents have been reduced by 40% since 2003, when a £5 (approximately $7.50) charge was implemented that year (it was later upped to £8, about $12; then […]
