Recent its_reports items

Jaywalking in California: History, Pedestrian Safety Trends, Law Enforcement Patterns, and Decriminalization Legislation

Fri, 5 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report investigates jaywalking laws in connection with traffic safety, racial equity, and street design, focusing on California. It traces the concept of "jaywalking" to an early 20th-century auto industry campaign to shift safety responsibility from drivers to pedestrians. By analyzing national and California pedestrian injury and fatality data (2009–2022) alongside California Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) police stop data (2018–2022), the study describes demographic disparities in both pedestrian crashes and law enforcement of jaywalking. It also documents recent legislative efforts in California and other states and cities to decriminalize or reform jaywalking enforcement. Findings show that pedestrian fatalities reached a 40 year high in 2022, with California’s rates consistently exceeding the national average. Significant racial and economic disparities exist: Black pedestrians experience fatality rates multiple times those of White pedestrians, and lower-income...

Tools for Demand-Supply Assessment of EV Charging Infrastructure and Strategy Evaluation of Smart Charging

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California’s transition to electric vehicles (EVs) requires more than additional charger counts. Public charging must be accessible, affordable, and reliable where people actually live and travel. This report presents a geospatial dashboard and time-series toolkit for the nine Bay Area counties that maps public charging stations, tracks price and charging-port status at 10-minute intervals, and identifies disadvantaged community (DAC) census tracts using the joint U.S. Department of Energy/U.S. Department of Transportation/National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (DOE/DOT/NEVI) framework. The tool reports charger availability, utilization, pricing, reliability, and average session cost, and supports equity metrics such as ports per 1,000 residents or renters, travel time to a direct-current fast charger, and tract-levelcomparisons between DAC and non-DAC areas. It also supports early screening of sites for Level-3 fast chargers by identifying locations that appear feasible from...

Policies to Improve Transportation Sustainability, Accessibility, and Housing Affordability in the State of California

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents analytical review of empirical research on the interactions between housing availability and production, and travel behavior, accessibility, land use policies, and transportation policies. It identifies lessons from this review for California state legislative efforts to improve housing and transportation linkages, and to increase both transportation sustainability and housing affordability. Relevant California state efforts include legislation to influence parking standards; to require up-zoning near transit stations; to influence regional housing and transportation planning goals; and to change environmental review to focus on reducing vehicle miles traveled instead of accommodating road traffic.

Customer-Oriented Open Data for Accessible Transit: A Case Study in Contra Costa County

Wed, 1 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents a set of proposed open data specifications for the development of an Operational Data Portal (ODP) to support customer-oriented “smart” apps for travelers with special needs, particularly seniors and people with disabilities, in Contra Costa County. The ODP would aggregate and organize data from various mobility service providers, individual riders, and community organizations to be accessed by software developers of digital trip planners, trip booking and scheduling services, passenger feedback mechanisms, and service performance evaluation tools. The report concludes that the establishment of an open data platform along with supporting applications will improve the riderexperience and facilitate operating efficiency and coordination among accessible transit providers. It recommends further research to align the proposed data specifications with emerging transportation data standards, enhance the integration of unstructured data, and develop inclusive systems...

Mapping the Potential of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Across Transportation Sectors in California

Tue, 3 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report develops a transportation hydrogen roadmap for California projected to 2045, building on previous UC ITS work, in part for the ARCHES hydrogen hub for trucks and ports. This study adds modes such as airports, aircraft, rail systems, and fuel-cell light-duty vehicles. Based on a scenario of high adoption of hydrogen-fueled transport, these modes and sectors would use 1000 tonnes/day of hydrogen by 2035 and 5000 tonnes/day by 2045. To 2035, about 40% of the expected growth occurs in heavy-duty trucking. Another 20% is used by other truck types, about 20% by light-duty vehicles, and 20% by other modes, notably shipping and aviation. These shares remain similar to 2045. Trucking remains the dominant driver of demand. Shipping, aviation, and rail are not anticipated to account for an increasing share of demand in the scenarios in this study. This hydrogen fuel system would support around 6,000 jobs per year. Hydrogen vehicle adoption will depend on strong policy support,...

Vehicle Weight Safety Study Academic Report

Mon, 2 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Vehicle Weight Safety Study provides supporting analysis for the California Transportation Commission’s study on therelationship between vehicle weight and road user injury and roadway degradation required by Assembly Bill (AB) 251, which was signed by the Governor in October 2023. To inform the work of the CTC, this report summarizes trends of road user injuries and fatalities in California and potential factors contributing to these trends (Chapter 2); summarizes trends in vehicle weight, size, and height for registered vehicles in California (Chapter 3); documents the landscape of policy solutions focused on vehicle size that might address California’s road user injuries and fatality challenge (Chapter 4); analyzes the impact of potential weight-based fees on consumer vehicle purchasing behavior (Chapter 5); and, analyzes the relationship between shifts in passenger vehicle weight and degradation of road infrastructure (Chapter 6).

Life-Cycle Emissions and Economic Analysis Tool for Hydrogen Production and Distribution Pathways for Road Transportation in California (CA-LCA-H2)

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The CA-LCA-H2 tool performs a cost and greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissions assessment for a hydrogen project in California by selecting the operating region and mode of production and distribution of the hydrogen through to a fuel cell trucking use case. The cost of clean hydrogen production can change significantly from the choice of production method due to the respective energy and capital costs, and in the case of electrolysis, the electricity source. The regional variations in the electricity mix can significantly affect the carbon intensity of the hydrogen produced. These components then contribute to the potential effectiveness of hydrogen as a low-carbon fuel for the use case assessment.

Partnering with Transportation Network Companies to Serve Low-Density Communities

Mon, 2 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study addresses the persistent challenge of delivering cost-effective, high-quality on-demand transit in low-density communities. Traditional microtransit services often struggle in such areas due to high fixed costs and limited opportunities to consolidate trips, while community partnerships with transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft are typically avoided due to concerns over data transparency and limited community control. To bridge this gap, we propose a new business plan for cooperative TNC partnerships, in which a community-appointed service manager coordinates trip requests, distributes financial incentives to attract drivers to the community from nearby high-demand areas, and leverages the TNC’s existing digital infrastructure for driver dispatch and routing. We evaluate this business plan through case studies of three Northern California communities presently served by microtransit, comparing microtransit’s measured performance against the predicted...

Transformative Community Planning as a Tool for Advancing Mobility Justice: Two Case Studies Using Community-Based Participatory Action Research and Racial Equity Impact Assessment

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Top-down transportation planning practices have historically ignored the needs and concerns of low-income communities of color, which can lead to residential and commercial displacement as public investments increase land values and rents. The concept of mobility justice centers the needs of communities that have historically been excluded from transportation planning decisions. We partnered with community groups to examine two transportation planning projects in the Bay Area using collaborative research methods. The first was a retrospective analysis of the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit project in East Oakland that reflects the harms of top-down planning. The second study examined the City of Richmond’s Transformative Climate Communities projects, a more collaborative approach to planning with low-income communities involved at every stage. We find that the top-down planning model employed in the East Oakland case study resulted in significant health, safety, and displacement impacts...

Assessing the Quantification Methodology for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program

Fri, 7 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Do affordable housing projects in high-quality transit-oriented development areas reduce auto use? By how much? Under what conditions? These questions are complex but highly relevant for the state of California. Its Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program estimates reductions in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) associated with project applications, and scores applications partly on this basis. Building on a large set of existing empirical literature, we carried out a new analysis of how the built environment affects travel in California. We relied on several data sources including movement data from cell phones purchased from a private firm; travel diary data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (the most recent household travel survey for the state); data on housing characteristics and commuting from the 2017 American Housing Survey; and neighborhood, community, and regional built environment and public transportation data from Federal and local sources....

Quantifying Major Travel Delay Reduction Benefits from Shifting Air Passenger Traffic to Rail

Wed, 8 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study provides a method to quantify the benefits of reducing the costs from flight delays by shifting air passenger traffic to high-speed rail (HSR). We first estimate the number of flight reductions by each quarter hour for airport origin and destination pairs based on HSR ridership forecasts in the California High-Speed Rail 2020 Business Plan. Lasso models are then applied to estimate the impact of the reduced queuing delay at SFO, LAX and SAN airports on arrival delays at national Core 29 airports. Finally, these delay reductions are monetized using aircraft operating costs per hour and the value of passenger time per hour. We apply several different variations of this approach, for example, considering delay at all 29 Core airports or just major California airports, different scenarios for future airport capacity and flight schedules, and different forecasts for future HSR ridership. We estimate mid-range delay cost savings of $51-88 million (2018 dollars) in 2029 and...

Delay and Flight Time Normalization Procedures for Major Airports: LAX Case Study

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents methodologies for normalizing performance of the National Airspace System (NAS). The purpose of the study is to develop the capability of isolating the performance of NAS enhancements, such as those being made under the Free Flight Phase I program. It is often not possible to observe the effect of such enhancements directly, because of the confounding influences of weather, demand, and conditions elsewhere in the system. The analysis presented here shows how linear and non-linear regression models can be used to statistically remove a large proportion of these confounding effects, increasing the possibility that the effects associated with the enhancement will be detectable.

Matching Technique with Authority: A Study of How Local DOTs Can Narrow the Gap between their Network Management Authority and their Analytical Capacity

Mon, 8 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This report explores how local DOTs can leverage advanced traffic modeling software to narrow the gap between their network management authority and their analytical capacity. Limited computational and analytical capacity among local DOTs has historically made detailed on-demand analytics inaccessible. Using the Mobiliti traffic simulation platform, we examine the City of San José's Safer Streets program to determine the operational and social impacts of the city’s traffic management strategies. We find that imposing a 20 mph speed limit cap on residential streets in San José’s Equity Priority Communities leads to a 39% reduction in passthrough traffic on those streets, but a 76% increase in traffic on streets in the surrounding network. Using this analytical approach, instead of relying on technical assistance from MPOs network managers can more quickly gain quantified insights into the response of network dynamics to localized interventions.

Review of “Bay Area/California High-Speed Rail Ridership and Revenue Forecasting Study”

Fri, 5 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We have reviewed the key components of the California High Speed Rail Ridership Studies. The primary contractor for these studies, Cambridge Systematics (CS), has followed generally accepted professional standards in carrying out the demand modeling and analysis. Nevertheless we have found some significant problems that render the key demand forecasting models unreliable for policy analysis. This Executive Summary describes the most serious problems. The body of this report elaborates on these problems and describes additional concerns we have. In broad terms, the approach taken by CS includes a model development phase and a model validation phase. In the model development phase, both historical data and survey data were employed to develop a mathematical model of interregional travel. The individuals surveyed were interregional trip makers. However, the mode choices of the individuals surveyed were not representative of California interregional travelers. For example, nearly...

Drivers’ Responses to Eco-driving Applications: Effects on Fuel Consumption and Driving Safety

Thu, 4 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Onboard eco-driving systems provide drivers with real-time information about their driving behavior and road conditions, encouraging them to optimize their driving speed and consequently reduce fuel consumption and emissions. However, there are barriers to making eco-driving a habit. To determine the elements that influence drivers’ intentions to practice eco-driving and their acceptance of eco-driving technology, we developed a theoretical model based on established theories on planned behavior, technology acceptance, and personal goals. The findings showed that drivers’ intention to practice eco-driving has an indirect effect on their intention to use the system via the factor of perceived ease of use. We also explored how cognitive distraction while using an eco-driving system can be a potential barrier to acceptance. The intent is to put forward a solution to improve drivers’ usage eco-driving by turning off guidance when the system detects that the driver is experience from...

Transit-Oriented Development and Commuting Patterns in a Gentrifying Bay Area: Exploring the Relationships Between Neighborhood Change, Displacement, and Implications for Transit Use

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines the relationship between transit-oriented development (TOD), gentrification, and commuting behavior in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1990 to 2023. TOD has been promoted as a strategy to reduce automobile dependence and greenhouse gas emissions by concentrating housing and jobs near high-quality transit. Critics, however, argue that TOD may accelerate gentrification and displacement, reducing transit ridership if higher-income households replace transit-dependent residents.

Using decennial Census data (1990, 2000) and American Community Survey estimates (2010–2023), all standardized to 2010 block group geographies, I constructed a Baseline Vulnerability Index to identify neighborhoods susceptible to gentrification and a Gentrification Change Index to measure shifts in demographic, income, education, and housing over time. These measures were linked to changes in commute mode shares to assess whether neighborhood change near TOD has influenced...

Traffic Operations Data Standards: Task ID 4085 (65A1019)

Mon, 4 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Transportation data standards are an increasingly important and complex topic, as well as a key enabler of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). New data sources, private data providers, and uses for transportation data are exploding. The ability to harness data is at the core of modern efforts to improve the safety of our transportation system and advance mobility for the benefit of all. There is an increasing need for automated data exchange between public agencies and private organizations to improve existing operations and enable new products and services. In addition, the provision of public safety is another overlapping area where first responders require up-to-date and reliable information to succeed in theirmissions.

Accessibility of Shared Automated Vehicles for Visually Impaired Travelers

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Researchers at UC Berkeley conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 visually impaired individuals. They exploredtheir perspectives regarding current travel behavior and transportation experience, and the potential of Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs) to enhance their travel experiences and address existing transportation challenges. The results revealed a range of expectations and concerns related to SAVs, particularly in the areas of accessibility, safety, communication, and affordability. Most participants expressed enthusiasm for the potential benefits of SAVs to increase independence and access to underserved areas. They also highlighted critical accessibility needs, such as reliable vehicle identification, accurate drop-off locations, clear communication channels, and accessible interfaces. Affordability emerged as a key factor influencing potential SAV adoption, with many participants indicating a preference for SAVs if they were priced competitively with existing transportation...

Mass Transit Stop and Route Inventory and Mapping: Development and Refinement of a Protocol

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This report details the process of geospatially mapping every heavy rail, light rail, and bus rapid transit expansion in the United States from the years 2000 to 2024. We outline the protocol that was developed for this project and explain the steps that were taken to produce route and stop shapefiles for 148 transit openings and extensions. We address some of the challenges we encountered. We also produce a series of visualizations to illustrate trends in the geographic and modal distribution of transit projects in the United States over the last 25 years. In mapping these expansions, we hope to provide researchers with the requisite information to be able to conduct a wide range of studies that examine multiple types of effects associated with public transit on a wider scale. Such analysis could be conducted on a transit line- or stop-based level, which are the two shapefiles produced for each transit extension in this project. The shapefiles could be modified with catchment...

Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Access to the San Francisco Bay Trail

Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates first- and last-mile connectivity to existing segments of the San Francisco Bay Trail (SFBT) in historically underserved Bay Area communities, with a detailed case study in Richmond, California. Although 70 percent of the 350-mile trail network is complete, physical barriers, freeways, freight rail lines, industrial zones, and insufficient pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure prevent low-income and minority neighborhoods from accessing the trail safely and directly. Employing a mixed-methods framework, a comprehensive literature review was first conducted to synthesize evidence on greenway benefits and equity frameworks. A regional GIS analysis was then performed to identify spatial disconnects between trail alignments and MTC Equity Priority Communities and BCDC Communities of Concern. Stakeholder interviews and community feedback from the MTC’s Bay Trail Equity Strategy Initiative were also synthesized. Six connector corridors in Richmond were subsequently...

Intergenerational Connection in Berkeley Public Space

Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As Berkeley's population ages-with those aged 60+ projected to comprise nearly 20% of residents by 203O-there is an opportunity to design public spaces that foster meaningful connections across generations. This study examines how parks and sidewalks can be an integrated public-space network that supports interactions between elders and other generations. Guided by the main research question: What features of public space support intergenerational interaction? And three guiding questions: How do elders currently use public space? What are the best practices of public space design for fostering intergenerational interactions? How can public space be enhanced to better support intergenerational interactions? The research employs a mixed-methods approach. Primary data includes systematic observations at three parks (Ohlone, Grove, Strawberry Creek) across varied times and days; intercept interviews with elders in the parks; and six wallking interviews. These were complemented by...

Relationships, Capacity, and Trust: Youth Engagement Lessons Learned and Tools for OakDOT

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents lessons learned and tools for engaging youth in transportation planning in Oakland, California. Youth are disenfranchised from the transportation planning process, although their mobility is more affected than adults’ mobility by the quality of transportation networks, and, as a result, they have unique expertise that is valuable to transportation planning. In addition to giving planners access to youth expertise, engaging with youth presents an opportunity for the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) to build mutually beneficial relationships, civic capacity, and trust between city government and the next generation. The report is in three parts. First, I analyze observations of an in-person community design workshop and several online engagement methods for a transportation planning project in a disinvested neighborhood. I find that the methods observed, when employed on their own, are incongruous with OakDOT’s goals to build trust and a shared...

Leveraging Underutilized Land for Sustainable Housing Development in the San Francisco Bay Area: Assessing Opportunities and Constraints in Low-VMT Areas to Align Housing Production with Climate and Equity Goals

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This report assesses underutilized land parcels in the San Francisco Bay Area to identify opportunities for housing development aligned with California’s climate, transportation, and equity goals. The research focuses specifically on parcels situated within areas that are characterized by reduced automobile dependency due to proximity to transit, jobs, and amenities. Using geographic information systems (GIS), historical housing data, parcel valuation metrics, zoning analysis, and scenario modelling, the report categorizes parcels into three forms of underutilization: vacant parcels, parcels with low improvement-to-land value ratios, and parcels with minimal built coverage (below 25%). It also evaluates the effectiveness of current zoning regulations and examines housing allocation patterns in the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. There is substantial theoretical capacity for housing production in low-VMT zones; constraints such as regulatory complexities, redevelopment...

The Future of Urban Paid Parking: Learning from Davis's Seven Year Debate

Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In an era of urgent climate action and housing crises across California, parking policy has emerged as a powerful lever for transforming cities. While pricing parking is widely recognized by transportation experts as an effective tool for managing urban space and reducing vehicle emissions, implementing such policies remains politically challenging.

The stakes of resolving parking policy deadlocks extend far beyond local politics. Unpriced on-street parking in high demand areas creates a cascade of significant negative externalities: drivers waste time circling, traffic and pollution increases, and drivers are disincentivized from shifting travel modes.

My research uses a combination of both primary data (interview) and secondary data (archival text) to investigate a revealing case study: the protracted seven-year debate over a 2013 proposal to implement paid downtown parking in Davis, California. Why did Davis’s paid parking initiative fail despite strong evidence...

Assessing and Improving the Equity Impacts of California High-SpeedRail

Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study assesses the impact of high-speed rail on accessibility to employment and educational opportunities for the census tracts in the California Central Valley. The accessibility is assessed for driving only mode and transit only mode for the baseline scenario and driving plus HSR mode and transit plus HSR mode for the scenario after HSR start operation. We plot the accessibility distribution for census tracts and calculate the spatial equality index of accessibility distribution to compare the accessibility before and after HSR starts operation, as well as the accessibility for communities of concern (CoCs). Our findings include multiple aspects. Most importantly, we find that HSR yields the greatest accessibility gains to the most vulnerable communities, which we term CoC Level 2 and Level 3 communities. This improvement is attained for both employment and education accessibility, and whether HSR access/egress is by driving or transit. Second, it is also the case that...

Strategies for Improving Community College Access in California

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In California, transportation plays a key role in community college access because many community college districts have satellite campuses, have limited transportation options, and tend to not have on-campus housing. To better understand the mobility challenges students face accessing community colleges and provide potential policy strategies to overcome these challenges, the researchers interviewed local transportation agencies, community college administrators, and students at five California community colleges between September 2022 and October 2023. Participants were asked about available transportation options for community college students, typical student travel patterns, and the resources needed to support improved community college transportation access. Small group discussions with students focused on student travel patterns, mobility challenges, and opinions on potential strategies to improve access. In addition, we reviewed state legislation on student transportation...

Electric Vehicle Charge Management Strategies to Benefit the California Electricity Grid

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Recent studies suggest that there could be significant value to electric vehicle (EV) drivers and power companies from incorporating EVs into the state’s electrical power grids, known as Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI). However, the benefits could be highly variable depending on the location of the utility territory, vehicle type and battery capacity, the relevant timeframe, and whether the connection involves only managed charging or includes bidirectional charging permitting vehicle to grid (V2G) power transfer, and other factors. Various studies conducted to date generally conclude that the opportunities for V2G could have two to three times the value of managed (or “smart”) charging. However, there are considerable additional complications for grid integration, including variable and site-specific implementation costs. Some savings such as deferring distribution system upgrades can be very significant but are also site-specific and depend on the level of curren and projected...

Job Accessibility Impacts of Pandemic Transit Service Adjustments in the San Francisco Bay Area

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic forced transit agencies to quickly adapt to new challenges, with service reductions as part of the response to reduced ridership, rising fiscal pressures, and staffing shortages. However, approaches to service adjustment varied significantly across agencies. While pandemic research often focuses on ridership impacts, less attention has been given to how transit service changes affected accessibility and equity. This study examines the impacts of pandemic service adjustments made by three major San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies on accessibility and equity, which is important to address given the absence of formal requirements for equity evaluation of temporary service changes. Using publicly available transit schedule and census data, metrics for transit service levels, job accessibility, and accessibility inequality were developed and used to trace changes from 2020 to 2023. The findings reveal distinct approaches to service reduction and restoration,...

Advancing Alternative Fuel Aviation Technologies in California

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The aviation sector in California is facing increased pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, leading to a growing interest in alternative fuel aviation (AFA) technologies such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), as well as electric- and hydrogen- powered aircraft. The report develops a California Aviation Energy Model (CAVEM), examining various AFA technologies and analyzing possible policy options. The analysis emphasizes the importance of SAF in the short term, with projections indicating sufficient supply for intrastate flights and capped vegetable oil-based fuel consumption. Long-term efforts are focused on electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft, which remain in the early stages of development. Electrification of intrastate flights is deemed feasible, with estimated electricity consumption amounting to a small percentage of overall electricity generation. The report highlights the necessity for additional policy incentives (such as tax exemptions) and a comprehensive policy...

Creating an Inclusive Bicycle Level of Service: Virtual Bicycle Simulator Study

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bicycle level of service (BLOS) is an essential performance measure for transportation agencies to monitor and prioritize improvements to infrastructure, but existing measures do not capture the nuance of facility differences on the state highway system. However, with the advancements in virtual reality (VR) technology, a VR bicycle simulator is an ideal tool to safely gather user feedback on a variety of bicycling environments and conditions. This research explored the benefits and limitations of using a VR environment to assess individuals’ bike infrastructure preferences. We conducted a bicyclist user experience survey in person on SafeTREC’s VR bicycle simulator and online and compared the results. The online survey consisted of showing participants pairs of VR videos of biking scenarios and asking them to choose the one that they preferred. To validate the online survey responses, we conducted in-person experiments with a VR bike simulator using the same pairs of videos....

Improving the Traffic Census and Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) Programs

Wed, 4 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this research study was to support the Traffic Census and Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) Programs in identifying locations for motorized traffic data collection on public roads in California. The study analyzed the traffic census count locations for each District to determine at which Census count locations the automated and continuously collected Caltrans Performance Measurement System (PeMS) data could be used in lieu of manual traffic counts. Next, this research identified and evaluated count locations for motorized traffic data collection on non-State Highway System Routes to help meet Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements for the Caltrans Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) program. Lastly, this research reviewed and summarized the emerging traffic data collection technologies and data sources appropriate for Caltrans HPMS and/or Census reporting purposes.

The Transforming Transportation Ecosystem — A Call to Action

Wed, 4 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The transportation landscape is in transition. Rising congestion, failing infrastructure, changing behaviors, adapting to a more inclusive definition of mobility, the desire for cleaner and more efficient engines, and grappling with the role of autonomous vehicles and drones, to name just some of the factors, demands that we take a fresh approach to designing for mobility. Yet the rapid pace of technology development is creating emerging trends that are driving change faster than our ability to model, design, and manage them. This could potentially result in undesirable economic, environmental, and societal outcomes. The speed in which technology is remaking transportation and introducing new business models is leaving policy makers and government systems at a disadvantage, and the data needed to frame policy and new social infrastructure is becoming increasingly privatized. This white paper shares the expertise and collective wisdom of leading researchers and practitioners who...

Theory of highway traffic signals

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This report gives a comprehensive survey of the theory of highway traffic signals including isolated signals, one-way arterials, two-way arterials, and networks, limited however, to the common right angle junctions. The emphasis is on the logistics of control strategies rather than recipes for implementation. It is anticipated, however, that the implementation of some of the strategies described here will give substantial reductions in delays as compared with existing procedures.

EEZ Mobility: A Toolf or Modeling Equitable Installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Public electric vehicle (EV) chargers are unevenly distributed in California with respect to income, race and education-levels. This creates inequitable access to electric mobility especially for low-income communities of color, which. are less likely to have access to home charging stations. These vulnerable communities are also more likely to be located in areas with poor air quality and would therefore benefit from EV adoption. Currently programs exist in California that fund incentives for public EV chargers in “Disadvantaged Communities” but the process for identifying these communities does not consider key characteristics such as housing type, potential for local emission reduction, and the degree of access to private chargers that would maximize economic benefits to these areas and the state. This study develops a model-based tool that incorporates key additional information to predict economic benefits and health impacts to local communities to guide the location of public...

Rail Transit Ridership Changes and COVID-19: Lessons from Station-Area Characteristics

Tue, 8 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on public transit ridership in the United States, especially for rail transit. Land use, development density, and the pedestrian environment are strongly associated with station-level transit ridership. This study examines how these characteristics affect transit ridership pre- and post-COVID and how they differ across station types based on longitudinal data for 242 rail stations belonging to Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, Sacramento Regional Transit, and LA Metro between 2019 and 2021. We found overall a 72% decrease in station-level ridership, but changes were not uniform. Station areas with a higher number of low-income workers and more retail or entertainment jobs tend to have lower ridership declines, while areas with a large number of high-income workers, high-wage jobs, and higher job accessibility by transit had more ridership losses. When comparing station area ridership and activity changes...

Estimating Residential Electric Vehicle Electricity Use

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is a centerpiece of California’s strategy to reach net-zero carbon emissions, but it is not fully known how and where EVs are being used, and how and where they are being charged. This report provides the first at-scale estimate of EV home charging. Previous estimates were based on conflicting surveys or extrapolated from a small, unrepresentative sample of households with dedicated EV meters. We combined billions of hourly electricity meter measurements with address-level EV registration records from California households, including roughly 40,000 EV owners. The average EV increases overall household load by 2.9 kilowatt-hours per day, well under half the amount assumed by state regulators. Results imply that EVs travel less than expected on electric power, raising questions about transportation electrification for climate policy.

Moving Beyond the Colors: The Full Life-Cycle Emissions of Hydrogen Production Pathways for California

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

There is growing interest in the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel but the environmental benefits of using hydrogen depend critically on how it is produced and distributed. Leading alternatives to using fossil natural gas to make hydrogen through the conventional method of steam methane reforming include using electrolyzers to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and the use of biogas as an alternative feedstock to fossil natural gas. This report examines the latest carbon intensity (CI) estimates for these and various other hydrogen production processes, adding important nuances to the general “colors of hydrogen” scheme that has been used in recent years. CI values for hydrogen production can vary widely both within and across hydrogen production pathways. The lowest CI pathways use biomass or biogas as a feedstock, and solar or wind power. The report also analyses jobs creation from new hydrogen production facilities and shows that these benefits can be significant...

Evaluate the Safety Effects of Adopting a Stop-as-Yield Law for Cyclists in California

Fri, 9 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The escalating number of injuries and fatalities among cyclists is a pressing safety concern. In the United States, communities are actively seeking strategies to boost cyclist safety, with some states implementing bike-specific policies, such as stop-as-yield laws, to support cyclists. Stop-as-yield laws allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. The laws are not yet widely implemented, and their potential safety impact is a subject of debate among transportation experts and advocates. This study investigates how stop-as-yield laws can positively or negatively affect safety and provides insights and guidelines for California policymakers and safety practitioners if the law passes in California. We collected cyclist data from five states that have enacted stop-as-yield laws—Idaho, Arkansas, Oregon, Washington and Delaware—and data from some of their contiguous states without such legislation. Using an observational before-after study with comparison groups at the state...

Assessing the Functionality of Transit and Shared Mobility Systems after Earthquakes

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Located within the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, California's transportation infrastructure, especially in the Bay Area, is susceptible to earthquakes. A review of current research and stakeholder interviews revealed a growing awareness of emergency preparedness among local jurisdictions and transit agencies in recent years. However, many have yet to formalize and publish their recovery plans. This study introduces an agent-based multimodal transportation simulation tool to enhance post-earthquake transportation resilience. Integrating a road network simulator with a metro system simulator, the tool employs an optimized Dijkstra-based algorithm to calculate optimal routes, travel times, and fares. A case study is conducted for the East Bay, using the simulator to gauge the impact of a compromised Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. The results suggested that original BART passengers could face either longer commute times or higher costs during the recovery phase of...

Struggling to Connect: Housing and Transportation Challenges of Low-Income Suburban Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Suburban areas have lower density development than urban areas, which may make them less accessible for the growingpopulation of low- and moderate-income suburban residents, particularly those without a personal vehicle. This research examines factors that lead these households to move to suburban areas and identifies accessibility barriers they face. We use a mixed-methods approach with Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data from the U.S. Census, online/in-person surveys (n=208), and interviews conducted in English and Spanish (n=25) with households in Contra Costa County with an income of less than $75,000. To understand key differences in housing and transportation choices between urban and suburban residents, these data were compared to survey and interview data from low-income Oakland residents from 2020-2021. We found that low- and moderate-income households choose to live in suburbs due to rising rents and otherrequirements (e.g., credit score, rental history) in urban...

Tapping In: Leveraging Open-Loop Fare Payments to Increase Financial Inclusion

Mon, 3 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the United States, public transit agencies are increasingly growing interested in deploying open-loop payment systems for public transit fare payments. This interest is based on the benefits these systems can offer, from faster boarding times to the potential of attracting more riders. Open-loop fare payment systems’ popularity is evidenced by the growing number of American public transit agencies who have deployed them; most of whom (63%) are located in California. The overlap between public transit riders who are both transit-dependent and financially excluded (i.e., have no or limited access to financial services) creates the opportunity for public transit agencies deploying open-loop payment systems to leverage these systems to increase financial service access for transit dependent, financially excluded riders. Individuals who are both transit-dependent and financially excluded are typically low-income, identify as part of a racial or ethnic minority group,...

“Don’t Keep Us Out of the Revolution!”: Accessibility and Autonomous Rideshare in California

Thu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Robotaxi services, or rideshare operated by autonomous vehicles, present an opportunity for independent and convenient transportation for people with disabilities. The proliferation of robotaxis in California has been met with mixed reactions from the disability community. To better understand perceptions of and expectations for robotaxis, this report uses semi-structured interviews with representatives from disability advocacy organizations. For many people with disabilities, especially for people with intellectual, developmental, and/or physical disabilities, robotaxis are inaccessible. Given the intricacies of accommodating a wide audience, not all interviewees were confident that robotaxi design and programming will be inclusive. Some interviewees trusted that autonomous vehicle companies will independently pursue accessibility features in their robotaxis. Other interviewees regarded statewide accessibility standards as essential to ensure accessibility. Overall, interviewees...

Universal Basic Mobility Pilots in Oakland and Los Angeles: Striking a Balance Between Accessibility and Sustainability

Wed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Universal Basic Mobility (UBM) pilots in Oakland and Los Angeles, launched in 2021, were innovative initiatives to address transportation equity and access issues in historically underserved communities. These experimental programs examined the impact of providing flexible transportation benefits to low-income residents. However, the current program designs fall short of achieving accessibility and sustainability objectives. Instead, they serve as initial steps in exploring UBM as a potential transportation equity strategy. The report explores the motivation behind local agencies initiating UBM pilots despite existing transportation benefit initiatives, and provides insights from program practitioners on the challenges and opportunities in UBM implementation.

Transit to California’s National Parks: An Assessment of Visitation and Sociodemographic Barriers

Tue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

California boasts nine national parks that are home to a plethora of recreational, cultural, and professional opportunities. It is no surprise that national parks draw in millions of recreational and non-recreational trips from across the country and internationally, however how visitors choose to arrive at these federal lands is a major consideration for land management, policy, and infrastructure decisions. According to the National Park Service’s Visitor Use Statistics, an overwhelming majority of visitors arrive by automobile. Alternative transportation options to national parks in California may increase visitor diversity and encourage the modal shift away from car travel. Additionally, transportation infrastructure has the potential to take up more natural spaces in national parks as population growth and recreational popularity increases in the coming years. Roadway widening, repaving, and other disruptive events can have negative impacts on adjacent ecosystems and communities,...

Power To Pedal: A Gendered Analysis of the Barriers and Joys of Cycling in Oakland

Tue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Amidst increasing investments in cycling infrastructure in California, trends continue to demonstrate that women from low-income communities of color are underrepresented as cyclists. I argue that prevailing bicycle justice movements have neglected the intersectional needs of women from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities by centering the ‘white, lycra-clad male’ and his commute needs within organized bicycling advocacy. Further, contemporary bicycle planning does little to investigate the barriers and joys related to cycling, as they are experienced by these women. This article draws from nine in-depth interviews with women of color in Oakland, California, to identify the racial and gendered barriers that influence the decision to cycle and whether only the construction of cycling infrastructure is enough to overcome these social barriers. Findings suggest that the fear of traffic injuries, coupled with the perceived and actual risk of victimization, sexual...

East Oakland Mobility Justice: A Case Study of the International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Project Safety and Displacement

Fri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Low-income communities of color in formerly redlined neighborhoods face persistent racial disparities and inequities in pollution exposure, access to transportation and safe streets, and inadequate provisions for health, safety, stable housing, clean air, education, and employment. In the process of attempting to remedy such disparities through major transportation infrastructure and access improvements, residents who are intended to benefit from expanded transportation access and options are often placed at increased risk of harmful displacement, gentrification, and environmental injustice impacts. This research project employs a case study of the International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in East Oakland, guided by Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) principles, to investigate specific traffic safety and racialized displacement impacts from the project and considers potential solutions towards protecting residents and preventing harmful byproducts...

A Safe System Approach to Pedestrian High Injury Network Development in Oakland, California

Fri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

As jurisdictions update their High Injury Networks, discrepancies between the initial and updated HINs are to be expected. However, this lack of stability and consistency can negatively impact the prioritization of limited resources. In order to mitigate known issues with crash data underreporting and statistical biases, I examined strategies for utilizing data on underlying roadway characteristics to augment traditional collision analysis.

Using the City of Oakland as a case study city, I assessed the stability of the pedestrian High Injury Network across two consecutive five-year periods (2012-2016 and 2017-2021), created with the same methodology. I found that the two HINs identified similar segments, particularly along arterials, but were less consistent in identifying the segments’ start and end points due to variation in crash data. I propose a methodology for finalizing High Injury Network extents based on segment characteristics (number of lanes, posted speed...

Pattern Recognition for Curb Usage

Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The increasing use of transportation network companies and delivery services has transformed the utilization of curb space, resulting in a lack of parking and contributing to congestion. No systematic method exists for identifying curb usage patterns, but emerging machine learning technologies and low-tech data sources, such as dashboard cameras mounted on vehicles that routinely travel the area, have the potential of monitoring curb usage. To demonstrate how video data can be used to recognize usage patterns, we conducted a case study on Bancroft Way in Berkeley, CA. The project collected video footage with GPS data from a dashboard camera installed on a shuttle bus that circles the area. We trained a machine learning model to recognize different types of delivery vehicles in the data images, and then used the model to visualize curbside usage trends. The findings include identifying hot spots, analyzing arrival patterns by delivery vehicle type, detecting bus lane blockage,...

Reduce Emissions and Improve Traffic Flow Through Collaborative Autonomy

Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This report explores opportunities for employing autonomous driving technology to dampen stop-and-go waves on freeways. If successful, it could reduce fuel consumption and emissions. This technology was tested in an on-road experiment with 100 vehicles over one week. Public stakeholders were engaged to assess the planning effort and feasibility of taking the technology to the next level: a pilot involving 1000+ vehicles over several months. Considerations included the possible geographical boundaries, target fleets of vehicles, and suitable facilities such as bridges or managed lanes. Flow smoothing technology may improve the user experience and operations of managed lanes or bridges, however it may require external incentives such as reduced tolls to entice the traveling public to use it. This must be matched with other goals such as verifying vehicle occupancy. It might be possible for some hybrid solution that addresses both challenges to provide a way forward. A concept of...

A Futures Market for Demand Responsive Travel Pricing

Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Dynamic toll pricing based on demand can increase transportation revenue while also incentivizing travelers to avoid peak traffic periods. However, given the unpredictable nature of traffic, travelers lack the information necessary to accurately predict congestion, so dynamic pricing has minimal effect on demand. Dynamic toll pricing also poses equity concerns for those who lack other travel options. This research explores a potential remedy to these concerns by using a simple “futures market” pricing mechanism in which travelers can lock in a toll price for expected trips by prepaying for future tolls, with the future price increasing as more travelers book an overlapping time slot. This approach encourages travelers to avoid driving during the peak periods when pricing increases toward capacity or to purchase trips in advance when the price remains low or discounted, thus using infrastructure capacity more efficiently. Travelers that do not prepurchase their trip are subject...

Testing Wildfire Evacuation Strategies and Coordination Plans for Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Communities in California

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the event of a wildfire, government agencies need to make quick, well-informed decisions to safely evacuate people. Small communities, such as in Marin County, with a mix of residences and flammable vegetation in Wildland-Urban Interface zones tend to lack resources to conduct evacuation studies. Consequently, this study uses a framework of wildfire and traffic simulations to test the performance of potential evacuation strategies, including reducing the volume of evacuating vehicles through car-pooling, phasing evacuations by staggering evacuation times by zone, and prohibiting street parking in four representative areas of Marin County. Results show that reducing vehicle numbers lowers the average travel time by 20%-70% and average exposure time to wildfire by 27%-60% from the baseline. Phased evacuations with suitable time intervals lower the average travel time by 13.5%-70%, but may expose more vehicles to fire in some situations. Prohibiting street parking yields varying...

Subsidizing Transportation Network Companies to Support Commutes by Rail

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We explore how rail transit’s first- and last-mile issue might be addressed by partnering with transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft. The goal is to lure high-income commuters to shift from cars to TNCs and rail. We also explore how rail and TNC partnerships can improve travel for low-income commuters who currently rely on low-frequency bus service. We parametrically test subsidizing TNC fares for feeder services in the San Francisco Bay Area in an idealized fashion. Inputs such as the residents’ value of time and vehicle ownership were taken from various local data sources. The communities that were selected for our study are served to different degrees by the BART rail system. We found that the optimal policy must be tailored to the characteristics of the community it serves. In dense, walkable communities with strong bus service near rail stations, TNC subsidies should be targeted to less-accessible neighborhoods and low-income commuters to not compete...

Advanced Air Mobility: Opportunities, Challenges, and Research needsfor the State of California (2023-2030)

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Advanced air mobility (AAM) is a broad concept that enables consumers access to air mobility, goods delivery, and emergency services through an integrated and connected multimodal transportation network. AAM can provide short-range urban, suburban, and rural flights of about 50-miles and mid-range regional flights up to a several hundred miles. State law delegates responsibility for oversight in aviation primarily to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). This white paper presents an overview of the state of the market, such as the aircraft under development and forecast market growth and discusses factors that could facilitate the development of AAM or pose risks to its deployment or to the public, including the safety and the regulatory environment, airspace and air traffic management, security, environmental impacts, weather, infrastructure and multimodal integration, workforce and economic development, social equity, and community engagement and social acceptance....

Charging up the Central Coast: Policy solutions to improve electric vehicle charging access in Watsonville

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

California's goal to eliminate internal combustion engine sales by 2035 poses challenges for lower- and moderate-income residents, hindering their access to electric vehicles (EVs). Barriers include limited EV charging stations, exacerbated by lower home ownership and inadequate grid infrastructure in lower-income communities. To address this, UC Berkeley School of Law's Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) partnered with the City of Watsonville. Due to its location, demographics, and ambitious policy goals, Watsonville represents a potential model and case study for other cities around the state grappling with how to boost EV charging infrastructure. CLEE conducted stakeholder interviews and a convening in Watsonville in May2023, and developed a set of policy recommendations for both state and local entities to accelerate investment in EV charging infrastructure in Watsonville, which could inform other cities facing similar challenges and seeking to meet state...

Mitigating Exposure and Climate Change Impacts from Transportation Projects: Environmental Justice-Centered Decision-Support Framework and Tool

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

California must operate and maintain an effective and efficient transportation infrastructure while ensuring that the health of communities and the planet are not compromised. By assessing transportation projects using a life-cycle perspective, all relevant emission sources and activities from the construction, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life phases can be analyzed and mitigated. This report presents a framework to assess the life-cycle human health and climate change impacts from six types of transportation projects: (1) Roadways; (2) Marine ports; (3) Logistical distribution centers; (4) Railyards; (5) Bridges and overpasses; and (6) Airports. The framework was applied using an integrated model to assess fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, noise impacts, and monetized damages (Value of Statistical Life, Social Cost of Carbon) from two case studies: routine resurfacing and vehicle operations on road segments within the San Francisco Bay...

New Data and Methods for Estimating Regional Truck Movements

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This report describes how current methods of estimating truck traffic volumes from existing fixed roadway sensors could be improved by using tracking data collected from commercial truck fleets and other connected technology sources (e.g., onboard GPS-enabled navigation systems and smartphones supplied by third-party vendors). Using Caltrans District 1 in Northern California as an example, the study first reviews existing fixed-location data collection capabilities and highlights gaps in the ability to monitor truck movements. It then reviews emerging data sources and analyzes the analytical capabilities of StreetLight 2021, a commercial software package. The study then looks at the Sample Trip Count and uncalibrated Index values obtained from three weigh-in-motion (WIM) and twelve Traffic Census stations operated by Caltrans in District 1. The study suggests improvements to StreetLight’s “single-factor” calibration process which limits its ability to convert raw truck count data...

Strategies to Preserve Transit-accessible Affordable Housing in Southern California

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This report highlights risk and prioritization factors for housing developments with expiring affordability protections, focused on preserving transit-accessible affordable housing. It presents a regional framework for identifying and preserving subsidized affordable housing in the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) region (Los Angeles, Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties). First, we analyze data from the California Housing Partnership (CHPC) and the National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) to understand risk factors for expiring housing units, and design a prioritization tool for entities in the region to use when prioritizing developments to focus preservation and anti-displacement efforts. Second, we highlight affordable housing preservation policy solutions and characteristics unique to the Southern California context. Third, we draw on the strategies and experiences of other jurisdictions in the United States with experience...

Streamlining Connected Automated Vehicle Test Data Collection and Evaluation in the Hardware-in-the-Loop Environment

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Quality data collection, processing, and analysis are foundational to good research, policy making and regulation development. With the rapid development of Connected Automated Vehicles (CAV) technologies, it is urgent for both researchers and policy makers to obtain and evaluate good quality CAV data to better understand CAV impacts. CAV hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests can expedite CAV performance evaluation and system implementation. This research aims at equipping an existing HIL test tool with data management functions. To this end, a database instance on MySQL has been integrated with an existing HIL test tool. The improved HIL test tool can greatly streamline CAV data collection and quality so that it is beneficial for performance analysis. A detailed comparison and selection of available database tools, database instance design and implementation have been performed to help other California institutes develop and improve their own systems. A user-friendly test tool setup...

Zero-Emission Bus Implementation Guidebook for California Transit Fleets

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Transit bus operations in California are experiencing new challenges due to economic conditions and the ongoing global pandemic. A confluence of factors has created a focus on this critical public-needs serving industry, due to state and local efforts to reduce emissions of pollutants and climate-changing gases. Transit bus operations in California provide essential and additional useful services that offer critical mobility to needy populations (elderly and handicapped) as well as many other groups for whom transit buses provide the most economical, convenient, and low-emission options. To address the role of transit bus operations in meeting California’s aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) and emissions, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) has implemented an ambitious Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation that requires all public transit agencies to gradually transition to a 100 percent zero-emission bus (ZEB) fleet.1 Beginning in 2029, 100% of new purchases by transit...

The Development of An Accident Database to Structure Land Use Regulations in Airport Runway Approach Zones

Tue, 3 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents and describes 400 aviation accidents which occurred within five miles of an airport. Section 2 contains a description of the development of the database and a discussion of the criteria used in selecting accidents for the database. Section 3 provides a description of the database itself as well as a set of statistics that provide a comprehensive overview of the accidents. A set of aircraft accident contours developed from the accident data points is presented in section 4. The purpose of these contours is to provide a picture of the distribution of accidents over space. Section 5 contains a brief discussion of modeling aircraft accident location probability. A model is not developed in this report. The section also provides a brief discussion of the use of the database in examining airport operations and management strategy. The final section presents an approach to be used in a subsequent empirical investigation using the database supplemented with aircraft...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2020-21

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2020, there were sixteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 305 tow trucks and covering over 1,900 (centerline) miles of congested California freeways.

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Caltrans FSP program in reducing incident durations and removal of other obstructions that directly contribute to freeway congestion for Caltrans fiscal year 2020-2021. The project provides valuable information to agencies managing the FSP program so that resources are distributed within...

Assessing the Variation of Curbside Safety at the City Block Level

Thu, 1 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Investigating the dynamics behind the likelihood of vehicle crashes has been a focal research point in the transportationsafety field for many years. However, the abundance of data in today's world generates opportunities for deepercomprehension of the various parameters affecting crash frequency. This study incorporates data from many differentsources including geocoded police-reported crash data, curbside infrastructure data and socio-demographic data for thecity of San Francisco, CA. Findings revealed that the GFMNB model provides a better statistical fit than the FMNB andNB model in terms of AIC and log likelihood, while the NB model outperformed both mixture models in terms of BIC dueto model complexity of the latter. Among the signicant variables, TNC pick-ups/dropoffs and duration of parked vehicleswere positively associated with segment-level crashes.

Simulating Life with Personally-Owned Autonomous Vehicles through a Naturalistic Experiment with Personal Drivers

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Forty-three households in the Sacramento region representing diverse demographics, modal preferences, mobility barriers, and weekly vehicle miles traveled (VMT) were provided personal chauffeurs for one or two weeks to simulate travel behavior with a personally-owned, fully autonomous vehicle (AV). During the chauffeur week(s), the total number of trips increased on average by 25 percent, 85 percent of which were “zero-occupancy” (ZOV) trips (when the chauffeur is the only occupant). Average VMT for all households increased by 60 percent, over half of which came from ZOV trips. VMT increased most in households with mobility barriers and those with less auto-dependency but least in higher VMT households and families with children. Transit, ridehailing, biking, and walking trips dropped by 70 percent, 55 percent, 38 percent, and 10 percent, respectively. The results highlight how AVs can enhance mobility, but also adversely affect the transportation system.

Can Rebates Foster Equity in Congestion Pricing Programs?

Fri, 5 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Congestion pricing improves economic efficiency, but it may lead to inequitable outcomes. A key policy priority in California is identifying ways to avoid the hardship of congestion pricing on low income or other vulnerable populations. This study uses data from a congestion pricing experiment in the Seattle metro area to examine the feasibility of using revenue from congestion pricing to compensate those harmed by the policy. Results indicate that the initial burden of congestion pricing is highly inequitable, with the lowest income drivers paying an average of 7 percent of their weekly income in congestion charges. There are also considerable differences in burdens within income groups. We show that policymakers face a tradeoff in ameliorating these two types of unequal burdens. Returning an equal fraction of the toll revenue to all drivers can make a policy progressive on average, but doing so leaves many drivers either overcompensated or under-compensated. We then show that...

How Well Do New K-12 Public School Sites in California Incorporate Mitigation Measures Known to Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled?

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

California law (SB 743) requires school districts to measure the impact of school construction on the production of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and identify feasible mitigation measures that eliminate or substantially reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) generated. This study analyzes 301 new schools constructed between 2008-2018 with respect to four VMT mitigation measures identified by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) known to minimize VMT (proximity to high quality transit areas, proximity to roads with bicycle facilities, walkability scores, and proximity to electric vehicle charging stations). The analysis reveals mixed findings. Only about 16% of the new schools sited are located within ½ mile from high quality transit. About 65% of new school sites either connected or are close to (.06 miles or less) a bicycle network. Walkability scores varied greatly by location; approximately 60% of new school sites in “city” locales are considered...

Using Automated Vehicle (AV) Technology to Smooth Traffic Flow and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Tue, 3 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Passenger and heavy-duty vehicles make up 36% of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing emissions from vehicular travel is therefore paramount for any path towards carbon neutrality. Efforts to reduce GHGs by encouraging mode shift or increasing vehicle efficiency are, and will continue to be, a critical part of decarbonizing the transportation sector. Emerging technologies are creating an opportunity to reduce GHGs. Human driving behaviors in congested traffic have been shown to create stop-and-go waves. When waves form, cars periodically slow down (sometimes to a stop) and then speed back up again; this repeated braking and accelerating leads to higher fuel consumption, and correspondingly increasingly GHG emissions. Flow smoothing, or the use of a specially designed adaptive cruise controllers to dissipate these waves, can reduce fuel consumption of all the cars on the road. By keeping all vehicles at a constant speed, flow smoothing can minimize system-wide...

How to Evaluate and Minimize the Risk of COVID-19 Transmission within Public Transportation Systems

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

During the COVID-19 outbreak, serious concerns were raised over the risk of spreading the infection on public transportation systems. As the pandemic recedes it will be important to determine optimal timetable design to minimize the risk of new infections as systems resume full service. In this study, we developed an integrated optimization model for service line reopening plans and timetable design. Our model combines a space-time passenger network flow problem and compartmental epidemiological models for each vehicle and platform in the transit system. The algorithm can help policy makers to design schedules under COVID-19 more efficiently. The report develops an optimized timetable for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. We found that if passengers choose other mode of transportation when closing part of the system or decreasing the frequency of service can prevent the spread of infections, otherwise, if passengers choose to use the closest open station, closings will lead to...

Synergies of Combining Demand- and Supply-Side Measures to Manage Congested Streets

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

An agent-based, multichannel simulation of a downtown area reveals the impacts of both redistributing traffic demand with time-dependent congestion pricing, and supplying extra capacity by banning left turns. The downtown street network was idealized, and loosely resembles central Los Angeles. On the demand-side, prices were set based on time-ofday and distance traveled. On the supply side, left-turn maneuvers were prohibited at all intersections on the network. Although both traffic management measures reduced travel costs when used alone, the left-turn ban was much less effective than pricing. When combined with pricing under congested conditions, however, the left-turn ban’s effectiveness increased considerably—it more than doubled in some cases. Furthermore, the two measures combined reduced travel costs in synergistic fashion. In some cases, this synergistic effect was responsible for 30% of the cost reduction. This strong synergy suggests that turning bans should be considered...

Benchmarking “Smart City” Technology Adoption in California: An Innovative Web Platform for Exploring New Data and Tracking Adoption

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, “smart city” technologies have emerged that allow cities, counties, and other agencies to manage their infrastructure assets more effectively, make their services more accessible to the public, and allow citizens to interface with new web-and mobile-based alternative service providers. This project developed an innovative user-friendly web interface for local and state policymakers that tracks and displays information on the adoption of such technologies in California across the policing, transportation, and water and wastewater sectors for a comprehensive set of local service providers: connectedgov.berkeley.edu. Contrary to conventional smart city indices, our platform allows users to view rates of adoption in maps that attribute adoption to the local public agencies or service providers actually procuring or regulating the technologies in question. Users can construct indices or view technologies one by one. Users can also explore the relationship between technology...

Bus Operations of Three San Francisco Bay Area Transit Agencies during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

From March 2020 through March 2021, researchers monitored three San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies: two large – Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), Valley Transportation Authority (VTA); and one small – Tri Delta Transit. As the lockdown was imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, white-collar commuters, students, and the elderly stopped using public transit. Initially, ridership fell 90 percent, and then over the year slowly climbed to less than 50 percent for AC Transit and VTA, and to around 60 percent for Tri Delta Transit. The pace of recovery was not steady as ridership declined during protests in June 2020, during fare reinstatements in autumn 2020 and during the second COVID-19 wave in winter 2020-21. Agencies’ responses to the pandemic consisted of three parts: 1) maintaining health and safety of their employees; 2) minimizing COVID risk for their riders by keeping buses clean and enabling social distancing through capping the number of passengers...

Examining the Potential for Uber and Lyft to be Included in Subsidized Mobility Programs Targeted to Seniors, Low Income Adults, and People with Disabilities

Wed, 5 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Public agencies have subsidized taxi rides for people who have difficulty driving a car or using the regular transit system – targeting older residents and people with disabilities. There is interest among public agencies to add transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, to subsidized ride programs as a travel option due to the widespread availability of TNCs and high-quality service. Key issues include the need for wheelchair accessible vehicles, subsidy needs, and clients who lack or are uncomfortable using a smartphone and credit card. This research included a review of programs nationwide and interviews with program managers and clients to identify best practices. Best practices from agencies included contracting for wheelchair accessible TNC services, offering classes to help clients learn how to use the needed technologies, arranging for prepaid debit cards, creating a centralized billing system, providing a concierge service for those who need extra...

Mission and Mix: A Study of the Changing Tasks and Staffing Requirements the California Department of Transportation

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines the organizational capabilities and staff skills that will be needed to execute the changing mission of the . California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). It is an engineering development study in the sense that it is concerned with the professional know-how that Caltrans will need in the future. It is, at the same time, a strategic planning study in the sense that strategic planning is the art of positioning organizations to both meet and make change.

Mobile Device Data Analytics for Next-Generation Traffic Management

Tue, 7 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Quality data is critically important for research and policy-making. The availability of device location data carrying rich, detailed information on travel patterns has increased significantly in recent years with the proliferation of personal GPSenabled mobile devices and fleet transponders. However, in its raw form, location data can be inaccurate and contain embedded biases that can skew analyses. This report describes the development of a method to process, clean, and enrich location data. Researchers developed a computational framework for processing large scale location datasets. Using this framework several hundred days of location data from the San Francisco Bay Area was (a) cleaned, to identify and discard inaccurate or problematic data, (b) enriched, by filtering and annotating the data, and (c) matched to links on the road network. This framework provides researchers with the capability to build link-level metrics across large scale geographic regions. Various applications...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2019-20

Fri, 1 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2019, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 338 tow trucks and covering over 1,806 (centerline) miles of congested California freeways.

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Caltrans FSP program in reducing incident durations and removal of other obstructions that directly contribute to freeway congestion for Caltrans fiscal year 2019-2020. The project provides valuable information to agencies managing the FSP program so that resources are distributed within the various statewide...

Who Has Access to E-Commerce During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Sacramento Region? Implications for Future E-Commerce and Shopping Tripmaking

Mon, 20 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about dramatic shifts in travel, including shopping trips. We investigated changes in eshopping for food and non-food items by supplementing an April to May 2018 household travel survey (n=3,956 households) conducted by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) with a May 2020 follow-on panel survey (n=313 households) during one week early in the pandemic. Results demonstrate that impacts from added pickups and deliveries in the SACOG region during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic were limited and did not overwhelm curb management at retail, restaurant, and grocery establishments. Results also show that during the pandemic e-commerce tended to replace non-food shopping trips, but complemented restaurant and grocery trips. However, Forty percent of the sample households — predominantly lower income and/or older populations — still shopped only in-store for food while more affluent households appear to have isolated themselves...

Integrating Traffic Network Analysis and Communication Network Analysis at a Regional Scale to Support More Efficient Evacuation in Response to a Wildfire Event

Fri, 21 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

As demonstrated by the Camp Fire evacuation, communications (city-to-city, city-to-residents) play important roles in coordinating traffic operations and safeguarding region-wide evacuation processes in wildfire events. This collaborative report across multiple domains (fire, communication and traffic), documents a series of simulations and findings of the wildfire evacuation process for resource-strapped towns in Northern California. It consists of: (1) meteorological and vegetation-status dependent fire spread simulation (cellular automata model); (2) agency-level and agency-to-residents communication simulation (system dynamics model); and (3) dynamic traffic assignment (spatial-queue model). Two case studies are conducted: one for the town of Paradise (and the surrounding areas) and another for the community of Bolinas. The data and models are based on site visits and interviews with local agencies and residents. The integrated simulation framework is used to assess the interdependencies...

Benchmarking “Smart City” Technology Adoption in California: Developing and Piloting a Data Collection Approach

Thu, 13 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, “smart city” technologies have emerged that allow cities, counties, and other agencies to manage their infrastructure assets more effectively, make their services more accessible to the public, and allow citizens to interface with new web- and mobile-based operators of alternative service providers. This project reviews the academic literature and other sources on potential strengths, weaknesses, and risks associated with smart city technologies. No dataset was found that measures the adoption of such technologies by government agencies. To address this gap, a methodology was developed to guide data collection on the adoption of smart city technologies by urban transportation agencies and other service providers in California. The strategy used involved webscraping; interviews with experts, public agency, and senior level staff; and consultations with technology vendors. The approach was tested by assembling data on the adoption of smart city technologies in California...

Evaluation of Coordinated Ramp Metering (CRM) Systems in California

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Freeway on-ramp metering (RM) has been extensively used as a traffic control strategy to regulate the entry of the on-ramp vehicles to prevent congestion at the freeway merging areas and preserve the freeway capacity. Benefits of RM include improved freeway travel times, improved travel time reliability, and accident reductions. Fixed-rate ramp metering strategies are based on historical data and implemented by time of day. Traffic responsive RM strategies are based on real time freeway traffic data provided by loop detectors at the vicinity of the on-ramp. Coordinated RM determine the metering rates at the ramps along a freeway corridor to minimize the delays or maximize the freeway throughput. The objective of this research was to evaluate the traffic performance of coordinated traffic responsive systems (CRM) currently implemented by Caltrans based on field data.

To Pool or Not to Pool? Understanding the Time and Price Tradeoffs of OnDemand Ride Users – Opportunities, Challenges, and Social Equity Considerations for Policies to Promote Shared-Ride Services

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

On-demand mobility services including transportation network companies (also known as ridesourcing and ridehailing) like Lyft and Uber are changing the way that people travel by providing dynamic mobility that can supplement public transit and personal-vehicle use. However, TNC services have been found to contribute to increasing vehicle mileage, traffic congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions. Pooling rides ⎯ sharing a vehicle by multiple passengers to complete journeys of similar origin and destination ⎯ can increase the average vehicle occupancy of TNC trips and thus mitigate some of the negative impacts. Several mobility companies have launched app-based pooling services in recent years including app-based carpooling services (e.g., Waze Carpool, Scoop) that match drivers with riders; pooled on-demand ride services (e.g., Uber Pool and Lyft Shared rides) that match multiple TNC users; and microtransit services (e.g., Bridj, Chariot, Via) that offer on-demand, flexibly routed...

Summary of Interviews with California Metropolitan Planning Organizations About Senate Bill 375 and the Sustainable Communities Strategies

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In July and August of 2020, a research team of four graduate students from UC Berkeley’s Department of City and Regional Planning conducted interviews with directors and other high-level staff representing several of California’s metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to gather information on the achievements and challenges associated with the implementation of SB 375. Key takeaways from this effort include: 1) MPOs are not requesting additional authorities or oversight of local land use decisions; 2) MPOs use funding as “carrots” to incentivize local plans to align with regional goals, and many MPOs desire more discretionary funding and priority-specific funding; 3) some MPOs want to focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) strategies, such as telecommuting, active transportation, and technological advancement, in order to meet their GHG emission targets; 4) MPOs want the State to develop policies in ways that acknowledge distinct planning nuances and economic and geographic contexts...

Future of Public Transit and Shared Mobility: Scenario Planning for COVID-19 Recovery

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In 2020, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic enveloped the world, leading to a public health crisis that profoundly changed allaspects of society, especially multiple sectors in transportation such as public transit and shared mobility. With so much uncertaintyabout the future of travel, the transportation sector needs to move rapidly to shape the nature of public transit and shared mobilityservices during the COVID-19 recovery period. Consequently, the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies (UC ITS) and the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Executive Committee launched a scenario planning exercise from June to September 2020 involving 36 transportation experts. The exercise resulted in a series of policy options and research directions across three timeframes (i.e., within 12 months, one to three years, four to six years) that could guide the recovery of the public transit and shared mobility industries. This report offers several key takeaways....

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mobility Needs of an Aging Population in Contra Costa County

Mon, 7 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In 2018, SafeTREC conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in California. A follow-up survey planned for 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic changed life for all residents, was redesigned to assess mobility needs and changes during the Shelter-in-Place order and focused on COVID-19 impacts. Results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Shelter-in-Place order have had a major impact on senior mobility. Communications for many were restricted to phone, email, texts, social media and video chats. Among those with a medical problem, just over 60% called a doctor or nurse line or went to a doctor’s office, while 11.2% went to an emergency room, and 8.6% did nothing. A total of 8% of respondents said they had run out of food or other important items during the Shelter-in-Place order. Rates of exercise outside the home dropped 20% between January and June 2020, and while over 60% sought outside entertainment in January 2020, by June 2020, nearly...

Best Practices for the Public Management of Electric Scooters

Fri, 6 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This research projects evaluates the social, environmental, and safety impacts of shared electric scooters (e-scooters)’ through a literature review, a nationwide scan of state and local laws and regulations, and a case study of Oakland’s experience with e-scooters, including an analysis of the city’s user survey and our own in-depth interviews. E-scooters offer an enjoyable, low-cost travel option, but are used mainly by young, affluent, white males. To improve equity, cities are requiring e-scooter rental companies to serve low-income and minority communities and some further mandate that a share of the e-scooters accommodate people with disabilities. E-scooters are quiet and produce no tailpipe emissions, but their cumulative environmental impact depends on their manufacture, useful life, disposal, and use. In early applications, rental e-scooters survived less than a year. Some 30-50 percent of e-scooter trips replace short auto trips. Cities and states can improve e-scooter...

Synthesis of State-Level Planning and Strategic Actions on Automated Vehicles: Lessons and Policy Guidance for California

Tue, 6 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This synthesis provides a summary and comparative analysis of actions states across the United States are taking inresponse to automated vehicles (AVs). The research focuses on state-level stakeholder forums (e.g., task forces, committees) and state-level strategic actions (e.g., studies, initiatives, programs) initiated by a state legislature, agovernor, or a state agency. The analysis found that AV stakeholder forums and strategic actions address a diverse set offocus areas, but they pay minimal attention to the implications of AVs on the environment, public health, social equity, land use, public transit, goods movement, and emergency response. Also, forums and strategic actions commonly include members from state transportation departments, the legislature, and academia; however, representatives from industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are included less often. Academia and researchers participate in themajority of AV forums and actions, either in an advisory...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program:Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2018-19

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2018, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 328 tow trucks and covering over 1,823 (centerline) miles of congested California freeways.

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Caltrans FSP program in reducing incident durations and removal of other obstructions that directly contribute to freeway congestion for Caltrans fiscal year 2018-2019. The project provides valuable information to agencies managing the FSP program so that resources are distributed within the various statewide...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017-18

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

16. Abstract

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2018, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 318 tow trucks and covering over 1,725 (center-line) miles of congested California freeways.

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Caltrans FSP program in reducing incident durations and removal of other obstructions that directly contribute to freeway congestion for Caltrans fiscal year 2017-2018. The project provides valuable information to agencies managing the FSP program so that resources...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2016-17

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2017, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 324 tow trucks and covering over 1,718 (center-line) miles of congested California freeways.

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Caltrans FSP program in reducing incident durations and removal of other obstructions that directly contribute to freeway congestion for Caltrans fiscal year 2016-2017. The project provides valuable information to agencies managing the FSP program so that resources are distributed within the various statewide...

Background Paper: The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) Makes Trip-Planning Easier — Especially During a Pandemic — Yet its Use by California Agencies is Uneven

Thu, 9 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is an open source data format public transportation agency use to share information about routes and vehicle arrival and departure times. A variety of trip-planning applications, including Google Maps, rely on GTFS feeds to incorporate public transit information. In April 2020, the California Integrated Travel Project conducted a Feasibility Study that called for the widespread adoption of GTFS-static (GTFS-s) and GTFS-realtime (GTFS-r) to make transit simpler for California residents; however, there is little research on patterns of information sharing across transit agencies. This background paper highlights findings from an analysis of GTFS use among agencies that report to the National Transit Database (NTD) in California. The prevalence of transit service modifications in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were also studied.

Research Synthesis for the California Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force

Thu, 14 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This research synthesis consists of a set of white papers that jointly provide a review of research on the current practicefor setting speed limits and future opportunities to improve roadway safety. This synthesis was developed to inform thework of the Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force, which was formed in 2019 by the California State Transportation Agencyin response to California Assembly Bill 2363 (Friedman). The statutory goal of the Task Force is to develop a structured,coordinated process for early engagement of all parties to develop policies to reduce traffic fatalities to zero. Thisreport addresses the following critical issues related to the work of the Task Force: (i) the relationship between trafficspeed and safety; (ii) lack of empirical justification for continuing to use the 85th percentile rule; (iii) why we need toreconsider current speed limit setting practices; (iv) promising alternatives to current methods of setting speed limits;and (v) improving road designs...

Review of California Wildfire Evacuations from 2017 to 2019

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Between 2017 and 2019, California experienced a series of devastating wildfires that together led over one million people to be ordered to evacuate. Due to the speed of many of these wildfires, residents across California found themselves in challenging evacuation situations, often at night and with little time to escape. These evacuations placed considerable stress on public resources and infrastructure for both transportation and sheltering. In the face of these clear challenges, transportation and emergency management agencies across California have widely varying levels of preparedness for major disasters, and nearly all agencies do not have the public resources to adequately and swiftly evacuate all populations in danger. To holistically address these challenges and bolster current disaster and evacuation planning, preparedness, and response in California, we summarize the evacuations of eleven major wildfires in California between 2017 and 2019 and offer a cross-comparison...

Supercharged? Electricity Demand and the Electrification of Transportation in California

Sun, 8 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The rapid electrification of the transportation fleet in California raises important questions about the reliability, cost, and environmental implications for the electric grid. A crucial first element to understanding these implications is an accurate picture of the extent and timing of residential electricity use devoted to EVs. Although California is now home to over 650,000 electric vehicles (EVs), less than 5% of these vehicles are charged at home using a meter dedicated to EV use. This means that state policy has had to rely upon very incomplete data on residential charging use. This report summarizes the first phase of a project combining household electricity data and information on the adoption of electric vehicles over the span of four years. We propose a series of approaches for measuring the effects of EV adoption on electricity load in California. First, we measure load from the small subset of households that do have an EV-dedicated meter. Second, we estimate how...

High Accuracy Location Based Services CostBenefit Study: Final Report

Mon, 4 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents a benefit and cost study of a Cooperative High‐Accuracy LOcation (C‐HALO) service. A High Accuracy Location service should be ubiquitous and reliable as the GPS constellation. A survey of the literature on location services reveals a body of work on the benefits of a high accuracy location service. Focusing on road travel, benefits are estimated to be between $160-$320 billion dollars over slightly more than 20 years. The benefits arise from smoother traffic flow on the roads leading to reduced travel delays, and fewer accidents leading to reduced injuries and saved lives; it may also yield climate‐change and public health benefits through its enabling of smoother traffic flow. The cost assessment considers where new infrastructure investment is required.

Current State of the Sharing Economy and Evacuations: Lessons from California

Wed, 19 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

In many evacuations including wildfire evacuations, public agencies often do not have enough resources to evacuate and shelter all citizens. Consequently, we propose that the sharing economy, through private companies and/or private citizens, could be leveraged in disasters for transportation and sheltering resources. To assess this feasibility, we distributed surveys to individuals impacted by three major wildfires in California: 1) the 2017 October Northern California Wildfires (n=79), 2) the 2017 December Southern California Wildfires (n=226), and 3) the 2018 Carr Wildfire (n=284). Using these data, we find that private citizens are moderately to highly likely to share transportation and sheltering resources in future disasters, but numerous reservations persist about sharing. We also find significant spare capacity in evacuating vehicles and potential homes. To supplement this work, we also conducted four focus groups (n=37) of vulnerable populations to determine the benefits...

Meeting SB1 Transportation Systems Performance Goals

Wed, 19 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000

This research project directly addresses the Caltrans policy question of “How to meet the SB 1 ten-year (2027) mandated preliminary performance outcomes for additional state highway investments?” More specifically, the study focuses on performance outcome number 4: “Not less than 90 percent of the transportation management system units in good condition”. As part of this project, the research team evaluated the Caltrans performance-based methodology to achieve the 90% performance goal in addition to completing a review of relevant reports from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), state departments of transportation, and Caltrans. The research team also conducted multiple meetings, phone calls and emails with Caltrans management. The research team found that the Caltrans Transportation Asset Management Plan, which governs its SB 1 implementation, follows FHWA guidance and published best asset management practices. Further, Caltrans has a solid asset management plan in place...

Peer-To-Peer (P2P) Carsharing: Understanding Early Markets, Social Dynamics, and Behavioral Impacts

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Shared mobility services have now become firmly integrated into urban transportation systems across the globe. Carsharing, bikesharing, ridesourcing or transportation network companies(TNCs), and other systems now offer urban travelers access to transportation services that had long been previously only possible through personal vehicle ownership. Carsharing is arguably the pioneer mode of the sharing economy, given it ushered in a new way of thinking and access to the private automobile in the 20thcentury.Since its North American inception in Montreal in 1994, carsharing has undergone several waves of innovation. With each innovation, carsharing has deployed new functionality, technology, and business models. One of the more prominent innovations in carsharing has been peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing, which enables individuals to leverage information technology to share their personal vehicles with others in their area. The P2P carsharing industry has gone through some evolution...

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: FSP Beat Evaluation Model; Methodology and Parameter Estimation (FY 2014-15)