Elizabeth Deakin

Smart Growth Planning for Climate Protection

Problem: To help achieve climate policy goals, California recently adopted measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by promoting more efficient development. One policy, Senate Bill (SB) 375, gained widespread attention as “the nations first law to combat greenhouse gas emissions by reducing sprawl” (Office of the Governor of California, 2008). What does experience to date indicate about the effectiveness of Californias institutional model for achieving GHG reductions from transportation and land use? Purpose: SB 375, adopted in 2008, requires Californias urban regions to achieve mandated GHG reductions through coordinated transportation and land use. After its passage, the California Air Resources Board moderated a lively, contentious negotiation process with the states 18 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to define potential GHG reductions and assign the mandated targets. We evaluate progress toward achieving SB 375 goals, analyzing the target-setting process and local government engagement. We assess the viability of Californias largely voluntary model for achieving climate goals through smart growth. Methods: We consider the two-year-long SB 375 target-setting process as an exercise in institution building, creating new planning requirements that build on existing regional processes but also require the development of new techniques for systematically evaluating policy options and assigning regional responsibility. We evaluate MPO data on the potential of various smart growth policy options for reducing GHGs, and consider the activities and perspective of local planners by incorporating findings from surveys and interviews. Results and conclusions: SB 375 demonstrates that regional smart growth climate policy can be built on existing planning processes, particularly for transportation and associated air quality requirements. However, regional and local planners express concerns about inadequate resources for implementation. Without strong state or federal mandates or incentives that favor the policy outcomes envisioned in SB 375, the law expects more from MPOs than they can easily accomplish. As executed so far, SB 375 adds only a modest contribution to state efforts to reduce GHGs by 2020. At the local level, we document a sharp rise in climate policymaking, but also gaps between regional and local assessment and mitigation strategies. Takeaway for practice: It is possible to systematize collaborative climate goal setting for development planning across regions, but negotiating fair share responsibilities is inherently political and requires strong institutions in order to succeed. Effective smart growth climate planning requires matching responsibility and authority with incentives that integrate state, regional, and local needs and responsibilities; tough performance mandates and/or strong incentives are needed to bridge the traditional regional–local divide. To reinforce climate policy through local environmental review, requirements must be linked to regional plans; otherwise, project-by-project mitigation may work at cross-purposes with wider strategies.

Influence of the social environment on children's school travel

OBJECTIVES To analyze the association between parental perceptions of the social environment and walking and biking to school among 10-14-year-olds. METHODS Surveys were conducted with 432 parents of 10-14-year-olds in the San Francisco Bay Area during 2006 and 2007; the final sample size was 357. The social environment was measured with a 3-item scale assessing child-centered social control. Unadjusted and adjusted differences in rates of active travel to school were compared between families reporting high levels of social control in their neighborhood and those reporting low or neutral levels of social control. Adjusted differences were computed by matching respondents on child and household characteristics and distance to school. RESULTS Of children whose parents reported high levels of social control, 37% walked or biked to school, compared with 24% of children whose parents reported low or neutral levels. The adjusted difference between the two groups was 10 percentage points (p=0.04). The association was strongest for girls and non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSIONS Higher levels of parent-perceived child-centered social control are associated with more walking and biking to school. Increasing physical activity through active travel to school may require intervention programs to address the social environment.

Bounded rationality in policy learning amongst cities: lessons from the transport sector

The internationalization of policy regimes and the reorganization of the state have provided new opportunities for cities to bypass nation-state structures and work with other cities internationally. This provides greater opportunity for cities to learn from each other and could be an important stimulus to the transfer of policies across the globe. Few studies exist however which focus on the processes that shape the search for policy lessons and how they are affected by the institutional context within which they are conducted. This paper describes research conducted in the field of urban transport and planning policy across eleven cities in Northern Europe and North America which seeks to explore the motivations for and mechanisms supporting learning about new policies. Thirty policies were examined across the eleven sites using document review and interviews with key actors. The paper explores the search for lessons and the learning process and considers the influences of institutional context, organizational behaviour, and individual cognitive constraints. The process of seeking out and learning policy lessons is defined by individuals operating within a particular policy space and exhibits a number of characteristics of strongly bounded rational choice. The search parameters are significantly influenced by preconceptions of the nature of the preferred solutions and the likelihood of cities in other contexts offering meaningful learning opportunities. Trusted peer networks emerge as critical in overcoming information overload, resource constraints, and uncertainty in the potential for policy transfer. The mobility of policies seems also to be linked to the mobility of the key transfer agents. Cities adopt quite different approaches to engaging with the communities of policy mobilizers which seems likely to impact on the pace and pattern of the movement of policies.

Markets for Dynamic Ridesharing? Case of Berkeley, California

Ridesharing programs are widespread across the United States. Dynamic ridesharing is a newer way to share rides on the fly or up to several days in advance using cell phone or computer messaging to make arrangements. This paper describes research conducted to assess the potential for dynamic ridesharing for travel to downtown Berkeley, California, and the University of California, Berkeley, campus. The study provides insights about the opportunities and challenges presented by this travel option. Data were collected from statistical and geographic analysis of the downtown and campus travel markets, and surveys and focus groups were administered to employees and graduate students. The study found that about one-fifth of commuters who drive alone to the campus would be interested in using dynamic ridesharing at least occasionally and live in areas where matches could be found. They would prefer to arrange a shared ride at least the night before rather than immediately before the trip is made. Many of these travelers were unaware of current rideshare services, and some would be willing to find a regular carpool partner. Finally, if parking charges are fairly high and parking supply is limited and regulated, financial incentives and carpool parking subsidies greatly increase interest in dynamic ridesharing.

Analyzing equity impacts of transit fare changes: Case study of Alameda–Contra Costa Transit, California

Many public transit agencies consider increasing fares when faced with budget shortfalls. This paper analyzes the Alameda-Contra Costa (AC) Transit Districts five alternative fare proposals introduced for public discussion in March 2005. The proposals combined fare hikes, base fare reductions, eliminations of free transfers, and discontinuation of periodic passes. Using the agencys 2002 on-board survey data, the study assessed the impacts of individual fare proposals on different subsets of riders and evaluated if they were equitable; and estimated potential fare revenues, using alternative price elasticities to estimate changes in ridership due to changes in price. The analysis revealed that proposals that increased the cost of transfers or eliminated unlimited-use passes produced dramatically unequal impacts on certain riders. Proposals for flat fares per ride were found to be least equitable, even when the base fare was lowered, because lower income riders, youth, and minorities made more trips and transferred more frequently than their more affluent counterparts. Proposals that maintained existing pass instruments and allowed transfers for small fees were the most favorable. The paper demonstrates the utility of on-board surveys and details an approach that could be widely used for evaluation of equity in public transit and other areas.

Study of Park-and-Ride Facilities and Their Use in the San Francisco Bay Area of California

Park-and-ride lots are important support facilities for transit and ridesharing in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The authors designed and carried out the regions first large-scale, detailed study of park-and-ride facilities and users. Three Bay Area Rapid Transit (rail) station parking lots were also surveyed. The user survey results showed that almost all the parking users were commuters; at the freeway lots, half were transit users and the remainder were organized and casual carpoolers. Most drove alone to the park-and-ride lot and made long trips to work, many more than 30 mi one way. Users had concerns about lot security, the lack of lighting, and the quality of transit services offered. Analysis of focus group data determined that schedule adherence rather than frequency was the cause of most concerns. Participants expressed a willingness to pay for parking that was fenced, security patrolled, and lighted, with shelters for waiting. Together, the surveys and focus groups have provided in...

Supply Chain Coordination for Port Sustainability: Lessons for New Institutional Designs

The rapid expansion of trade and the intense pace of the economic activities of ports pose numerous social and environmental challenges, and thus put port hinterland regions at risk and challenge traditional port business models. Few studies have examined the conceptual and empirical issues involved in improving port sustainability, although port sustainability issues have recently been discussed with some urgency in the goods movement sector. This paper sets out a conceptual model of port sustainability, presents and examines multiple concepts of supply chains surrounding port activity, and identifies both institutional barriers and supply chain bottlenecks. Three different supply chain concepts for seaports are discussed: physical infrastructure chain, economic value chain, and institutional chain. Rather than a narrow focus on an individual ports operational aspects, broader, more systematic supply chain perspectives on cargo movement systems are essential to introduce port sustainability effectively to current U.S. port business practices. Actions are needed, not just from port authorities, but also from other stakeholders, including government, industries, and community groups. Coordinated activities and collaboration would significantly facilitate the implementation of sustainable models of seaport businesses and cargo movement services.

TRAVEL, WORK, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS: A VIEW OF THE ELECTRONICS REVOLUTION AND ITS POTENTIAL IMPACTS

In considering the possible impacts of information technologies and other electronics innovations on transportation, many studies have focused on substitution effects and especially on opportunities for telecommunications to replace, or dramatically reduce the length of, physical commuting to work. This paper argues that transportation will be affected in much more fundamental ways than have been considered in the substitution framework. Electronic technologies are facilitating structural changes in production and consumption, which in turn may lead to basic reorientation in the nature of work and the use and organization of time. These changes are likely to have profound economic and social effects which, while much larger than the transportation question, may necessitate rethinking the function of transportation systems.

Land Use Challenges to Implementing Transit-Oriented Development in China: Case Study of Jinan, Shandong Province

Several Chinese cities are interested in incorporating transit-oriented development (TOD) around their subway stations. Few cities, however, have considered incorporating TOD into their bus systems; fewer still have included Chinas bike population. The midsize Chinese city of Jinan, capital of the northeastern province of Shandong, wants to incorporate both bus rapid transit (BRT) and TOD within its urban planning framework. Jinan is set to construct a 135-km BRT network and seeks to incorporate TOD initially at the neighborhood level and eventually in the entire city. As part of an ongoing project between the University of California Transportation Center and the Transportation Engineering Department of Shandong University, preliminary land use analysis was conducted on a proposed BRT corridor, Lishan Road, incorporating smart-growth principles as a framework for creating walkable neighborhoods. Current land-use challenges, both citywide and street specific, to making the Lishan Road BRT corridor a true transit-oriented development are presented. The main barriers identified are as follows: (a) Excessive auto-oriented land uses along the corridor result in pedestrian–bike, bike–vehicle, and pedestrian–vehicle conflicts, which will increase with the construction of the BRT stations; (b) the land-use pattern manifested in 1-km blocks results in excessive distances between pedestrian crossings at intersections; (c) with superblock land use patterns and a lack of secondary roads, accessibility is limited for all modes; and (d) parking is inconsistently enforced, and cars are allowed to park on sidewalks, creating unwalkable areas and encouraging driving. Policies and guidelines that help shift Jinans planning to more pedestrian-friendly designs are presented.

Sustainable transportation: U.S. dilemmas and European experiences

The approach to sustainable transportation issues in the United States was examined in light of findings from a study of sustainable transportation planning in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scotland. In the European countries, reducing greenhouse gases has been the initial motivation for most sustainable transportation initiatives, but broader social, economic, and environmental concerns now figure into the idea of sustainability. In the United States, barriers to greenhouse gas reduction and planning for sustainability include uncertainty about the problem and the best ways to address it, uncertainties about public support, and the lack of a clear mandate for action. Nevertheless, efforts are under way locally in the United States to promote sustainable development, and transportation plays a central role in these plans. The European organizations visited are using many of the same strategies as are U.S. planners, but supporting their efforts are strong policy commitments, government incentives, and new planning processes emphasizing collaboration and performance measurement. Tracking the comparative success of these efforts would be an important next step.