John MacArthur

Electric Bikes in North America Results of an Online Survey

The research described in this paper was conducted in part to understand whether different bicycling technology–-in this case, electric-assist bicycles (e-bikes)–-could reduce barriers to bicycling such as trip distance, topography, time, and rider effort. If so, this technology may result in more bike trips and longer bike trips and may increase the diversity of people bicycling, including people with disabilities or chronic injuries. An e-bike typically resembles a standard pedal bicycle with the addition of a rechargeable battery and electric motor to assist with propulsion. To address these aims, an online survey was conducted of existing e-bike users, who were surveyed about their purchase and use decisions. Responses from 553 e-bike users across North America were analyzed. Results suggest that e-bikes enable users to bike more often, to travel longer distances, and to carry more cargo with them. Additionally, e-bikes allow people who otherwise would not be able to bike (because of physical limitations or proximity to locations) the ability to bike with electric assist.

Climate Action Plans and Long-Range Transportation Plans in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska: State of the Practice in Adaptation Planning

Research efforts in the past decade have produced a wealth of knowledge about the likely impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure—effects witnessed to date as well as those anticipated in coming decades—the effects of which frequently conflict in both magnitude and scope. This research summarizes the findings of the surface transportation climate change literature and explores the efforts under way in the transportation planning realm with respect to adaptive preparations of transportation infrastructure for the effects of climate change. This research focuses on transportation facilities and operations in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. This report builds on recent research on governmental climate change planning efforts to explore how agencies in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington are preparing for climate change in their climate action plans, to investigate how the goals and recommendations of those plans are reflected in long-range transportation planning documents, and to identify key resources and strategies agencies may adopt to ensure that the anticipated impacts of climate change on transportation are addressed in transportation planning documents.

Identifying Surface Transportation Vulnerabilities and Risk Assessment Opportunities Under Climate Change

Transportation departments are beginning to recognize that adaptation for climate change must become an integral part of their planning efforts. However, staff members frequently lack the adequate local data, training, and guidance needed to begin adaptation planning assessments. As a result, planning for adapting to climate change has remained generally abstract and lacks the specificity needed to identify potential system vulnerabilities, assess risk, and prioritize responses. This report outlines a geographic information system–based method with which transportation departments can assess vulnerabilities to climate change in their multimodal surface transportation systems. The city of Portland, Oregon, is used as an illustrative case study. The proposed method allows for preliminary vulnerability identification, prioritization, and impact assessment and can also be used as a basis for more advanced analysis and scenario testing. This research also identifies and describes data gaps and other barriers to climate change adaptation planning for surface transportation.

Electrification of Transport Refrigeration Units for Temperature-Sensitive Freight: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 Technical Assistance Case Study:

Transport refrigeration units (TRUs) powered by integral diesel engines provide necessary temperature control for temperature-sensitive freight. TRU engines on trucks or trailers run while parked for temperature control (known as idling)—commonly for 40 to 60% of engine run time while at a home base distribution center. TRU engine idling is a sizable source of fuel consumption, causing air pollution, negative health effects, noise, and unnecessary cost. Electrification is a viable alternative to engine idling in TRUs parked at distribution centers, cold storage warehouses, truck stops, public rest areas, packing houses, terminals and other goods-movement facilities by adopting plug-in electric transport refrigeration units (eTRUs) with grid-supplied electricity. While electrification promises environmental and economic advantages over engine idling, adoption of eTRUs with grid-supplied electricity in the United States is slow. This paper presents results from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency technical assistance pilot project to address market and behavior barriers of electrification of transport refrigeration to reduce TRU idling. The project findings revealed fleets often underestimate idling time and cost, while being skeptical about the long-term savings and benefits of electrification. The paper introduces a technical assistance approach to work with businesses to reduce operating costs while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and toxic air pollution of temperature-controlled freight.

Current Efforts to Make Bikeshare More Equitable

The number of public bikeshare systems has been increasing rapidly across the United States over the past 5 to 10 years. To date, most academic research around bikeshare systems in the United States has focused on the logistics of planning and operationalizing successful systems. Investigations of system users and effects on the local community are less common, and studies that are focused on efforts to engage underserved communities in bikeshare systems are rarer still. This paper relies on a survey of representatives from 56 U.S. bikeshare systems to better understand and document current approaches toward serving low-income and minority populations. The survey asked about equity policies and metrics, the degree to which equity considerations affect a variety of system practices, what the existing barriers to utilizing bikeshare are for target populations, and what challenges the bikeshare system entity faces in addressing those barriers. Results indicate that nearly one in four bikeshare systems has written policies around equity; nearly half of bikeshare systems with more than 500 bikes have such policies. However, many more systems consider equity in various aspects of their systems. Equity considerations affected station siting, fee structure and payment systems, and promotion and marketing in a majority of systems (68%, 72%, and 57%, respectively), and operations and data collection and analysis, though to a lesser extent (42% each). Bikeshare systems reported cost, access, and outreach as the largest barriers to equity, in addition to overall funding and staff levels.