Sandra Rosenbloom

Peak-period traffic congestion: A state-of-the-art analysis and evaluation of effective solutions

This paper reports on an analysis of a range of largely non-construction congestion reduction techniques which was funded by the U.S. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). A number of evaluations of the direct and indirect effec tiveness, costs, timing and feasibility of 22 major classes of promising techniques was performed. Based on this analysis, the study team evaluated 17 of these techniques as both effective and feasible in a U. S. institutional context.However, none of these 17 offered more than marginal reductions in peak-period traffic congestion when applied individually. Some techniques affected so small a percentage of travelers that reductions in congestion would not be discernible. Other techniques promised significant congestion reductions in theory but did not realize that promise in practice. It was concluded that many techniques could be implemented together with the potential for far greater combined effectiveness.An analysis was performed to determine how best to “package” or jointly implement promising techniques to optimize their combined effectiveness. It was found that all promising techniques could not be applied together because of conflicts in their impact. This analysis suggested eight sample “packages” or combinations of mutually supportive techniques. These eight packages were subjected to evaluations similar to those performed for individual techniques; while the packages are merely examples of potential combinations, the evaluation methodology employed should be of continuing use to local transportation planners.This paper was developed from NCHRP Report 169, Peak-Period Traffic Congestion, Options for Current Programs, and Peak-Period Traffic Congestion: State-of-the-Art and Recommended Research (NCHRP Agency Draft) By Robert Remak and Sandra Rosenbloom.

Is the Driving Experience of Older Women Changing? Safety and Mobility Consequences over Time

Older women currently have travel patterns substantially different from those of older men even when they are licensed to drive. These differences have different safety and mobility implications for older women in the future—if they persist—but equally important consequences if they do not. This paper shows that women drivers at all ages drive less often and for fewer miles than men of comparable ages; as a result, in the next three decades most women will enter their retirement years with substantially less driving experience than their licensing status might indicate. The differences in travel patterns and driving experiences between women and men are likely to persist, and policy makers must address both their safety and mobility consequences. There is a significant need to conduct the kind of safety and mobility research that will inform intelligent policy development and planning strategies for what has been called the feminization of aging.

Differences in Perceptions of Driving Skills: Older Drivers and Adult Children of Older Drivers in the United Kingdom

This paper is based on one part of a major study in the United Kingdom of the driving problems of older people. It addresses two key issues: first, the differences between how older people view their own driving skills and what adult children think of their older relatives as drivers and, second, the influence of adult children on their older relatives’ driving behavior—either improving their skills or ceasing driving entirely. The study showed that most older people viewed themselves as good drivers but that most adult children of older drivers did not feel that those drivers drove safely. Most older people said that their children did not comment on their driving. Those who did admit that their families criticized their driving largely felt that those criticisms were unwarranted. Adult children reported that discussions with their parents about driving were often acrimonious without any positive results. There were substantial differences between male and female older drivers on all these issues. When asked if there were ways to improve the driving of older people, neither older drivers nor adult children knew about techniques that could enhance their driving rather than reduce their exposure or cease driving entirely. All these findings suggest that (a) strategies to encourage better or safer driving may have to be differentially targeted to men and women and (b) there is a need to promote those techniques that improve older driver performance or crash outcomes.

Alternative Transportation Financing Strategies: Special Equity Implications for Older and Retired People

This paper presents the major findings from a study conducted for AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) on the implications of various transportation financing strategies for older and retired people. The study found that almost all current and proposed financing mechanisms are or would be regressive and that many would have a limited relationship to the costs that users impose on the system or the benefits that travelers receive from the system. The most important study finding is that there are more substantial equity concerns for older and retired people when less traditional definitions of equity are applied. The study concludes that to offset inequities in the current system or a potential system of financing, particularly in how those funds are spent to deliver transportation services, it is crucial that all levels of government structure and deliver transportation services that respond to the specific needs of older and retired people.

Peak-period traffic congestion

This paper reports on an analysis of a range of largely non-construction congestion reduction techniques which was funded by the U.S. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). A number of evaluations of the direct and indirect effec tiveness, costs, timing and feasibility of 22 major classes of promising techniques was performed. Based on this analysis, the study team evaluated 17 of these techniques as both effective and feasible in a U. S. institutional context.However, none of these 17 offered more than marginal reductions in peak-period traffic congestion when applied individually. Some techniques affected so small a percentage of travelers that reductions in congestion would not be discernible. Other techniques promised significant congestion reductions in theory but did not realize that promise in practice. It was concluded that many techniques could be implemented together with the potential for far greater combined effectiveness.An analysis was performed to determine how best to “package” or jointly implement promising techniques to optimize their combined effectiveness. It was found that all promising techniques could not be applied together because of conflicts in their impact. This analysis suggested eight sample “packages” or combinations of mutually supportive techniques. These eight packages were subjected to evaluations similar to those performed for individual techniques; while the packages are merely examples of potential combinations, the evaluation methodology employed should be of continuing use to local transportation planners.This paper was developed from NCHRP Report 169, Peak-Period Traffic Congestion, Options for Current Programs, and Peak-Period Traffic Congestion: State-of-the-Art and Recommended Research (NCHRP Agency Draft) By Robert Remak and Sandra Rosenbloom.