Stephanie DiPetrillo

Residential Property Values and New Jersey Transit Village Program

Since 1999, 23 New Jersey transit villages have been designated in New Jersey municipalities, with the intention of intensifying development around rail stations and bus hubs. As one test of the effectiveness of this state effort, the appreciation in residential property values is investigated and compared with that in other municipalities in the state. Some limited positive evidence is found to support the New Jersey transit village designation. Econometric analysis of the change in average residential sales price over 9 years finds an association but cannot establish a causal effect. Case study analysis of selected New Jersey transit villages suggests that the forethought, commitment, and political will required to apply for transit village status may be what sparks municipal development rather than the designation itself.

Improving Pathways to Fixed-Route Transit: Transit Agency Practices to Expand Access for All Users:

This paper discusses challenges to and promising practices for making infrastructure improvements that enable persons with disabilities and all system users to safely reach public transportation stations and stops to access fixed-route transit options. Although tremendous strides have been made in national transit system accessibility since the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, far less progress has been made in ensuring that pathways to accessible transit stations and stops are in place. This reality poses a critical mobility concern as the nation’s aging population continues to rise, as does the percentage of the population with disability who may need to utilize public transit to access life enhancing and sustaining services. The study uses a national survey and targeted case study analysis to identify effective best practices for facilitating improvement to pathways to transit. These include approaching cost and funding creatively; pursuing partnerships; initiating and maintaining open communication and collaboration; exploring the use of data and new technologies to reduce cost and improve outcomes; and thinking holistically to identify and address pathway to transit improvement needs. Useful to both practitioners and policy-makers, the findings presented offer insights on how agencies can successfully achieve infrastructure improvements that extend beyond their own facilities and that allow people with disabilities and others to more easily access public transit.

Delays, Detours, and Diversions: Paths to Fully Executed Safe Routes to School Projects

State governments periodically solicit, review, and award Safe Routes to Schools grants to local governments and school districts that are seeking to make improvements that will improve student travel to and from school. Having endured the process of identifying a worthy project and completing the grant application, these local entities must then execute the specified work. Many communities are successful, but some are not. The research presented in this paper identified promising practices used by those entities that had completed their projects (and had successfully achieved their goals) despite difficulties along the way. The research identified ways in which the grant fulfillment process broke down and how these difficulties may be overcome.