Vukan R Vuchic

Bus Semirapid Transit Mode Development and Evaluation

The article reviews the Federal Transit Administrations (FTAs) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) program that is aimed at upgrading bus service into semirapid transit category. Some of the earlier similar programs that were initially successful but later degraded by allowing sharing of lanes by high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) are discussed. The BRT program, with its organized systems approach, is expected to have a positive impact on other bus services. Improved bus services can be seen as a significant step to higher quality, attractive transit services which will represent major lines in smaller cities or complementary lines with rail transit in larger ones.

Land Consumption Impacts of a Transportation System on a City: An Analysis

The impacts of a changing transportation system on land consumption are analyzed. An analytical model with which to examine the intrinsic relationships between the volume of activities, the intensity of land use, and the modal split of generated trips is formulated on the basis of an idealized urban region that contains a city within radius R. The city land consists of that required for transportation and that for all other activities. Given hypothetical initial conditions, impacts of an increasing auto modal split are analyzed on the basis of three conceivable strategies to deal with the pressure to expand transportation facilities. The analysis shows that the modal split has a strong influence on volume of activities and land use intensity. A policy of infrastructure expansion to accommodate the increasing number of autos reduces the amount of land available for more fundamental activities that transport is intended to support, not displace. To prevent this displacement, land intensity of areas used for all other activities must increase. Otherwise, the options would be to relocate some activities from the city to outlying areas; such relocation could result in increasing traffic volumes in the entire region. Alternatively, the accommodation of other activities may encroach on previously protected or undevelopable land and lead to unsustainable development for the region. It is also shown that to maintain sustainability of a city, high-capacity transit modes with reserve capacity, such as rail transit systems, represent an efficient option in dense urban areas.

PLANNING FOR THE FIRST LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SYSTEM IN KOREA: JEONJU LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PROJECT

Pursuing a low-cost, yet modern, high-quality, medium-capacity transit system to improve their transit services, several Korean cities have opted for automated guided transit systems. Yet in 1999 the city of Jeonju decided to introduce a light rail transit (LRT) system not only to improve its transit services but also to improve living conditions, expand business activities, and increase livability. The initial study was performed in 1999, and the preliminary engineering study was completed in 2001. The project is now into the final design leading up to construction. The system consists of a network of two independent lines 24.92 km long with 46 stations and is planned to operate mainly on the street median with a separate right-of-way. The project will be financed and operated by the public sector according to the Public Investment Inducement Act. The first line is scheduled to open in 2008 and the second line in 2010. Numerous issues and elements should be considered for successful project implementation because Korea has no experience in building an LRT system. Although the project seems to be going well, opposition from local organizations has been encountered. The history of the Jeonju LRT system is presented. The system features are described, including network alignment, projected ridership, and financing. Major elements considered and issues encountered during the planning process are also discussed.

Time-Distance Diagrams: A Powerful Tool for Service Planning and Control

Graphical scheduling is an old technique that has been neglected, or never acquired, in many North American transit agencies. It retains its advantages in basic schedule design and analysis as it eases the solution to problems that are difficult to solve analytically. Even information about simple routes is enhanced by the detailed operating characteristics inherent in detailed vehicle trajectories and by the relative ease with which accelerated service and service recovery strategies can be investigated. It also can be used to cofirm and refine solutions that are generated by analytical methods. The methodology is reviewed in the context of such planning applications. Graphical scheduling has additional advantaged in operational control with the advent of modern ITS technologies. By movement of the cursor on a terminal screen, detailed information about all activity along a route becomes available. It is possible to link the altering of trajectories through clicking and dragging to the automatic issuance of control commands and updates of passenger information. These and other possible uses of the technique in an operational context are presented.

TRAVEL COSTS AND INTERMODAL DISTRIBUTION IN URBAN TRANSPORTATION

The free selection of travel between automobile and transit modes results in the individual equilibrium condition, which is not socially optimal. It is shown that shifting travel from cars to transit under most conditions results in travel improvements for both modes. To implement this winwin change, however, it is necessary to decrease the disutility (cost) of travel by transit and increase the disutility of automobile travel. A comparative analysis of travel costs by different modes shows that automobile users pay extremely low out-of-pocket costs, particularly when parking is subsidized (free). Indirect costs and impacts of automobile travel in urban areas are very high, but users do not pay them. This condition of underpriced automobile use results in excessive driving, which causes traffic congestion and has many negative impacts on cities. In many cities, transit improvements or incentives are paralleled by automobile incentives; this represents subsidization of competing services and thus fails to induce modal shift. A shift of travel from cars to transit (and other modes) can best be achieved by car disincentives complemented by transit improvements, so that travelers can change modes rather than reduce essential trips. The mobility of the low-income population can be enhanced when revenue from automobile disincentives is applied to improvements of alternative modes. Measures that reduce subsidies to automobile use and convert them into direct user costs, such as a significant increase in gasoline taxes and a reduction of tax exemptions for many car trips, are both effective and equitable.

Pedestrian Crossing Time in Determining Widths of Signalized Traffic Arterials

Widening of traffic arterials at signalized intersections is often done with the intention of increasing vehicular capacity of the intersection. An analysis of the impact of increased pedestrian crossing time resulting from the widening (particularly on undivided arterials) on capacity is presented. It is shown that when signal cycle length is fixed, pedestrian crossing time imposes an upper limit on vehicular capacity of the arterial, so that its widening yields diminishing increases in capacity. There is a width beyond which capacity decreases. Relatively simple formulas and diagrams for deriving maximum capacity taking the pedestrian factor into account are presented. Short of adjustments at other points of the street network, grade separations, etc., provision of a protected pedestrian island in the middle of the arterial is suggested as the only acceptable solution to this problem.

Urban Transportation Policies and Practices in the United States and Its Peer Countries

All developed countries experience similar trends and problems in urban transportation: growth of cities and affluence result in an increase in car dependency. Increased volumes of car travel lead to congestion and many negative effects, often termed as the “collision of cities and cars.” A review of urban transportation policies and their implementation in the United States and its peer countries—Australia, Canada, and countries in Western Europe and East Asia—indicates that all peer countries except Great Britain place major emphasis on maintaining the human orientation of cities. They pursue policies aimed at achieving multimodal transportation systems and preventing automobile dominance. The United States, after significant strides in that direction up to 1980, has returned to policies favoring car travel and reducing support for alternative modes—transit, bicycles, and walking. This trend largely ignores the spirit and mandates of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The gap between the United States and its peer countries is increasing. Present U.S. policies are likely to aggravate this situation. An example is presented: New York is compared with its peer cities in accessibility for long-distance travel. Its competitiveness in this respect is lagging. This trend cannot be ignored. As its peers learned from the U.S. experiences in highway and traffic engineering in the past, the U.S. should now learn from its peers how to avoid total car dependence and implement multimodal transportation systems to improve the livability of its metropolitan areas.

Transportation for Liveable Cities: Problems, Obstacles, and Successful Solutions

This chapter focuses on urban transportation. It is written by the moderator of the session on Land Transportation. He asked the five speakers to report on positive achievements and challenges in their cities or countries. The chapter starts with the moderators review of developments and trends in urban transportation and a summary of the five reports by participants presented in the session. It is followed by a brief review of the conditions in urban transportation and its impact on cities. Following a review of problems most cities face and mistakes in transportation planning many cities continue to make, this chapter places emphasis on progressive policies and successful solutions which feasibility has been demonstrated by a number of leading cities. Disciplines Civil Engineering | Engineering | Systems Engineering | Transportation Engineering This book chapter is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/739

Context-sensitive urban transportation design in west Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Activities within the campus are supported by a host of transportation modes: private automobile, commercial vehicles, public transportation (including bus, light rail, heavy rail, and commuter rail), bicycling, and walking. In an effort to enhance the overall functioning of the transportation system in the campus area, the university has partnered with the City of Philadelphia to improve the design and operation of facilities. This paper describes those efforts, emphasizing the jurisdictional and institutional challenges. The principal objectives of the campus redesign are to increase pedestrian and bicycle safety, to upgrade transit image and performance, to maintain or increase vehicular capacity, and to accommodate the reliable movement of goods. The achievement of these objectives is complicated by several issues. The campus is traversed by State Highway 3, portions of which were designed to standards that are inconsistent with the campus goals. Design and operational considerations are influenced by the access needs of the university hospitals. Institutionally, challenges arise from within the university community, particularly on questions of parking, and from within the public agencies, with regard to modern traffic engineering practices. Efforts to achieve the transportation goals can be considered a work in progress. Several positive design and operational upgrades have been successfully implemented; and these, in turn, have established new acceptable design criteria. Other design projects remain in the evaluation phase. Several policy actions or statements require attention. The lessons learned and technical standards developed are transferable to other older cities throughout North America.

Ensuring Sustainability Through Mass Transit

In industrialized countries, the process of urbanization has been largely completed, and the majority of population lives in urbanized areas. In developing countries, the same trend of population shift from rural to urban areas is still continuing. The resulting rapid growth of cities in recent decades has created problems of providing utilities and services, as well as maintaining satisfactory quality of life. The pressures of population growth on physical and environmental conditions in cities is one of the challenges of our urbanized civilization. Consequently, living conditions in cities affect the majority of population, as well as each countrys economic prosperity. Experiences from recent decades show that a basic requirement for quality of life in cities, including economic, social and environmental conditions, depends on their sustainability, i.e., trends that provide for stable conditions in the future. To examine the conditions in cities and the role of transportation in them, it is useful to start with a view from a distance and considering the function of cities in society and the elements that affect their efficiency.