CIV 331 – Transportation Issues and Challenges

Lecture Outline

ISSUE 1: Urban Congestion ISSUE 2: Technology ISSUE 3: Road Design and Traffic Safety ISSUE 4: Equality of Access ISSUE 5: Funding and Institutions ISSUE 6: Sustainability

ISSUE 1:URBAN CONGESTION

Urban Congestion

Most often considered to be a problem onThe urban freeway system Intersections on arterial roadways

What are other situations where traffic congestion might be a problem? (including other modes of transportation)

Why?

Why does traffic congestion occur?Basic relationship between the demand for

travel and the capacity of the facility Capacity:

the maximum number of vehicles, passengers or the like, per unit time which can be accommodated under given conditions with a reasonable expectation of occurrence

http://141.30.186.11/~treiber/MicroApplet/index.html

Fundamental Diagram

qmax = Capacity (maximum flow)vf = free flow speedkj = jam density

Solutions to congestion

Increase capacity by expanding facilities Road building Transit infrastructure

Reduce or manage demand Land-use planning Travel demand management

Increase capacity by using technology Intelligent Transportation Systems

Historically

Especially in the 1950s, the usual response to congestion was to increase capacity by building roads and mass transit systems

Ontario 400 series Highway Construction

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000+

Decade

Freeway km

QEW 400,401,402

403,405,406

427,404,410

407,416

Source www.thekingshighway.com

Opposition to Highway Building

E.g. Spadina Expressway, Scarborough Expressway Social impacts Environmental Impacts High Costs

Since the 1960s there have been repeated calls to shift urban passenger transportation away from private automobiles.

To date, the political advocacy has had little impact on the growth of highway traffic.

We can expect further increases in traffic and congestion

Reduce Auto Demand through Transit Supportive Land Use Planning Create Self-contained urban areas which are

linked together by a transit system

Source: Transit Supportive Land Use Planning Guidelines (MTO, MMO 1992)

Transit supportive Land Use Planning (Cont’d)

Develop ultimate and interim boundaries for urban areas

Transit supportive Land Use Planning (Cont’d) Encourage a better mix of uses in urban

areas; discourage large areas zoned for single uses

Mixed use along a transit route encourages transit use Large single use areas are not transit supportive

Transit supportive Land Use Planning (Cont’d)

Transit-oriented development at the neighbourhood scale

Reduce demand through Travel Demand Management (TDM)

Flexible work hours Ridesharing / HOV lanes Promotion of cycling, walking and transit Road pricing Economic incentives / tax incentives (e.g.

Metropass) Parking provision and pricing

ISSUE 2:TECHNOLOGY

Improving Facility Capacity using Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

Using sophisticated methods of traffic control is another way to increase the capacity of a system without expanding facilities Travel and Transportation Management Travel Demand Management Public Transit Operations Electronic Payment Services Commercial Vehicle Operations Emergency management Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems

Travel and Transportation Management The Ontario

Ministry of Transportation COMPASS freeway traffic management system

Travel Demand Management E.g. Ramp metering

Public Transit OperationsExample: Transit Signal Priority

Electronic Payment Services Highway 407 is

the only fully automated toll highway in North America

Commercial Vehicle Operations

Automated Vehicle Identification

Roadside Detector

Electronic seals are used to ensure shipment integrity and to track containers

GPS TrackingIdentification of shipments

Automated Highway Systems (Path Pilot project – UC Berkeley) Eight vehicles of the PATH platoon traveled at a fixed separation distance of

6.5 meters (21 feet) at all speeds up to full highway speed. At this spacing, eight-vehicle platoons separated by a safe interplatoon gap

of 60 m (about 200 feet) and traveling at 65 mph would represent a “pipeline” capacity of about 5700 vehicles per hour.

Throughput under normal manual driving conditions at this speed would be approximately 2000 vehicles per lane per hour.

http://www.path.berkeley.edu/

ISSUE 3:ROAD DESIGN AND HIGHWAY SAFETY

Road Design and Traffic Safety

In general there has been an improvement in traffic safety over time Improved highway design Improved road maintenance Improved vehicle design Driver education Law enforcement

Source: Transport Canada 2005

Highway Design and Safety

Source: Transport Canada 2005

Divided Highways Highways where opposing

traffic lanes are separated by grass or a raised median strip, or a barrier.

Divided highways are significantly safer than undivided highways. The benefits of divided highways are emphasized in rural areas.

Collision rate reductions of up to 60 percent can be expected when converting undivided roads into divided roads.

Intersection Channelization Channelization is defined as

“...the separation or regulation of conflicting traffic movements into definite paths of travel by traffic islands or pavement marking to facilitate the safe and orderly movements of both vehicles and pedestrians”

Providing channelization for left-turn and right-turn movements can significantly improve intersection safety at both signalized and unsignalized locations.

Collision rates may be reduced by up to 75 percent with the introduction of channelization

Protected Left Turn Phases

the left turn driver is directed to turn left in a protected manner through the display of a green arrow, and then directed by the display of a circular red to wait until the next cycle and its corresponding green arrow

Protected-only left-turn phasing can reduce the collision risk by at least 25 percent.

Rail Crossing Warning Devices

Warning devices include flashing lights and gates

More recently in the 1990s, smart systems that control signal timings and queue lengths at rail crossings have been introduced

Breakaway Devices, Energy absorbing barrier end treatments

Access Management

The need for access management gained prominence in the late 1970s, as increasing suburbanization in North America collided with the commercialization of major arterials used heavily by commuters

Using 10 access points per mile as the base, it was found that each additional access point per mile increases the collision rate by about 4 percent. (Gluck and Levinson, 2000)

Keep it simple!

Rigid Barriers

All safety barriers must be capable of redirecting and/or containing an errant vehicle without imposing excessive deceleration forces on the vehicle occupants

Rigid barriers tend to reduce the frequency of high-severity collisions, while possibly increasing the frequency of lower-severity crashes.

Limiting Intersection Angles (70° or better) Although data is limited,

intersections at angles closer to 90 degrees are generally significantly safer than acute intersections.

The angle complicates the vision triangle for the stopped vehicle; increases the time to cross the through road; and results in a larger, more potentially confusing intersection

                                                                                                       

                 

(a) Intersection skew at 90 degrees.

                                                                                                 

                       

(b) Intersection skew at 75 degrees.

                                                                                                     

                   

(c) Intersection skew at 60 degrees.

Horizontal Curve Flattening

Horizontal curves require more driver attentiveness than tangent road sections.

Horizontal curves with sharp (small) radii tend to be associated with a higher crash risk.

Safety can usually be improved by flattening curves to increase the radius.

Clear Zone Widening

The clear zone is the total unobstructed traversable space within the recovery area, available to the errant vehicle

Collision reductions of up to 44 percent can be achieved with the provision of wide clear zones

The opposite approach: Traffic Calming

Traffic Calming

Traffic Calming

In the Highway Design component of this course Geometric Cross section design Geometric Vertical Alignment Geometric Horizontal Alignment Intersection and interchange layout

All of these elements of design have critical safety impacts

Safety analysis will also be covered

ISSUE 4:EQUALITY OF ACCESS

Equality of Access

Groups seen as underserved by the transport system: Low income –

less likely to own an automobile. When mass transit tries to compete for the market, they

tend to focus on choice riders (those that have autos) and take captive riders for granted

elderly, handicapped – Often unable to operate automobiles. Often face accessibility barriers

Accessibility and Ontario Law

Many of the most vulnerable citizens of Ontario cannot assume access to public transportation, even though the Ontario Human Rights Code guarantees the right to equal treatment in services, including public transportation services, without discrimination because of age, handicap, or family status.

The recent passage of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act ("ODA") has had a major impact on transit services, given that it explicitly requires providers of public transit to develop and make public plans for accessibility

Conventional Transit SystemsOntario Human Rights Commission (2002) About 15 percent of Ontario’s total bus fleet (about 700 buses)

is now either lift-equipped, or low-floor The TTC indicated that by 2004, 30 of its 69 subway and RT

stations (including the new stations on the Sheppard line) would be fully accessible

The TTC hoped to have elevators and other accessibility features in all stations by 2012.

As well, the TTC planned to have 50 fully accessible bus routes by 2004, and a 100% accessible fleet by 2010.

TTC has since been acquiring low-floor streetcars

(

TTC Accessible Transit Service Plan (2012)(http://www.ttc.ca/TTC_Accessibility/Accessible_Transit_Services_Plan/Accessible_Service_Transit_Plan_2012.jsp)

Paratransit Systems

According to OCTA, there are 72 paratransit services currently operating in Ontario.

The Canadian Urban Transit Association’s statistics indicate that Canada’s urban paratransit systems provide rides to almost 11 million riders per year. In Toronto alone, in 2008, it provided almost approx 2 million rides out of 460 million total TTC trips

Some paratransit services consist exclusively of specialized vehicles offering pre-booked, door-to-door service

Others combine such services with contract taxi services Some systems provide service on a “priority basis”,

prioritizing trips that are for work, education and medical purposes

Costs of Accessibility

If a conventional system becomes more accessible, there can be a movement by persons with disabilities towards using the conventional service and being less reliant on the paratransit service.

This increases efficiencies: for example, the average public subsidy per passenger trip for Wheel-Trans in 1999 was $25.98, as opposed to $.35 on the conventional system

ISSUE 5:FUNDING AND INSTITUTIONS

Funding

Stable, adequate funding of urban transportation capital and operating needs is essential to a sustainable system.

Lack of such support from upper-level governments in Ontario & Canada has been a major problem, until recent years with the MoveOntario2020 Plan.

Major investment in infrastructure has been expected with Transit City plan

But recently many delays, politics, and changes in direction have prevented serious action

Why has funding become more difficult? Costs of transportation systems have tended to

increase faster than revenues Transportation agencies have faced increased

litigation costs as a result of changes in Tort law Facilities have aged, resulting in increasing

maintenance costs Scope of transport provision has increased to

include greater environmental mitigation, accessibility

Funding from Fuel Tax

In the United States, fuel tax revenues are dedicated to the funding of transportation infrastructure (cover the bulk of the costs)

In Canada, fuel tax revenues go to the general funds of the Canada and Provincial governments

Funding from Road Tolls

Highway 407 is one of very few toll freeways in Canada (also parts of Trans Canada Hwy in the Maritimes, Coquihalla Hwy in BC)

Traditionally in North America toll roads were owned by public agencies

Highway 407 and other recent toll highways are increasingly operated as privately owned businesses

Highway 407 is an example of a public private partnership

Public Private Partnerships (P3)

P3s involve the private sector in delivery of government services and programs

Delivery of services and programs through public-private partnerships (P3s) allows the government to focus its resources on service management, setting standards for quality assurance, monitoring and auditing.

P3s can: Allow infrastructure to be delivered sooner, because more financing

options. Allow for innovative solutions that improve service delivery, reduce

operating costs and risk exposure for the province. Reduce the fiscal burden on taxpayers. Use the creative energy and expertise of the private sector and

competitive marketplace.

ISSUE 6:SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental Impacts

Site specific impacts (due to specific facilities) Noise Encroachment on natural habitats Displacement of residents and businesses Stormwater management Hazardous wastes and contamination Construction impacts Visual Impacts

System wide impacts (due to the transport system as a whole) Air quality Greenhouse gases / global warming Energy Consumption Land use

Sustainability

Of particular issue is the rapid growth of sprawling, low-density suburbs where commuters rely largely on automobile use.

The most likely prognosis for the future under a ‘business as usual’ scenario is increasingly dysfunctional cities, involving: ever-increasing congestion, loss of quality of life, and, decreasing economic productivity and competitiveness

(Source Kennedy et al, 2000)

Many potential solutions

Leadership in sustainability

How will we move from current unsustainable trends in urban form and transportation towards a more sustainable future?

Especially given The very many interest groups involvedComplexity of urban systemsFragmented decision-making

References MTO, MMA (1992) Transit-supportive land use planning guidelines. (in particular,

pages 37 – 69) Transport Canada (2005). 2004 Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics Hamilton Associates (2003). Road Safety Benchmarks over time. Prepared for

Transport Canada. (http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/tp/tp14328/menu.htm) Kennedy, C., Miller E., Shalaby, A., MacLean, H., and Coleman J. (2005) The Four

Pillars of Sustainable Urban Transportation. Transport Reviews, Vol. 25, No. 4, 393–414, July 2005

Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 32, Royal Assent December 14, 2001, ss. 1, 2, 3, subsections 8(1), (2), (5), (6), ss. 19, 20, 27, 33, 34 and Schedule proclaimed in force February 7, 2002.

Ontario Human Rights Commission (2002) Human Rights and Public Transit Services in Ontario, March 27, 2002. http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/transit-consultation-report.shtml