| Recent Reports and Activities
Daily Travel Time Variability in the Twin Cities, 1990-2001
By Gary Barnes and Stephanie Erickson
View the presentation
This paper describes a study of daily personal travel time in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area and how and why it changed between 1990 and 2001. This has two major components. The first is the relationship between commute and non-commute travel time. The second is the relationship between mode choice, total daily travel time, and automobile travel time. Both of these are analyzed in terms of how they vary geographically within the region as well as how they changed during the decade.
The study is based on the Twin Cities Travel Behavior Inventory (TBI), which included about 10,000 households in 1990 and about 5,000 in 2001. These large samples make it possible to study geographic variations within the region. This is supplemented with information on commute durations from the Census Transportation Planning Package.
Average Twin Cities one-way commute durations increased by about two minutes during the 1990s, while total daily travel time increased by about five minutes for workers and two minutes for non-workers. This supports an earlier finding that variations in total daily travel time within the region were primarily due to differences in average commute durations rather than non-work travel. The findings here also support the theory that time spent in non-auto modes reduces the amount of time spent in auto travel, although the reduction is not one-for-one.
An Exploratory Survey of Potential Community Transportation Providers and Users
By Gary Barnes and Heather Dolphin
View the presentation
This paper describes a large survey to better understand specialized transportation resources and how they are being used. The survey had two key characteristics. The first was to question both organizations that provide transportation, and those that do not provide it but are actively involved in purchasing or arranging it on behalf of their clients. The second was to be comprehensive; that is, to survey any organization that might be involved either in providing or arranging transportation.
The results fall into two broad categories. The first is the actual survey findings, which provide a broad and comprehensive overview of the types of transportation-related activities that organizations are engaged in. Most significantly, about 45% of the diverse organizations that were surveyed provide transportation in some form, and another 20% actively arrange transportation for their clients. This confirms the common belief that the true size of the specialized transportation "system" is far larger than the formal network that is known to transportation funders and regulators.
Because the survey was intended to be broad and exploratory rather than focused and definitive, the findings generally fall short of providing clear answers to specific questions. However, they are often provide considerable insight into the types of details that future surveys should address with respect to various issues. Given this, perhaps the more important results are conclusions about how the findings of this survey, and the insights that they generate, can be used to develop more focused and definitive surveys of this type in the future.
Two new SLPP reports have recently been posted to the Minnesota
Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) web site:
Tools for Predicting Usage and Benefits of Urban Bicycle Network Improvements
By Gary Barnes and Kevin Krizek
http://www.lrrb.org/pdf/200550.pdf
This report presents the results of four separate studies regarding the behavior of bicyclists in and around the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The four reports are: - Effect of Trails on Cycling based on a 2000 Travel Behavior Inventory that analyzes behaviors based on the distance of a person's home from the nearest cycling facility. - Value of Bicycle Facilities to Commuters based on a survey asking respondents to choose among commutes of varying durations on bicycle facilities with different characteristics. - Effect of Facilities on Commute Mode Share analyzing the results of the construction of new commuter-oriented bicycling facilities. - Cycling Behavior Near Facilities which seeks to explain the relationship between cycling behaviors and trail access, as well as various demographic and lifestyle factors. In general, the reports support the thesis that people value bicycle facilities and are willing to devote additional time to use higher quality facilities. In particular, riders who use bicycles to commute to work seem to value improvements to striped bike lanes.
The Financial Benefits of Early Acquisition of Transportation Right of Way
By Gary Barnes and Sarah Watters
http://www.lrrb.org/pdf/200535.pdf
This report addresses the question of whether there are financial benefits to acquiring transportation right of way far in advance of when the improvement will be done. The first part of the analysis is very general, comparing rates of price increase for different types of properties to the opportunity costs of holding land, over a long historical period. The second part of the analysis focuses on Minnesota and examines property price increases by county over shorter, more recent, time periods.
While it is almost certainly worthwhile to acquire land that is in danger of becoming developed, this analysis did not find much apparent financial value in early purchase of land that is already developed, or is not likely to become developed. While there could be localized exceptions, prices of these types of land do not in general rise fast enough to offset the opportunity cost of the money that is used to purchase them. However, there could be other, non-financial benefits associated with early purchase that could compensate for some of the costs involved.
Two new SLPP reports have recently been posted to the Minnesota
Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) web site:
Transportation-Related Impacts of Different Regional Land-Use
Scenarios
By Gary Barnes
http://www.lrrb.gen.mn.us/pdf/200403.pdf
This research addresses the question of how different regional
land-use patterns would impact travel behavior and resulting
transportation costs and benefits. This report defines six
hypothetical future regional land-use scenarios for the Twin
Cities region, representing combinations of different styles
of residential and commercial development. The traffic patterns
resulting from each of these scenarios are then used to describe
the resulting congestion, air pollution, and accessibility
to jobs. (Report 2004-03)
Transportation Technologies for Sustainable Communities
By Lee Munnich and Frank Douma
http://www.lrrb.gen.mn.us/pdf/200226.pdf
This collection of studies addresses legal and institutional
issues around applying telecommunication, wireless, and GPS
technologies to transportation, with a focus on the development
of sustainable communities. (Report 2002-26).
Read
more reports |
