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• 1. [Article] Contextual Influences on Trip Generation

  There is national interest in building data that expands upon the existing Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation rates to include sites located in a multi-modal context. Current ITE ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Contextual Influences on Trip Generation Author: Clifton, Kelly J., Currans, Kristina Marie, Muhs, Christopher D. Year: 2012 There is national interest in building data that expands upon the existing Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation rates to include sites located in a multi-modal context. Current ITE rates represent travel behavior for development in single lots and uses, primarily measured in low-density suburban areas. Despite evidence that a more compact urban form, access to transit and a greater mix of uses generates fewer and shorter vehicle trips, local governments are often compelled to use current ITE trip generation rates to evaluate transportation impacts and calculate transportation system development charges (TSDCs). This is due to: a) the expense of collecting local data, b) lack of alternative sources of information, c) the strong industry bias toward using ITE published rates and d) the absence of a empirically tested methodology for adjusting those rates for development occurring in different land use and transportation contexts. Compounding these challenges, cities in Oregon are required to demonstrate that planning and zoning changes will not degrade the performance of state-owned transportation facilities compared to the levels of service documented in the Regional Transportation Plan under the Oregon Transportation Planning Rule, section -0060, and Oregon Highway Plan, Policy 1.F.6. These requirements can conflict with regional policies in Metro's 2040 Growth Concept that call for development of mixed-use centers and corridors to support jobs and freight reliability, a compact urban form and leverage transportation investments such as high capacity transit. Thus, there are gaps in the understanding about how best to evaluate, mitigate and plan for growth under these conditions. This research proposes to develop multi-modal trip generation rates that better reflect the relationship between land use, transportation and travel demand for specific land use types located in various urban settings. The project aims to collect local data (using multi-modal counts and establishment surveys) on a few specific land uses (deemed most problematic to estimate demand and occurring across the spectrum of urban conditions) to develop trip generation rates that are sensitive to demographic, land use and transportation contexts. These new trip rates will be compared to the ITE rates for the same land use category and a methodology for adjusting the ITE rates will be developed. This adjustment methodology will be validated, using additional data collected in this research. The research will be documented and made available to local partners and disseminated widely to reach out to other communities across the country. The research conducted for this project would account for how the built environment (e.g., both land use and transportation) influences travel behavior (number of trips, trip length, mode choice), and determine trip rates that reflect the entire activity spectrum of different development/place typologies. This is extremely important in determining the impact of different development types on the transportation system to: 1) avoid over-planning the system for the surrounding land uses; (2) suggest strategies and investment priorities to encourage more compact, mixed-use areas with more transportation choices and 3) avoid creating regulatory and/or financial barriers to compact form envisioned by local, regional and statewide plans (i.e. uniform TSDCs can result in lower impact development paying the same rates, and thus subsidizing development with higher impact costs to the transportation system). The documentation of the findings and methodology will be applicable to current and future growth and be transferable to other communities, locally and nationally, beyond the Portland region. Title: Contextual Influences on Trip Generation Author: Clifton, Kelly J., Currans, Kristina Marie, Muhs, Christopher D. Year: 2012 There is national interest in building data that expands upon the existing Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation rates to include sites located in a multi-modal context. Current ITE rates represent travel behavior for development in single lots and uses, primarily measured in low-density suburban areas. Despite evidence that a more compact urban form, access to transit and a greater mix of uses generates fewer and shorter vehicle trips, local governments are often compelled to use current ITE trip generation rates to evaluate transportation impacts and calculate transportation system development charges (TSDCs). This is due to: a) the expense of collecting local data, b) lack of alternative sources of information, c) the strong industry bias toward using ITE published rates and d) the absence of a empirically tested methodology for adjusting those rates for development occurring in different land use and transportation contexts. Compounding these challenges, cities in Oregon are required to demonstrate that planning and zoning changes will not degrade the performance of state-owned transportation facilities compared to the levels of service documented in the Regional Transportation Plan under the Oregon Transportation Planning Rule, section -0060, and Oregon Highway Plan, Policy 1.F.6. These requirements can conflict with regional policies in Metro's 2040 Growth Concept that call for development of mixed-use centers and corridors to support jobs and freight reliability, a compact urban form and leverage transportation investments such as high capacity transit. Thus, there are gaps in the understanding about how best to evaluate, mitigate and plan for growth under these conditions. This research proposes to develop multi-modal trip generation rates that better reflect the relationship between land use, transportation and travel demand for specific land use types located in various urban settings. The project aims to collect local data (using multi-modal counts and establishment surveys) on a few specific land uses (deemed most problematic to estimate demand and occurring across the spectrum of urban conditions) to develop trip generation rates that are sensitive to demographic, land use and transportation contexts. These new trip rates will be compared to the ITE rates for the same land use category and a methodology for adjusting the ITE rates will be developed. This adjustment methodology will be validated, using additional data collected in this research. The research will be documented and made available to local partners and disseminated widely to reach out to other communities across the country. The research conducted for this project would account for how the built environment (e.g., both land use and transportation) influences travel behavior (number of trips, trip length, mode choice), and determine trip rates that reflect the entire activity spectrum of different development/place typologies. This is extremely important in determining the impact of different development types on the transportation system to: 1) avoid over-planning the system for the surrounding land uses; (2) suggest strategies and investment priorities to encourage more compact, mixed-use areas with more transportation choices and 3) avoid creating regulatory and/or financial barriers to compact form envisioned by local, regional and statewide plans (i.e. uniform TSDCs can result in lower impact development paying the same rates, and thus subsidizing development with higher impact costs to the transportation system). The documentation of the findings and methodology will be applicable to current and future growth and be transferable to other communities, locally and nationally, beyond the Portland region. Close

• 2. [Article] Estimating Walking and Bicycling at the State Level

  Estimates of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) drive policy and planning decisions for surface transportation. No similar metric is computed for cycling and walking. What approaches could be used to compute ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Estimating Walking and Bicycling at the State Level Author: Nordback, Krista, Sellinger, Mike, Phillips, Taylor Year: 2017 Estimates of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) drive policy and planning decisions for surface transportation. No similar metric is computed for cycling and walking. What approaches could be used to compute such a metric on the state level? This report discusses three such approaches, identifies the advantages and disadvantages of each, and applies them to Washington State. The first approach employs travel survey data. The second approach is sample-based using pedestrian and bicycle count data. The third approach is an aggregate demand model approach using demographic data combined with count data. Due to data limitations, none of these methods could be properly implemented on the statewide level. Despite the data limits, the methods were implemented for one county (King County) in order to compare findings. The travel survey method estimated the lowest bicycle and pedestrian miles traveled (BMT and PMT), and the sample-based method estimated the highest. The travel survey method is useful for a statewide measure, but it does not provide the detail needed for facility-level estimates. For bicyclists, the sample-based method is appropriate if volumes are desired at the facility level. For pedestrians, the aggregate model might be more appropriate, because of the more dispersed nature of pedestrian travel. Each method has strengths and weaknesses, and each helps us understand bicycle and pedestrian travel in different ways. For this reason, the project team recommends improving both statewide travel survey data and pedestrian and cyclist traffic count data which feed these methods. Travel survey data should be collected statewide with oversampling for non-motorized travelers. Pedestrian and cyclist traffic counts should be expanded to include a continuous counting program in addition to the short-duration count program. After the continuous count program is in place, short-duration counts should be chosen using a stratified random sampling approach. For example, the sampling frame could consist of all road and path segments in the state divided by region (Coast Range, Puget Lowland, Cascades, Eastern Washington), by urbanity (rural, urban), by facility type (highways/arterials, local/collector roads, paths), and by whether the location is on a bridge or not. To increase sites sampled, the short-duration count program could also be rotated, with each location being counted every three years instead of every year. Better data will allow the state to quantify bicycling and walking at both the state level and facility level to inform decision-making, facility design and planning, and safety analysis. Title: Estimating Walking and Bicycling at the State Level Author: Nordback, Krista, Sellinger, Mike, Phillips, Taylor Year: 2017 Estimates of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) drive policy and planning decisions for surface transportation. No similar metric is computed for cycling and walking. What approaches could be used to compute such a metric on the state level? This report discusses three such approaches, identifies the advantages and disadvantages of each, and applies them to Washington State. The first approach employs travel survey data. The second approach is sample-based using pedestrian and bicycle count data. The third approach is an aggregate demand model approach using demographic data combined with count data. Due to data limitations, none of these methods could be properly implemented on the statewide level. Despite the data limits, the methods were implemented for one county (King County) in order to compare findings. The travel survey method estimated the lowest bicycle and pedestrian miles traveled (BMT and PMT), and the sample-based method estimated the highest. The travel survey method is useful for a statewide measure, but it does not provide the detail needed for facility-level estimates. For bicyclists, the sample-based method is appropriate if volumes are desired at the facility level. For pedestrians, the aggregate model might be more appropriate, because of the more dispersed nature of pedestrian travel. Each method has strengths and weaknesses, and each helps us understand bicycle and pedestrian travel in different ways. For this reason, the project team recommends improving both statewide travel survey data and pedestrian and cyclist traffic count data which feed these methods. Travel survey data should be collected statewide with oversampling for non-motorized travelers. Pedestrian and cyclist traffic counts should be expanded to include a continuous counting program in addition to the short-duration count program. After the continuous count program is in place, short-duration counts should be chosen using a stratified random sampling approach. For example, the sampling frame could consist of all road and path segments in the state divided by region (Coast Range, Puget Lowland, Cascades, Eastern Washington), by urbanity (rural, urban), by facility type (highways/arterials, local/collector roads, paths), and by whether the location is on a bridge or not. To increase sites sampled, the short-duration count program could also be rotated, with each location being counted every three years instead of every year. Better data will allow the state to quantify bicycling and walking at both the state level and facility level to inform decision-making, facility design and planning, and safety analysis. Close