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• 1. [Article] Overlooked Density: Re-Thinking Transportation Options in Suburbia

  Suburban multifamily housing is an often overlooked housing typology that is the fasted growing housing market in the country and holds strong potential for achieving smart growth goals in suburbia. This ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Overlooked Density: Re-Thinking Transportation Options in Suburbia Author: Larco, Nico Year: 2010 Suburban multifamily housing is an often overlooked housing typology that is the fasted growing housing market in the country and holds strong potential for achieving smart growth goals in suburbia. This housing type is ubiquitous throughout all regions in the nation, is a widespread example of density in suburbia, and is typically located next to commercial uses. The proximity between suburban multifamily housing and commercial uses creates the potential for nodes of concentrated activity, mixed use, and the possibility of substantial non-auto transport in suburbia. While this potential exists, the design of this housing type often follows an enclaved pattern of development, negating any synergy, minimizing the possibility of non-auto transport, and denying any potential for sustainable development. Through case studies of suburban multifamily development in Oregon, Arizona, Florida, and Massachusetts, this report looks at the specific ways in which regulation, typical development practice, and design culture have shaped the current pattern of suburban multifamily development. Each case study includes graphic analysis of physical development patterns, interviews with planners, architects, property managers and developers who worked on the case study projects, regulatory analysis of case study jurisdictions, and surveys of residents. Title: Overlooked Density: Re-Thinking Transportation Options in Suburbia Author: Larco, Nico Year: 2010 Suburban multifamily housing is an often overlooked housing typology that is the fasted growing housing market in the country and holds strong potential for achieving smart growth goals in suburbia. This housing type is ubiquitous throughout all regions in the nation, is a widespread example of density in suburbia, and is typically located next to commercial uses. The proximity between suburban multifamily housing and commercial uses creates the potential for nodes of concentrated activity, mixed use, and the possibility of substantial non-auto transport in suburbia. While this potential exists, the design of this housing type often follows an enclaved pattern of development, negating any synergy, minimizing the possibility of non-auto transport, and denying any potential for sustainable development. Through case studies of suburban multifamily development in Oregon, Arizona, Florida, and Massachusetts, this report looks at the specific ways in which regulation, typical development practice, and design culture have shaped the current pattern of suburban multifamily development. Each case study includes graphic analysis of physical development patterns, interviews with planners, architects, property managers and developers who worked on the case study projects, regulatory analysis of case study jurisdictions, and surveys of residents. Close

• 2. [Article] Investigations In Transportation

  The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Investigations In Transportation Author: Becker, William G., Biskupic Knight, Carol Year: 2015 The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals in school-based activities and projects that will bring real-world applications to elementary classrooms for grades 3-5. The Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP) is providing leadership and facilitation to a team of educators from Portland State University, Beaverton School District and Hillsboro School District who will work with volunteers from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to design, develop, implement and assess the impact of an in-class unit entitled "Investigations in Transportation". This report presents a study of a transportation education partnership and curriculum development project that harnessed the professional expertise, experience and enthusiasm of transportation-sector STEM workers by creating a mechanism and set of protocols by which they engaged with elementary school teachers to develop and implement an instructional unit. This STEM-connected instructional unit and lessons allowed students to explore and investigate issues central to transportation. The unit incorporated and enhanced the content and practice standards outlined by the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and relied heavily on the instructional and curriculum expertise and experience of classroom teachers to develop an age- and interest-appropriate unit of study. This collaboration resulted in the development of an Investigations in Transportation instructional unit that provided students with rich, engaging learning opportunities set in the context of real-world problems around a school parking lot dilemma focused on safety, sustainability and health concerns. The education project team utilized a coherent and cohesive curriculum development process for unit creation and evaluated the development, implementation and reflection of the unit through teacher and student surveys/assessments of attitudes, identity and conceptual understanding. The report describes the process successes, challenges and replication opportunities. Title: Investigations In Transportation Author: Becker, William G., Biskupic Knight, Carol Year: 2015 The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals in school-based activities and projects that will bring real-world applications to elementary classrooms for grades 3-5. The Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP) is providing leadership and facilitation to a team of educators from Portland State University, Beaverton School District and Hillsboro School District who will work with volunteers from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to design, develop, implement and assess the impact of an in-class unit entitled "Investigations in Transportation". This report presents a study of a transportation education partnership and curriculum development project that harnessed the professional expertise, experience and enthusiasm of transportation-sector STEM workers by creating a mechanism and set of protocols by which they engaged with elementary school teachers to develop and implement an instructional unit. This STEM-connected instructional unit and lessons allowed students to explore and investigate issues central to transportation. The unit incorporated and enhanced the content and practice standards outlined by the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and relied heavily on the instructional and curriculum expertise and experience of classroom teachers to develop an age- and interest-appropriate unit of study. This collaboration resulted in the development of an Investigations in Transportation instructional unit that provided students with rich, engaging learning opportunities set in the context of real-world problems around a school parking lot dilemma focused on safety, sustainability and health concerns. The education project team utilized a coherent and cohesive curriculum development process for unit creation and evaluated the development, implementation and reflection of the unit through teacher and student surveys/assessments of attitudes, identity and conceptual understanding. The report describes the process successes, challenges and replication opportunities. Close

• 3. [Article] Transit Planning Practice in the Age of Transit-Oriented Development

  Transit serves as backbone infrastructure for many regional and local visions for sustainable urban development. Also, many modern policies predicate transit funding on the potential for transit-oriented ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Transit Planning Practice in the Age of Transit-Oriented Development Author: Carlton, Ian Year: 2014 Transit serves as backbone infrastructure for many regional and local visions for sustainable urban development. Also, many modern policies predicate transit funding on the potential for transit-oriented development (TOD) near proposed infrastructure investments. However, little research has examined how TOD considerations have informed transit planning. This presentation discusses the results of recent dissertation research that fills this gap. Through multiple transit project case studies and interviews with nearly 100 transit planning professionals, this research categorized how transit projects across 19 U.S. regions were designed to foster TOD and how transit planning professionals identified TOD opportunities as projects were planned. During interviews, many professionals lamented the amount of real estate development that had occurred around the transit projects they helped plan. Analysis revealed that the ways in which professionals identified TOD opportunities helped to explain disconnects between their expectations and actual outcomes. The findings raise concerns about the effectiveness and efficiency of transit planning practice in the age of transit-oriented development and point to potential policy and practice changes that could address the issues. Title: Transit Planning Practice in the Age of Transit-Oriented Development Author: Carlton, Ian Year: 2014 Transit serves as backbone infrastructure for many regional and local visions for sustainable urban development. Also, many modern policies predicate transit funding on the potential for transit-oriented development (TOD) near proposed infrastructure investments. However, little research has examined how TOD considerations have informed transit planning. This presentation discusses the results of recent dissertation research that fills this gap. Through multiple transit project case studies and interviews with nearly 100 transit planning professionals, this research categorized how transit projects across 19 U.S. regions were designed to foster TOD and how transit planning professionals identified TOD opportunities as projects were planned. During interviews, many professionals lamented the amount of real estate development that had occurred around the transit projects they helped plan. Analysis revealed that the ways in which professionals identified TOD opportunities helped to explain disconnects between their expectations and actual outcomes. The findings raise concerns about the effectiveness and efficiency of transit planning practice in the age of transit-oriented development and point to potential policy and practice changes that could address the issues. Close

• 4. [Article] Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Congestion?

  The net effects of sprawl or compact development on area-wide traffic congestion have been a subject of debate among transportation researchers. This project aims to settle the debate using: Congestion ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Congestion? Author: Ewing, Reid Year: 2017 The net effects of sprawl or compact development on area-wide traffic congestion have been a subject of debate among transportation researchers. This project aims to settle the debate using: Congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute’s Urban Mobility Scorecard database; Compactness/sprawl metrics developed at the University of Utah. Compact development may help at the margin, but the greatest reduction in congestion appears to be achieved through expansion of surface streets and higher highway user fees. Title: Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Congestion? Author: Ewing, Reid Year: 2017 The net effects of sprawl or compact development on area-wide traffic congestion have been a subject of debate among transportation researchers. This project aims to settle the debate using: Congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute’s Urban Mobility Scorecard database; Compactness/sprawl metrics developed at the University of Utah. Compact development may help at the margin, but the greatest reduction in congestion appears to be achieved through expansion of surface streets and higher highway user fees. Close

• 5. [Article] TOD Beats TAD in Affordability Showdown

  A research project compares transportation affordability between transitoriented development (TOD) and transit-adjacent development (TAD).

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: TOD Beats TAD in Affordability Showdown Author: Scheer, Brenda Year: 2017 A research project compares transportation affordability between transitoriented development (TOD) and transit-adjacent development (TAD). Title: TOD Beats TAD in Affordability Showdown Author: Scheer, Brenda Year: 2017 A research project compares transportation affordability between transitoriented development (TOD) and transit-adjacent development (TAD). Close

• 6. [Article] Transit Can Inspire Neighborhood Revitalization

  In-depth case studies explore how transit-oriented development can revitalize neighborhoods without displacing low-income residents.

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Transit Can Inspire Neighborhood Revitalization Author: Sandoval, Gerardo Francisco, Herrera, Roanel Year: 2015 In-depth case studies explore how transit-oriented development can revitalize neighborhoods without displacing low-income residents. Title: Transit Can Inspire Neighborhood Revitalization Author: Sandoval, Gerardo Francisco, Herrera, Roanel Year: 2015 In-depth case studies explore how transit-oriented development can revitalize neighborhoods without displacing low-income residents. Close

• 7. [Article] Realistic or Utopian? Coordinating Transit and Land Use to Achieve Equitable Transit-Oriented Development

  Equitable transit-oriented development (E-TOD)—the prioritization of social equity as an outcome of TOD implementation—has become a U.S. DOT policy stance, an objective of many other government bodies, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Realistic or Utopian? Coordinating Transit and Land Use to Achieve Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Author: Carlton, Ian Year: 2016 Equitable transit-oriented development (E-TOD)—the prioritization of social equity as an outcome of TOD implementation—has become a U.S. DOT policy stance, an objective of many other government bodies, and part of many NGOs' missions. But is it feasible to coordinate transit and land use in ways that allow us to achieve these goals, or is this a classic example of a wicked problem? This talk will use Portland as a case study to explore some of the internal contradictions inherent in E-TOD goals, the systemic challenges that must be considered, and glimmers of hope for delivering E-TOD. Transportation and land use planners, housing developers, social equity advocates, and others are invited to join this cross-cutting discussion. Title: Realistic or Utopian? Coordinating Transit and Land Use to Achieve Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Author: Carlton, Ian Year: 2016 Equitable transit-oriented development (E-TOD)—the prioritization of social equity as an outcome of TOD implementation—has become a U.S. DOT policy stance, an objective of many other government bodies, and part of many NGOs' missions. But is it feasible to coordinate transit and land use in ways that allow us to achieve these goals, or is this a classic example of a wicked problem? This talk will use Portland as a case study to explore some of the internal contradictions inherent in E-TOD goals, the systemic challenges that must be considered, and glimmers of hope for delivering E-TOD. Transportation and land use planners, housing developers, social equity advocates, and others are invited to join this cross-cutting discussion. Close

• 8. [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

• 9. [Article] Continuous Data Integration for Land Use and Transportation Planning and Modeling

  There is an urgent need for improved models that address the interdependencies between land use and transportation, and considerable new work is underway to develop such models in Oregon and elsewhere. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Continuous Data Integration for Land Use and Transportation Planning and Modeling Author: Wang, Liming, Kim, Kihong Year: 2014 There is an urgent need for improved models that address the interdependencies between land use and transportation, and considerable new work is underway to develop such models in Oregon and elsewhere. These models and planning practices to integrate land use into the process, however, require the integration of massive amounts of land use data that is messy and incomplete. There have been considerable advances in the treatment of such data problems in other domains, drawing on data mining and machine-learning techniques to address issues in various domains. To date, however, little systematic effort has applied these technological advances to the problem domain of land use and transportation data. Experience suggests that as much as 70% of the total effort in developing integrated land use and transportation models is directly or indirectly associated with data development, integration and cleaning, yet there is remarkably little systematic research focused on the development of reusable methods and tools to support this problem domain. In coordination with an ongoing project of similar theme funded by University of California Transportation Center (UCTC), this project will focus on bringing interdisciplinary methods to develop land use datasets for integrated land use and transportation planning and modeling, with special attention on preserving temporal dimension of the data and monitoring data quality through indicators. Utilizing statistics and machine-learning techniques, we will develop reusable tools that will create a harmonized and coherent land use database from various public and private sources. These tools will be made available to the public and can be used by cities, counties, metropolitan planning agencies, state agencies, universities or anyone else needing to develop a usable database for use in integrated planning and modeling. All of the resulting data, with the exception of proprietary or confidential input data where there is no viable alternative, would be public and reusable for planning and research. Title: Continuous Data Integration for Land Use and Transportation Planning and Modeling Author: Wang, Liming, Kim, Kihong Year: 2014 There is an urgent need for improved models that address the interdependencies between land use and transportation, and considerable new work is underway to develop such models in Oregon and elsewhere. These models and planning practices to integrate land use into the process, however, require the integration of massive amounts of land use data that is messy and incomplete. There have been considerable advances in the treatment of such data problems in other domains, drawing on data mining and machine-learning techniques to address issues in various domains. To date, however, little systematic effort has applied these technological advances to the problem domain of land use and transportation data. Experience suggests that as much as 70% of the total effort in developing integrated land use and transportation models is directly or indirectly associated with data development, integration and cleaning, yet there is remarkably little systematic research focused on the development of reusable methods and tools to support this problem domain. In coordination with an ongoing project of similar theme funded by University of California Transportation Center (UCTC), this project will focus on bringing interdisciplinary methods to develop land use datasets for integrated land use and transportation planning and modeling, with special attention on preserving temporal dimension of the data and monitoring data quality through indicators. Utilizing statistics and machine-learning techniques, we will develop reusable tools that will create a harmonized and coherent land use database from various public and private sources. These tools will be made available to the public and can be used by cities, counties, metropolitan planning agencies, state agencies, universities or anyone else needing to develop a usable database for use in integrated planning and modeling. All of the resulting data, with the exception of proprietary or confidential input data where there is no viable alternative, would be public and reusable for planning and research. Close

• 10. [Article] Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Traffic Congestion?

  From years of research, we know that compact development that is dense, diverse, well-designed, etc. produces fewer vehicle miles traveled (VMT) than sprawling development. But compact development also ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Traffic Congestion? Author: Ewing, Reid, Tian, Guang, Lyons, Torrey Year: 2017 From years of research, we know that compact development that is dense, diverse, well-designed, etc. produces fewer vehicle miles traveled (VMT) than sprawling development. But compact development also concentrates origins and destinations. No one has yet determined, using credible urban form metrics and credible congestion data, the net effect of these countervailing forces on area-wide congestion. Using compactness/sprawl metrics developed for the National Institutes of Health, and congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Urban Mobility Scorecard Annual Report database, this study seeks to determine which opposing point of view of sprawl and congestion is correct. It does so by (1) measuring compactness, congestion and control variables using the best national data available for U.S. urbanized areas and (2) relating these variables to one another using multivariate methods to determine whether compactness is positively or negatively related to congestion. Our model (and earlier studies by the same authors) suggest that an increase in compactness reduces the amount of driving people do, but also concentrates the driving in smaller areas. The former effect is slightly larger than the latter. The relationship between compactness and congestion falls short of statistical significance at the conventional 0.05 level. This analysis does not support the idea that sprawl acts as a “traffic safety valve,” as some have claimed. However, it also does not support the reverse idea that compact development offers a one-stop solution to congestion, as others have claimed. Developing in a more compact manner may help at the margin, but the greatest reduction in congestion appears to be achievable through expansion of surface streets and higher highway user fees. Title: Does Compact Development Increase or Reduce Traffic Congestion? Author: Ewing, Reid, Tian, Guang, Lyons, Torrey Year: 2017 From years of research, we know that compact development that is dense, diverse, well-designed, etc. produces fewer vehicle miles traveled (VMT) than sprawling development. But compact development also concentrates origins and destinations. No one has yet determined, using credible urban form metrics and credible congestion data, the net effect of these countervailing forces on area-wide congestion. Using compactness/sprawl metrics developed for the National Institutes of Health, and congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Urban Mobility Scorecard Annual Report database, this study seeks to determine which opposing point of view of sprawl and congestion is correct. It does so by (1) measuring compactness, congestion and control variables using the best national data available for U.S. urbanized areas and (2) relating these variables to one another using multivariate methods to determine whether compactness is positively or negatively related to congestion. Our model (and earlier studies by the same authors) suggest that an increase in compactness reduces the amount of driving people do, but also concentrates the driving in smaller areas. The former effect is slightly larger than the latter. The relationship between compactness and congestion falls short of statistical significance at the conventional 0.05 level. This analysis does not support the idea that sprawl acts as a “traffic safety valve,” as some have claimed. However, it also does not support the reverse idea that compact development offers a one-stop solution to congestion, as others have claimed. Developing in a more compact manner may help at the margin, but the greatest reduction in congestion appears to be achievable through expansion of surface streets and higher highway user fees. Close