To try and balance that equation, Texas A&M University and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) studied mobility in the border colonia of El Cenizo, 10 miles outside Laredo. The study was sponsored by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center.

“We can promote a better quality of life in traditionally disadvantaged communities by improving the mobility of the people in them,” explains Dr. Cecilia Giusti, assistant professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. “But we first must understand how mobility impacts residents.”

The team considered the transportation, urban design and planning, safety (traffic and crime), public health and socioeconomic dimensions as potential indicators of residents’ mobility behaviors, environmental perceptions and quality of life. Researchers developed instruments to record residents’ perceptions and habits as well as to observe and record the community environment. What they discovered surprised them.

Rather than ride a bike or drive short distances within the colonia, residents walked whenever it was practical. This was true even at night, despite the border’s reputation as a high-crime area.

Although having small businesses in the community also encouraged walking, “we found that people walked more for social/recreational purposes, to interact with their neighbors, for example,” says Dr. Chanam Lee, associate professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. “Part of that is culturally representative of the Hispanic community, but it also speaks to the mobility limitations of residents and the lack of utilitarian destinations in the colonia.”

According to the study, walking encouraged community cohesion, since residents are more likely to get to know one another. And it had another effect too — walkers have a more negative impression of their environment than non-walkers. The reason for that is simple: when you walk, you have more time to evaluate the environment around you.

Still, the prevailing feeling among residents was positive toward their community, something the researchers attribute to their personal investment in building it. Sweat equity, it seems, helps determine community self-pride.

“Although we didn’t really look at ‘sustainable transportation’ in this community, we touched on a number of its basic concepts,” explains Dominique Lord, assistant professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering and associate research scientist with TTI‘s Center for Transportation Safety. “The idea of building community solidarity by designing communities that encourage social activities — like walking when possible, and getting to know your neighbors — is fundamental to the idea of sustainable transportation.”

Giusti says a small investment in a community like El Cenizo can yield large returns in terms of community cohesion and safety: “Simply updating the bus stops and making sure the transit system runs on time would add significant value to the quality of life in this colonia.”

In the 1970s, the governor of Texas and State Legislature asked the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) to evaluate rail for intercity travel. Below is an abridged version of the article published on this study in the April 1977 issue of the Texas Transportation Researcher.

Historical Overview of Rail in Texas

In the early 1800s what is now Texas was a vast undeveloped area. Lack of adequate transportation precluded the development of the state’s inland resources.

The first railroad [in Texas was operated] in 1853. Up until 1930, when approximately 17,000 miles of track existed in Texas, virtually all of it served both passenger and freight operations. [This] early railroad construction allowed inland developments to grow [as] did the demand for intercity transportation.

As a result, in heavily traveled corridors, an interurban rail service developed. This operation provided frequent, inexpensive service and provided the conventional railroads with their first significant competition. By 1915, although the interurbans operated over only 3 percent of the track-miles in Texas, they were serving 20 percent of the intercity travel demands.

[However, from] 1920 to 1930 rail ridership decreased by nearly 75 percent. [With] the development of paved highways, the flexibility of auto travel caused it to be extremely popular, and travel by this mode increased rapidly. Rail remained, however, the premier mode of travel for long intercity trips.

After World War II, commercial air service rapidly became the most popular mode for servicing long distance travel. The bus had become the least expensive mode of travel, and the flexibility of the auto caused it to be the desired mode of travel for short trips. As fewer persons used the rail mode, its financial condition deteriorated. The U.S. Congress responded by enacting the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, which created Amtrack. Between 1970 and 1975, train-miles and passengers served in the state declined by 40 percent.

Conclusions and Recommendations

• The existing transportation capacity in both the Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio corridors will be inadequate by 1990. It is recommended that action be taken to increase transportation capacity in those corridors.
• Some increased capacity will be provided by the air mode. However, this increased capacity, by itself, will not be sufficient to serve increasing passenger and freight travel. Some improvement in either highway capacity or rail passenger capacity will be needed.
• An initial comparison of highway versus rail suggests that improving highway capacity (i.e., expanding I-45 and I-35 from their present four lanes to at least six lanes) may be the better approach. It is recommended that a study be undertaken to more accurately determine the feasibility and cost of that alternative.
• In order to accommodate projected travel demand, any increase in capacity should become operational between 1985 and 1990.
• The State of Texas should become involved in multimodal intercity transportation planning. Without such planning, it is quite possible that the cost and congestion associated with intercity travel will, based on current design standards, become unacceptable. This will adversely affect the economy of the state.

Now

The song “City of New Orleans” tells the story of a lonely train with “15 cars and 15 restless riders” making its way along the 500 miles from Chicago to New Orleans. The lyrics would have you believe that this proud, stately way of travel belongs to a bygone era.

But the Age of Rail just might be returning.

While no solution to congestion is inexpensive, simply building more roadway has become increasingly cost-prohibitive in the last decade or so.

“At one time, building more highway capacity was judged the most cost-effective way to meet mobility needs,” explains Curtis Morgan, program manager of TTI‘s Rail Research Program. “In fact, TTI research conducted in the 1970s proved that point.” (See the historical story above for more on this study.)

Now, more than 30 years later, new factors, such as changing demographics and a burgeoning state population more on the move than ever, have changed the equation significantly. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) predicts that, over the next 25 years, the population of the state will increase by 64 percent, and road use will grow by 214 percent. By comparison, state road capacity will only grow by 6 percent if funding remains at recent historical levels.

“Given these projections, we asked TTI to provide recommendations on where to invest resources for developing the statewide transit system further,” explains Orlando Jamandre, TxDOT‘s project director.

Morgan and his team examined 18 different intercity corridors, ranking them by projected needs through the year 2035. They based their analysis on

• Current and future population and demographic projections along the corridors;
• Projected future demand based upon forecasts by the Texas State Demographer and other state agencies and
• Current network capacity and routes for intercity highway, bus, air and rail travel.

Morgan’s team found that trains, along with enhanced intercity bus transit, have the potential to significantly aid in meeting Texas’ future capacity needs.

I-35 and I-45 — considered the most traveled corridors in the state — are currently at 80 percent capacity when measuring traffic between cities on a weighted, per-mile basis. TTI found that, by 2035, those two corridors and 11 others will exceed 100 percent of current capacity. In fact, some highway sections in the urban areas may be approaching or exceeding capacity now. Unlike their 1970s predecessors, the research team found that additional highway lanes — at today’s prices — may not be the most cost-effective way of addressing growing intercity travel demand.

TTI isn’t saying that trains and buses are the solution. Highway, air, rail and transit all have a part to play. Equally important, cities need to develop local transit options (like the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, or DART, system) that seamlessly interface with intercity solutions, so travelers aren’t left without a way of getting around once they reach their destinations.

“The results of this project will help us plan how to best optimize the state’s future transportation system,” says Jamandre.

A research team from TTI and the light-rail industry examined data on METRORail’s design and operations, the collisions and similar experiences of other light-rail systems. The work was initiated in early February 2004 and included a review of collisions through that time. The research team also interviewed key staff and observed the conditions along the rail right-of-way, particularly at locations where rail vehicles and motor vehicles interface.

“The most common type of collisions that occurred between motor vehicles and METRORail vehicles through the first month involved illegal left-hand turns by motorists,” says TTI Senior Research Engineer Brian Bochner. “Despite traffic signs and signals designed to control the location and timing of left-turn movements along the rail line, several motorists turned into or in front of oncoming light rail vehicles, sometimes turning from an incorrect lane. All collisions examined appeared to have been due to improper or illegal turns or other driver errors.”

While the existing safety provisions of the design were found to be generally adequate, the research team recommended some minor adjustments to the traffic control devices and found that operational practices were needed to fine tune the system and its operation to work as intended. This included such aspects as traffic control system adjustments for current operating speeds and adjustment of signing.

A number of the recommended improvements were implemented almost immediately and others followed. Since the implementation of these safety improvements, the crash rates went down from 34 in the first six months of 2004 to only 13 collisions in the last six months of 2004.

“Roadway capacity has not been able to keep up with population, so looking at increasing the capacity of travel corridors through projects such as rail makes sense,” says TTI Research Scientist Jeff Arndt. “Also I think the $4 gasoline we were experiencing a year ago is a portent of days to come. We saw that not only in Texas, but nationally, there was a large shift toward looking for other options than driving alone when fuel prices got to those levels.”

The research team examined the variety of impacts of light-rail and commuter-rail projects. Specifically, the team documented the role(s) that other state DOTs have played in planning, designing, developing and operating light and commuter-rail. Then the researchers examined current TxDOT policies associated with participation in rail projects in our urban areas. Finally, the research effort linked potential impacts to TxDOT agency goals and identified any legislative or administrative changes that would be needed in order to permit TxDOT to participate in rail projects.

“We consolidated research at a national level on transportation, social and economic impacts for those types of rail projects,” says Arndt. “We started by looking at how the federal government evaluates rail projects because that tells you what kinds of impacts they are expecting when those projects are implemented.”

The researchers found that rail systems, for the most part, meet TxDOT agency goals since they are safe, environmentally friendly, expand mobility and reduce household investment in transportation. TxDOT‘s interests are more closely aligned with commuter-rail than light-rail. Their economic impact was also examined, with the team concluding that impacts are strongest in station areas, as access to rail increases the value of nearby property. The positive impact of rail on property values does not hold true for property directly adjacent to the rail line, however.

So what does this mean for TxDOT‘s role in urban rail planning? “TxDOT has already served as a catalyst in exploring regional rail in the San Antonio-Austin corridor and the Houston metropolitan region,” says Arndt. “TxDOT‘s ability to assist in advancing these kinds of rail projects further would be enhanced through increased funding and possibly by providing TxDOT the ability to obtain rolling stock.”

Toll roads and managed toll lanes, such as high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, can alleviate congestion and offer a convenient alternative for road users. However, such tolled facilities must first demonstrate they are financially viable to be successful. With millions, even billions, of dollars at stake with potential toll projects, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) is assisting the Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts office by assessing the reasonableness of traffic and revenue reports regarding potential toll roads.

“Traffic and revenue reports contain an extensive amount of data, trends, calculations and assumptions,” explains Curtis Toews, an economist in the Revenue Estimating Division of the Comptroller’s office. “TTI‘s review of these reports helps ensure that decisions are made based on accurate information.”

In an effort to more quickly generate and review preliminary toll studies and reports with their multiple variables, an enhanced toll project screening model is being developed by Curtis Beaty, associate research engineer and program manager for TTI‘s Dallas Research and Implementation Office. This project is funded through TTI‘s University Transportation Center for Mobility (UTCM) and builds on the Toll Viability Screening Tool (TVST) developed by TTI in conjunction with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in a research project completed in 2004.

The enhanced model will have the ability to examine electronic toll collection, video toll collection, toll violation rates and revenue leakage (i.e., failure to collect revenue for every transaction captured). In addition to taking these items into account, this model will be accessible to a wider range of users by being solely built within Microsoft Excel®. (The previous TVST model required an add-on application to Excel that could cost several hundred dollars.)

“Both as an early screening tool and as a continuing reasonableness test, an enhanced toll project viability model will allow a user to simultaneously examine the interaction of multiple tolling variables and traffic scenarios so that agencies can make more informed decisions,” explains Beaty. “In addition, the enhanced screening tool will analyze the confidence of the resulting revenue estimates and the sensitivity of the model’s results to the input variables.”

While the enhanced model will offer great new capabilities and be a useful tool for those associated with toll road projects, Beaty believes more toll road research is needed: “Several new toll roads have been built in Texas over the last few years, and follow-up research on these roads (i.e., examining what was assumed will happen and is actually happening) would undoubtedly help us improve our initial studies for toll road feasibility reports.”

Like their constituencies, local communities are stretching their traveling dollars further during difficult economic times. One way they are doing that is by finding innovative uses for the capacity they already have.

For the past 30 years or so, high-occupancy vehicle (or HOV) lanes have encouraged commuters to use alternatives, like taking a bus to work or carpooling with co-workers, which ultimately helps improve both air quality and traffic congestion. High occupancy toll (HOT) lanes represent the next step in the evolution of the high-occupancy concept.

“HOT lanes allow drivers to pay a toll and still use the HOV lane, even if they don’t have enough passengers to meet the HOV requirements,” explains Senior Research Engineer Ginger Goodin, manager of TTI’s Austin Office. Goodin is principal investigator on a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project developing a toolkit of resources for use in evaluating the need for and implementing HOT lanes.

So who decides how much a commuter pays to drive in “the fast lane”? Value pricing — or setting the price of a service based on supply and demand, and how the consumer perceives its value — is used to set the tolls for HOT lanes. To maintain uncongested travel (important in providing HOV users an incentive to rideshare), the price for other vehicles in the lane varies based on the level of demand in the lane. Often tolls vary given the time of day, with commuters more willing to pay a higher toll at rush hour than, say, at 1:00 p.m.

As of 2009, approximately 150 HOV facilities existed in over 20 metropolitan areas in North America. Currently there are seven operational HOT facilities in the U.S., and FHWA is encouraging their broader implementation nationwide.

The FHWA toolkit includes a brochure, FAQ sheet, checklist of relevant issues to consider, case studies of successful HOT lane implementation projects and a video. These tools are aimed at decision-makers, such as elected officials or transportation policy board members, responsible for setting the transportation agenda in their communities, and practitioners, responsible for implementing those decisions. The toolkit helps users assess the appropriateness of HOT lanes for their communities and provides guidance for how to implement them.

Also in the toolkit is a set of screening criteria developed by FHWA for stakeholders to use in implementing HOT lanes. The criteria look at performance, facility and institutional considerations regarding conversion of HOV lanes for HOT use. Using these criteria, a community can assess whether or not a particular HOV facility would make a good candidate for conversion to a HOT lane.

“TTI has developed a set of tools that puts good information in the hands of those who need it,” explains Jessie Yung, program manager at FHWA. “The toolkit will help communities meet their local transportation needs.”

The HOT lane shown above allows Houston drivers the option to escape congested freeways

Adobe PDF version

Inside This Issue:

Editorial

• The Lone Star City, 2030

Tolling

• Life in the HOT Lane
• To toll or not to toll?: TTI examines the question

Light and Commuter Rail

• The business of rail: TxDOT examines their role in rail projects
• Crash course in transit safety

Intercity Rail: Then and Now

• Landmark study shows tradition of expertise at TTI — the need for intercity rail

Intracity Mobility

• TTI and A&M study mobility in border colonia
• DARTing through downtown Dallas
• Urban Mobility Report highlights rare congestion decline
• Out of harm’s way: Permeable friction courses improve safety on the road

Institute News

• Awards and more

TTI Publications

• Available reports and products

by David M. Laney