Embedding TDM into US Policies

1
Embedding TDM into US Policies
National TDM Perspectives

• Speaker
• Jon W. Martz
• President, Association for Commuter
  Transportation USA
• Vice President - Government Relations VPSI Inc.
• Canadian TDM Summit, Calgary 2007
• Monday, November 26th 2007

2
50th Anniversary of the Interstate Highway System
3
Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956

• Consumed nearly 500 billion (in 2006 Dollars)
  over first 13 years
• Construction of 40,000 miles of highways
• Federal-State matching ratio of 9010
• Gas tax revenue to a Highway Trust Fund

The consequences of these efforts were both
positive and detrimental, planned and unintended.
4
Social Impacts of theInterstate Highway System

• Altered how the nation travels (and how much)
• Changed the structure of communities and regions
• Gave choices to make on where to live, work, shop
  and play
• Positives
• Increased access, mobility and options for
  individuals, households and firms
• Some communities developed because of the
  Interstates
• Negatives
• Decreased access by undermining the viability of
  alternative modes of travel
• Some communities never recovered from Interstate
  construction and are subject to noise and
  emissions

The consequences of these efforts were both
positive and detrimental, planned and unintended.
5
Self-Doubt?!?!
Our current transportation model is broken. We
need fresh approaches like new technology,
congestion pricing and greater private sector
investment to get American moving again. USDOT
Secretary Mary E. Peters.
6
Share of VMT Growth (1977-2001)
Trip Length
Population
Mode Shifts
Trip Frequency
National Household Travel Survey Data
7
Congestion Growth Trend
Less than 500,000 500,000 - 1
million 1 million 3 million
More than 3 million
8
Sources of Congestion
Work Zones
Traffic Incidents
Bad Weather
Special Events
Poor Signal Timing
Bottlenecks
USDOT Statistics 2005
9
Infusion of TDM into Planning Process

• Metropolitan Planning
• ISTEA Legislation Congestion Management System
• SAFETEA-LU Congestion Management Process
• Final Rule (Administrative)
• National Policy Changes
• USDOT Urban Partner Agreements
• National Surface Transportation Revenue
• and Policy Study Commission

10
Congestion Management System
CMS A systematic process for managing
congestion that provides information on system
performance and on alternative strategies for
alleviating congestion and enhancing the mobility
of persons and goods.
11
Different, but Related

• Regional Transportation Plan
• Long range
• Congestion reduction
• Volume/Capacity ratios (V/C), Level of Service
  (LOS)
• Balance capacity, demand and management actions
• Congestion Management Process
• Short range
• Congestion management
• Reliability, Travel time, Delay, Accessibility
• Focus on demand and travel management solutions
  BEFORE considering capacity expansion

12
Heres how a CMS is supposed to work

• Establish your CMS Network
• Develop your performance measures
• Create a program for continuous data collection
  and system monitoring
• Identify and evaluate, as part of the planning
  process, possible congestion management
  strategies and
• Evaluate the effectiveness of implemented
  strategies.

13
CMS Toolbox

• TDM Strategies
• Congestion Pricing
• Public Transit (including Vanpooling)
• Carpool Strategies
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
• ITS Technologies
• Alternative Work Hours
• Telecommuting

14
Infusion of TDM into Planning Process

• Metropolitan Planning
• ISTEA Legislation Congestion Management System
• SAFETEA-LU Congestion Management Process
• Final Rule (Administrative)
• National Policy Changes
• National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on
  America's Transportation Network
• USDOT Urban Partner Agreements
• National Surface Transportation Revenue
• and Policy Study Commission

15
USDOTs Four Ts

• Tolling
• Transit
• Telecommuting
• Technology and Operations

16
Infusion of TDM into Planning Process

• Metropolitan Planning
• ISTEA Legislation Congestion Management System
• SAFETEA-LU Congestion Management Process
• Final Rule (Administrative)
• National Policy Changes
• National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on
  America's Transportation Network
• USDOT Urban Partner Agreements
• National Surface Transportation Revenue
• and Policy Study Commission

17
USDOTs Urban Partners
18
USDOT Urban PartnerMiami / Fort Lauderdale 95
Express

• I-95 HOV-to-HOT conversion
• Operation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on HOT Lanes
• Broward County Express Bus Service
• Transit facility improvements

62.9M
19
USDOT Urban Partner Minneapolis-St. Paul
Pricing Program

• I-35 HOV-to-HOT Conversion
• I-35W HOT Lane Extension
• Priced Dynamic Shoulder Lanes
• Expansion of I-35W and TH-77 transit service
• New advanced BRT stations
• New park-and-ride facilities
• New transit advantage bypass lane/ramp
• Contraflow transit lanes in downtown Minneapolis
• Technology for transit
• Arterial and freeway management

133.3M
20
USDOT Urban Partner NYC Congestion Pricing
Initiative

• Full cordon or area pricing of Lower Manhatten
  (modeled after the London Congestion Charging
  system).
• Transit facilities
• Transit Technology
• Bus projects
• Improvements to regional ferry service
• Collection and analysis of Alternatives Analysis
  transportation data.

354.5M
21
USDOT Urban Partner San Francisco Bay Area
Accelerate

• Variable pricing of either Doyle Drive or the
  Golden Gate Bridge
• Downtown parking pricing (on-street and
  off-street)
• Implement Arterial Traffic Management System
• Signal controller upgrades
• Improvements to regional ferry service
• Improvements to travel forecasting for BRT
  corridor in Oakland
• 511 Upgrades to provide real-time pricing,
  parking and transit information

158.7M
22
USDOT Urban Partner Seattle - Lake Washington
Urban Partnership

• Variable pricing on the SR-520 floating Bridge
  between Seattle and Bellevue
• Enhanced bus service along SR-520
• New transit improvements alone SR-520 corridor
• Improvements to regional ferry service
• Real-time multi-modal traveler information
• SR-520 active traffic management

138.7M
23
Infusion of TDM into Planning Process

• Metropolitan Planning
• ISTEA Legislation Congestion Management System
• SAFETEA-LU Congestion Management Process
• Final Rule (Administrative)
• National Policy Changes
• National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on
  America's Transportation Network
• USDOT Urban Partner Agreements
• National Surface Transportation Revenue
• and Policy Study (NSTRPS) Commission

24
NSTRPS Commission

• Preliminary Conclusions
• Lack of National Program Focus
• Ineffective Investment Decisions
• Inefficient Program Finance
• Programmatic Deficiencies and Mismatches Across
  Policies
• National Allocation Decisions
• State and Local Allocation Decisions
• Reforms to Address New Problems

25
NSTRPS Commission

• Preliminary Structural Recommendations
• Dissolve current agency structure
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
• Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
• Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
• Replace with new agency structure
• Infrastructure
• Freight
• Metropolitan mobility
• Intercity passenger transportation
• Transportation safety (FMCSA and NHTSA)

26
NSTRPS Commission

• Preliminary Policy Recommendations
• Performance-based investment must become the norm
• Set performance goals for urban areas over 1MM
  population to reduce congestion by 20 by 2025.
  Once goals established, non-modal specific
  transportation plans should be developed.
• Federal share of costs 50 (currently 80)
• Structure program with incentives to reduce
  transportation energy consumption
• Remove barriers and encourage private investment
• Make intercity rail eligible for federal funding

27
NSTRPS Commission

• Preliminary Revenue Recommendations
• FY08 legislation to keep Highway Trust Fund
  solvent
• Remove federal restrictions on tolling Interstate
  Highways
• Pricing should reflect cost and reasonable return
• Additional charges allowed to support capital
  investment in other systems, e.g. a) express bus
  services, b) commuter vanpools or
• c) bus rapid transit (BRT)
• No toll booths Electronic toll collection across
  broad geographic areas
• Fund study to address technological and
  institutional barriers to implementation of VMT
  tax
• Establish twenty year sunset on use of current
  Federal fuel tax system

28
Surface Transportation Authorizing Legislation
to be Expedited

• Minnesota bridge collapse
• NSTRPS Commission Findings
• End of President Bushs 2nd Term
• Highway Trust Fund Going Broke

29
Highway Trust Fund Negative Balance

30
Surface Transportation Authorizing Legislation
Hurdles

• Reluctance to increase fuel taxes
• Election calendar
• Jurisdictional conflicts
• Slows addressing of Energy and Climate Change
  issues
• Desire to continue earmarking
• Minority/Majority Leaders on Bad Terms

31
Climate Change
32
In closing

• Jon W. Martz
• Vice President, Government Relations
• VPSI Inc.
• 1220 Rankin Drive
• Troy, Michigan 48083 USA
• Tel [phone]
• Email jon.martz_at_vpsiinc.com