THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

Transcription

1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2009 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 23, NO 6 JULY 6, 2009 Half of Traf fic Accident Fatalities are Pe des tri ans, Cy clists, and Motorcyclists World Health Organization Finds 1.27 Million People Die in Traffic Accidents Annually The first com pre hen sive global assess ment of road safety finds that almost half of the esti mated 1.27 mil lion peo ple who die in traf fic acci dents every year are not peo ple driv ing or rid ing in auto mo biles or trucks. Rather, they are peo ple walk ing, cycling or rid ing a motor cy cle. Prog ress has been made towards pro - tect ing peo ple in cars, but the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists vul ner a ble groups of road users are not being met, accord ing to the World Health Orga ni za tion (WHO). This under scores the need for these road users to be given more atten tion in road safety pro grams, accord ing to the WHO. Global Sta tus Report on Road Safety: Time for Action is the first broad assess - ment of the road safety sit u a tion in 178 coun tries, account ing for over 98 per cent of the world s pop u la tion and using data drawn from a stan dard ized sur vey con - ducted in The study sug gests that, although road traf fic death rates in many high-income coun tries have sta bi lized or declined in recent decades, road deaths are increas ing in most regions of the world. If trends con tinue unabated, the report says, traf fic deaths will rise to an esti mated 2.4 mil lion a year by 2030, sur pass ing AIDS and tuber cu lo sis as a leading cause of death. The results show that road traf fic inju - ries remain an impor tant pub lic health prob lem, par tic u larly for low-income and mid dle-income coun tries. Road crashes cause between 20 mil lion and 50 mil lion non-fatal inju ries every year and are an Inside Sur veys....page 12 Requests for Pro pos als....page 28 Confer ences...page 29 Pedestrians sharing the road with cars, buses, and taxis. (Photo: Courtesy of PAHO) impor tant cause of dis abil ity. In many coun tries sup port ser vices for road traf fic vic tims are inad e quate. Research shows that these avoid able inju ries over load Com pe ti tion Offers $50,000 for Best Idea to Fight Traffic Congestion ITS America, IBM and STCI Partner to Offer Challenge The Intel li gent Trans por ta tion Soci ety of Amer ica (ITS Amer ica), in part ner ship with IBM and Spencer Trask Col lab o ra - tive Inno va tions (STCI), is chal leng ing trans por ta tion experts, entre pre neurs, research ers, and cit i zens from all over the world to come up with inno va tive ideas to reduce traffic congestion. Called the ITS Con ges tion Chal lenge, it is the first global com pe ti tion aimed at iden ti fy ing the best ideas to reduce already stretched health-care sys tems in many coun tries. The find ings sug gest that, in many coun tries, road safety laws need to Please turn to Page 5 con ges tion and mit i gate its impact on the econ omy and envi ron ment. The Chal lenge was announced dur ing the ITS Amer ica Annual Meet ing & Expo si tion June 1-3. Addi tional part ners include AAA, the American Highway Users Alliance, the Envi ron men tal Defense Fund, ITS Swe - den, and the Cal i for nia and Vir ginia Departments of Trans por ta tion. The average metropolitan commuter Please turn to Page 9

2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23, NO. 6 Page 2 CDOT Re duces Time to Clear Ve hi cles Stranded Due to In clem ent Weather by More Than Half Tow Units That Can Re lo cate Com mer cial Ve hi cles are Sta tioned at Stra te gic Lo ca tions Col o rado s Heavy Tow Quick Clear ance Pro gram man aged to re duce the av er age time to clear weather-stranded ve hi cles off the road to 23 min utes from ap prox i mately 50 min utes be fore the pro gram started. The pro gram, car ried out by the Col o - rado De part ment of Trans por ta tion (CDOT) as well as Stantec and Amer i can Tow ing Al li ance, in volved clear ing ob - struc tions and mov ing com mer cial ve hi - cles to safe lo ca tions dur ing week ends, hol i days and other ad verse weather days along In ter state 70 from Thanksgiving week end through late April. It in cluded all week ends and hol i days and four other sep - arate severe storm occasions during that time pe riod. Dur ing this pe riod CDOT re - lo cated 184 commercial vehicles and cleared 217 lanes. Bernie Guevara, a CDOT re gion one traf fic pro gram en gi neer, told UTM that tow units are typ i cally sta tioned at 3 stra te - gic lo ca tions Floyd Hill, Ei sen - hower/john son Tun nel and Vail Pass. They are re lo cated de pend ing on the storm fore cast, which is be ing mon i tored from the tun nel, he ex plained. This cov - ers ap prox i mately 60 miles of moun tain high ways which con sist of at least three ma jor mountain passes with 7% grade. The Col o rado Mo tor Car ri ers As so ci a - tion en cour aged the pro gram, and worked with the DOT and the Amer i can Tow ing Alliance. It can cost thou sands of dol lars in lost rev e nue and hours of travel de lays, even when just one lane of I-70 is closed, im - pact ing trade, travel, tour ism and rec re - ation, said Tony DeVito, CDOT re gional trans por ta tion di rec tor in a June press re - lease. When we re able to get traf fic mov - ing again in a timely man ner, it re duces those lost rev e nues and travel delays. The pro gram, which in volves three heavy tow units ca pa ble of re lo cat ing semi-trucks, costs ap prox i mately $500,000 a year, Guevara said. He noted that the ben e fits far out weigh the costs. The pro gram achieves our goal of keep ing traf fic mov ing and main tain ing safety along the In ter state 70 West cor ri - dor and is a win-win for all in volved - CDOT, the trav el ing pub lic and the truck driv ers who were able to be moved quickly out of harms way, Guevara said. The pi lot Heavy Tow pro gram op er - ated from Jan u ary to May A fa vor - able evaluation of its effectiveness provided CDOT with the nec es sary con fir - ma tion to ex tend the ser vice for the sea son. Slight changes were made to make it more ef fi cient, in clud ing mod i fy ing shift times to save money and ad vanced pa trols on Vail Pass to find dis - abled ve hi cles sooner. In the sea son, clear ance time averaged 27 minutes. Heavy Tow is sched uled to be gin again over the Thanksgiving week end but will re sume at an ear lier date, if nec es sary, due to ad verse weather. For more in for ma tion, visit ons/news/ce html or con tact Bernie Guevara by at Bernardo.Guevara@dot.state.co.us. Col o rado s Heavy Tow Quick Clear ance Pro gram in ac tion, re duc ing the time to clear heavy ve hi cles off the road to 23 minutes from approximately 50 minutes before the program started. (Photo, Cour tesy of the CDOT) The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, ISSN , is pub lished monthly, except dur ing Jan u ary and August (10 issues per year), by Law - ley Pub li ca tions, 6813 Jer e miah Ct., Fairfax Sta - tion, VA 22039, Tel: (703) , Fax: (703) , edi tors@lawleypub lications.com. Sub scrip tions $295 per year. Peri - od i cals post age paid at Fairfax, VA. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, P.O. Box 12300, Burke, VA The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor pub lishes cur rent news on all modes and aspects related to urban trans por ta tion. Law ley Pub li ca tions is an inde pend ent and pri vately owned orga ni za tion. Copy right 2009, Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Reserved. Repro duc tion, includ ing pho - to copy ing and fac sim ile or elec tronic trans mis - sion, in whole or in part with out writ ten per mis sion from the Edi tor is expressly pro hib ited. Law ley Pub li ca tions assumes no respon si bil ity or lia bil ity of any kind for the accu racy or com - plete ness of the infor ma tion herein, or for addi - tional or changed infor ma tion sub se quent to the date the mate rial was received and/or pub lished. Publisher/Editor: Dan iel B. Rathbone, Ph.D., P.E. Man ag ing Edi tor: Clarissa Reeves, M.Ed. Assis tant Edi tor/researcher: J. Holden

3 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 3 Study Finds Con ges tion Pric ing Most Ef fec tive When Eq uity Is sues Are Ad dressed Early HOT Lanes Tend to Raise Fewer Equity Concerns Since Users Have a Choice to Pay a Toll or Not Con ges tion pric ing to im prove traf fic flow is most ef fec tive when policymakers ad - dress eq uity con cerns in the early plan ning stages of a pric ing pro gram, ac cord ing to a study by the RAND Cor po ra tion. Each sit - u a tion is unique and must be eval u ated on a case-by-case ba sis, the study said. Crit ics of ten sug gest that, be cause con - ges tion pric ing im poses a cost on some - thing that was pre vi ously free, it will harm lower-in come driv ers who will be forced to pay ad di tional costs or be priced off the roads. The study, Eq uity and Con ges tion Pric ing: A Re view of the Ev i dence, was sup ported by a grant from the En vi ron - men tal De fense Fund (EDF). The find ings indicate that: Eq uity is sues can and must be ad dressed early on when de sign ing a con ges tion pric ing pro ject, and Well-de signed con ges tion pric ing pro - jects can de liver clean air and less grid - lock to ev ery one. The re port co mes at an aus pi cious time be cause Con gress is work ing to reauthorize the fed eral trans por ta tion bill be fore it ex pires on Sep tem ber 30. Also, the U.S. De part ment of Trans por ta tion s Ur ban Part ner ship Pro gram re cently awarded hun dreds of mil lions of dol lars to six met ro pol i tan ar eas Chi cago, Los An - geles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Fran cisco and Se at tle will ing to im ple - ment congestion pricing to reduce congestion. There is no sin gle an swer to the ques - tion of whether con ges tion pric ing is eq ui - ta ble, said Thomas Light, co-au thor of the study and an as so ci ate econ o mist with RAND, a non profit re search or ga ni za tion. The an swer de pends on how eq uity is de - fined and mea sured. It also de pends on how con ges tion pric ing is im ple mented and the char ac ter is tics of the re gion where it is put into practice. The RAND study evaluated alternative ways of de fin ing and mea sur ing eq uity and how such approaches in ter act with al ter na - Con ges tion pric ing is ap plied on the SR 91 in Or ange County, CA tive forms of pric ing, as well as the con text in which con ges tion pric ing is im posed. Light and co-au thor Liisa Ecola re viewed doz ens of stud ies and found that con ges tion pric ing of ten re sults in most lower-in come peo ple pay ing less in taxes to fund trans por - ta tion though some may pay more. For ex am ple, one anal y sis found that if a road con struc tion bond was paid off with toll rev e nues rather than sales taxes most but not all lower-in come persons would pay less overall. The au thors say con ges tion pric ing can be ei ther re gres sive or pro gres sive but that if re gions use rev e nues in ways that ben e fit low-in come in di vid u als, then it is more likely to be progressive. High oc cu pancy toll (HOT) lanes tend to raise fewer eq uity con cerns since driv ers have a choice of us ing a set of toll lanes or us ing par al lel free lanes. Stud ies have not shown lower-in come driv ers to be worse off, the study said, in part be cause they may ben e fit from im proved traf fic flow in the free lanes. Since eq uity is spe cific to in di vid ual re - gions, the study rec om mends that trans por - ta tion plan ners con sider mea sur ing and as - sess ing eq uity con cerns early in the plan - ning pro cess for con ges tion pric ing pro - grams. Then, the policymakers should: Test pro grams through mod el ing to de - ter mine whether low-in come or other trans por ta tion-dis ad van taged groups are disproportionately affected. Con duct out reach so that res i dents un - der stand the pro posal and can of fer sug ges tions. Mon i tor the pro grams, once im ple - mented, to make sure that they re main eq ui ta ble over time as pop u la tions and travel pat terns shift. Meth ods to pro mote eq ui ta ble out comes in clude dis counts or ex emp tions for low-in come and dis abled driv ers and re - dis trib ut ing rev e nues through pub lic spend ing on trans por ta tion-re lated im - prove ments. Lon don, for ex am ple, uses most of its con ges tion pric ing rev e nues to fund bus ser vice en hance ments. The RAND Cor po ra tion is a non profit re search or ga ni za tion pro vid ing ob jec tive anal y sis and ef fec tive so lu tions to chal - lenges fac ing the world. EDF is a lead ing na tional non profit mem ber or ga ni za tion. For more in for ma tion, the study is avail able at R680.

4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL 23 NO. 6 Page 4 Intelligence San Fran cisco Adopts Sig nif i cantly Ex panded Bi cy cle Plan; Court In junc tion is Ex pected to be Lifted; Miles of Bike Lanes to In crease by 76% The San Fran cisco Mu nic i pal Trans por - ta tion Agency (SFMTA) voted in June to adopt a new city wide bi cy cle plan. The 2009 San Fran cisco Bi cy cle Plan is a five-year mas ter plan in tended to pro vide greater safety and con ve nience for city cy clists. The Bike Plan out lines a sig nif i - cant ex ten sion of the city s ex ist ing bi cy - cle net work and iden ti fies short and long-term pro jects to fur ther up grade bike routes. The SFMTA Board ap proved the Bi - cy cle Plan and the spe cific traf fic mod i fi - ca tions re quired to im ple ment 45 of the 60 near-term bi cy cle pro jects out lined in the plan. Those pro jects would add 34 miles to the ex ist ing 45 miles of bike lanes in the city, in creas ing the to tal by 76 percent. The SFMTA vote fol lowed the city Planning Commission s certification of the Bike Plan En vi ron men tal Im pact Re - port (EIR) in June. The EIR was re quired af ter a 2006 Su pe rior Court found that the ex ist ing Bi cy cle Plan had not been suf fi - ciently eval u ated un der the Cal i for nia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The ap proval clears the way for the Su pe rior Court to end a three-year long Bike Plan in junc tion, which is ex pected by the end of the sum mer. Im ple men ta - tion of the plan will be gin as soon as the injunction is lifted. San Fran cisco adopted its first Bike Plan in 1997 and de vel oped an up dated ver sion in The 2009 Bike Plan is de signed to en hance the city s ex ist ing bicycle network, an officially designated web of path ways and streets adapted for bike travel. The net work is made up of 210 miles of paths and road ways des ig nated as of fi - cial bike routes. The 2009 Bike Plan in - cludes traffic engineering measures to ad dress the places in which the net work is dis con tin u ous or bro ken, im prov ing the con nec tiv ity of the net work to make it safer, more ef fi cient, and more wel com ing to cyclists of all levels. The en vi ron men tal im pact study de ter - mined that some of the pro posed mea sures likely would slow com mu ter traf fic, in - clud ing city tran sit buses. Some ve hic u lar lanes would be elim i nated, left turns would be re stricted in places, and fewer on-street park ing spaces would be available. Twenty-seven intersections were iden - ti fied in the EIR as likely to ex pe ri ence a sig nif i cant im pact to street con ges tion un - der the plan, and an in crease in ve hi cle idling could re sult in higher lev els of un de - sir able emis sions. But city of fi cials as sert that the trade-offs ul ti mately will re sult in cleaner and calmer streets. In ad di tion to the 60 near-term pro jects, the ma jor ity of which will be com pleted in the next three years, the plan iden ti fies 24 long-term im prove ments to be made through out the net work. Be sides add ing 34 miles of bike lanes, other pro jects in clude the mark ing of 75 miles of on-street bike routes with shared lanes ( sharrows ) and the ap pli ca tion of col ored pave ment mark - ings for bike lanes. The plan also calls for thou sands of new side walk bike park ing racks as well as on-street bike park ing cor rals. It in cludes pro grams to en hance bi cy cle ac cess to tran sit, ed u ca tional pro grams for bi cy clists and mo tor ists, and bi cy cle-re lated plan - ning and traf fic enforcement policies. SFMTA staff es ti mates that the 60 near-term pro jects could cost $14 mil lion, which will be funded through lo cal sales taxes and re gional, state and fed eral grants. The agency is re spon si ble for de vel op ing and main tain ing the Bike Plan as part of the city s transportation system, while working in con junc tion with other agen cies and the broader community. The Bi cy cle Plan seeks to pro mote eight main goals: 1) in creas ing bike lanes and sharrows; 2) ex pand ing bike park ing; 3) ex tend ing ac ces si bil ity of bikes on lo cal tran sit; 4) fur ther ing bike safety ed u ca tion; 5) im prov ing bi cy cle safety through tar - geted en force ment; 6) pro mot ing and en - cour ag ing safe bik ing; 7) adopt ing bi cy - Please turn to Page 5 cle-friendly prac tices and pol i cies; and 8) prioritizing and increasing bicycle funding. This long-awaited ap proval of the Bi cy cle Plan re-starts our prog ress to - ward mak ing San Fran cisco the pre-em i - nent city for bi cy cling in North Amer - ica, said Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., SFMTA Executive Director/CEO. Bi cy cling in the city was on the rise even be fore the plan was ap proved, in - creas ing 43 per cent since 2006 ac cord - ing to the SFMTA s May 2009 State of Cy cling re port. SFMTA ex pects that num ber to in crease sub stan tially as im - prove ments are made and new mea sur ers are put into place. Agency sta tis tics show that bi cy cling ac tiv ity in creases by an av - er age of 50 per cent after a bike lane is added. For more in for ma tion, visit lan.htm. In no va tive Sys tems Help Pro pel De vel op ment of Eu ro pean Transportation Market The Eu ro pean trans por ta tion mar ket is un der go ing sev eral changes, chiefly fu - elled by in creas ing traf fic con ges tion and the need to cut down on travel time, ac cord ing to a new re port. Frost & Sullivan s re search re port, Key Growth Trends in the Eu ro pean Mar kets for Road User Charg ing, Con - ges tion Charg ing, Pub lic Trans port & Tick et ing and Park ing, pro vides an over view of key growth trends for trans - port and traf fic man age ment sys tems in Eu rope. Anal y sis of sys tems, tech nol o - gies, chal lenges, driv ers and re straints are cov ered in the re search. Frost & Sullivan s an a lysts ex am ined the fol low - ing mar kets: road-user charg ing, con ges - tion charg ing, pub lic transport, ticketing, and parking systems. The re search ers found that, due to rapid ur ban iza tion, pub lic trans port is be com ing in creas ingly pop u lar in Eu - rope, with rail/un der ground us age reach - ing 1.2 bil lion pas sen ger jour neys in

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 5 Intelligence (continued) , show ing year-on-year growth of 8 per cent. Eu ro pean trans por - ta tion mar ket de vel op ment is be ing fu - elled by the in tro duc tion of in no va tive traffic management and advanced pay - ment sys tems. The re port found that 20 coun tries across Eu rope im pose a road toll charge. France has the high est num ber of pas sen - ger car road tolls with ap prox i mately 81 road tolls, whereas Great Brit ain has the high est num ber of bridge and tun nel tolls with ap prox i mately 22 bridge and tun nel tolls. Tech nol ogy will shift from au to - mated num ber plate rec og ni tion (ANPR) used in ex ist ing schemes to Ded i cated Short Range Com mu ni ca tions (DSRC) Tag and Bea con - ex pected by 2008 in Lon don and Stock holm. The Global Po - sitioning System (GPS) is anticipated by in the Neth er lands and the United King dom cou pled with Ga li leo for greater ac cu racy in terms of traf fic man age ment in down town ar eas. Ad - vanced pay ment sys tems are key fea tures of the car park ing pro cess. As a re sult, it is vi tal for park ing com pa nies to con sider ex pand ing their businesses for car parking telematics subscription systems. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are start ing to gain prom i nence in Eu rope, es - pe cially as city plan ners and gov ern ment or ga ni za tions seek to min i mize con ges tion and op ti mize ur ban traf fic/pas sen ger flow. The EU is now in vest ing more money to en hance traf fic man age ment and the use of pub lic trans port sys tems by In this context, several exciting projects are being made op er a tional in London, Italy and Stockholm. Ac cord ing to the re search ers, road-user charg ing is de vel op ing rap idly. While the mar ket for road-user charg ing is well es - tab lished in the West ern Eu rope, it is still in the early stages of de vel op ment in East - ern Eu rope, cre at ing con sid er able po ten - tial for ex pan sion. There is also growth po - ten tial for ve hi cle po si tion ing sys tems (VPS) and ANPR as they pro vide op por tu - ni ties for par tic i pants with a pri mary fo cus on man u fac tur ing video en force ment sys - tems. Con ges tion charg ing is gain ing im - por tance. This seg ment is pro jected to gen er ate an es ti mated 2.05 bil lion ($3.40 bil lion) by Con ges tion charging will experience the implementa tion of new tech nol o gies such as GPS by In the fu ture, this seg ment will be pop u lated by new en trants who are already active in road-user charging and are both service and IT service providers. Ad vanced park ing sys tems man u fac - tur ers are look ing to ex pand in Eu rope by im ple ment ing tech nol ogy sys tems that have suc cess fully held tri als in Asia. This seg ment will gen er ate higher rev e - nues by 2015 if in no va tive tech nol o gies can be de vel oped. In or der to test park ing sys tem tech nol o gies and over come spe - cific challenges, various projects have been car ried out to test a com bi na tion of navigation and parking information. For more in for ma tion, please visit wbm_1_bm_2_w.frost.com/prod/servl et/report-brochure.pag?id=m2f Con tin ued from Page 1 Half of Traf fic Fatalities are Pe des tri ans, Cy clists, and Mo tor cy clists be made more com pre hen sive while en - force ment should be strength ened. The study de ter mined the num ber of reg is tered mo tor ized ve hi cles in each coun try and ac tion be ing taken to in vest in pub lic trans port and en cour age non-mo - tor ized travel such as walk ing and cycling. The study also pro duced the fol low ing find ings: Less than a third of coun tries meet ba sic cri te ria for re duc ing speed in ur ban ar - eas. Less than half of coun tries use the rec - om mended blood al co hol con cen tra tion limit of 0.05 grams per deciliter as a mea sure to re duce drunk-driv ing. While hel met laws ex ist in more than 90% of coun tries, only 40% have a law that cov ers both rid ers and pas sen gers while also re quir ing that hel mets meet a specified standard. Only 57% of coun tries have laws that re quire all car oc cu pants to wear seat-belts; this fig ure is only 38% in low-in come coun tries. Half of all coun tries do not have laws re - quir ing the use of child re straints (e.g., child seats and booster seats). This fig - ure masks con sid er able vari a tion, with rel e vant laws in 90% of high-in come coun tries but only 20% of low-in come coun tries. Only 15% of coun tries have com pre - hen sive laws which ad dress all five of these risk fac tors. More over, where laws on these risk fac tors are in place, they are often inadequately enforced, par tic u larly in low-in come coun tries. More than 90% of the world s road deaths oc cur in low-in come and mid dle-in - come coun tries, while these coun tries only have 48% of the world s ve hi cles, said Dr Etienne Krug, Di rec tor of W.H.O. s De - part ment of Vi o lence and In jury Pre ven - tion and Dis abil ity. Roads are par tic u larly un safe for pe des tri ans, cy clists and mo tor - cy clists who, with out the pro tec tive shell of a car around them, are more vul ner a ble. These road us ers need to be given in - creased at ten tion. Mea sures such as build - ing side walks, raised cross ings and sep a - rate lanes for two wheel ers; re duc ing drunk-driv ing and ex ces sive speed; in - creas ing the use of hel mets and im prov ing trauma care are some of the in ter ven tions that could save hundreds of thousands of lives every year." The new WHO study builds on a 2004 study that pro duced a re port, World Re - port on Road Traf fic In jury Pre ven tion," jointly is sued by the World Health Or ga ni - za tion (WHO) and the World Bank. For fur ther in for ma tion, visit n/road_safety_status/2009/ and con tact W.H.O. Com mu ni ca tions Of fi cer Laura Sminkey at tel.: or sminkeyl@who.int.

6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 6 House Transportation Bill Would Restructure Trans por ta tion De part ment Programs Obama Ad min is tra tion Pro poses Stop gap Measure Instead Chair man Jim Oberstar and the mem bers of the House Trans por ta tion and In fra - struc ture Com mit tee are mov ing for ward on a new six-year trans por ta tion bill that would re struc ture many Trans por ta tion De part ment pro grams, in hopes of bring - ing it to the full House for a July vote. The committee re leased an out line of the Sur face Trans por ta tion Au tho ri za tion Act of 2009 on June 18 and the full 775-page bill on June 22. The Sub com mit - tee on High ways and Tran sit be gan its work on the bill on June 24. The act would pro vide $450 bil lion for high ways, high way safety and tran sit in - vest ment over six years a 38 per cent in - crease above cur rent fund ing lev els, the com mit tee said. Within this, $99.8 bil lion would be al lo cated for pub lic trans por ta - tion pro grams ad min is tered by the Fed eral Tran sit Ad min is tra tion a more than 90-per cent in crease over cur rent lev els, ac - cord ing to the Amer i can Pub lic Trans por - ta tion As so ci a tion. The act also would pro vide an ad di tional $50 bil lion over six years to de velop 11 au tho rized high-speed rail cor ri dors link ing major metropolitan regions in the United States. The act does not de tail where in creased rev e nues to fi nance the $450 pro gram would be found. The last trans por ta tion bill au tho rized $286.4 bil lion. Oberstar has said that sources of fund ing will be de - vel oped by the House Com mit tee on Ways & Means. Ac cord ing to House Trans por ta tion and In fra struc ture Com mit tee Spokes man Jim Berard, the com mit tee wants to com plete the new leg is la tion by the time the cur rent trans por ta tion law SAFETEA-LU ex - pires on Sep tem ber 30, An other im - pe tus has been pro vided by the Trans por ta - tion De part ment s es ti mate that the High - way Trust Fund will run out of money in mid-to-late August. But the com mit tee s ac tions are meet - ing re sis tance from the Obama ad min is tra - tion. On June 17, Trans por ta tion Sec re tary Ray LaHood called for a stop gap 18-month high way au tho ri za tion plan to re store fund ing for the High way Trust Fund, while de lay ing con sid er ation of pro - gram changes. Oberstar has said that that any tem po rary ex ten sion of the cur rent fed eral high way pro gram is un ac cept able. John Mica, the rank ing Re pub li can mem - ber of the committee, also re jected the ad - min is tra tion s plan. Then, on June 24, the committee s Dem o cratic mem bers sent a let ter to Pres i dent Obama, ex press ing their dissatisfaction with the administration s proposal. In con trast, some sen a tors ap peared to be open to the ad min is tra tion s plan, which would pro vide more time for pass ing a com pre hen sive trans por ta tion bill with sta ble and re li able funding sources. Specifically, the Surface Transporta - tion Au tho ri za tion Act of 2009 would con - sol i date or ter mi nate more than 75 pro - grams. Most high way fund ing would be con sol i dated un der four core categories: Critical Asset Investment Consoli - dates the existing Interstate Maintenance pro gram, Na tional High way Sys tem pro - gram, and High way Bridge pro gram into one out come-based pro gram with the goal of bring ing high ways and bridges (in clud - ing the In ter state Sys tem) to a state of good re pair and maintaining that condition. High way Safety Im prove ment Re - struc tures the High way Safety Im prove - ment pro gram to fo cus on re duc ing mo tor vehicle crash fatalities and injuries on the na tion s high ways, grade-cross ings, and ru ral roads by in vest ing in im prove ments to re move or lessen roadway safety hazards. Sur face Trans por ta tion Pro vides states with sur face trans por ta tion fund ing through a flex i ble pro gram that en ables states and met ro pol i tan re gions to ad dress state-spe cific needs in clud ing new high - way and transit capacity. Facilitates local de ci sion-mak ing and par tic i pa tion by increasing the role of communities. Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Im prove ment (CMAQ) Re struc tures the pro gram to fund pro jects that im prove air qual ity, re duce con ges tion, and im prove pub lic health and the liv abil ity of communities. The act would fo cuses most tran sit fund ing in four core cat e go ries to bring ur - ban and ru ral pub lic tran sit sys tems to a state of good re pair; pro vide spe cific fund - ing to re store tran sit rail sys tems; pro vide mo bil ity and ac cess to tran sit-de pend ent in di vid u als; and plan, de sign, and con - struct new tran sit lines and intermodal facilities. It would es tab lish three pro grams to im - prove and ex pand mo bil ity on the na tion s sur face trans por ta tion system: Met ro pol i tan Mo bil ity and Ac cess Pro vides sig nif i cant, ded i cated fund ing to help the larg est met ro pol i tan re gions ad dress con ges tion. Pro jects of Na tional Sig nif i cance En - hance U.S. global com pet i tive ness by in creas ing the fo cus on goods move - ment and freight mo bil ity. Freight Im prove ment Pro vides state for mula grant fund ing for freight and goods move ment pro jects and for im - prov ing states abil ity to con duct freight plan ning. The act would re form the Trans por ta - tion De part ment to re quire intermodal plan ning and de ci sion-mak ing; to en sure that pro jects are planned and com pleted in a timely man ner; and to en sure that DOT pro grams ad vance the liv abil ity of com mu - ni ties. It would also re quire states and lo cal gov ern ments to es tab lish trans por ta tion plans with spe cific per for mance stan dards; mea sure their prog ress an nu ally in meet ing these stan dards; and pe ri od i cally ad just their plans as necessary to achieve specific objectives. It would cre ate an Of fice of Liv abil ity within the Federal Highway Administra - tion (FHWA) to pro vide lead er ship for the cre ation of liv able com mu ni ties and the de - vel op ment of sus tain able trans por ta tion choices The act would cre ate a Na tional In fra - struc ture Bank to better le ver age lim ited trans por ta tion dollars. It would significantly restructure transit New Starts and Small Starts to speed pro - ject de liv ery and pro vide a level play ing Please turn to Page 7

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 7 Green Bike Pro ject Re duces Drive-Alone Commuting, Changes Lifestyles King County Metro Tran sit Part nered with State DOT, Bike Ad vo cates With free bi cy cles, bi cy cle gear, train ing les sons and the prom ise of en try into a lot - tery, King County Metro Tran sit mo ti vated 265 com mu ters to get out of their cars and try cy cling to work. The in cen tives were part of the Green Bike Pro ject, a part ner ship be tween King County Metro Tran sit, the state De part - ment of Trans por ta tion, REI (the out doors cloth ing and gear co op er a tive), and the Cas cade Bi cy cle Club aimed at re duc ing traf fic con ges tion. The pro gram was of fi - cially launched on Aug. 21, 2008 and lasted through May Ac cord ing to Green Bike Pro ject (GPB) Pro gram Man ager Su san Whitmore, King County Metro Tran sit de - signed the Green Bike Pro ject to re duce drive-alone com mute trips and to cre ate sus tain able bike com mute cul tures at em - ployer sites. REI pro vided 200 spe cially branded, fully out fit ted Novara Trans fers bikes and tune-ups for 100 ex ist ing bikes. The Cascade Bicycle Club provided bicycle com mute safety train ing, an on line com - mute cal en dar and ac cess to bike men tors. King County pro vided pro ject man age - ment and a 50/50 match to par tic i pat ing em ploy ers who chose to give GBP par tic i - pants a Com mu ter Bo nus Plus voucher of up to $ The Wash ing ton State De part ment of Trans por ta tion pro vided a $225,000 fund - ing grant through its Trip Re duc tion Per for - mance Pro gram (TRPP). The money helped pay for the bikes from REI, which were sold at a dis count, and the train ing classes and a website pro vided by the bicycle club. Whitmore told UTM that pro gram par - tic i pants pledged to re duce 60 per cent of their drive-alone com mute trips by com - mut ing by bike (or by bike and tran sit) and were given use of a Green Bike. If these par tic i pants ful filled their pledge, they earned own er ship of the bike. Whitmore noted that par tic i pants who used their own bikes re ceived a gift card for a bike tune-up at the start of the pro ject and, if they ful - filled their pledge, were en tered into a draw ing for a $1,000 REI gift card. Participants were required to complete a free bi cy cle safety train ing class prior to participation, wear a bicycle helmet while rid ing in the pro ject, and sign a waiver of li - a bil ity de vel oped by King County. Par tic i - pants logged their com mutes at under an honor system. The Green Bike Pro ject had 265 par tic i - pants from 25 com pa nies in King County. They logged 8,820 bike trips, biked 109,202 miles (av er ag ing 12 miles per trip), and saved 109,202 pounds of CO2. More than 100 Green Bike par tic i pants ful - Continuedf from page 6 House Trans por ta tion Bill Would Re struc ture Transportation Department Programs field for lo cal de ci sion-mak ing. It would cre ate of fices within FHWA and the Fed - eral Tran sit Ad min is tra tion to im prove pro ject de liv ery by elim i nat ing du pli ca - tion and ex pe dit ing pro jects through the en vi ron men tal re view pro cess, de sign, and con struc tion. Fi nally, the act would cre ate a new un - der sec re tary and Of fice of Intermodalism, charged with de vel op ing and im ple ment - ing a Na tional Trans por ta tion Stra te gic Plan for ad dress ing the long-term needs of the sur face trans por ta tion net work. The un - der sec re tary would have re spon si bil ity for ad min is ter ing the Met ro pol i tan Mo bil ity and Ac cess and Pro jects of Na tional Sig nif - i cance programs and the National Infrastructure Bank. For more in for ma tion, visit and con tact Jim Berard at tel. (202) or by at jim.berard@mail.house.gov. Green Bike Pro gram par tic i pants from Nothern Seattle Community College. (Photo, Cour tesy of King County Metro Tran sit) filled their pledge of re duc ing 60% of their drive-alone com mute trips. Par tic i pat ing em ploy ers in cluded Boe - ing, Callison Ar chi tec ture, the city of Kent, the city of Kirkland, the city of Renton, the city of SeaTac, Expedia, the Fairmont Ho tel, Foss Mar i time, Microsoft, PATH, North Se at tle Com mu - nity Col lege, Quad rant Homes, REI, Swed ish Med i cal Cen ter, Tommy Bahama, Wil liams Kastner, and ZymoGenetics. Partnering employers were required to have be tween 5 and 15 em ploy ees el i gi ble to par tic i pate in the pro gram that is, em - ploy ees who were driv ing alone for the ma jor ity of their com mutes be fore the pro gram be gan. Em ploy ers also were required to provide: Secure bicycle parking for all bicycle commuters. Ac cess to show ers, clothes lock ers or closets for all bicycle commuters. An em ployee trans por ta tion co or di na - tor (ETC) or bike men tor to help man - age the pro ject and act as a li ai son be - tween GBP par tic i pants and King County. An in vest ment in bi cy cle gear or in cen - tives to all bi cy cle com mu ters. For more in for ma tion, visit mmutesolutions/partnershipsgrants/gree nbikeproject.aspx and con tact Su san Whitmore at Su - san.whitmore@kingcounty.gov.

8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 8 Flex i ble So lar Cell Tech nol ogy Lights Bus Shel ter Solar Cells Bend to Fit Curved Surfaces Stu dents won t be wait ing in the dark any - more at a cam pus bus shel ter. New flex i ble so lar cell tech nol ogy, de vel oped by a group of en gi neer ing re search ers at McMaster Uni ver sity in Ham il ton, On - tario, has been in stalled to power light ing for night-time tran sit us ers. The re search ers are hop ing that the pro - to type will help boost ef forts to com mer - cial ize the new tech nol ogy. The flex i ble so lar cell pro ject started as a mas ter s the sis for Wei Zhang, who sub - se quently worked as an en gi neer in the De - part ment of En gi neer ing Phys ics. Julia Zhu, a re search tech ni cian in the de part - ment, and Jesika Briones, a mas ter s of en - gi neer ing en tre pre neur ship and in no va tion grad u ate, also helped develop the initiative. Zhang told UTM that the abil ity to bend the so lar cells to fit the curved roof of the An in te rior night view of the bus shel ter with lights that are pow ered by bat ter ies charged through the so lar strip. (Pho tos: Cour tesy of the Fac ulty of En gi neer ing, McMaster University) The flexibility of the solar cells is achieved by tiling a large number of small silicon elements into an array and mounting them onto a flexible sheet. (Photo: Cour tesy of the Faculty of Engineering, McMaster University) An ex te rior view of the flex i ble so lar strip. (Photo: Cour tesy of the Fac ulty of Engineering, McMaster University) bus shel ter is one of the main fea tures of the tech nol ogy. The flex i bil ity is achieved by til ing a large num ber of small sil i con el - e ments into an ar ray, mount ing them onto a flex i ble sheet, and con nect ing them through a pro pri etary method. The two so - lar strips in stalled on the McMaster bus shel ter are about 90 cm long and 12 cm wide, he said. Each strip has 720 one-cen - ti me ter square so lar cells and gen er ates up to 4.5 watts of power. With the help of Fa cil ity Ser vices at McMaster, a so lar strip was mounted at each end of the bus shel ter roof and con - nected to two en ergy-ef fi cient, multi-led, light fix tures. Each light fix - ture pro duces about the same light out put as a three-watt reg u lar tung sten bulb or what a small night light would use. The lights are bright enough for easy reading. The so lar cells cap ture sun light dur ing the day and con vert it to elec tric ity to re - charge bat ter ies lo cated in each light ing unit. The bat ter ies can hold enough charge to light the shel ter for the better part of a night. The so lar cell re search team is mon i tor - ing the in stal la tion to de ter mine how much so lar power is re quired to fully re charge the bat ter ies based on weather con di tions. Win ter months will be a par tic u lar fo cus as short, over cast days, snow and cold can af - fect the charg ing abil ity of the so lar cells and batteries. Zhang said that flex i ble so lar cell tech - nol ogy has many ad van tages. It: Con forms to var i ous ar chi tec tural sur - faces such as curved roof top, dome. Uses proven sil i con so lar cell tech nol - ogy and LED light fix tures. Is light weight. One 4.5-watt panel weighs about 2 kg. Has cus tom iz able fea tures, in clud ing the power out put, shape and size of the prod uct. More over, Zhang stressed that the tech nol - ogy has high ef fi ciency (around 12%) com pared with other thin film type flex i ble so lar cell (only 5% to 8%) in the mar ket. In an other words, he ex plained, our tech nol ogy of fers higher power out put per unit area. This ad van tage is es pe cially im - por tant be cause the roof top area of bus shel ters usu ally is very lim ited, and higher energy output means smaller installation and other ma te rial cost. Right now, the ini tial cost of pro to - types is quite high, Zhang said, but we be lieve the cost of a 100-watt unit can be low ered to around $1,200 by mass pro duc - tion. The ac tual cost also de pends on the Please turn to Page 9

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 9 Con tin ued from Page 1 Com pe ti tion Of fers $50,000 for Best Idea to Fight Traf fic Con ges tion in the U.S. spends nearly a full work week stuck in traf fic each year, said ITS Amer - ica Pres i dent and CEO Scott Belch er in a press re lease. We can not al low con ges - tion to grind cit ies, sub urbs and sup ply chains to a halt ev ery morn ing and af ter - noon when we have in no va tive tools, tech - nol o gies, and strat e gies avail able to man - age our trans por ta tion sys tems and uti lize our in fra struc ture more ef fec tively. Ac cord ing to an ITS spokes man, all ideas will be re viewed, dis cussed and rated by an open global com mu nity. The win ner will be an nounced dur ing the 16th World Con gress on In tel li gent Trans por ta tion Sys tems in Stock holm, Swe den, Sep tem - ber 21 25, The win ner will re ceive a cash in vest ment of $50,000 in ad di tion to de vel op ment and im ple men ta tion sup port to become a real-world solution. Win ning ideas are ex pected to fo cus on one or more of the fol low ing: Speed & Ef fi ciency en hance trans por - tation system efficiency, use technology to re duce de lays and trans port peo ple and goods more re li ably. Be hav ioral Im pact pro vide travel al - ter na tives and choices to re duce con ges - tion. Safety pre vent ac ci dents, im prove in - ci dent re sponse, pro vide more timely and ac cu rate trans por ta tion in for ma tion. Sustainability lower en ergy use and emissions, actively manage traffic and re duce con ges tion. Eco nomic Com pet i tive ness wire less ap pli ca tions, mo bil ity tools and other cost, ef fi ciency and pro duc tiv ity im - prove ments. The in tent of the ITS con ges tion chal - lenge is to gen er ate new ideas to re duce con ges tion, said Gerry Moo ney, IBM General Manager, Global Government and Ed u ca tion. This will lead to smarter trans - por ta tion solutions. Asked if IBM will try to de velop the win ning idea, IBM Pub lic Sec tor Me dia Re la tions Man ager Lia P. Da vis said, Our role in the chal lenge is to help the best ideas get out there and for the mar ket, better yet the com mu nity of Chal lenge par tic i - pants to de ter mine which ideas have merit and which ones are feasible. Da vis told UTM that smart trans por ta - tion may not be the norm to day but it is also not some far-off vi sion of to mor row. In many places, she said, IBM is help ing to make it hap pen to day. In Stock holm, she said, a dy namic toll sys tem based on the flow of ve hi cles into and out of the city has re duced traf fic by 20%, de creased wait time by 25% and cut emis sions by 12%. In Sin - gapore, controllers receive real-time data through sen sors to model and pre dict traf fic sce nar ios with 90% ac cu racy. And in Kyoto, city plan ners sim u late large-scale traf fic sit u a tions in volv ing mil lions of vehicles to analyze urban impact. Con tin ued from Page 8 Flex i ble So lar Cell Array Lights Bus Shel ter cus tomer re quire ments and geo graphic lo - ca tion. The cost of the sys tem at a north ern U.S. re gion will be higher than that of a south ern re gion be cause, for ex am ple, so - lar power is much stron ger in Ar i zona as com pared to New York State. There fore, he said, a larger power sys tem then would be re quired for New York. Ac cord ing to Zhang, the life time of so - lar cells is more than 20 years. He noted that the McMaster en gi neer ing team is val - i dat ing the life time of its prod uct through test ing agen cies such as Bodycote test ing group and UL (Un der writ ers Lab o ra to ries Inc.). We ex pect more than 15 years life - time for our flex i ble solar panel, he said. Zhang said that they have ap plied for a PCT pat ent for the tech nol ogy. We are now look ing for in dus trial part ners in ter - ested in pro duc ing this prod uct at a more af - ford able price for bus shel ters and tran sit use, he said. Some lo cal tran sit agen cies and U.S. bus shel ter man u fac tur ers are show ing great in ter est in the tech nol ogy, he added. We are cur rently con tact ing them to build a part ner ship fur ther de vel op ing, pro duc ing and commercializing the technology. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact We Zhang at zhangw8@mcmaster.ca. Smarter traf fic sys tems can im prove driv ers com mutes, give better in for ma - tion to city plan ners, in crease the pro duc - tiv ity of busi nesses and raise cit i zens qual ity of life, Da vis said. They can re - duce con ges tion, shrink fuel use and cut CO2 emis sions. By sup port ing the ITS Con ges tion Chal lenge, she said, IBM is help ing to solve one of the big gest issues facing our planet. Those who wish to sub mit a pro posal should visit: for more in for ma tion. There they are in vited to join the Chal lenge by join ing VenCorps. VenCorps 2009 Spencer Trask Col lab o - ra tive Ven ture Part ners is a mem ber of the Spencer Trask fam ily of com pa nies. It is an on line com mu nity ded i cated to iden ti - fy ing and cul ti vat ing the most cre ative ideas and so lu tions through collaborative innovation. VenCorps has three types of mem bers: Found ers: En tre pre neurs look ing for fund ing and com mu nity sup port to cul - tivate their solutions. Funders: Ac cred ited an gel in ves tors look ing to syn di cate deals, net work with other high net worth in ves tors and in crease the qual ity of their deal flow. Facilitators: Members of the entrepre - neur ial eco sys tem who sup port so lu - tions through early adop tion, mentorship, re search, evan ge lism, pro - vid ing ser vices and ac qui si tions. Ac cord ing to the website, those seek - ing fund ing will be judged by the VenCorps com mu nity on cri te ria in clud - ing po ten tial im pact, global rel e vancy, and the abil ity to ex e cute and to speed to mar ket. The top nine ideas will be an - nounced on Au gust 1 and asked to sub mit more in for ma tion. Com mu nity mem bers will then al lo cate points that they will have earned among the top pro pos als. The win ner will be the so lu tion that receives the most backing. For more in for ma tion, visit BM_1_BM_2_.org/challenge or con tact Lia Da vis at (202) or by at lia.p.davis@us.ibm.com or ITS Di rec - tor of Com mu ni ca tions Sabrina McGowan at (202) or by at smcgowan@itsa.org.

10 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 10 City of Long Beach Un veils Unique Pave ment Mark ings for Shared Bi cy cle-ve hi cle Lanes Fea tures Green Striped Lane with Sharrows on the Cen ter of the Out side Traf fic Lane In its ef fort to be come the most bi cy - cle-friendly city in the na tion, the city of Long Beach, Cal i for nia has un veiled sharrows clear mark ings on ex ist ing street lanes de signed to show that the lanes are shared by ve hi cles and bi cy cles. The Long Beach sharrows are a unique, Fed eral High way Ad min is tra tion-ap - proved dem on stra tion pro ject that in cludes a 6-foot wide green striped lane with sharrows down the cen ter of the right lane. Salt Lake City is the only other city in the coun try that uti lizes sim i lar sharrows with a col ored stripe. The lane mark ings were un veiled last month. They have been painted in the out - side traf fic lane in each di rec tion on Sec - ond Street from Livingston Drive to East Ma rina Drive, a 15-block re tail cor ri dor in the Belmont Shore sec tion of Long Beach. The new sharrows com pli ment the city s pub lic out reach cam paign for greater bicycle infrastructure, said Tony Cruz, bike am bas sa dor for the city of Long Beach. It s as im por tant for mo tor ists and cy clists to learn to share the road as it is il - le gal to ride your bike on the side walk. The city of Long Beach applied a green striped lane with sharrows down the center of the outside traffic lane. (Photo: Cour tesy of the city of Long Beach) Sharrows also keep cy clists away from the open ing doors of parked cars. Sharrows are ar row-like de signs painted on a road way used to mark a bi cy - cling route, to alert mo tor ists to slow down and to guide cy clists to a safer spot in the road way, a city press re lease said. Sharrows are used in lanes shared by bi cy - clists and mo tor ists. In con trast, bi cy cle lanes set aside a pave ment area for bi cy - clists and are marked by a solid white line and a dif fer ent symbol. Gen er ally sharrows will be used on ar - te rial and col lec tor streets in Long Beach where cy clists need to go and there is not enough room in the ex ist ing street space to mark a bi cy cle lane, the press re lease said. But, bi cy clists can ride on any street in Long Beach ex cept for in ter states and other con trolled ac cess high ways with signs specifically prohibiting bicyclists. Sharrows are pre ven tive en gi neer - ing tools used to clearly in di cate the saf est place in the travel lane for cy clists, said Charles Gandy, the city s mo bil ity co or di - na tor. Gandy s job en tails work ing to im - prove the liveability of Long Beach by iden ti fy ing pro grams and phys i cal im - prove ments to pro mote more healthy modes of trans por ta tion. His po si tion is funded through a grant from the Los An - geles County De part ment of Pub lic Health for the cre ation of more livable communities. Other bike-friendly im prove ments will be un veiled through out Long Beach in the next few weeks, in clud ing ad di tional sharrows (with out a col ored stripe) on streets that are con sid ered bike routes as well as hun dreds of num bered bike way signs on ev ery bike route and bike lane in the city. The city is also be gin ning the de - sign pro cess for wayfinding sign age to pro vide better ac cess to bike paths and bike lanes. A to tal of $10 mil lion in grant fund ing is be ing ded i cated for bike in fra struc ture and safety and ed u ca tion as part of Long Beach s trans for ma tion to a more bike-friendly city. In May 2009 the city was awarded a Bronze-Level Bi cy - cle-friendly Com mu nity Award from the Amer i can League of Bi cy clists for pro vid - ing safe accommodations and facilities for bi cy clists and en cour ag ing res i dents to bike for transportation and recreation. Sharrows or shared lane mark ings are used in Aus tra lia, Can ada, France, Ger - many, Swit zer land and the United King - dom, and they gen er ally use stan dard bi cy - cle lo gos painted on the road. In the United States, sharrows were first used in the city of Den ver in the 1990s, and they used a bi - cy cle sym bol in side an ar row. In 2004, San Francisco, California started experiment - ing with sharrows and de vel oped a mark - ing that used a bi cy cle sym bol with two sets of chev ron mark ings above the cy cle. In a study con ducted for the San Fran cisco De part ment of Park ing and Traf fic (SF DPT), the stencil markings significantly im proved both mo tor ists and cy clists po - si tions in the road way. The mark ings also re duced side walk and wrong-way rid ing. This study was ac cepted by the Cal i for nia Traf fic Con trol De vices Com mit tee (CTCDC). Caltrans is sued a pol icy di rec - tive in 2005 al low ing the use of the shared lane mark ing in California and providing guidance in a MUTC 2003 California Supplement. Many U.S. cit ies are tak ing part in fed - er ally ap proved ex per i ments with sharrows in clud ing Flag staff, AR, Fort Col lins, CO, Mi ami Beach, FL, Lou is ville, KY, Ithaca, NY, Co lum bus, OH, Port land, OR, Beth le hem, PA, Pitts burgh, PA, Spartanburg, SC, Salt Lake City, UT, Belle vue, WA, and Sheboygan, WI. In Jan u ary 2007, the U.S. Na tional Com mit tee on Uni form Traf fic Con trol De vices (NCUTCD) en dorsed the shared lane con cept and rec om mended that it be in cluded by the Fed eral High way Ad min - is tra tion in the next U.S. Fed eral Man ual on Uni form Traf fic Con trol Devices (MUTCD). For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Charles Gandy at (562) or by at BikeLongBeach@LongBeach.gov.

11 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, JULY 6, 2009, VOL. 23 NO. 6 Page 11 U.K. High ways Agency to Ex pand Suc cess ful Hard Shoulder Running Program Can Be Im ple mented Quickly at Lower Cost than Con ven tional Ca pac ity Ex pan sion The U.K. High ways Agency pro vided de - tails last month of a plan to ex tend the suc - cess ful Hard Shoul der Run ning (HSR) pro gram on the M42 near Bir ming ham to other ma jor road ways. The scheme will be put into place near the city of Bris tol on a five-mile stretch of the M4 be tween Junc tions 19 and 20 and a seven-mile sec tion of the M5 be tween Junc tions 15 and 17. Both road ways are ex pe ri enc ing heavy con ges tion that is ex - pected to worsen in the future. A 2008 re port, Ad vanced Motor way Signaling and Traffic Management Feasi - bil ity Study, iden ti fied about 497 miles on Eng land s motor ways that could ben e fit from us ing the hard shoul der as an ex tra lane, in clud ing sec tions of the M4 and M5. The High ways Agency, charged with de vel op ing and de liv er ing the pro gram, de scribes HSR as part of a broader Man - aged Motor way ap proach to traf fic man - age ment. In ad di tion to mak ing the hard shoul der lane avail able for travel, vari able speed lim its and close mon i tor ing of traf fic on these sec tions of motor ways en able traffic officials to respond more effectively to heavy congestion. The scheme was first tested in a pi lot pro gram on the M42. Sen sors were used to de tect the buildup of traf fic, which trig - gered sign boards in struct ing driv ers to slow down and use the ex tra lane. Mes - sages tell ing driv ers the lane was closed ap peared if there was an ac ci dent, al low ing emer gency ser vices to move by. Also, emergency refuges were established ap - prox i mately ev ery one-third of a mile. The pi lot was deemed a suc cess and the pro gram was ex tended. The agency views the M42 pro gram as a model of how HSR can pro vide the ben e fits of motor way wid - en ing at sig nif i cantly lower cost and with - out the need for ad di tional land. Ac cord ing to Trans port Min is ter Chris Mole, We have suc cess fully and safely opened up the motor way hard shoul der on the M42 at busy times, giv ing us con fi - dence that we can do the same else where on the network. Mole added that the in no va tive use of the hard shoul der has seen jour ney times on the M42 re duce sig nif i cantly, in some cases by as much as 27% dur ing week day Hard shoul der run ning with vari able speed lim its on M42 in Eng land. (Photo: Cour tesy of the U.K. High ways Agency) jour neys, and there has been a re duc tion in per sonal in jury accidents. The U.K. De part ment for Trans port con firmed in Jan u ary that it would roll out HSR to the M4 and M5, as well as other parts of the core motor way net work, as part of a 6 bil lion ($9.73 bil lion) in vest ment pro gram to im prove na tional roadways. A Jan u ary 2009 re port, Brit ain s Trans - port In fra struc ture Motor ways and Ma jor Trunk Roads, out lines the de part ment s na tional roads pro gram through and identifies locations where capacity will be added. HSR is ap peal ing be cause it can be im - ple mented more quickly, at a sig nif i cantly lower cost, and with fewer en vi ron men tal im pacts that road way wid en ing. In ad di tion to pro vid ing more re li able driv ing times for com mu ters and trav el ers, the scheme can add a third more capacity to the roadways. Work on the fast-tracked M4 and M5 pro jects is sched uled to start in March 2010 and should be com pleted by sum mer Prep a ra tions nec es sary in or der to in tro - duce the scheme in clude strength en ing the hard shoul der and build ing emer gency ref - uge ar eas along the roadways. Ad di tional steps in volve in stall ing over - head gan tries and elec tronic signs, in stall - ing sen sors in the road to mea sure traf fic lev els and speeds, and add ing CCTV cam - eras to mon i tor the motor way and emer - gency refuge areas. The agency held a two-day pub lic in - for ma tion ex hi bi tion last month to ex plain how the sys tem will work once it is op er a - tional and to dem on strate how the in no va - tive tech nique will ben e fit motorists. In for ma tion about the speed limit and the open ing and clos ing of the hard shoul - der will be dis played for mo tor ists on elec - tronic signs on gan tries above the motor - ways, con trolled and mon i tored by staff in the agency s re gional con trol center. Significant safety features will include emergency refuge areas at regular inter - vals; in ten sive mon i tor ing of the net work by traf fic con trol of fi cials, and tight con - trol of travel speeds HSR has proven pop u lar with mo tor - ists along the M42, with 60% of driv ers in - ter viewed want ing to see the scheme im - ple mented else where. The ben e fits of the pro gram in clude an in crease of 27% in jour ney time re li abil ity, a de cline in per - sonal in jury ac ci dents from an av er age of 5.1 to 1.8 per month, and a re duc tion in ve - hi cle emissions of 4% to 10%. For more in for ma tion, visit