Research in Public Transportation

Professors Thompson, Brown, Audirac, and Saunders undertake at least some of their research projects in subject areas involving public transportation. Their research informs their classes, and it also gives students employment opportunities as research and teaching assistants. In the Fall 2004 semester, the department carried out a studio examining the future of Tallahassee’s transit system. One of the students in that studio, Sam Scheib, now is senior planner for Tallahassee’s transit system, StarMetro, which in the process of implementing the route restructuring recommended in the studio. In Spring 2010 the department undertook a second public transportation studio, this time modeling alternative transportation and land use future scenarios for the Tallahassee region. Tim Welch, one of the students in the studio, now is employed by CitiLabs to work on modifications to Florida’s standard demand modeling software to eliminate bugs that became apparent in the studio and to make the model useful for transit policy analysis. Recent doctoral student Dr. Dristi Neog worked closely with Professor Brown on the lack of importance of CBD employment in determining transit demand, while doctoral student Torsha Bhattacharya is working closely with Professor Thompson on statistical analysis of the importance of connectivity between residences and dispersed employment in creating transit demand.

A theme of our research is that prejudices in professional practice have resulted in the development of less-than-optimal transportation networks. We see this phenomenon in our contemporary research on public transit and in our historical research on the development of urban freeway planning.

Public Transit Policy

Our recent research in public transit shows that transit use is growing fastest in urban environments that have not traditionally been viewed as key transit markets, namely the decentralized urban environments characteristic of the Sunbelt. These results run counter to most of the professional and scholarly literature on transit markets. This research has significant implications for the way transit agencies deploy their service.

Major transit policy research projects over the past three years include:

· Brown, Jeffrey and Gregory L. Thompson. 2009. The Influence of Service Planning Decisions on Rail Transit Success or Failure, MTI Report 08-04. San Jose, CA: Mineta Transportation Institute, June 2009.

· Jeffrey R. Brown and Gregory L. Thompson, with Torsha Bhattacharya as Co-Author for Chapter 4. 2010. Evaluation of Land Use and Transportation Strategies to Increase Suburban Transit Ridership in the Short Term. Tallahassee: Public Transit Office of the Florida Department of Transportation, 30 April 2010

We also offered twin studios in Spring 2010 focused on future transit and land use policy. One studio, led by Professor Thompson for seven transportation students focused on adapting the highway-only forecasting model for the Tallahassee region to include transit. The studio then used the integrated model to examine the consequences of eight alternative transportation/land use scenarios for the Tallahassee region in the year 2030. The studio was conducted with technical assistance from the Systems Planning Office of the Florida Department of Transportation and uncovered serious problems with the models currently in use throughout Florida. A student from the studio, Tim Welch currently is employed in an effort to fix model short comings. The student-written report for the studio is:

· A Transit Model for Tallahassee: Adapting the CRTPA Cube Voyager Model for Transit-Land Use Planning: Evaluating Scenarios for Tallahassee in 2030. (Spring 2010 Transportation Studio)

The second studio, led by Dr. Melissa Saunders for five design students, focused on designing one of the eight land use/transit scenarios for the year 2030. The scenario that was designed was characterized by having much growth in population and employment forecasted for the Tallahassee region located in the central part of the region served by two streetcar lines, integrated with a larger bus system. The student-written report for the studio is:

· A Proposed Light Rail System for Tallahassee, FL: A Study on Land Use, Regulations, Urban Design, and Feasibility (Spring 2010 Urban Design Studio)

o Title page of final report

o Final report body

o Final map book

Recent publications coming from the above research and earlier research include:

· J. Brown and G.L. Thompson. (2009) “Express Bus versus Rail Transit: How the Marriage of Mode and Mission Affects Transit Performance.” Transportation Research Record 2110: pp. 45-54.

· J. Brown and G. L. Thompson. (2008). "Service Orientation, Bus-Rail Service Integration, and Transit Performance: An Examination of 45 U.S. Metropolitan Areas." Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science, No. 2042: 82-89.

· J. Brown and G. L. Thompson (2008). “Examining the Influence of Multidestination Service Orientation on Transit Productivity Change: A Multivariate Analysis.” Transportation: 35: pp. 237-252.

· J. Brown and G. L. Thompson (2008) “The Relationship between Transit Ridership and Urban Decentralization: Insights from Atlanta.” Urban Studies 45: pp. 1119-1139.

· G. L. Thompson (2007) “Taming the Neighborhood Revolution: Planners, Power Brokers, and the Birth of Neotraditionalism in Portland, Oregon.” Journal of Planning History 6/3 (August): 214-247.

· Brown, Jeffrey and Dristi Neog. “Reexamining the Link Between Urban Structure and Transit Ridership in the United States.” Tallahassee, FL: Florida Planning and Development Lab, Florida State University, 2007.

Urban Transportation Planning History

Our research on transportation planning history focuses on the role of finance arrangements in shaping the design of urban freeways. Finance arrangements placed state and federal highway engineers in the driver’s seat, so to speak, and their professional prejudices to favor high-speed, high-geometry facilities sited on the basis of traffic flows is reflected in our modern urban freeways. These developments came at the expense of an alternative vision of freeway development, advocated by local engineers and planners, which saw freeways as an important planning tool that must be used very carefully.

A Tale of Two Visions: Harland Bartholomew, Robert Moses, and the Development of the American Freeway. Published in the Journal of Planning History 4(1): 3-32.

For sixty years, engineers and planners have debated the freeway’s role in the city. Engineers have tended to view freeways strictly in traffic service terms. Planners, on the other hand, have long viewed freeways not only as a means of facilitating automobile transportation but also as a tool for reshaping the city. This article uses the plans of Harland Bartholomew and Robert Moses to illustrate these competing visions of the freeway and to assess the implications of these visions on the development of the freeway

and its long-term influence on our cities. The traffic-service vision of the engineers emerged victorious through the creation of the interstate highway system, but this victory has carried with it a high price for many American cities.

From Traffic Regulation to Limited Ways: The Effort to Build a Science of Transportation Planning

(forthcoming in the Journal of Planning History).

During the 1920s, millions of Americans embraced the automobile as their primary means of transportation, and traffic quickly congested city streets. Local officials turned to the experts for aid. These men approached the congestion problem as one whose solution might be identified through the application of scientific techniques. This research chronicles the beginnings of their decades-long quest to develop a science of transportation planning. While they ultimately fell short of eliminating traffic congestion, the adherents of scientific transportation planning left tools that guide planning practice to this day. Unfortunately, the pursuit of science also blinded subsequent generations of transportation professionals to the negative effects of their prescriptions for US cities.

Building Autopia: The Development of Urban Freeway Planning in the Pre-Interstate Era

In 1956, President Eisenhower signed legislation that provided money to build Interstate Highways across the United States. This research uses the legislation’s 50^th anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the history of pre-Interstate urban freeway planning. For several decades preceding 1956, planners sought to use the freeway as a tool to reduce congestion and reshape urban development. But, a lack of local resources prevented most of their plans from being implemented. When money appeared through the Interstate program, it came with strings attached that transformed freeway development. The consequences for America’s cities and citizens have been profound.

“Taming the Neighborhood Revolution: Planners, Power Brokers, and the Birth of Neotraditionalism in Portland, Oregon.” Journal of Planning History 6/3 (August 2007): 214-247.

Portland, Oregon is well known for its transportation investments and land use regulations intended to reduce the use of autos in favor of walking, biking, and transit. One of the major transportation investments is a light rail system that now totals about 40 route miles. The first 16-mile line of this system opened in 1986. This paper examines how the light rail decision evolved from the anti-freeway battles in Portland during the early 1970s.

Today the decision is sometimes portrayed as a simple victory for anti-highway forces that transferred money from an unpopular urban interstate to light rail. In reality the decision was more of an accommodation of environmentally and socially conscious politicians with road builders. The final deal left the old power brokers still in charge and resulted in more rather than less highway spending in the region. It does appear, however, that the new spending package was more esthetically and socially desirable than the old. This paper focuses on negotiations of regional leaders as opposition to the Mt. Hood Freeway grew after 1970.

The Birth of the Light Rail Movement in North America and Its Results. In print at Transportes, Servicios y Telecomunications Journal (Spain)

This paper addresses two questions. Why did the light rail movement arise in North America, when up to 1970 urban transit had been in precipitous decline and streetcars had all but disappeared? By 2003 14 urban regions in the U.S. and Canada that had no rail transit in 1970 had opened light rail transit lines. What have been the results? The paper addresses the first question by tracing the birth and development of the light rail idea in North America from the 1960s to the first National Light Rail Conference in 1975 and also by examining how decisions were made to build the first light rail line in North America (Edmonton, opened 1978) and the first in the United States (San Diego, opened 1981). Sources are largely interviews with important participants as well as historical documents. It examines the second question by presenting trends calculated from the National Transit Data Base of the Federal Transit Administration.

G. L. Thompson. (2009) Technological Change in Transit: How the U.S. Light Rail Movement Won its First Victory in San Diego. This draft monograph of approximately a hundred pages examines social and economic changes that led to the toppling of the National City Lines bus culture in San Diego, as well as then accepted planning norms, beginning the era of light rail adoption in the United States.

Additional Transportation Planning Research in the Department

v Ivonne Audirac and Harrison Higgins. Planning and Design Guidelines for Small Transit Agencies (2002-2004)

v 2002. "Documenting Current Practice of Development Review by Florida Transit Systems," Study by Marketing Institute for Florida Department of Transportation, Public Transit Office. Professor Thompson participating.”

v Transit Operations Study," Greg Thompson, P.I.. Florida Department of Transportation, Public Transit Office. 1998-1999 academic year. Final report: "Transit Operations Analysis of New Section 5307 Agencies."

v "Removing Economic and Political Barriers to Transit Oriented Development," working through Florida Institute for Marketing Alternative Transportation for the Public Transit Office of the Florida Department of Transportation, summer 1998. Professors Audirac and Thompson both participated in this study. Final report:  Ivonne Audirac, Dean Gatzlaff, Stacy Sirmans, Yan Song and Gregory L. Thompson. "Marketing Transit Oriented Design. Phase II Final Report. A description of Transit Oriented Design and Associated Finance Structures."

v Gregory L. Thompson, P.I. "Transit Accessibility and the Labor Force Participation Rate of At-Risk Groups: Dade County Florida." Final Report. NUTI3-FSU-2. Washington, D.C.: National Technical Information Service. June 1997.

Last revised 16 June 2010