THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

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1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2010 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 24, NO 8 OC TO BER 11, 2010 Minneapolis St. Paul Con sid ers Em pha sis on In creased Ef fi ciency of Ex ist ing High ways With the U.S. eco nomic down turn con tin - u ing, along with grow ing pub lic oppo si - tion to addi tional gov ern ment fund ing, many trans por ta tion plan ning agen cies are hav ing to seri ously reas sess their con ges - tion man age ment approaches and pri or i - ties. This pro cess is cur rently under way for the Met ro pol i tan Coun cil of Min ne sota, the plan ning agency respon si ble for Min - ne ap o lis, St. Paul, Bloomington and and 183 other com mu ni ties across 7 coun ties. Ear lier this year, the council released the draft update to its 2030 Trans por ta tion Pol - icy Plan. The draft update reflected a sig - nif i cant change in approach. Instead of focus ing on the tra di tional approach of man ag ing growth and congestion with a stream of con struc tion to build new capac - ity, the new approach backs away from build ing new roads to keep pace with growth, and seeks to accom plish the same goal via sev eral strat e gies focused around increas ing the effi ciency of exist ing capac - ity across the sys tem. Most sig nif i cantly the draft seeks to employ man aged lanes, giv ing carpoolers and tran sit vehi cles priority. The main jus ti fi ca tion for the change in pol icy comes from the issue of future fund - ing. Accord ing to Coun cil Chair Peter Bell, the price tag for address ing con ges - tion and pro vid ing ade quate capac ity for the next 20 years would be $40 bil lion, while the coun cil esti mates it will only have $900 mil lion avail able to spend over that time period. Attempt ing to fund the total num ber of plans through the state gas tax would add more than two dol lars to the cost of a gal lon of gas. Bell also argues that Bicy cle Tran sit Cen ter Opens in Salt Lake City First of its Kind in Utah On Sep tem ber 25th, the Utah Tran sit Author ity (UTA) hosted the grand open ing of its new Can yon Sports Bicy cle Tran sit Cen ter (BTC) in Salt Lake City. The BTC is the first facil ity in Utah to offer bicy cling ame ni ties and con nect rid ers to a major multi-modal tran sit cen ter. The site of the BTC, UTA s Intermodal Hub build ing houses con nec tions to UTA light rail (TRAX), com mu ter rail (FrontRunner), local buses, Amtrak, and Grey hound ser - vices, all of which can con nect bicy clists past pol icy approaches have sought to address con ges tion with large free way Please turn to Page 12 to des ti na tions around Salt Lake City, the sur round ing area, and even out of state. UTA's total sys tem has about 127,000 aver age week day rid ers and 5,500 to 7,500 rid ers mak ing trans fers at the intermodal hub per week day. The new facil ity fea tures secure indoor bike stor age, a self-serve bicy cle repair facil ity, a shower, and small lock ers for stor age of per sonal items. The secure area Please turn to Page 10 Inside Sur veys....page 13 Requests for Pro pos als....page 20 Confer ences...page 21 Bicycle storage racks at the newly opened Bicycle Transit Center in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Courtesy of the Utah Transit Authority)

2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24, NO. 8 Page 2 Underfunded U.S. Transportation System Threat ens U.S. Com pet i tive ness Re port Out lines 10 Mea sures for Fix ing U.S. Trans por ta tion Sys tem Sig nif i cant and sus tained in vest ments in the U.S. trans por ta tion in fra struc ture are nec es sary if the United States is go ing to maintain its competitiveness, says a new study by a bi par ti san panel of ex perts in - clud ing for mer sec re tar ies of trans por ta - tion Nor man Y. Mineta and Sam uel K. Skin ner. The United States can t com pete suc - cess fully in the 21st cen tury with a 20th cen tury trans por ta tion in fra struc ture es - pe cially when its chief trad ing part ners, in - clud ing not only the ad vanced econ o mies of West ern Eu rope and South east Asia but also rap idly de vel op ing coun tries like China, are mak ing sig nif i cant in vest ments in cut ting-edge trans por ta tion tech nol o - gies and sys tems, the ex perts said. Trans - portation efficiency has a direct impact on Amer i cans stan dard of liv ing and on the cost of goods and services delivered by U.S. firms and businesses. Re leased by the Uni ver sity of Vir - ginia s Miller Cen ter of Pub lic Af fairs on Oc to ber 4, the re port is based on the Da vid R. Good Na tional Trans por ta tion Pol icy Con fer ence that was held in Sep tem ber 2009 and at tended by about 80 trans por ta - tion ex perts. Fed eral and trans por ta tion pro grams suf fer from the ab sence of steady, ad e quate fund ing and con sis tent, log i cal plan ning, Ger ald L. Baliles, di rec - tor of the Miller Cen ter, said in the re port.. The ex perts es ti mated that an ad di tional $134 to $262 bil lion must be spent each year through 2035 to main tain and im - prove the U.S. trans por ta tion in fra struc - ture. In the near term, rev e nues could be raised most readily with fi nanc ing mech a - nisms al ready in place, no ta bly the gas tax. But, the ex ports warn, the fed eral fuel tax is an in suf fi cient source of funding for the future. Con gress should adopt leg is la tion lay - ing out a clear plan for transitioning, over the next de cade, from the per-gal lon fuel tax to a high way-use fee based on ve hi - cle-miles trav eled (VMT), the ex perts said. They point out that the tech nol ogy ex - ists to ad dress pri vacy and re gional eq uity con cerns. More over, a VMT-based sys - tem could be used to ad vance other pub lic pol icy goals, such as pro mot ing travel at different times of day or differentiating among types of ve hi cles based on their emis sions per for mance or the amount of wear they im pose on high ways. The ex perts also sup port the adop tion of high speed rail to ease con ges tion, the cre - ation of liv able com mu ni ties con du cive to walk ing and al ter na tive modes of trans por - ta tion, and the use of pub lic-pri vate part - ner ships to meet transportation goals The re port, Well Within Reach: Amer - ica's New Trans por ta tion Agenda," out - lines 10 rec om men da tions for the na tion s over bur dened trans por ta tion sys tem: Stop the bleed ing Con gress must ad - dress the im me di ate cri sis in trans por - ta tion fund ing. Be yond the gas tax Fu ture fund ing mech a nisms should not de pend pri mar - ily on fos sil-fuel con sump tion, which the gov ern ment is ac tively seek ing to dis cour age through a num ber of other pol i cies, to keep up with trans por ta tion in vest ment needs. Jobs for the fu ture, not just for to day Fu ture stim u lus spend ing should be di - rected to those trans por ta tion pro jects that will de liver the great est re turns in terms of fu ture U.S. com pet i tive ness, eco nomic growth, and jobs. Pass the power, please Clar ify fed eral de ci sion-mak ing power and en hance the de ci sion-mak ing power of states, lo cal i ties, and met ro pol i tan-plan ning or ga ni za tions. Adopt a cap i tal bud get The fed eral gov ern ment should adopt ac count ing meth ods that rec og nize ex pen di tures on trans por ta tion in fra struc ture as in - vest ments and take into ac count fu ture re turns on those in vest ments. Con nect the dots Adopt an in te grated ap proach to trans por ta tion plan ning that in cludes freight and goods move - ment and stresses intermodal con nec - tivity. Get ting Amer i cans home in time for din ner Find more ef fec tive ways of re duc ing ur ban con ges tion. It s all about le ver ag ing En cour age pub lic-pri vate part ner ships while also im prov ing over sight of such part ner - ships. De liver trans por ta tion in vest ments on time Re form pro ject plan ning, re - view, and per mit ting pro cesses to speed actual implementation. Build a foun da tion for in formed pol - icy Better and more timely data are essential to measure progress toward de fined goals and ob jec tives and to im prove the per for mance of the na - tion s trans por ta tion sys tems. Our aim was to is sue a re port that should be re lied upon by fu ture lead ers and fur - nish them rec om men da tions for re form that are both es sen tial and achiev able to en sure that we make the change nec es sary to en sure a strong econ omy for fu ture gen - er a tions, Mineta and Skin ner said. The re port can be read on line at on. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Miller Cen ter spokes woman Kim Curtis at (434) or kcurtis@virginia.edu. 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 2010, 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. Senior Edi tor/writer: Jeanne Holden

3 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 3 Cit ies in Penn syl va nia Re duce Street Traf fic Lanes to De crease Ve hi cle Speeds and In crease Pe des trian Safety Part of Com pre hen sive Plan to Keep Traf fic Mov ing Safely Work has be gun in Carlisle, PA to re duce the num ber of traf fic lanes on the city s main streets, High and Hanover, from four to three. The road diet is one as pect of a com pre hen sive plan for Carlisle s roads, ac cord ing to Mi chael Keiser, Carlisle s di - rect of pub lic works. A road diet re duces the num ber of lanes on a street to re duce speed ing and con ges tion, make room for bi cy clists, min i mize ac ci dents, and im - prove pe des trian safety. Kai ser pointed out that the city is also to tally re do ing its sig nal co or di na tion. He told UTM that once the new tech nol ogy is in place and the roads have been re de signed the same amount of traf fic should be able to move through the cor ri dor at some what slower speeds. Dewberry-Goodkind Inc. is the city s con trac tor on the pro ject. Ac cord ing to Dewberry-Goodkind En gi neer Chad Decker, the pro ject will take a four-lane cross sec tion of roads down town and re de - sign it to be come a three-lane cross sec tion in which there is a cen ter turn lane and two driv ing lanes. The cen ter turn lane will func tion as a two-way left turn lane (for ac - cess to drive ways and al leys) in the mid dle of each road and be come a ded i cated left turn lane at each sig nal. He said that this new con fig u ra tion will keep traf fic from get ting stuck be hind driv ers who need to make left turns. One prob lem, he said, was that frus trated driv ers were dart ing out from be hind left-turn ing ve hi cles, caus ing traffic hazards. The dedicated left-hand turn lanes, com bined with op ti mized traf - fic sig nal tech nol ogy, will al low traf fic to flow just as well or better with three lanes, as it currently does with four lanes. Al though mo tor ists com plain about Carlisle s roads be ing con gested, Decker said that ve hi cle speeds on Hanover be - tween South Street and No ble Bou le vard av er age about 38 miles per hour. If ve hi - cles can go that fast, the roads are not con - gested. Ac cord ing to Decker, the mod i fied road con fig u ra tion should cut speeds by up to 5 mph and help re duce traffic accidents. Asked if the re duc tion in lanes will di - vert traf fic to other roads, Keiser said that Dewberry-Goodkind Inc. in ves ti gated the likely ef fects of the new road con fig u ra tion. We ve counted the cur rent traf fic to see if there will be an im pact on the ad ja cent road - ways, he said, and they av er age about 16,000 ve hi cles a day. Based on other road di ets, a re duc tion in lanes on roads that han - dle less than 20,000 ve hi cles a day should not af fect traf fic on adjacent roadways. The im ple men ta tion of smart tech nol - ogy for the city s traf fic sig nals will help main tain the flow of traf fic, Keiser said. The city is putt ing in InSync tech nol ogy, an adap tive traf fic sig nal sys tem that uses state-of-the-art tech nol ogy to co or di nate traf fic sig nals ac cord ing to real-time traf fic de mand and op ti mize traf fic flow. He noted that the city is spend ing about $50,000 at each intersection. Keiser added that the city has al ready made plans to con duct an af ter study a year af ter the new road con fig u ra tion has been im ple mented to check whether there was, in fact, an ef fect on the ad ja cent roadways. Decker told UTM that other Penn syl va - nia cit ies in clud ing Pottstown, In di ana and Butler have recently implemented suc - cess ful road di ets. He noted that Carlisle s mod i fied road con fig u ra tion is al most a car bon copy of these ear lier de signs. In di - ana, PA ex pe ri enced a 50-per cent de - crease in ac ci dents since the com ple tion of its road diet in Asked about fi nanc ing for the road re - con fig u ra tion, Decker said that the funds came from a Penn syl va nia Com mu nity Trans por ta tion Ini tia tive grant. This pro - gram provides funds for pro jects that ex - em plify the Penn syl va nia De part ment of Transportation's smart trans por ta tion pol - icy, which in cor po rates land-use plan ning and all modes of trans por ta tion. The Carlisle pro ject not only calms traf fic, but also pro motes walk ing and bi - cy cling, Decker said. We were able to in - cor po rate bike lanes and im ple ment 6-foot curb ex ten sions, which shorten the cross - ing dis tance for pe des tri ans. That was the main rea son for this pro ject traf fic calm - ing with safety, he said. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Mi chael Keiser at mkeiser@carlislepa.org or Chad Decker at cdecker@dewberry.com. A ren der ing of the pro posed road con di tions for Carlisle, PA. The brick me dian is not be ing in stalled through out the en tire pro ject. (Photo: Cour tesy of Dewberry -Goodkind Inc.)

4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL 24 NO. 8 Page 4 Intelligence UC Irvine Of fers New Sustainable Planning Cer tif i cate Irvine, CA The con tin u ing ed u ca tion arm of the Uni - ver sity of Cal i for nia at Irvine, the UC Irvine Ex ten sion, is of fer ing a new Cer - tificate Program in Sustainable Commu - nity Plan ning & De vel op ment for this fall. The goal is to ed u cate lead ers in in - dus try and gov ern ment about shar ing re - sources, knowl edge, and ex pe ri ence with the goal of build ing sus tain able com mu - ni ties and un der tak ing green ini tia - tives. The tar get au di ence is pro fes sional ar chi tects, ur ban plan ners, civil en gi - neers, and en vi ron men tal pro fes sion als, and the pro gram aims to pro vide in ter dis - ci plin ary train ing in work ing to wards for ward-think ing green com mu ni ties. The certificate requires 15 quarter units to com plete (ap prox i mately 150 hours of in struc tion.) All courses are of fered af ter tra di tional work hours, in the eve ning, and will be taught by lead ing in dus try pro fes sion als work ing in in dus tries re - lated to sus tain able planning. For more in for ma tion, con tact Dr. Kir wan Rockefeller, Di rec tor of Sustainability Lead er ship at UC Irvine Ex ten sion, at tel.: (949) or by at sustainability@uci.edu. Brit ain s De part ment for Trans port Calls for Re duc ing Street Clut ter in clud ing Un nec es sary Signs Lon don, Eng land The Brit ish gov ern ment has urged lo cal jurisdictions in England to reduce street clut ter by get ting rid of un nec es sary signs, railings and advertising hoardings. Ministers want to make streets ti dier and less confusing for motorists and pedestrians. To help do this, the De part ment for Trans port is re view ing their traf fic signs pol icy and will pub lish new ad vice on the au dit ing and re moval of un nec es sary traf fic signs later this year. The guid ance will em pha size that traf fic signs are only needed to warn or in form road us ers, or to pro vide re stric tions and prohibitions. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Trans port Sec re tary Philip Hammond are con cerned that the char ac ter of ur ban spaces is be ing dam aged. Ac cord - ing to an Au gust 26, 2010 De part ment for Trans port no tice, these of fi cials have writ - ten to coun cil lead ers at lo cal ju ris dic tions, call ing on them to re duce the num ber of signs and other street clut ter. Our streets are los ing their Eng lish char ac ter, Mr. Pick les said. We are be - ing over run by scruffy signs, bossy bol - lards, patch work pav ing and railed-off roads - wast ing tax pay ers money that could be better spent on fix ing pot holes or keep ing coun cil tax down. We need to cut the clutter. Mr. Hammond added, We all know that some signs are nec es sary to make our roads safe and help traf fic flow freely. But un nec es sary street fur ni ture is a waste of tax pay ers money and leaves our streets look ing more like scrap yards than pub lic spaces. We have writ ten to coun cils to re mind them that it need not be this way we don t need all this clut ter con fus ing mo tor ists, ob struct ing pe des tri ans and hin der ing those with dis abil i ties who are try ing to nav i gate our streets. The gov ern ment be lieves that, in some cases, traf fic signs and rail ings are in - stalled by coun cils in the mis taken be lief that they are le gally re quired. Al though some signs are re quired by law, the gov - ern ment s ad vice is that warn ing signs should be kept to a min i mum if they are to be most ef fec tive in pro mot ing road safety. (See Traf fic Signs Man ual at Sim i larly, in the Man ual for Streets, the gov ern ment said that the ex ces sive or in - sen si tive use of traf fic signs and other street fur ni ture has a neg a tive im pact on the suc cess of the street as a place and that street signs are pe ri od i cally au dited with a view to iden ti fy ing and re mov ing un nec es sary signs. ( streets/pdfmanforstreets.pdf) Street clut ter can so over whelm a city that it changes its his toric or ar chi tec tural character, the Department for Transport said. For ex am ple, in a sur vey of over 60 streets in the ca the dral city of Salis bury, the Salis bury Civic So ci ety found that the city cen ter was lit tered with hun dreds of bol lards and a sin gle park ing area for 53 cars had 63 bol lards. The city, known for its his tory and ar chi tec ture, now has a com pre hen sive pub lic realm strat egy aimed at cre at ing an at trac tive safe, clean and green city. In ad di tion, the de part ment pointed out that the re moval of street clut ter from Kensington High Street in west Lon don had re duced ac ci dents by up to 47 per cent. Sev eral or ga ni za tions have been help ing to re duce street clut ter and sup - port the gov ern ment s ef fort including: Civic Voice, the na tional char ity for the civic move ment; FixMyStreet, a site to help peo ple re - port lo cal prob lems to their lo cal coun cil; Liv ing Streets, a group that be lieves that streets should be de signed with peo ple in mind. Tony Armstrong, the chief ex ec u tive of Liv ing Streets, hailed the gov ern ment s call, say ing: It s about time ac tion was taken on our clut tered streets. For too long have pe des tri ans had to strug gle with un nec - es sary bol lards, guard-rail ing and point - less signs. Com mu nity in volve ment, stron ger guid ance from cen tral gov ern - ment and a co or di nated ap proach from local councils are all crucial ingredients to rid our streets of un nec es sary ob sta - cles for pe des tri ans. Coun cils in par tic u - lar should en sure that declut ter ing is pri - or i tized and championed across all departments. Through our own au dits with lo cal com mu ni ties and coun cils, we have found that strip ping back street clut ter trans forms our streets from trip haz ards to en joy able open spaces where peo ple want to walk. We wel come this step to - wards cut ting the clutter. For more in for ma tion, please visit ntent/detail.aspx?clientid=202&news AreaId=2&ReleaseID=415141&Subjec tid=36 or con tact the De part ment for Trans port Press Of fice, Anna McCreadie at Anna.McCreadie@dft.gsi.gov.uk or Paul Malley at Paul.Malley@dft.gsi.gov.uk. Please turn to Page 5

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 5 Intelligence (continued) GDOT to Con vert HOV 2+ Lanes To HOT 3+ Lanes in At lanta; Change Aimed at Im prov ing Traf fic Flow and In creas ing Driver Op tions Atlanta, GA The Geor gia De part ment of Trans por ta - tion (GDOT) has an nounced that con - struc tion is be gin ning on I-85 near metro At lanta, where high oc cu pancy ve hi cle (HOV) lanes are be ing con verted into high oc cu pancy toll (HOT) lanes in or der to im prove traf fic flow and pro vide in - creased op tions for all com mu ters. The I-85 HOV lanes are cur rently open to high oc cu pancy ve hi cles with two or more rid ers (HOV 2+). When completed, transit buses, motorcycles, alternative fuel vehicles and vehicles with three or more rid ers will be al lowed to use the HOT lanes for free (HOT 3+). Sin - gle- and dou ble-oc cu pant ve hi cles will be al lowed to use the lane if they choose to pay a vari ably priced toll. By rais ing the num ber of pas sen gers re quired for a carpool to ride for free, of fi cials ex pect to make enough ca pac ity avail able to al low others to pay for access to the lane. The con ver sion is be ing funded by a $110 mil lion U.S. De part ment of Trans - por ta tion Con ges tion Re duc tion Dem on - stra tion (CRD) Pro gram grant to the At - lanta re gion. The CRD agree ment sets a long-term goal to im ple ment an in te - grated sys tem of con ges tion-priced lanes, en hanced tran sit ser vice and in no - va tive tech nol ogy. The ini tial phase of the pro ject is the con ver sion of ap prox i - mately 16 miles of HOV lanes to HOT lanes along I-85 from Chamblee Tucker Road in DeKalb County to Old Peachtree Road in Gwinnett County. The pro ject aims to pro vide the most ef fec tive use of the man aged lanes along I-85 north of At - lanta in or der to provide reliable travel times in the corridor. The I-85 Ex press Lanes pro ject in - cludes the in stal la tion of toll ing tech nol - ogy and new guard rail, signs, and sign struc tures. The con tract was awarded to World Fi ber Tech nol o gies, Inc. of Alpharetta for $11.7 mil lion. The pro ject is sched uled to com plete on July 31, Ac cord ing to GDOT, there was a real need to im - prove traf fic flow on the I-85 ex press lanes. On I-85, peak di rec tional HOV Lane den sity in creased from 17 ve hi cles per mile to 26 ve hi - cles per mile be tween 2002 and 2008, along with a cor - re spond ing drop in level of ser vice for the lane to a value in di cat ing con di tions ap proach ing ca pac ity (when av er aged along the cor ri - dor). Trav el ers along the peak directional traffic flow of I-85 had to al low an ad di - tional 33% to 47% of their travel time as a buffer to ensure on-time arrival. HOV lane vol umes were an tic i pated to grow 6% from 2008 through 2011, 8% by 2012, and 56% by 2031, GDOT said. In this case, by 2012, HOV 2+ man aged lanes would ex ceed the effective lane ca pac ity dur - ing peak traf fic, and would cease to of fer re li able travel times. Al though a move to HOV 3+ would pro vide re li able travel times at peak hours, it also would cause the lane to op er ate at less than 30% of vol ume thereby re sult ing in empty lane syn - drome. Ac cord ing to GDOT, HOT 3+ is the most ef fi cient so lu tion be cause, in ad - di tion to achiev ing re li able travel times with peak-hour average speeds of 45+ mph, it also: optimizes lane vol ume via dy namic pric ing, and pro vides most driv ers on I-85 with an op tion for re li able travel by al low ing use by ve hi cles that pre vi ously did not meet the oc cu pancy re quire ments of HOV 2+. Asked about any other met ro pol i tan ar eas that have raised the num ber of pas sen gers re quired to ride in ex press lanes, GDOT spokes woman Karlene Barron said that Hous ton s Katy Free way is the ex am ple. She said that they moved from HOV 2+ to HOT 3+ in the 90 s in or der to get the ad di - tional ca pac ity that would al low the in tro - I-85 during the afternoon peak period at Indian Trail Road, which is within the section where HOT 3+ lanes are proposed. (Photo: Cour tesy of the GDOT) duc tion of toll ing. Barron added that af ter re cent re con struc tion on the Katy Free way in volv ing sig nif i cant wid en ing of the road, they have moved back down to HOT 2+. Ac cord ing to GDOT, prior to us ing the ex press lanes, driv ers will have to reg is ter as ei ther toll ex empt or as a pay ing toll lane cus tomer. Pay ing cus tom ers will re ceive a tran sponder con nected to an ac count es - tab lished with the State Road and Tollway Au thor ity. The price charged on the HOT lanes will range from 10 cents a mile to 90 cents a mile, based on the con ges tion at the time. By charg ing a higher price dur ing higher traf fic times, of fi cials ex pect to be able to keep traf fic in the ex press lanes mov ing at 45 miles per hour. Vari able toll rate signs lo cated at in ter vals along the ex - press lane cor ri dor will post the toll amounts for upcoming destinations. For more in for ma tion, visit nter/activeprojects/interstates/i85hotlanes /pages/default.aspx or con tact Karlene Barron at (404) or by at kbarron@dot.ga.gov.

6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 11 Page 6 Product and Industry News TomTom Launches Next Gen er a tion Traf fic Tech nol ogy in Eu rope, Claims Re duc tion in Travel Time by 15% TomTom re cently an nounced the re lease of its next gen er a tion traf fic sys tem across Eu rope, be com ing the first com pany to use his toric, real-time and pre dic tive traf fic data to de liver the most ac cu rate traf fic nav i ga tion avail able. HD Traf fic 4.0 cov ers more of the road net work and re ports traf fic con ges - tion with more ac cu racy, giv ing driv ers the most pre cise traf fic in for ma tion in Eu rope, Tom Tom claims. TomTom s real-time and pre dic tive traffic technology now detects traffic con - ges tion that other ser vices are un able to de - tect, the com pany said. HD Traf fic 4.0 re ports traf fic jams with higher ac cu racy, re port ing up to 200% more traf fic jams dur ing rush hours than pre vi ously, in par - tic u lar on urban roads. Ralf-Pe ter Schäfer, Tom Tom s traf fic di rec tor, said: Our TomTom traf fic in for - ma tion is now the best in Eu rope. We are seeing unprecedented levels of accuracy in spec i fy ing the level of con ges tion on high - ways and sec ond ary roads in clud ing ma jor ur ban roads. The bot tom line is our traf fic in for ma tion is now at a level where HD Traf fic us ers can re duce their jour ney time on av er age by 15%. The more peo ple that drive with TomTom HD Traf fic, the more ac cu rate the traf fic in for ma tion be comes. To day, with over one mil lion con nected driv ers us ing HD Traf fic across Eu rope, TomTom s traf fic in for ma tion is able to adapt to chang ing traf fic sit u a tions and guide driv ers though traf fic with more precision than ever. The roll out of HD Traf fic 4.0 un der - pins the launch of TomTom s Traf fic Man - i festo, which de tails how a mi nor ity of driv ers us ing HD Traf fic could re duce traf fic con ges tion for all driv ers by mak ing better use of the ex ist ing road network. New TomTom GO LIVE 1000 nav i - ga tion de vices com bine HD Traf fic 4.0 with speed ier route cal cu la tion to get driv - ers through traf fic jams faster than ever, con tin ued Ralf-Pe ter Schäfer. HD Traf - fic 4.0 is a key mile stone for all our cus - An example screen of the TomTom GPS navigation device that now includes next generation traffic prediction and a claimed 15% reduction in journey time resulting from the its traffic prediction capability. (Photo: Cour tesy of TomTom) ) tom ers. We are com mit ted to the re search and de vel op ment of in no va tive so lu tions to help re duce traf fic con ges tion for our cus tom ers in the fu ture. Head quar tered in The Neth er lands, TomTom is a lead ing pro vider of lo ca tion and nav i ga tion so lu tions world wide. For more in for ma tion, please visit or con tact TomTom s International Public Relations Team by tele phone at +31 (0) in Am ster dam or by at tomtom.pr@tomtom.com. Zimride Re ceives Pri vate Fund ing to Fur ther De velop Ridesharing Soft ware Zimride, the de vel op ers of a so cial-net - work ing ap pli ca tion that en ables ridesharing, re cently re ceived $1.2 mil lion in ven ture cap i tal seed fund ing. The fund - ing co mes from a group of an gel in ves - tors as well as two early-stage ven ture cap - i tal funds: Flood gate Fund LP and K9 Ven tures. The com pany and ser vice was founded in 2007 and works via a Facebook ap pli ca tion to con nect in di vid u als seek ing to share rides with other in di vid u als based on com mon in ter ests, net works, and pro - files. The ap pli ca tion in te grates Google maps and al lows ride-seek ers to post their cur rent lo ca tion and des ti na tions. Ride-offerors can screen ride-seek ers via the in for ma tion from the seek ers' Facebook pro files and des ti na tions. Zimride s pro pri etary al go rithms gen er ate the matches and no tify the par ties when matches are made. In April of 2009, Zimride part nered with Zipcar to in te grate the two ser vices and al low Zimride mem - bers to share a lo cal Zipcar if they can not find a ride-offeror. The com pany is cur rently prof it able and gen er ates rev e nue by part ner ing with an or ga ni za tion to pro vide it s ridematch - ing and shar ing ser vice to the or ga ni za - tion s mem bers. To this point the com pany has fo cused on large ac a demic and cor po - rate com mu ni ties. Zimride of fers the ser - vice to or ga ni za tions for free for the first 50 us ers, af ter that point the com pany works with the or ga ni za tion s trans por ta tion de - part ment to charge a sub scrip tion fee to con tinue of fer ing the ser vice. The com - pany charges uni ver si ties, such as Standford, Cor nell, Har vard, and the Uni - ver sity of Mich i gan, $9,500 per year for the ser vice. Zimride has over 50 ex ist ing or ga ni za tions signed up. The com pany plans to use the new seed fund ing to im - prove the end-user prod uct, ex tend the prod uct to mo bile ap pli ca tions, and fur ther Please turn to Page 7

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 7 Product and Industry News (continued) ex pand the num ber of us ers. The com pany is also seek ing to li cense the soft ware and ser vice to more cor po rate cli ents, as well as large pub lic events. For more in for ma tion, con tact info@zimride.com or con tact Zimride at (650) Mobileye Launches Ad vanced Tech nol ogy to En hance Col li sion Pre ven tion; Af ter mar ket Prod uct Of fers Pe des trian De tec tion Tech nol ogy to Consumers Mobileye, a leader in vi sion-based col li - sion pre ven tion sys tems, has an nounced the launch of the Mobileye C2-270, a com pre hen sive, sin gle cam era-based safety so lu tion aimed at en hanc ing a driver s abil ity to pre vent col li sions. It is now avail able glob ally as an off-the-shelf prod uct for all ve hi cles. It is the only af ter mar ket prod uct to of - fer Mobileye s award-win ning pe des trian de tec tion tech nol ogy to con sum ers. The Mobileye C2-270 sys tem s per for - mance has earned BRAKE s 2010 highly com mended prod uct in the fleet safety category. The Mobileye C2-270 fea tures the EyeQ2 vi sion chip, which de tects pe des - trians, vehicles, bicycles, and lane mark - ings. It saves lives by alert ing and prompt - ing driv ers in the crit i cal sec onds be fore a col li sion, thus boost ing pe des trian, road and ve hi cle safety, Mobileye said in September. De spite the strength en ing of laws on driv ing be hav ior in re cent years, count less distractions continue to divert the attention of driv ers a ring ing cell phone, noisy road con struc tion, or even a baby cry ing in the back seat. Mo men tary dis trac tions that af - fect ev ery one, even the most ex pe ri enced driv ers, raise the chances for a col li sion. These dan gers, the com pany said, can now be averted with the Mobileye C The pro cess is sim ple. The Mobileye C2-270 cam era, mounted be hind the wind shield of the car, con stantly mon i tors the road in front of the ve hi cle while the car is in mo tion. The cam era is con nected to a dis play unit placed within the driver s field of view. If the cam era spots a dan ger in the way, the dis play will flash bright color-coded icons and sound a warn ing to alert the driver up to 2.7 sec onds be fore im - pact time in which the driver can take im - me di ate ac tion to avert a collision. Ac cord ing to the com pany, the most ex - cit ing fea ture of the Mobileye C2-270 is the Pe des trian Col li sion Warn ing, which al - lows the sys tem to iden tify pe des tri ans or bi cy cles and warn the driver be fore a col li - sion. The new sys tem also de tects mo tor cy - cles. When these new fea tures are cou pled with other fea tures of Mobileye s tech nol - ogy, which brought the con sumer for - ward-col li sion, un in tended lane-de par ture, and in suf fi cient dis tance-keep ing warn - ings, it cre ates a sys tem that will lead the mar ket as an ef fec tive driver assistance tool for collision prevention. The sys tem s com po nents in clude a wind shield-mounted vi sion sen sor unit with a com pact High Dy namic Range CMOS (HDRC) cam era and SeeQ im age pro cess ing board. They also in clude a highqual ity value for au dio warn ings, a user-friendly, high-vis i bil ity EyeWatch dis play and con trol unit for vi sual di rec - tional warn ings, and a nu mer i cal head way mea sure ment dis play with cus tom iz able op tions. In ad di tion, the Mobileye C2-270 sys tem can be en hanced to sup - port var i ous add-on ap pli ca tions, such as Mobileye s intelligent event data recording, ve hi cle track ing via GPS integration, and fleet management system integration. Mobileye N.V. is head quar tered in The Neth er lands, with re search and de vel op - ment fa cil i ties in Is rael and of fices in the U.S., Cy prus and Ja pan. It is a tech no log i cal leader in the area of ad vanced im age sens - ing and pro cess ing tech nol ogy for au to mo - tive ap pli ca tions. Mobileye s prod ucts con - tain pro pri etary soft ware al go rithms bun - dled on the EyeQ sys tem-on-chip, which have been in te grated into BMW, GM, Volvo and Yulon Motors (Nissan) models since For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Ilan Yavor, mar ket ing & com mu ni ca tions man ager, at or by at ilan.yavor@mobileye.com. $10 Mil lion in Prizes Awarded for Super-Ef fi cient Au tos; Goal Was to Achieve 100 MPG On Sep tem ber 16, the win ners of the Pro - gres sive In sur ance Au to mo tive X PRIZE were an nounced and $10 million awarded. The goal of the Au to mo tive X PRIZE is to in spire a new gen er a tion of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles that of fer more con sumer choices. The cri te ria for win ning the Au to mo - tive X PRIZE are to build a pro duc - tion-ca pa ble, safe, af ford able, and super-ef fi cient car. The main cri te rion for ef fi ciency is to achieve the met ric of 100 mpg or gas o line equiv a lent en ergy. This met ric was used as a means of com par ing vehicle efficiencies via a standard unit. The X Prize Foun da tion makes the case that the tra di tional mpg met ric is ob so lete in the face of the grow ing use of al ter na - tive fu els, elec tric ity, or both in the form of hy brid ve hi cles. The mpg met ric aims to gauge fuel econ omy by ac count ing for the en tire en ergy con sump tion of the ve - hi cle and com par ing that to the en ergy in a gal lon of pe tro leum-based gas o line. MPGe is cal cu lated as the quo tient of miles driven over the to tal en ergy of all fu els con sumed di vided by the en ergy of one gallone of gas o line. (miles driven) / [(total energy of all fuels)/(energy of one gallon gasoline)] The win ner in the main stream class was the Very Light Car #98 by Edison2 of Char lottes ville, Virginia. The car seats four pas sen gers, weighed 830 lbs., is pow ered by a sin gle-cyl in der turbo - charged en gine, and achieved MPGe. The en gine is pow ered by E85 eth a nol. The team at trib utes the suc cess to the car s use of light weight ma te ri als and ef fi cient aero dy nam ics. The team chose to avoid an elec tric or hy brid ve hi - cle, cit ing the efficency cost of the weight of ad di tional bat ter ies. The com pet ing car had a car bon-fi ber body, yet the pro duc - tion plans call for the cars to be manufactured out of aluminium and steel. For more in for ma tion, visit s/docs/aptera_2009_2e_brochure.pdf.

8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 8 Ar i zona Ends State wide Photo En force ment Pro gram Con tract Pro gram Re duced Ac ci dents, Raised Less Rev e nue Than Ex pected The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) has let the con tract for its state wide high way photo en force ment pro gram ex - pire. Ear lier this year, 2010, all sta tion ary photo en force ment cam eras were shut off and all mo bile photo en force ment ve hi cles were taken off the road. Photo en force ment was un pop u lar with Ar i zona mo tor ists, and many photo en - force ment units were van dal ized. Gov er - nor Jan Brewer last Jan u ary called for the end of the state wide photo en force ment pro gram when the con tract ex pired in July. Other rea sons cited for end ing the pro - gram: prof its be low ex pec ta tions, a cit i - zen s lob by ing ef fort to end au to mated speed en force ment, and the fact that many driv ers were ig nor ing the ci ta tions for speeding they received in the mail. Pro po nents of the pro gram say the Ar i - zona speed cam eras got driv ers to slow down and re duced traf fic ac ci dents. In 2008, Ar i zona im ple mented the first statewide highway automated speed en - force ment pro gram by ad ver tis ing a re - quest for pro posal pur su ant to en abling leg is la tion. On July 15, 2008, Redflex Traf fic Sys tems was se lected as the pro - gram ven dor for a two-year con tract by the Ar i zona DPS. Sev enty-eight cam eras were de ployed through the course of the pro gram, in clud ing 42 mo bile photo en - force ment ve hi cles and 36 sta tion ary photo enforcement cameras. Stationary cameras were placed along free ways only in the Phoe nix met ro pol i tan area. Mo bile cam - eras were sta tioned throughout the state, including areas in metro Phoenix. The cam eras were set to take pho tos at a trig ger speed set to 11 mph over the posted speed limit in all lo ca tions ex cept for school zones, which were set to trig ger at 6 mph. As es tab lished by the Ar i zona leg is la - ture, the typ i cal fine for a civil speed ing vi - o la tion from a photo en force ment cam era was $ Dur ing the course of the pro - gram, 1,105,935 no tices of vi o la tions/ci ta - tions were mailed. Of those, 432,367 no - tices of vi o la tions were paid a lit tle more than a third of the to tal. The cam eras were activated 2,758,700 times. Ac cord ing to the Ar i zona DPS, the speed cam eras were a fac tor in slow ing speeds. Ac cord ing to Ar i zona DPS sta tis - tics, in the first nine months of the pro gram in the metro Phoe nix area there were 20.4% (2,247) fewer prop erty dam age col - li sions, 22.8% (933) fewer in jury col li - sions, and 21.8% (12) fewer fa tal col li - sions (13 fewer lives lost). In the same pe - riod, DPS of fi cers in the metro Phoe nix area spent 7,105 less hours in ves ti gat ing 3,095 fewer col li sions, con ducted 18,955 more traf fic stops, and made 388 more total arrests. State wide in the same pe riod, there were 17.6% (2940) fewer prop erty dam - age col li sions, 18.5% (1189) fewer in jury col li sions, and 19.2% (43) fewer fa tal col - li sions (24 fewer lives lost). DPS of fi cers state wide spent 9,224 less hours in ves ti - gat ing 4,891 fewer col li sions, con ducted 52,791 more traf fic stops and made 610 more total arrests. The pro gram did not gen er ate as much rev e nue as ex pected, how ever. From Sep - tem ber 2008 to Sep tem ber 2009, for ex am - ple, the speed cam eras led to more than 700,000 tick ets to driv ers. The man dated fines and sur charges on all those tick ets would to tal more than $127 mil lion, but they had gen er ated just $36.8 mil lion through September Some Ar i zona mo tor ists com plained that the speed cam eras were not ac cu rate. But, ac cord ing to DPS, the mo bile sys - tems, which used ra dar to de ter mine speed, were checked for ac cu racy at the be gin ning and end of each shift by the op er a tor. The sta tion ary sys tems used time and dis tance to de ter mine speed and were checked for ac cu racy on a monthly ba sis. With the speed cam eras turned off, of fi - cers will use all mea sures avail able to en - A mo bile speed cam era (Photo: Cour tesy of the Ar i zona DPS) force posted speed lim its on the fed eral and state high way sys tems as they did prior to the photo en force ment pro gram, DPS said. They noted that pa trol man do not have an 11 mph thresh old like au to mated en force - ment. Any un safe and un law ful speeds in clud ing speeds less than 11 mph over the speed limit can be cited. Redflex Traf fic Sys tems and DPS will con tinue to pro cess all ci ta tions is sued up to the end of the con tract un til they are ad - ju di cated in court. The Ar i zona DOT is re - plac ing the photo en force ment signs with mes sages re gard ing safe driving. Speed cam eras were used in the United States in more than 69 ju ris dic tions in 14 states and the Dis trict of Co lum bia in 2010, ac cord ing to the In sur ance In sti tute for High way Safety. For more in for ma tion, visit the Ar i zona De part ment of Pub lic Safety at or con tact Ser geant Kevin Wood at pio@azdps.gov.

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 9 Wash ing ton DC Area In ves ti gat ing Ex panded Tolls, Bus Rapid Tran sit, and Land-Use Changes Re gional Road Pric ing Sce nar ios to be Stud ied Fur ther The in tro duc tion of tolls, bus rapid tran sit (BRT), and tran sit-ori ented de vel op ment cen ters (TOD) in the met ro pol i tan Wash - ing ton DC re gion would de crease traf fic con ges tion and cre ate rev e nue, but it would also in crease driv ing and auto emis - sions, ac cord ing to a study con ducted by the National Capital Region Transporta - tion Plan ning Board (TPB). The Board pre sented find ings from its study on the ef fects of cre at ing an in te - grated trans por ta tion and land-use sys tem at its Sep tem ber meet ing. The three com - po nents of an in te grated system are: Pric ing op tions to ad dress con ges tion in or der to pro vide ca pac ity and rev e nue for en hanced tran sit. Sup port ive tran sit to cre ate a menu of rail and bus tran sit op tions in clud ing an ex ten sive new BRT sys tem. Land-use de ci sions to con cen trate growth in ac tiv ity cen ters and around transit. In the Wash ing ton re gion, the TPB said, tran sit is underfunded, many tran sit sta - tions are still underutilized, and many ac - tiv ity cen ters do not have high-qual ity tran sit. In ad di tion, al though ac tiv ity cen - ters are cap tur ing sig nif i cant growth, they are not cap tur ing enough of it 30% of jobs and 24% of house holds. The board s goal is to cre ate a re gional land-use and trans por ta tion aspirational vision with: Eco nom i cally strong re gional ac tiv ity cen ters with a mix of jobs, hous ing, ser - vices, and rec re ation in a walkable en vi - ron ment; A web of multi-modal trans por ta tion con nec tions which pro vide con ve nient access; A user-friendly seam less sys tem; Reduction of per capital vehicle miles trav eled (VMT). In the study, the TPB ex am ined two sce - nar ios and mea sured their im pacts on driv - ing, con ges tion, trans por ta tion mode share, and air pol lu tion. The full sce - nario looked at the ef fects of im ple ment - ing a 1,650-mile re gional sys tem of priced lanes or tolls (in clud ing new lanes and con - ver sions of ex ist ing lanes), a re gion-wide 500-mile BRT sys tem, and changes in land-use pol i cies to pro mote denser, tran - sit-ori ented de vel op ment. The priced-lane net work would in clude 400 priced-lane miles con verted from HOV lanes, 750 priced new lane miles, and 500 priced ex ist - ing lane miles. Land use would change by bring ing 3.5% new house holds and 1% new jobs into the re gion from ex ter nal ar eas and by in creas ing the share of jobs and house - holds in tar geted growth ar eas by 11% and 42% re spec tively. The sec ond sce nario looked at the ef fects of mak ing just the land-use changes with out in tro duc ing the priced lanes or BRT. In the full sce nario, the amount of driv - ing in creases while con ges tion de creases sig nif i cantly. The av er age daily speeds in creases by 6%, ve hi cle hours of travel drops by about 6.6 per cent and ve hi cle hours of de lay fall by more than 12.5%. Bi cy cling, walk ing, and tran sit use all in - crease sig nif i cantly, and carpooling ex - pe ri ences a small uptick. In the sec ond sce nario, bi cy cling, walk ing, and tran sit trips in crease sig nif i cantly, while the amount of driv ing de creases and con ges - tion in creases slightly. The sce nar ios pre sented to day help us ask some fun da men tal ques tions about how to dramatically improve the performance of the region s transportation system, said TPB Chair man and Falls Church City Coun cil mem ber Dave Snyder. No one should get too wrapped up in the in di vid ual num bers, but rather use the sce nar ios to un der stand the po ten tial role of each of the com po nents land use, tolls, and more tran sit. Faster speeds and more road ca pac ity in the full sce nario al low more driv ing, while the land-use only sce nario only en ables al - ter na tive op tions bi cy cling, walk ing and tran sit. Higher VMT and faster speeds in the full sce nario trans late into higher emis - sions of air pol lut ants. Emis sions in the land-use only sce nario in crease less than the 3.5 per cent in crease in population. Com ment ing on the land-use only sce - nario, Har riet Tregoning, di rec tor of the Dis trict of Co lum bia Of fice of Plan ning, said, With out spend ing any money and by fo cus ing on us ing our ex ist ing land and transportation system more efficiently, we can have a very large im pact on reaching our goals. The TPB plans to con duct fur ther anal - y ses. The TPB, in con junc tion wit the Brookings In sti tu tion, will study the pub - lic acceptability of various regional road pric ing sce nar ios us ing $320,000 from a Fed eral High way Ad min is tra tion (FHWA) Value Pric ing Grant which was awarded in Au gust, plus $80,000 in lo cal match ing funds,. A work ing group of ex perts will frame op tions for com - pre hen sive re gional road-use pric ing. They will then con duct a tele phone sur vey and con vene stake holder fo cus groups to ex am ine the sce nar ios at re gional and ju - ris dic tional lev els. The one-year project will begin in October The TPB is the re gional trans por ta tion plan ning or ga ni za tion for the Wash ing ton re gion. It in cludes lo cal gov ern ments, state transportation agencies, the Wash - ing ton Met ro pol i tan Area Tran sit Au thor - ity (WMATA), and mem bers of the Mary - land and Vir ginia Gen eral As sem blies. The TPB be came as so ci ated with the Met - ro pol i tan Wash ing ton Coun cil of Gov ern - ments (COG) in COG was es tab - lished in 1957 to deal with re gional con - cerns in clud ing growth, hous ing, en vi ron - ment, pub lic health and safety as well as trans por ta tion. Al though the TPB is an in - de pend ent body, its staff is pro vided by COG s De part ment of Trans por ta tion Plan ning. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact spokes man Lewis Miller at (202)

10 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 10 U.S. High way Deaths Fall to Low est Level in 60 Yrs Road Fatalities Falling Dramatically in Many Developed Countries The Na tional High way Traf fic Safety Ad - min is tra tion has re leased up dated 2009 data show ing that U.S. high way deaths fell to 33,808 last year, the low est num ber since 1950 and a 9.7% drop from This de cline in fa tal i ties oc curred even as the es ti mated ve hi cle miles trav eled in 2009 in creased 0.2 per cent over 2008 lev - els. Last year marked the low est lev els ever for traf fic fa tal ity and in jury rates. There were 1.13 deaths per 100 mil lion ve hi cle miles trav eled last year, com pared to 1.26 fa tal i ties dur ing A to tal of 41 states as well as the Dis trict of Co lum bia and Puerto Rico had re duc tions in traf fic fa tal i - ties in 2009 led by Florida with 422 fewer fa tal i ties and Texas with 405 fewer fatalities. High way deaths de clined for all cat e go - ries of ve hi cles last year. Mo tor cy clist fa - tal i ties broke an 11-year cy cle of an nual in - creases, with a de cline of 850 fa tal i ties. Motorcyclist fatalities now account for 13 % of total fatalities. Al co hol-im paired driv ing deaths de - clined 7.4% from 11,711 in 2008 to 10,839 last year. Thirty-three states and Puerto Rico ex pe ri enced a drop in the num ber of deaths in that cat e gory in 2009 com pared to the pre vi ous year. NHTSA Ad min is tra - tor Da vid Strick land at trib uted these de - clines to re cord seatbelt use and strong anti-drunk-driv ing en force ment campaigns. A sim i lar sig nif i cant drop in the num ber of road fa tal i ties has been re corded in many other coun tries across the globe. In fact, fig ures on road fa tal i ties in 33 coun - tries an a lyzed by the Paris-based In ter na - tional Trans port Fo rum (ITF) show that the first 10 years of the 21st Cen tury were a re cord de cade for road safety, said ITF Sec re tary Gen eral Jack Short in Sep tem - ber. Road deaths fell in 30 of these coun - tries dur ing this pe riod, and the av er age an - nual de crease in road deaths in many coun - tries was dra mat i cally higher than in previous decades. Ac cord ing to ITF s In ter na tional Traf - fic Safety Data and Anal y sis Group (IRTAD), Spain reg is tered an av er age an - nual drop of 8.5% dur ing the pe riod as com pared to 4.4% in the 1990s and an in crease of fa tal i ties in the 1980s. The UK saw an an nual re duc tion of 4.6% in the past de cade, as com pared to 4.5 % in the 1990s and 1.3% in the 1980s. The United States saw road fa tal i ties fall by an an nual av er age of 2.4% in the past de cade, as com pared to a 0.7% drop in the 1990s and a 1.3% drop in the 1980s. The larg est drop in traf fic-re lated deaths be tween 2000 and 2009, oc curred in Por tu gal (55%) and Spain (53%). France achieved a re duc tion of 47%, the U.K. a re duc tion of 35%, and the U.S. a re - duc tion of 19%. Only three of the coun tries ex am ined show an in crease over the past 10 years: Ar gen tina, Cam bo dia, and Malaysia. Ac cord ing to the ITF, 90% of global road deaths oc cur in low- and mid dle-in - Opening day of the BicycleTtransit Center. (Photo: Cour tesy of the Utah Transit Authority) come coun tries. The United Na tions has thus de clared 2011 to 2020 the De cade of Ac tion for Road Safety, with the aim of sta - bi liz ing and then re duc ing global road deaths by Re duc ing fa tal i ties around the world will be ac cel er ated by rapid and ef fec tive trans fer of knowl edge, good prac tice and in for ma tion from the best per form ing coun tries, said Jack Short. The IRTAD data base and net work is one way for coun tries to share ex pe ri - ences and in no va tions, and we want to continue to strengthen its role. For more in for ma tion, visit NHTSA at and ITF at rg/press/press.html, or con tact NHTSA spokes woman Olivia Alair at (202) Con tin ued from Page 1 New Bi cy cle Tran sit Cen ter Opens in Salt Lake City, Utah may be ac cessed be tween 5 a.m. and 12 mid night and uses key-card ac cess and camera surveillance for security monitoring. The fa cil ity has 60 bike racks avail - able for rental. The in di vid ual racks can be rented for $2 per day, $12 per month, or $96 for the year. The cen ter is op er ated by Can yon Sports, which was se lected by UTA through a com pet i tive bid ding pro - cess. UTA will con trib ute to the op er at ing cap i tal of the fa cil ity for the first five years of op er a tion, and Can yon Sports is ex - pected to make the fa cil ity into a self-sus - tain ing busi ness by 2014 by sell ing bi cy - cles and ac ces so ries, as well as rent ing bi - cy cles for $5 to $8 per hour or $25 to $45 per day. In April of this year, the League of American Bicyclists renewed its designation of Salt Lake City as one of 16 com mu - ni ties at the sil ver level used to rate bi cy cle friend li ness. At the time, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, a reg u lar cy clist him - self, stated We have seen no ta ble re sults of Salt Lake City s com mit ment to in creas ing bikeways and creating solutions for alternative modes of trans por ta tion. The mayor, as well as Andy Clark, pres i dent of the League of Amer i can Bi cy clists, were on hand for the rib bon cut ting to open the BTC, af ter hav ing bi cy cled for four miles on the city s new est des ig nated bike lanes. For more in for ma tion con tact Ger ald Car pen ter at (801) or at GCarpenter@rideuta.com.

11 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 11 Li cense Plate Cam era Use and Roles Ex pand ing Seen as Law En force ment Tool and Also Cre at ing Ad di tional Rev e nue The use and ap pli ca tion of li cense plate cam eras is un der go ing wide ex pan sion. Law en force ment agen cies at all levels, road, bridge, and bor der op er a tors, and commercial entities are finding increasing uses for the Li cense Plate Cap ture (LPC) and Li cense Plate Rec og ni tion (LPR) tech - nol ogy. In Au gust, Gov er nor Mar tin O Mal ley of Mary land an nounced a plan to ag gres sively em ploy the tech nol o gies in a law en force ment con text. The key points of the plan were to use a com bi na tion of state and fed eral funds to pur chase 100 new cam eras, cre ate a state wide net work for LPR in te grat ing state and lo cal data, and cre at ing a sin gle da ta base that law en - force ment across the state can ac cess. The sys tem would be used to in stantly alert law en force ment when matches on sto len cars, ab duc ted chil dren, pa role vi o la tors, or ve - hicles associated with an arrest warrant are found. The gov er nor cited low and drop - ping rates of auto theft in Mary land as jus - ti fi ca tion for their ex panded use as well as their use for home land se cu rity ap pli ca - tions at tran sit sta tions, the Port of Bal ti - more, and Bal ti more-wash ing ton In ter na - tional Airport. In July, in re marks to the U.S. Sen ate Trans por ta tion Com mit tee, Gov er nor Ed Rendell of Penn syl va nia pro posed putt ing LPC/LPR to use on state high ways to find un in sured driv ers and is sue ci ta tions. He cited state trans por ta tion bud get short falls, and said the plan could re cover an ad di - tional $115 mil lion in rev e nue an nu ally to fund trans por ta tion in fra struc ture main te - nance. In Oklahoma, Gov er nor Brad Henry s 2011 bud get cited a plan to de ploy LPC/LPR for au to mated en force ment of ve hi cle in sur ance re quire ments. The bud - get cited no cost to the state and an es ti mate of $95 mil lion in rev e nue from the plan, and in April the state issued an RFP for a vendor to implement the plan. The Penn syl va nia and Oklahoma plans, as well as oth ers, met strong op po si tion from pri vacy ad vo cates and oth ers, who fear the cam eras and ex panded driver track ing will cause the gov ern ment to use the pro grams more for rev e nue gen er a tion than law en force ment. Op po nents point to the UK as an ex am ple of LPC/LPR be ing used as part of an ex ces sively large sur veil - lance pro gram. In the UK, the na tional po - lice cam era net work in cludes 4,000 cam - eras spread across the coun try that log more than 10 mil lion move ments per day, and a da ta base con tain ing 7.6 bil lion re cords of mo tor ist move ments. Crit ics of the Oklahoma plan have also called into ques - tion the method used to gen er ate the rev e - nue es ti mate and if the amount cited is pos - si ble from such a source. The con tract has met with some controversy and is yet to be awarded. Ad vances in LPC/LPR tech nol ogy over the last sev eral years have made au to mated li cense plate rec og ni tion and match ing of the iden ti fied ve hi cle with a data source achiev able, and use ful in a va ri ety of traf fic mon i tor ing ap pli ca tions. Ad vances in mi - cro pro ces sor pro cess ing power over the last de cade have made it pos si ble for the cam era, in com bi na tion with ad vanced op - tics, to com pen sate for high speed, sun glare, head lights, and low-light con di tions and ob tain a us able im age in shorter amounts of time. The cam eras hand off the im ag ery to an LPR sys tem for pro cess ing. LPR sys tems have also ben e fit ed from re - duc tions in mi cro pro ces sor cost and in - creases in power, as well as ad vanced net - work ing tech nol ogy. Tra di tion ally, the large ob sta cle to rapid or real-time au to - mated li cense plate rec og ni tion has been the non-stan dard na ture of li cense plates in North Amer ica. A sig nif i cant rea son for the wide adop tion of the tech nol ogy in Eu rope is the stan dard sizes and fonts of Eu ro pean li cense plates, while North Amer i can plates vary in lettering, plate design, and reflectivity from state to state and province to province. Ac cord ing to Willem Ryan, product mar ket ing man ager for the cam eras at Bosch Se cu rity Sys tems, a whole sys tem can be cus tom ized for a wide va ri ety of uses. In some cases, it can be as sim ple as ac cess con trol to a cam pus, ei ther com mer - cial or gov ern ment, or com plex and con - nect ing the sys tem to law en force ment net - works. The sys tems can span mul ti ple mon - i tor ing points, such as on a bridge or bor der cross ing, or the whole sys tem can be pack - aged into an ap pli ance and in stalled in a po - A typ i cal li cense plate cam era. (Photo: Cour tesy of Bosch Se cu rity Sys tems) lice pa trol car with all the pro cess ing done within the car. An ex am ple of a cam era used for LPC in large, fixed sys tems is the Bosch REG-L1 Li cense Plate Cam era. The cam era is in stalled in a rug ged all-weather cas ing, with a range of 80 to 100 ft., and can cap ture plate im ages from ve hi cles mov ing at speeds up to 100 mph in both day light and nighttime conditions, as well as inclement weather conditions. In mid-2008 the Bosch cam eras were in stalled at the Sea way In ter na tional Bridge link ing Cornwall, On tario, and Akwesasne and Massena, New York, which han dles more than 120,000 com - mer cial and 2,300,000 pas sen ger tran sits annually. Prior to the installation, erratic driv ing in ci dences were oc cur ring 1-2 times per week, and high-speed driv ers in the toll lanes were cre at ing safety haz ards for other driv ers. The cam eras have al - lowed use ful ev i dence to be handed over to law en force ment of fi cials, and a num - ber of cases of High way Traf fic Act vi o la - tions to be suc cess fully pros e cuted, and the in ci dences have since been virtually eliminated. Ryan cites security applications as the cur rent main impetus for the adop tion of this tech nol ogy. Toll and tra di tional high - way and road ap pli ca tions that de pend on gov ern ment fund ing are much slower to pro ceed, but the heavi est us ers are in com - mer cial and foreign markets. For more in for ma tion on the Bosch REG-L1 Li cense Plate Cam era, please con tact Willem Ryan, (717) , or by Willem.ryan@us.bosch.com

12 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, OCTOBER 11, 2010, VOL. 24 NO. 8 Page 12 Con tin ued from Page 1 Min ne ap o lis St. Paul Con sid ers Increased Efficiency Rather than Con struc tion ex pan sion pro jects. The num ber, scope, and size of these pro jects grow, while few are able to be funded. Plus, the plans that are im ple mented only fo cus con ges tion in a very lim ited area for a lim ited amount of time, only to be come con gested again af ter com ple tion. As an ex am ple, he cites the Coun cil s 2004 plan which con tained 12 ma jor pro jects which had a com bined cost of more than three times the es ti mated fund ing avail able for the 20-year pe riod, as well as only af fect ing a small per cent age of the trunk high way sys tem. In stead he ar - gues for the new ap proach pre sented in the draft up date which re sults in right-sized and much more re al is tic plan in line with economic reality. The draft up date and new ap proach em - ploys five main strat e gies aimed at im prov - ing the high way sys tem as a whole. The first is em ploy ing ac tive traf fic man age - ment (ATM) tech niques such as ramp me - ter ing, traf fic cam eras, and change able mes sage signs. The sec ond is fo cus ing on lower-cost, higher-ben e fit high way im - prove ments to ad dress bot tle necks by, for ex am ple, con struct ing ad di tional lanes for short dis tances to ease merg ing. Third is de vel op ing a sys tem of man aged lanes giv - ing pri or ity to carpoolers, tran sit, and mak - ing use of the lanes avail able to pri vate ve - hi cles for a price. Fourth is em ploy ing stra - tegic capacity expansion, such as general pur pose lanes or com plet ing un fin ished seg ments of ex ist ing high way. And the fifth is to use cost-ef fec tive im prove ments on non-free way trunk high ways em pha siz - ing safety, ATM, and pres er va tion. The draft up date also in cludes the first ma jor up date of avi a tion plans since It in - cor po rates new long-term com pre hen sive plans from regional airports addressing the economic and security issues that have emerged since The new ap proach has not been with out ob jec tion. In Jan u ary of this year, the Met - ro pol i tan Coun cil and the Min ne sota De - Minneapolis is looking at increasing measures to improve the efficiency of existing highways such as the HOT project on I-394 shown here. (Photo: Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation) part ment of Trans por ta tion be gan the Met - ro pol i tan High way Sys tem In vest ment Study (MHSIT) with the goal of find ing new ap proaches, smaller-scale pro jects, and use of newer tech nol o gies and traf fic man age ment tech niques to im prove ef fi - ciency across the Coun cil s road sys tem. In July, com mis sion ers from six of the coun ties with in the Coun cil s area wrote a joint let ter to the Coun cil ex press ing ob - jec tions to the pre lim i nary sug ges tions of the study and the be gin nings of the new ap - proach. In the let ter, the com mis sion ers ar - gued that a pro jected one mil lion ad di tion res i dents mov ing to the area would re quire ad di tional ca pac ity, plus, scrap ping pro - jects could re sult in missed op por tu ni ties for sys tem im prove ment if fund ing should come along. The let ter also ar gued for the need to es tab lish a proper criteria for the true needs of the system, in the face of constrained fi nances, and if the Coun cil and trans por ta tion agen cies can not meet those needs, the re spon si bil ity ex ists to make the pub lic aware of the gap be tween needs and revenue. In Au gust, the Coun cil com pleted and be gan the pro cess of pre sent ing the draft up date to the pub lic. The Coun cil has held a se ries of pub lic hear ings and has been tak ing pub lic com ments. It has re ceived com ments from all seven coun ties and held meet ings re gard ing the up date. The pub lic com ment pe riod has closed and Coun cil staff are re view ing the com men tary and de vel op ing re sponses for the pub lic re - cord. The plan will be acted on by the Council next month. The Draft Up date to the Met ro pol i tan Coun cil s 2030 Trans por ta tion Pol icy Plan is avail able here: nsportation/tpp/2010/index.htm For more in for ma tion, con tact Bonnie Kollodge at (651) or by at bonnie.kollodge@metc.state.mn.us.