Abstract

This study uses regression analysis to evaluate long-run traffic management system performance. Three important traffic management systems in the Twin Cities metro area - Ramp Metering, Variable Message Signs (VMS), and Freeway Service Patrol (the Highway Helper Program) were evaluated with multiple regression models to predict link speed and incident rate. We find that ramp meters increase freeway link speed and reduce incident rate. Freeway Service Patrols increase link speed when incidents are present. The results for variable message signs are ambiguous. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

This report is intended to facilitate the discussions between the World Bank and the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, City Governments of Chennai and Bangalore, on possibly expanding the Bank's urban transport assistance in these two cities, and elsewhere in the two states. The report consists of a diagnostic chapter, a discussion of pivotal issues, a reformulated strategy, and a menu of possible Bank-funded projects to support this strategy. Case studies of urban transport in Chennai and Bangalore, the basis for the report, are attached. Document type: Book

Abstract

Before financing major urban transport projects, decisionmakers should attempt to put in place the basic elements for long-term sustainability of the sector. Specifically, the author contends that each large metropolitan area in Brazil should incorporate into its urban transport strategy, and pursue vigorously, the following four-point agenda: 1) create a regional transport coordination commission in charge of coordinating policies among federal, state, and municipal governments, giving highest priority to major urban transport investments in the metropolitan region and promoting modal integration - all to the end of improving the sector's economic efficiency and long-term sustainability; 2) adopt an integrated land use, urban transport, and air quality strategy that provides a framework in which the community and decisionmakers can evaluate future urban transport investments and policies; 3) enact into law formal financing mechanisms that would ensure that long-run variable costs of urban transport systems are covered by operating and non-operating revenues from the systems and by appropriate user charges; and 4) promote private sector participation in the operation, maintenance, and construction of urban transport systems - through concessions or management contracts - as a way to lessen the financial burden on the government. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper examines the linkages between urban form and city productivity, using alternative metrics for urban form and applying them to a comprehensive sample of Latin American cities. Although most of the literature has concentrated on the effects of population density (compact versus sprawling urban development), this paper seeks to assess whether different dimensions of a city's urban form, such as shape, structure, and land-use, affect its economic performance. The paper finds that the shape of the urban extent, the inner-city connectedness, and fullness have a statistically significant influence on the productivity level of the city. Document type: Book

Abstract

Today, more than half of Haiti’s population calls cities and towns their home, in a major shift from the 1950s when around 90 percent of Haitians lived in the countryside. Urbanization is usually paired with economic growth, increased productivity, and higher living standards, but in Haiti it has taken a different course. Potential benefits have been overshadowed by immense challenges, all of which require immediate action. To better understand the factors that constrain the sustainable and inclusive development of Haitian cities, this Urbanization Review organizes the challenges along three dimensions of urban development namely planning, connecting, and financing. Planning reviews the challenges in supporting resilient growth to create economically vibrant, environmentally sustainable, and livable cities. Connecting focuses on the obstacles of physically linking people to jobs and businesses to markets, while financing focuses on identifying the key capital, governance, and institutional constraints that are hurdles to successful planning and connecting. Document type: Book

Abstract

The paper explores the transportation-land use policy connection. More specifically, it considers the question, can land use policy be used to alter transportation behavior? The answer is of some importance. If the answer is yes, then there is hope that land use policies can be designed and implemented that will bring some relief to the congestion and complex transportation problems that are facing US metropolitan areas. This is the underlying assumption behind most smart growth policy reforms. If the answer is no, then land use policy may still be important, but is not likely to play an important role in resolving transportation issues. The paper then offers a schematic that identifies necessary conditions for land use policy to play a role in addressing transportation issues. Specifically, the paper argues that for land use policy to play an effective role, three conditions must hold. First, land use must be able to alter transportation behavior; secondly, transportation infrastructure must not fully determine land use; and thirdly, the condition on which the authors consider most extensively, land use policy must significantly and constructively affect land use. After presenting the schematic, the paper considers the evidence on each of these conditions. Based on the review of the evidence, the paper concludes that land use policy can play an effective role in transportation issues, but that the role is likely to be small, often counter productive, and most effective at the neighborhood scale. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

The purpose of this policy note is to respond to the request from the Government of India for the World Bank to provide support to the development of the urban transport agenda in India and to provide lending support. During the discussions between the World Bank and the Government of India represented by the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) agreed on a three year program of support 2005-2008 reflected in the World Bank's Country Strategy for India September 15, 2004. Support is currently reflected in the operations program as an urban transport project under consideration and as a policy note as part of the non-lending services. In conjunction with these operations support to urban roads are included in Chennai under the Tamil Nadu Third Urban Development Project and in Bangalore under the Karnataka Municipal Reform Project. Document type: Book

Abstract

The author describes a bold effort by the state government to increase private sector participation in Rio de Janeiro's urban transport sector, reduce heavy operating subsidies, and establish a foundation for making the sector sustainable. This effort was undertaken with the help of three World Bank-financed loans: * The Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Transport Loan, which provided assistance for the transfer of federally owned suburban railways to the state government. * The Rio de Janeiro State Reform and Privatization Loan, which helped the state privatize and grant concessions for a number of its enterprises. * The Rio de Janeiro Mass Transit Loan, which supported the reorganization of the sector and the concession of the Rio suburban railways (Flumitrens). Most of the reforms in the urban transport sector have been implemented. The lessons learned from implementation and the results obtained so far suggest that political decisiveness, transparency, and ingenuity in developing incentives are crucial to privatizing urban rail transport systems. But the state also learned that not having a credible staff redundancy program might seriously reduce the benefits expected from concessions. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper describes how traffic congestion—both in perception and in reality—impacts the movement of people and freight and is deeply tied to the history of high levels of accessibility and mobility. Along spatial and temporal dimensions, traffic congestion has been around since ancient Rome; it wastes time and energy, causes pollution and stress, decreases productivity and imposes costs on society equal to 2-3% of the gross national product (GDP). In terms of technology, it was that an automobile is “a conveyance which is capable of moving 1.6 km (a mile) a minute, yet the average speed of traffic in large cities is around 17.7 km/h or 11 mph.” The paper describes how in 2002, it was estimated that congestion wastes $63.2 billion in 75 metropolitan areas during 2002 because of extra time lost and fuel consumed, or about $829 per person. Some people refer to these kinds of estimates as misleading since the prospect of eliminating all congestion during peak periods is only a myth; congestion could never be completely eliminated. While some research emphasizes that rush hour is longer than an hour in the morning and more than an hour in the evening, few people are rushing anywhere, and others say that gridlock is not going to happen because people change what they do long before the gridlock occurs. Some view congestion as a problem that individual drivers are subjected to, while others emphasize that the users of transportation networks not only experience congestion, they create it. The paper shows that most people make travel decisions based on an expectation of experiencing a certain amount of congestion; while few consider the costs their trips impose on others by adding to the congestion. The objective of this paper is to discuss current definitions of metropolitan traffic congestion and ways that it is currently measures. In addition, the accuracy and reliability of these measures will be described along with a review of how congestion has been changing over the past few decades. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

Between 1900 and 2000, the length of paved roads in the United States increased from 240 km to 6,400,000 km (Peat 2002, BTS 2002) with virtually 100% of the U.S. population having almost immediate access to paved roadways. Similarly, in 1830 there were 37 km of railroad in the United States, but by 1920 total track mileage had increased more than ten-thousand times to 416,000 km miles, however since then, rail track mileage has shrunk to about 272,000 km (Garrison 1996, BTS 2002). The growth (and decline) of transport networks obviously affects the social and economic activities that a region can support; yet the dynamics of how such growth occurs is one of the least understood areas in transport, geography, and regional science. This is revealed time and again in the long-range planning efforts of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), where transport network changes are treated exclusively as the result of top-down decision-making. Changes to the transport network are rather the result of numerous small decisions (and some large ones) by property owners, firms, developers, towns, cities, counties, state department of transport districts, MPOs, and states in response to market conditions and policy initiatives. Understanding how markets and policies translate into facilities on the ground is essential for scientific understanding and improving forecasting, planning, policy-making, and evaluation. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book