SSTI » News

Study highlights importance of travel time as a metric

wiscbikegal — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:55:29 +0000

As commute times increase, married women work fewer hours or even drop out of the workforce according to a forthcoming article. The finding helps explain differences in women’s workforce participation across various metro areas. Its focus on travel time as a driver of economic outcomes, the article has clear relevance to transportation agencies that are wrestling with setting meaningful, outcome-based performance measures.

Light rail debate could put an end to the Columbia River bridge project

wiscbikegal — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:53:48 +0000

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has taken the position that the new Columbia River Crossing bridge project will die if Washington State attempts to remove light rail from the project. However, the GOP-controlled majority in the Washington State Senate has said that it will reject any bridge proposal with light rail, claiming they don’t want to pay for new transit-operations taxes and that rail is a waste of potential road space.

AAA: Annual cost of car ownership now over $9,100 per year

wiscbikegal — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:51:42 +0000

AAA’s recently released report on the cost of owning and operating a car estimates a mid-sized sedan carries an average operating cost of 60.8 cents per mile, or $9,122 a year. While auto use continues to increase in cost and trend downward, bicycling, walking, and transit modes are all on the rise. The economic incentive to reduce auto use is likely combining with other national trends showing a downward trend in per-capita vehicle miles traveled.

Trucking’s shift towards LNG picking up steam

wiscbikegal — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:51:08 +0000

By Bill Holloway With high diesel prices consuming profits and growing concern surrounding the impacts of diesel emissions, more trucking companies are experimenting with liquefied natural gas as a fuel. LNG has come to the party relatively late. Compressed natural gas powers most natural gas

Improved walking environments can benefit mental health

wiscbikegal — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:50:05 +0000

Walking has mental as well as physical health benefits. Children that walk or bike to school have improved concentration, and moderate physical activity can help keep older people mentally sharp. But new data from the CDC show that the elderly have a significantly higher prevalence of pedestrian fatalities than younger people.

Freight rail traffic is growing, but urban conflicts hinder infrastructure expansion

wiscbikegal — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:34:57 +0000

While passenger rail has been on the front page, freight railroads have been thriving. However a new truck-to-rail transfer facility to serve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has caused a fierce debate on the thorny question of how to weigh the value of regional economic and environmental benefits against local environmental impacts and environmental justice concerns.

New accessibility tools available from Walk Score

wiscbikegal — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:32:27 +0000

For agencies that want to address the land use-transportation connection, Walk Score now provides a new form of accessibility measure, as well as data to help measure trends over time. The firm is offering a way to measure the depth of choices of destinations such as groceries or parks, in a platform called ChoiceMaps.

2013 on track to be the year of the bike share

wiscbikegal — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:29:28 +0000

By Robbie Webber While bike share has grown across North America since the first program was launched here in 2008, 2013 looks to be the year with the largest roll-out yet. Twenty or more new systems are planned to open this year in this country and Vancouver, BC, although programs do not always

Montana and North Dakota show need for transit service in rural areas

wiscbikegal — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:27:10 +0000

By Mary Ebeling Transit services provide critical connectivity within and between communities of all sizes—urban and rural. A robust transportation system that includes public transit provides access to goods and services, and economic opportunity for those who cannot, or choose not to, drive.

Public supports system preservation, why not politicians?

wiscbikegal — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:28:16 +0000

More evidence that the public strongly supports system preservation comes from a survey performed for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. When asked to rank the importance of a variety of potential priorities for WisDOT, preservation came out on top by a wide margin with 47.3 percent of respondents citing it as “extremely important.” A year earlier, a survey for Washington DOT found a similar result in that state.