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June 2003

Research conference session highlights

Munn

Panelists Lee Munnich, Peter Rafferty, Gary Barnes, Randy Halvorson, and Nacho Diaz

Value pricing [top]

Lee Munich's photo

Lee Munnich

Stanley Burns's photo

Stanley Burns

Gary Davis's photo

Gary Davis

Jeff Luther's photo

Jeff Luther

Robert Bodo's photo

Robert Bodo

In a session titled "Emerging Trends in Value Pricing," panelists agreed that Twin Cities drivers and roads could benefit from value pricing strategies, but to implement them will require strong public and political support.

Value, or congestion, pricing attaches fees or tolls to road use that vary with the level of congestion. Revenues collected can be used to fund road and transit improvements.

Panelist Peter Rafferty of SEH, Inc., discussed how value pricing might help reduce congestion and, subsequently, lead to improvements in air quality, safety, and fuel consumption.

"Congestion is a symptom of bad pricing," Rafferty said. The current system, besides not paying for external costs, keeps users' costs hidden from them, "[but] we can recapture some [costs] by pricing," he said. Congestion pricing could be a viable alternative for financing transportation infrastructure while offering demand management, Rafferty added

Along with David Levinson, assistant professor in the University's civil engineering department, Rafferty developed a pricing system that employs accurate marginal cost pricing and compensation. The researchers created a model of a simple lane-drop bottleneck to simulate alternative tolling schemes and evaluate the results across several potential policy objectives, including improvements to delay, user cost, social cost, consumer surplus, and equity. "The model offered a lot of options," he said, with results showing that different tolling strategies could meet widely varying policy objectives, and so work in diverse situations.

Gary Barnes of the University's State and Local Policy Program at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs focused on three applications of value pricing: high-occupancy toll (HOT) networks, vehicle-based pricing, and construction project management.

HOT networks are interconnected sets of limited-access lanes both existing and planned high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, plus some new links and interchanges. Buses and vanpools can use HOT networks free of charge, while all other users pay. Toll collection is done electronically, and pricing varies by the time of day.

HOT lanes provide free-flow conditions to those willing to pay, and some extra capacity is achieved without the need to expand the entire highway network. Barnes said that based on modeling of eight other cities using this approach, HOT networks could be close to self-funding.

Vehicle-based tolling uses GPS transponders to record where and when a vehicle travels, so road user charges are attached to specific vehicles rather than to highways. One application is mileage-based user fees. "Much of the cost of operating a car is fixed in practice although variable in reality," Barnes said. "This could make people more aware of what driving is actually costing them."

Construction traffic management involves tolling a section of road during major construction projects, with the objective of diverting more traffic than would have been diverted by the construction itself. With this strategy, users who create the need for expansion foot more of the bill for a particular project, so not only is it more fair, but it could also accelerate the construction itself, Barnes said.

Addressing public perceptions of value pricing, Lee Munnich, also with the State and Local Policy Program, said that one reason congestion pricing has failed to garner public support in the past is that people didn't believe it would work. Now, however, researchers can point to examples in cities San Diego, Houston, and most recently, London where it is working.

People respond negatively to tolls unless they see some benefit for themselves, Munnich said. Research has also shown that people like the idea of having the option to avoid congestion by paying a fee, are more open to value pricing as congestion gets worse, and will strongly support value pricing if they see it work, Munnich added.

The barriers to implementing value pricing are not technical, but rather, political and institutional. So Munnich said that value pricing communications and marketing efforts are taking a "grass-tops" rather than grassroots strategy "getting leaders on board and understanding it so they can explain it to the people they represent."

With any discussion of value pricing, the issue of equity naturally arises. Munnich pointed to research findings for the San Diego project showing that equity, however, was not as significant an issue as thought. "People at the lowest income levels had the highest support for value pricing," Munnich said.

Finally, Munnich emphasized that planning should entail a package of benefits consumer choice, faster trips, better transit, more road capacity, reliable technology, support for carpooling and "a comprehensive strategy, not just a few projects here and there."

Following Munnich, Randy Halvorson of Mn/DOT and Nacho Diaz of the Metropolitan Council offered their reactions to the previous presenters. "We're now sitting on the threshold of maybe actually doing something," Halvorson said, in reference to the current political climate and the governor and lieutenant governor's interest in value pricing. Halvorson cited two main reasons he was "cautiously optimistic": a change in public attitude, and a belief in the notion that there are other ways to fund transportation besides taxes. According to Halvorson, Mn/DOT is considering implementing HOT lanes on I-394.

Echoing comments from Munnich and Halvorson, Diaz emphasized that political support and public perception are key to the success of any use of value pricing. Citing the recent congestion pricing strategy in London, Diaz commented on how "the mayor...put himself on the line [and] took an enormous risk." Similarly, "There is a need for that type of leadership [here]," he said.

Ultimately, economic issues will make value pricing a reality, since it will be impossible to generate the necessary funding for transportation with conventional funding sources, Diaz added.

(The July CTS Report will feature coverage of a FASTLANE/HOV roundtable on June 16 with U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy.)

Data gathering [top]

Among researchers working on traffic management and modeling, vehicle detection is always a hot topic. At a session titled "Detection Techniques to Gather Data for Feeding Models and Systems," engineers and planners heard an overview of detection techniques using traditional pavement-embedded detectors and new non-intrusive, vision-based systems. The session was moderated by ITS Minnesota president Durga Panda of Image Sensing Systems, Inc.

Eric Minge of Mn/DOT began the session with the findings of a just-completed project led by Farideh Amiri to evaluate several non-intrusive traffic monitoring technologies. These included active infrared (laser), magnetic under-pavement, microwave, video, ultrasonic, and acoustic detectors. A final report and other information is available on the project's Web site located at http://projects.dot.state.mn.us/nit/. Issues examined in the research included accuracy as well as vendor support, infrastructure requirements, costs of maintenance, and the effects of various mounting systems. In addition to motor vehicle traffic, some work was also done with bicycle detection on bike paths. In the next phase of research, the team will design a portable non-intrusive detector system for general use.

Stanley Burns of the Northland Advanced Transportation Systems Research Laboratories at the University of Minnesota's Duluth campus took a different tack with a presentation on the use of pavement-embedded magnetic loop detectors. Although this type of detector is normally used only to detect the presence of vehicles passing over it, Burns is interested in techniques to extract additional information from the detector signal. He showed examples of complex induction curves produced by various vehicles passing through a detector's field; advanced signal analysis may be able to derive information about the type of vehicle that produces the signal.

Graduate student Harini Veeraraghavan rounded out the session with a presentation on her work with computer science and engineering professor Nikos Papanikolopoulos on camera-based monitoring of urban intersections. These locations are problematic for visual detectors because of stop-and-go vehicle movements and frequent interactions with pedestrians. Their system is designed to address these shortcomings by using techniques such as Kalman filtering and robust tracking heuristics. Possible future directions for this research include extending the image range into near-infrared frequencies and refining tracking algorithms in very cluttered scenes.

Safety and security [top]

Personal safety and public security on Minnesota's roads are getting more and more attention from nearly every aspect of society. Enough attention is being directed at the two topics to warrant separate sessions at the research conference.

"Transportation Safety: Moving Toward Zero Deaths" focused on efforts being made to increase traffic safety to the point that there are no fatalities on Minnesota's roads. The session considered four angles to achieve greater road safety. Professor Gary Davis from the Department of Civil Engineering presented information from a nearly completed report on the role of speed as a cause of fatal accidents. Ferrol Robinson of SRF Consulting presented information on the state's safety performance measures. Nic Ward of the University of Minnesota's HumanFIRST Lab and Loren Hill of Mn/DOT combined to present "A New 'Spin' on Road Safety Audits Highway 52 from the Twin Cities to Rochester." That road safety audit was conducted on a stretch of road that is the newest corridor to take part in the Toward Zero Deaths program cosponsored by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Mn/DOT. Anchoring the presentation was Pat Hackman of Safe Communities of Wright County (SCWC), the group behind the first corridor to participate in Toward Zero Deaths. (More about the TZD program will appear in a future CTS Report.)

The topic switched to the broader focus of the security of the entire transportation system in the next session. Jeff Luther, DPS, presented Minnesota's approach to homeland security. Without many new resources, the state is configuring the resources it has to prevent, combat, and respond to any threat that might appear. Mn/DOT's Mike Sobolewski presented Mn/DOT's concerns about security and emergency response. In an emergency, information is vital, and the ability to communicate is critical. Gordon Melby of MCAD presented information on using a small number of drone aircraft to create a visual communications link to monitor the evacuation of the Twin Cities to the north. In most cases, the final access to any area is on foot. Robert Bodor presented information about a system that could be used to monitor pedestrian traffic in an area. The system can track and record the movements of an individual for suspicious behavior. This ability includes being able to identify people moving faster than walking speeds. The system can also identify when a person has fallen and may need help.

The two specific sessions were not the only presentations to consider individual safety or transportation security. In addition to Bodor's presentation, a full session was done on detection and information gathering systems. And safety issues specifically, road entrance policies and low-cost active warning systems for railroad crossings were discussed at a local issues session.

Improving access for the transportation disadvantaged [top]

An increasing number of people do not have easy access to cars, due to income constraints, age, disability, or other reasons. For many of these people, the only accessible sources of mobility are a range of specialized transit services, commonly known in the field as "community-based transit." Because these services tend to be provided by small specialized agencies acting independently, there is a widespread perception that the system is not as effective as it could be if there were a greater degree of coordination among the providers.

The Humphrey Institute's State and Local Policy Program has been engaged in a major study of ways to improve the efficiency of these services. In one of the concurrent sessions, research associate Gary Barnes moderated a review of the project by SLPP researchers Nancy Lueke, Frank Douma, Yufeng Guo, and Heather Krause. By looking at examples in other areas of the country, the project tried to develop general principles to use in improving the system locally. Currently in the Twin Cities, dozens of agencies are providing trips using funds from sources such as healthcare agencies and local governments, Lueke said. The large number of agencies, the different motivations of transportation and human service providers, and the complex web of funding sources and regulations all contribute to making cooperative solutions difficult to identify and implement. This, she said, may explain why after encouragement from the federal and state levels for more than 20 years, coordination is not yet taking hold. Providers question what's in it for them not only do they lose autonomy under a coordinated system, she said, it is difficult and time-consuming to implement by an already overworked staff.

Guo then presented SLPP's evaluation of efforts around the country to increase efficiency through various forms of coordinated services. This included a discussion of the operational, administrative, and financial characteristics of systems, the advantages to be gained, and the barriers that have made coordination difficult. For example, Florida state law requires the coordination of federal, state, and local funds, which are pooled and distributed to providers, all monitored by a state-level commission. Next, Douma discussed work that SLPP has done to develop possible institutional frameworks that could make various types of coordination easier among local providers. This involved analyzing national examples and working with a steering committee of local providers to determine characteristics that would be desired in a coordinated system. These characteristics, Douma reported, include eliminating gaps in service, keeping agencies accountable to clients, reducing costs, avoiding extra paperwork, and not losing the human element.

In the last presentation, Krause described a project with a number of providers around the state to develop better mechanisms for sharing information and simplifying administrative functions. Some of the findings, gleaned through surveys and focus groups, are that most providers want a Web-based information-sharing system as well as standardized forms. (CTS and SLPP are holding a conference on community-based transportation this fall. Watch for details in future issues of the CTS Report.)

Transportation asset management [top]

For many state DOTs and local governments, managing the transportation system in the 21st century means managing existing assets more efficiently. Roads, bridges, maintenance equipment, and other infrastructure represent significant investment, and the adoption of GASB 34 accounting rules by local governments is placing new demands on transportation departments. A concurrent session on transportation asset management, moderated by University of Minnesota geography department chair John Adams, offered various perspectives on the future of this critical function.

Thomas Maze from Iowa State University's Center for Transportation Research and Education began by going over the highlights of GASB Statement 34, the new financial reporting standards issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board in 1999. The core of the new standards, Maze said, is a requirement that the value of government assets be "held on the books" a common accounting practice in the private sector, but a radical change for many local governments.

One major advantage of the new technique, Maze continued, is that governments can accurately track the value of their investments in infrastructure, and use this knowledge to plan for future needs. On a national level, Dave Ekern of Mn/DOT asserted that asset management fits into the current trend of transportation agencies focusing less on new construction and more on managing existing assets. Mn/DOT is currently working to develop an integrated asset management system, which will unite several disparate tracking and reporting systems into a single package. Although this effort is not widely publicized, Ekern said, the project is "further along than many people realize."

For anyone wishing to jump into asset management head-first, Ekern suggested the Fifth National Conference on Asset Management, to be held in Seattle in September and Atlanta in October. The two-day event is sponsored by the AASHTO Task Force on Transportation Asset Management and the FHWA Office of Asset Management. More information is available at http://assetmanagement.transportation.org.

Looking to the future of asset management, Jason Podany of the Metropolitan Council gave an overview of how his organization is using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies to help manage the region's transit system. The council's strategy for developing a single regional transit GIS framework includes a bus scheduling application and a tool for mapping new routes, among other functions. Council staff are now beginning to use the system for asset management as well, keeping track of a range of vehicles as well as infrastructure components such as bus shelters and bus-only lanes.

I-35W access project [top]

Before construction of I-35W in the late 1960s split south Minneapolis in half and left Lake Street with limited access to the metropolitan freeway system, Lake Street was considered to be one of the Midwest's major destinations.

"People would drive from Iowa to shop on Lake Street," said Craig Churchward, director of Context Sensitive Solutions for HNTB's Great Lakes Division, one of several consultants developing a proposal for improving access between Lake Street and I-35W. "It was the region's megamall for 40 years."

Photo of poster

As the Twin Cities continued to grow economically, Lake Street merchants and the ten inner-city neighborhoods adjoining Lake Street and I-35W were increasingly left behind, Churchwood said. The I-35W Access Project is part of a larger effort by a consortium of agencies and organizations to bring vitality back to the formerly booming hub. Congress has appropriated $6.7 million for the proposed $153 million project.

Currently, vehicles driving southbound on I-35W can't directly enter Lake Street; neither can they exit off the street to head north on the interstate. Nearby ramps are inadequate and unsafe, cause back-up on northbound I-35W, and create excess traffic on residential streets.

Accompanied by Ross Harris of SEH, Churchward presented an overview of the preliminary design process, stressing the importance of genuine public involvement.

"Increasingly, transportation projects require the knowledge of experts," Churchward said. "The public is the expert." He said transportation planners must engage the public in intelligent conversations to define the issues, the project's goals, and possible solutions, including funding mechanisms. "The public wants an essay test, not a multiple-choice test," he said.

However, transportation planning can't just react to neighborhood needs, said Churchward, it must also incorporate the needs of metropolitan transportation. To ensure this, Mn/DOT and the Metropolitan Council joined Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis in developing the preliminary design package for the project.

Achieving progress meant that Tom Johnson, senior project manager with Smith Parker Inc., the law firm managing the Hennepin County project, facilitated or participated in over 600 agency and public meetings in the past four years related to this project. Besides showing that the project was good for transportation, to gain support he had to demonstrate that it was fair to the community, good for the economy, and of sufficient environmental quality. Through effective communication with all the stakeholders, the community accepted that the project was part of a regional plan.

To accomplish this, Johnson created the citizen-led Project Advisory Committee (PAC), which worked with the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), made up of personnel from agencies and consultants working on the project. The PAC has met for over four years, considering 30 design alternatives and holding over 120 community meetings. Typically, the PAC would suggest ideas to the engineers, who would analyze their feasibility.

The PAC held four rounds of public open houses in the project area, advertising through articles in the newspaper, by invitation, and with over 25,000 distributed flyers. The rounds were held during key decision-making moments, giving residents and business leaders the opportunity to provide ideas and review options. Public surveys taken at these open houses were largely favorable but also resulted in the incorporation of several key modifications to the preliminary design concepts. Successful dialogue with the community and the TAC led to the preferred alternative design, approved by the PAC 17-3 in November 2002.

The preferred layout completes all four potential interchange movements at Lake Street and I-35W and connects northbound I-35W to 28th Street. To alleviate merging conflicts, ramps on 35th and 36th streets will be moved to 38th Street, shifting traffic from residential to commercial corridors. To reduce I-94 congestion, the plan rebuilds the ramp to northbound I-35W at Fifth and Franklin Avenues, and to accommodate Mn/DOT's vision for I-35W, it also includes two High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes and improved transit operations.

The draft now awaits review from the project's main funders the FHWA and Mn/DOT before final approval from the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners and the Minneapolis City Council.

For information on the I-35W Access Project, visit: www.phillipspartnership.org/infrastructure.html.

Parking and the shape of the city [top]

A disconnect often exists between reality and the vision for infrastructure growth in cities, said David Albersman at the "Effects of Parking: Modal and Development Issues" session. Often, he said, that vision doesn't include any parking.

"You can't pretend like it's not going to be there," he said, explaining that cities fail to incorporate parking into their revitalization plans. Minneapolis has no plan in place to supply the projected 15,000 parking unit spaces needed to meet its goals for economic development.

However, although some parking should accompany infrastructure growth, Albertson said a balance between transit and vehicle planning must be struck, and plans for parking must be ingenious. "Sometimes parking makes sense and sometimes it doesn't," he said.

Not only is building parking structures an urban design difficulty, it is expensive and highly subsidized.

"The break-even cost for parking doesn't come close to what they're charging," said Albersman, of Albersman & Armstrong, LTD. Currently the first central ring of downtown Minneapolis charges an average of $200 or more a month for a parking space; the second ring ranges from $130 to 200, and the surrounding area costs less than $130. However, the break-even rate for one space ranges from slightly under $200 to almost $350 a month, based on varying construction and operational costs.

Albersman said an increase of park-and-ride facilities, carpooling incentives, and multi-use parking structures would reduce the costly need for parking. He doesn't believe the Third Avenue Distributer (TAD) garages near the Target Center—funded 80% by the federal government in an effort to reduce congestion in the core area by encouraging carpooling—are working because the program is not flexible enough nor the incentives deep enough.

Instead, Albersman said, carpoolers should park for free to encourage greater utilization of carpooling, which would decrease the city's building of highly subsidized parking spaces. He also said the proposed Guthrie Theatre site, which would be a single-use parking garage, is a showcase example of a bad parking plan.

Cities need to address parking needs in their revitalization plans, he concluded, but they must also weigh parking benefits and costs, and encourage transit alternatives whenever possible.