Transportation, Land Use, Planning, and Air Quality: Selected Papers of the Transportation, Land Use, Planning, and Air Quality Conference 2009

A national level travel demand model for heavy freight trucks was created to determine the effects of these vehicles on national air quality. A commodity-based freight flow model was created from various data sources to estimate national county-level freight flows. The flows were then converted to truck trips through the use of payload factors determined from the VIUS database. Finally, the truck trips were assigned to a national highway network and heavy freight vehicle VMT was determined on the county level. The model performance was evaluated against both the results for another national level model, the Freight Analysis Framework, and against actual vehicle count data. The estimated truck activity characteristics were then input to a freight truck emissions model to evaluate the air quality impacts of freight trucking. The model represents a new method for the development of freight truck travel demand models by using actual truck travel characteristics to fit the results of the gravity model procedure. This represents a useful advance in working around the lack of trip distribution data in the field of freight activity and air quality modeling.

This is phase one of a multi-year research project funded by the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE). The overall objective is to develop a regional freight planning model which can be applied to regional freight emission modeling. Analogous to passenger travel models, a regional freight planning model will require good quality regional freight survey data, the availability of which has been one of the biggest obstacles in freight modeling. As the NCHRP Synthesis 298 puts it, "the state of the practice in truck trip generation data is fairly primitive compared with trip generation data practices used in analyzing passenger vehicle movements".

This paper details the development of a strategic-level modelling tool to evaluate the impacts of air quality and greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for urban freight. The model, known as STEAR-F (Strategic Tool for the Environmental Analysis of Road Freight) combines publicly available information on freight travel, fleet characteristics, and emission factors to provide estimates of total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and non-GHG emissions. Following details of the model development and underlying assumptions, STEAR-F is applied to evaluate strategies currently under consideration in the Sydney region. These include accelerated vehicle scrappage programs, diesel vehicle retrofit programs, Low Emission Zones, alternative fuel programs, and educational/information programs focused on driver behaviour, new technologies and proactive vehicle maintenance.

This study investigates the impact of the 50% rise of gasoline prices over a nine-month period (October 2007 to June 2008) on the free-flow traffic speeds on freeway in Houston, Texas. The impact was estimated using a multiple linear regression technique with controls for time of day, day of week, and season. Three separate models were developed for the 15^th, 50^th, and 85^th percentile traffic speeds, which represent motorists whose value of time is low, medium, and high. These groups of motorists decreased their free-flow speeds from the baseline speed by 5.5%, 3.9%, and 3.1%, respectively, when the gasoline price rose by $2.00 per gallon.

Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) Insurance, or mileage-based insurance, has the potential to be an effective transportation pricing strategy with multiple benefits including reductions in vehicle miles traveled, fuel consumption, and vehicle emissions. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), in partnership with Progressive County Mutual Insurance Company (Progressive), conducted a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of implementing mileage-based insurance and whether such a program would impact driver behavior. During the first phase of the study, a statistical analysis of available data produced a positive correlation between mileage driven and accident frequency, thus validating the hypothesis that insurance companies can provide financial incentives to customers who drive fewer miles because of an associated reduction in claims costs. A second phase of the pilot program offered financial incentives to volunteer participants who were able to reduce their mileage from a personal baseline condition. Data collected from the participants' vehicle on-board diagnostic system resulted in an average mileage reduction of five percent. Additional spatial analysis concluded that mileage reduction was independent of participant residence suggesting PAYD Insurance would be a viable strategy to minimize negative environmental impacts region-wide.

Single-use, low-density developments create an increased demand for automobiles and roads. Changes in land use influence the location of transportation improvements. Alternative land use projects decrease the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere, save annual fuel use, and help mitigate traffic congestion. This study was conducted to understand the needs and demands that define these projects in order to accurately quantify emission benefits to be gained from reduced use of on road vehicles as a result of alternative land use developments. It was concluded that transit-oriented development projects are more successful at removing single-occupancy vehicles (SOV) from the road, and will therefore be the initial focus. The current methodology used to quantify air quality benefits from alternative land use projects was investigated in order to develop a new methodology that will addresses alternative transit oriented development projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth 8-hour ozone nonattainment region for Phase II.

Transportation planners and engineers in the travel demand forecasting industry have developed and applied models using the four-step process for approximately forty years. These models have been widely supported and have supplied many traffic forecasts for regional, corridor, and community planning efforts. They also have been used to examine statewide travel demand issues such as congestion management and the long-range effects of forecast land development as related to capacity sufficiency. Further, since the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, these types of models have been used to estimate mobile source emissions supporting transportation conformity analyses.

Climate change is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG), primarily carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxides (N₂O), and fluorinated gases, in the Earth's atmosphere. While some GHGs occur naturally, there is now very strong evidence that anthropogenic emissions, emitted mainly through the combustion of fossil fuels, are the primary reason for the increase in global temperatures (IPCC 2007). Recognizing the harmful consequences of leaving GHG emissions unchecked, many states have begun to investigate options for reducing their GHG emissions and addressing the anticipated impacts of climate change. Approximately 38 states have developed or are in the process of developing climate action plans (Pew 2008). This paper focuses specifically on the State of Maryland and outlines the State's current course of action and the role that the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has played up until this point and how that role may evolve given the challenges ahead.

To address climate change, many U.S. states are taking action to establish policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all economic sectors. With the transportation sector contributing 28 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2006, strategies to mitigate transportation sector emissions are an important component of state's climate action plans. This paper summarizes the transportation and land use approaches that states have included in their climate action plans to date. Transportation and land use sector options are generally organized into three main categories: vehicle technology, fuels, and travel activity/land use. This paper adds a fourth category: vehicle operations to acknowledge that important mitigation options include how drivers operate their vehicles. Annual greenhouse gas reduction potential in 2012 and 2020 and cost effectiveness values are provided. The information in this paper provides a starting-point for transportation practitioners to use when initiating their own evaluations of greenhouse gas mitigation options at the regional, state, or local level.

With the increased interest in the interactions of land use and transportation and their related impacts on global warming, there is now a warranted need for improved and quicker techniques for simulating mobile source based, regional and sub-regional greenhouse gas emissions. The Bay Area Simplified Simulation of Travel, Energy and Greenhouse Gases (BASTEGG) is a GIS-based tool for calculating automobile availability, vehicle usage, fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, by each household within the San Francisco Bay Area at the neighborhood level. There are three component models in the BASSTEGG, simulating auto ownership levels, vehicle usage levels, and carbon dioxide emissions. Socio-economic and relative transit-to-highway accessibility data at the travel analysis zone level is used to predict the distribution of households by vehicle availability level. Cross-classification models of vehicle miles of travel per household (VMT/HH) are applied based on urban density levels, workers in household levels, income levels, and vehicle availability levels. Lastly, emissions per mile models, based on California Air Resources Board's EMFAC models for various forecast years, are used to convert VMT per household into on-road, mobile source greenhouse gas emissions per household. The BASSTEGG model is intended to be used in land use alternatives scenario testing at the regional level, and by city planners interested in the VMT and greenhouse gases produced by residents of their communities.

There have been several studies that have been conducted on the health implications of diesel engine emission. They have all concluded that the emission from diesel engines is a health hazard. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set standards for diesel exhaust emission, but they apply only to new engines. Effective from 2011, all new non-road diesel engines will have to meet the EPA's stringent Tier 4 standards for exhaust emission. However, there are no regulations that mandate existing machine models to be upgraded to Tier 4 emission level standards. As a result, only when the emission control specifications are included in construction contracts it is possible to achieve a tier 4 level of emission control. This paper shows how the specification development and implementation process is utilized to build a team of committed advocates who can work with the contractors during bidding to ensure availability of compliant equipment from the start of the project. There are challenges associated with implementing the specification on leased equipment; these are also explained. The author has, for several years from the inception of diesel exhaust emission mitigation in 2003, spearheaded introduction and adoption of aggressive PM reduction technologies on construction equipment in Manhattan and created a heightened awareness of clean diesel and its health benefits.

Throughout my career there have been a number of opportunities to work on or to observe projects involving transportation and land use. Nine of these projects are presented to illustrate that there is a relationship between transportation and land use. Some of these relationships turned out good while others did not. By citing these examples, it is clear that all planning must be cognizant of and pay particular attention to the transportation/land use relationship if the best sustainable development is to occur.

This presentation discusses the methodology and findings of sketch-level analyses of the vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) and corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of implementing land use strategies to direct growth into higher-density, walkable, transit-served neighborhoods. The methodology has been applied at a national level for the "Moving Cooler" study in progress; at a state level in support of four state climate action plans; and in southern Maine. The analysis relies on data on VMT per capita by census tract density to evaluate how future metropolitan "smart growth" policies that affect population density might affect VMT. The land use analysis also utilizes information from the recent "Growing Cooler" study (Ewing et al, 2008) but does so in a way that considers baseline population densities and trends in a particular analysis region as well as different levels of growth-shifting. Overall, VMT and GHG reductions relative to all personal travel range from around 1 percent for low-growth areas in a short timeframe (2025), up to 12 percent for very aggressive implementation of compact development at a nationwide level through the year 2050.

This paper documents a research project being carried out by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT.) The goal of the project is to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of urban areas through compatible systems-level planning of land uses, urban form, and investments in public transportation facilities. The project also seeks to improve the communication of these concepts to elected officials and the public through the development of enhanced visualization techniques. The research is intended to answer questions about the interactions of land use policies and transit investments, posed in two forms. First, if alternative transit investment proposals are being evaluated for a community, what land use policies will be needed to optimize the effectiveness of those investments? Second, if specific changes in land use policy are being considered for a community, what types of transit investment will be most cost-effective for each land use policy scenario?