SLIDE 1 Joseph Kott, PhD, AICP, PTP
Principal, Transportation Choices for Sustainable Communities 2015 Sustainable Enterprise Conference
Panel on Sustainable Transportation for Now and the Future Rohnert Park, CA
April 30, 2015
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SLIDE 2 Sustainable Transportation: Images from Across America
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SLIDE 3 What Does Sustainability Mean?
Sustainability creates and
maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and
present and future generations.
US EPA
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SLIDE 4 What Makes Transportation Sustainable?
is affordable, operates
efficiently, offers choice of transport mode, and supports a vibrant economy; and
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SLIDE 5 What Makes Transportation Sustainable?
limits emissions and
waste within the planet’s ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of non- renewable resources, … and minimizes the use of land and the production of noise.
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SLIDE 6 Our Unsustainable Transportation System
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SLIDE 7 The Historical Rising Tide of Private Motor Vehicles
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SLIDE 8 Demand Outpacing Road Supply
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT)
Trillions Public Road Mileage Millions Year
Public Road Mileage Vehicle Miles of Travel Lane Miles
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SLIDE 9 US Private Motor Vehicle Dependence/Dominance: 2009
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SLIDE 10 Dominance of Private Motor Vehicles in the Commute Market
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SLIDE 11 Less Automobile Dependence?
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SLIDE 12 Environmental Impacts
Photochemical smog
(ground level ozone)
Particulate matter Water pollution by
motor fuels, lubricants, brake lining particles
Greenhouse gas
emissions linked to climate change
Damage to flora, fauna,
public health, personal health
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SLIDE 13 Health Effects
Human cardio-
pulmonary health (especially young children, seniors, and those with asthma, emphysema, bronchitis)
Health effects of
sedentary lifestyles in young and old, including Type II diabetes
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SLIDE 14 California Greenhouse Gas Emissions Shares: 2008
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SLIDE 15 Effects of Increased Greenhouse Gases Emissions Worldwide
Increased global temperatures over time Ice cap melts in Antarctica, Greenland, elsewhere Rising sea levels Displacement of people, economies Uncertain, potentially catastrophic climate effects
– with detrimental impacts on people, economies, plants and animal life worldwide
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SLIDE 16 A Checklist for Sustainable Transportation
1.
Retrofit communities for bicycling & walking
2.
Integrate land use and transportation
3.
Restore effective local & regional rail networks
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Clean up motor vehicle fleets & increase average vehicle occupancy
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Re-purpose street space on major streets for public transit (bus lanes, light rail, BRT), bicycles, and pedestrian
6.
Re-purpose freeway rights-of-way to carry more people, not just more motor vehicles
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SLIDE 17 Steps in the Journey Toward Sustainable Transportation
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SLIDE 18 The Broader Context: Complete Communities
Characterized by
- A rich land use mix (housing, retail, office)
in walking, bicycling, and short vehicle trip distance
- A generational mix
- Accommodation for all physical abilities
- Affordable housing options
- Transportation choices
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SLIDE 19 The Broader Context: Complete Communities
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SLIDE 20 More People in the Vehicles and Within the Right of Way
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SLIDE 21
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: New York City
The Big Apple: Car Space
to Pedestrian Space
Added 50 + pedestrian
plazas by converting 26 acres of car lane space to people space 30 between 2007 and 2012
SLIDE 22 Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: New York City
The Big Apple as
Bicycling Mecca!
Added 350 + miles of
bike lanes, 30 miles of parking protected bike lanes between 2007 and 2012
Installed 6,000 City
Bikes in 330 bikeshare stations citywide
36,000 bikeshare users
SLIDE 23
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: New York City
Bus Priority in the Big
Apple
Added 57 miles of
dedicated bus lanes, and 6 bus rapid transit (BRT) lines between 2007 and 2012
SLIDE 24
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: The Atlanta, Georgia Beltline
Atlanta’s “Un-highway” Plan to transform former
circumferential rail line
Creation of 33 miles of
multi-use paths connecting neighborhoods, parks, business districts
Longer-term plan for
streetcar or light rail segments next to trail
SLIDE 25
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: The Atlanta, Georgia Beltline
Atlanta’s “Un-highway”
SLIDE 26
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: The Indianapolis, Indiana Cultural Trail
Indy Bikes and Walks An 8-mile pedestrian
and bicycle path and greenways in and near downtown
Connects six cultural
districts
Contains 25,400 square
feet of storm water planters, 7 public arts projects, 26 bikeshare stations with 250 bikes
SLIDE 27
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: The Indianapolis, Indiana Cultural Trail
Indy Bikes and Walks
SLIDE 28
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: Portland, Oregon
Portland’s Sustainable
Transportation
319 miles of bikeways (59
miles of neighborhood greenways, 79 miles of paths, 181 miles of bike lanes)
17,000 daily bike
commuters; 6% of all Portland Commuters
SLIDE 29
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: Portland, Oregon
Portland’s Sustainable
Transportation
SLIDE 30
Case Study in Sustainable Transportation: Portland, Oregon
Portland’s Sustainable
Transportation
4 light rail lines with
50.9 miles of route; a 7.3 mile line under construction
2 streetcar lines with 7.2
miles of route
79 bus routes 12% of Portland
commuters use public transit
SLIDE 31 The “Sharing Economy”
Bikeshare
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SLIDE 32 The “Sharing Economy”
Carshare
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SLIDE 33 The “Sharing Economy”
Sharing Streets “Sunday Streets”, Street Festivals, Marathons, etc.
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SLIDE 34 The “Sharing Economy”
Sharing streets Complete streets
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SLIDE 35 The Renaissance of Urban Bicycling
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SLIDE 36 The Revival of Public Transportation
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SLIDE 37 The Renaissance of Urban Rail
- 45 Light rail or street car systems in the US
- 8 more currently under construction
- Only 8 operating in 1980!
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SLIDE 38 The Emergence Of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
- Inspired by Curitiba, Brazil (1974)
- Wide variation in how “BRT” is implemented
- 33 BRT systems in the US in 2014
- Many more in planning stage
- Only 2 prototypical BRT systems operating in
1980!
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SLIDE 39 What Role For the Car?
Downsize (smart cars, micro vehicles, small
electric cars) for short tips?
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SLIDE 40 What Role For the Car?
Electric, hybrid/electric SUVs, pick-up trucks,
standard size cars for longer trips, carrying passengers, hauling cargo
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SLIDE 41 What Role For the Car?
Car share/”car shed”? Lease only the portion of car use you need when
and where you need it (the “low car diet”).
Reduces household car ownership (about in half in
a 2010 study), makes car use pricing more transparent
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SLIDE 42 Questions?
Joseph Kott, PhD, AICP, PTP JKott@Transportchoice.org
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