Op Ed: Parking Policy in India

It has been four years since I moved to the US, but I am still amazed by the amount of parking spaces available everywhere. This is a far cry from the parking situation in India, where every trip made by car has to account for an additional hour or two spent in traffic jams and looking for a parking spot. Indian cities are experiencing an exponential increase in traffic demand and the increased spending power is adding to more cars on the road. Currently, India is the eleventh largest passenger car market having recorded domestic sales of over 1.9 million cars in the country in the year 2009-2010(1)! Parking policies in India are struggling to keep up with the growing demand. This op-ed will examine the problems and focus on some possible solutions to India’s parking problems from around the world.

A common scene in urban India

OpEd | State | TriMet angers many, requires oversight

Photo credit: KGW.com

Did you know that TriMet fares are now among the highest in the nation (Gianola, 2013)? That’s right, a monthly adult TriMet pass is $100, while in Philadelphia, its $83, $72 in Los Angeles and just $70 in Boston (Gianola, 2013). Yet all three cities have operation far more extensive than Portland’s. So why does public transit cost so much in Portland? TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane wants you to blame the recession and the high cost of TriMet’s union health benefits (Gianola, 2013). He hoped you wouldn’t find out about the $910,000 in pay raises he approved for the highest echelon of TriMet management in 2012, even as he publicly stated that he had frozen their pay (Rose, 2013). “How could this happen right under our noses?” you may ask. This was able to happen because no one was watching. While TriMet management increased fairs, cut service, and gave themselves raises, no one was paying attention. To ensure this can’t happen again, Oregon lawmakers have called on Secretary of State Kate Brown to conduct an unprecedented audit of operations and finances at the state's largest public transit agency (Rose J. , 2013).

Vice-chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Economic Development, Rep. Chris Gorsek (D-Troutdale) is the chief sponsor of the proposal, an amendment to his House Bill 3316. HB3316 was intended to regulate TriMet’s governance, transferring operational and finical oversight from TriMet’s board of directors to Metro (Staff, 2013). However, Gorsek simultaneously realized he didn’t have wide support for restructuring and became aware of major management issues at TriMet. He took the opportunity to push for a large scale audit instead (Rose J. , 2013). While the audit will possibly take longer than the original plan - Brown's office plans to have the audit finished before the 2014 legislative session (Thompson, 2013) – it ensures a much more thorough understanding  of exactly what is going on inside the transit agency and why. This is an extremely prudent step, prior to taking any major action which could have unforeseen repercussions. While it’s obvious that things need to change inside TriMet, I believe it’s worth taking the time to do it right.

Op-Ed | Local | Idling Reduction: A Common Sense Plan

Old habits are hard to break. To most, idling a car may seem fairly harmless, but in fact, there are many adverse effects. Carbon emissions have a major impact on air quality, with implications for public health and the environment, as we all know. One way to lessen these emissions is to reduce needless pollution from idling. However, most drivers don’t think twice about running their engine while the car is not in motion. For this reason, the City of Portland and Multnomah County need to work together to create idling regulations for passenger vehicles.

The two municipalities have worked together briefly on this issue before, during the “Idling Gets You Nowhere” public outreach campaign in the summer of 2011. As part of that effort, Mayor Adams’ office convened an idling reduction task force to look into various options for addressing the issue.  Multnomah County took the lead on outreach by creating an informational website, hanging “Idling Gets You Nowhere” banners across the Hawthorne Bridge and mobilizing volunteers to hand out postcards explaining the dangers of vehicular idling during bridge lifts and at community events.

The partnership makes sense in light of the two municipalities’ efforts to reduce carbon emissions. In 2009, the City of Portland joined forces with Multnomah County to adopt the ClimateAction Plan, a three-year plan to put us on a path to achieve a 40 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050. “The Climate Action Plan commits the City and Multnomah County to 93 actions over the next three years and establishes 18 objectives for 2030 (City of Portland, 2009).” However, in the whole 70 page document, idling is mentioned only twice.

LA Traffic Signals Are Causing More Harm Than Good!

The City of Los Angeles recently reached a major mobility milestone: synchronizing its 4,500 traffic signals. That is quite the accomplishment given the level of complexity, but are they sure they thought this through? The primary goal of this endeavor was to reduce traffic congestion. LA is infamous for high levels of congestion on both its freeways and local roads, so attempting to reduce traffic delay will produce exponential results. Nevertheless, the high-profile nature of a system improvement like this can really improve the City’s reputation by trying to improve a ubiquitous issue. The synchronization is expected to reduced automobile travel times, making driving even more convenient that it already is. So why is LA focused on ensuring that driving is more competitive than other modes of travel? While others are trying to push and pull drivers out of their cars, LA seems to be working backwards. Rather than improving travel conditions for personal auto use, why not make it more difficult to drive? Making driving more onerous by slowing the speeds is the first step to long-term sustainability, both for mobility and environmental purposes.

STOP: take a step... For a new healthy Air in Portland

According to The National Air Toxic Assessment’s (NATA) 2005 map, Portland has very high levels of Toxics exposed in the air which would affect and risk people’s health with dangerous diseases like cancer and other health issues if it didn't take the right steps to stop the causes (U.S enlivenment protection agency). I was shocked when I saw the map because I always thought Of Portland as one of a kind city known with its beautiful and healthy nature. We should start thinking about out future.

Op-Ed: Is Personal Rapid Transit the Future?

In the deserts of UAE, some 11 miles southeast of Abu Dhabi, Masdar City is envisioned as a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology, with complete reliance on solar and other renewable energy sources. The city will be home to around 50,000 people and is expected to cost $22 billion to construct. So, what does transportation look like in the world’s first zero-carbon city? Well, the city is designed to be completely car-free and given that it is one square mile in size, it is probably an achievable goal. An important element of this city’s transportation vision is the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) prototype. This op-ed will explore the role of this recent technological innovation in a city aiming to be completely sustainable. Additionally, I’ll discuss the PRT system, and its potential applications in urban environments.

Op-Ed: East Portland Bus Stops Deserve Attention

Inequity manifests itself in many ways within the City of Portland. In a city that prides itself on its progressive policies and green transportation options, the disparities in TriMet’s bus stop accommodations are inexcusable. The contrast between the built environment and amenities at bus stops in Central Portland versus East Portland is abhorrent and needs to change. I implore TriMet to prioritize improvements to the “top three” worst bus stops, as identified by OPAL’s (Organizing People, Activating Leaders) East Portland Bus Project.

“Flexing” the Ross Island Bridge for BRT

Figure 1: Ross Island Bridge looking westbound

The Ross Island Bridge is no stranger to vehicle congestion. Dubbed as one of Portland’s worst bottlenecks, the Ross Island Bridge connects over 51,000 commuters and four TriMet bus lines every day from Powell Boulevard to Downtown Portland [1]. The mile-long bridge often snarls to a crawl during peak hour commute times, clogging the vital connection that links together East and West Portland over the Willamette River. The capacity issues with the Ross Island Bridge have rippled into other local transportation projects, including a planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along Powell Boulevard, which runs into significant challenges when attempting to cross over the Ross Island Bridge or divert to another crossing [3].

Op-ed: Land Use and Transportation planning should be integrated

What has shaped our built environment? Is it the land use planning or is it the transportation planning? I argue that both of them are critical to our built environment yet in most cases the planning and decision making processes are usually separate and there are times the two groups don’t even talk to each other to put plans together.

A Utah Transit Authority Front Runner Train leaves the South Jordan  Station on its way to Downtown Salt Lake City and Ogden. The area around the station is not designed to be pedestrian or transit friendly in anyway shape or form. 

In March, my neighborhood had its meeting and one of the speakers during the meeting was from the Portland Department of Transportation who was talking about the Barbur Transportation and the Barbur Concept plans that are in the process of being studied and approved. However, the most interesting statement he made, or actually should I say the most disturbing statement that this person made during the meeting was that the transportation planners and the land use planners don’ t often talk. Seriously?

Local Op-Ed: Extend and Improve the Old Town / Chinatown Pedestrian Zone!

Old Town / Chinatown Pedestrian Zone.  From The Portland Mercury

Picture this: it's midnight, and downtown is alive with activity.  The sidewalks are filled with people enjoying sidewalk dining in the cool night air, and crowds of pedestrians wander the streets.  Pedi-cabs slowly work their way though the revelers, and all without a car in sight!  This could be the future of Portland's Old Town/Chinatown district, but only if the City Council makes the right decision this week.  Since early this year a small part of the city has been closed to vehicles on weekend nights, creating a safer and more welcoming area for pedestrians.  Residents, nearby businesses, the Portland Police Bureau, and the Mayor have all expressed their support for the program (Oregonian). 

Area Closed to Cars.  From Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement

But without City Council action, cars will soon return to the streets and once again create a nightly scene of congestion and conflict.  By voting to extend and improve the program when they meet June 5th,  City Council can help create a safe, vibrant nightlife for Portland and again demonstrate that this is a city that values its pedestrians (City Council Ordinance).

I-5 Bridge Failure Local Op-Ed

This last Thursday the I-5 bridge that spans the Skagit River north of Seattle in Mount Vernon failed after an over-sized truck carrying drilling equipment hit one of the load bearing overhead girder. While no one was seriously injured this brings some serious issues about our failing infrastructure and the deferred maintenance on the bridges in our region to light.” “Meanwhile, 378 bridges in Oregon, including Portland's Steel Bridge, are considered "structurally deficient" and 1,150 are rated "functionally obsolete." Nearly 40 percent are older than the 50 years and unable to handle today's traffic demands [2]” This brings into question how the city of Washington will react to the proposed plan to update the I-5 section crossing our much closer Columbia River as well as what priority we in Oregon will put onto maintenance of our own bridges. 

The Time for Congestion Pricing is Now

Congestion is a major problem facing American cities. Each year the average American spends 38 extra hours in their vehicle because of congestion, and the total cost of the lost fuel and time is $121 billion. Without major changes, that figure is expected to grow to nearly $200 billion in 2020.  The good news is that there is a tried and tested policy to help alleviate congestion: congestion pricing. However, congestion pricing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Congestion pricing programs must be tailored to the specific land use patterns, transportation networks, and geographies of individual cities. To reverse the trend of increasing congestion, it is up to local governments, both big and small, to enact congestion pricing programs that are tailored to each city. 

Integration of bicycling and MAX for long distance trips

Portland has well known as a bicycle friendly community. Various programs including SmartTrips, bicycle way finding system, incentive programs for bicycling and transportation management association promote using a bicycle as a primary mode instead of an automobile. Researches show significant association of bicycle infrastructure with bicycle uses.(Pucher, J., Dill, J., Handy, S., 2010) Accordingly,  Portland spurs the expanding bicycle path network to provide cohesive connectivity for bike riders.

 In Portland BicyclePlan for 2030, the goal of bicycle use is to encourage bicycling under 3 mile short trips for all trip purposes as an alternative of a car. It classifies Portlanders into four types of people such as not interested in bicycling, strong and fearless bicyclists, enthused and confident bicyclists, and interested but concerned bicyclists. It aims at attracting people to regard a bicycle as an inseparable part of life by understanding the degree of how much familiar with a bicycle. The target of mode share for bicycle is 25 percent until 2030, and currently 6 percent of commuters ride bicycles although it is almost over 10 times national average. The question is how to achieve this goal. By encouraging bicycle not only for short trips but also for long distance trips from suburban area of Portland, the target mode share of bicycle would be more easily achieved.  

More specifically, what I am suggesting is to provide strategic integration between current public transportation and a bicycle for relatively long trips. The suggestion about the connection between bikes and Metro is included in a bicycle comprehensive plan, however, it is still not enough integration provided in terms of  weak bike path network and pedestrian sidewalks in suburban area. Also, secured bike and ride facilities are available only at Sunset, Beaverton, and Gresham Central transit centers although most MAX stations and WES stations provides bike racks. There is no bike stations where various bike services are available such as rentals, repairs, bike washing and showers .

Incorporating bicycling with public transportation are both beneficial in terms of increasing the demand of public transit and bicycle use. Travelers would receive benefits when they access to public transportation stations by bicycling instead of other modes including driving and walk. Bicycle connects trip ends and public transit stations at lower cost compared to automobile such as alternative as park-and ride travel behavior, and at faster speed compared to walk. Transit enables bicyclers to travel a long distance trip so that travelers do not need to give up bicycling because of long distance. Considering these advantages of integration between bicycling and public transportation, travels originating at suburban area of Portland would be a good target to increase the ridership of bicycle. Further, it would reduce VMT effectively by reducing long distance trips. Because travelers enter Portland city by MAX, it also prevents driving for additional trips in a city.

It would be worth to go over strategies of how integrate bicycling and public transportation before thinking about any appropriate strategies for Portland. There are four strategies which have been applied most commonly(Krezek and Stonebraker, 2011). The first strategy is bike on transit. Bicyclist usually prefers this option because they can ride a bike around both origin and destination area before and after taking transit service. The second one is bike to transit. For this option, secured parking facilities are important to attract bicyclists. The third option is two bikes which means travelers ride two different bikes when they access to transit station and when they egress from a destination stop to a real destination. The last strategy is shared bikes.

The suggested strategies among four options for Portland include bicycle to transit and shared bikes. The first option is suggested by Krezek and Stonebrake as the most cost-effective strategy from a comprehensive analysis, and it seems to be applicable to Portland. Although bicyclist preferred to bike on transit, the enough room for bicycles is a necessary condition. During morning and afternoon peak hours, the inside of fleet is already congested so bicycle to transit seems to be more feasible option under the situation where the demand of MAX for cyclist increases than now. To attract the demand for the second option, my suggestion is to increase the secured bike and parking facilities over stations in suburban area. In addition, building more bicycle path network to link stations and major residential area in suburban area would increase the attractiveness for travelers to access to MAX station by bicycling and take MAX to enter Portland.     

Bike sharing would be another good option for promoting the use of bicycle and MAX for long distance traveler heading to Portland. The one of major concerns in cycling is whether there are parking facility at each trip end, and bike sharing program releases this burden. Bike-sharing is cost-effective mode compared to automobile or car-sharing. Or, it can be considered as another public transportation service with a reasonable membership fee in suburban area where the frequency and the number of bus lines which have stops at MAX stations are limited . Recently, Portland made a contract with Alta Bicycle Share for bike-share system in the central city of Portland, and it will start its service from 2014 spring. In order to take advantage of bike-sharing program not only for short trip but also for a long distance trip, it is required to expand its service area to include suburban area of Portland.  Denver already provided bike sharing mode option, and more than 20 percent of members use bike sharing to access to and/or egress from light rail or bus stations. 

*Academic references

1. Pucher, J. and Buehler, R., 2009. Integrating Bicycling and Public Transport in north America. Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 12, No. 3. pp79-104.

2. Pucher, J., Dill, J., Handy, S., 2010. Infrastructure, programs, and policies to increase bicycling: An international review. Preventive Medicine 50. pp106-125.

Crowdfunding Local Community Planning: If we fund it, will they come?

It is safe to say that social media has changed the world. Never before have we been in instant contact with people from every country and continent. We receive up-to-date check-ins from our friends and family and also complete and utter strangers. It is no surprise then, that this ability to communicate with just about anyone has lead to the revolutionary idea of fundraising. What might be more surprising is that social media has helped reinvigorate local communities by allowing them the power to create their ideal city.

Okay, sure, technically fundraising is not revolutionary. It has been around since the invention of financing, but the idea of raising capital from private investors you have never met is pretty far-fetched. Welcome to the world of crowdfunding. We’ve all heard of it. Crowdfunding is being used to invest in emerging entrepreneurs in developing countries and that videogame/movie/iphone app you read about on Kickstarter. There are a slew of websites out there that can help anyone raise money for anything. Even a skyscraper.

Botoga's crowdfunded skyscraper            source: Plantizen.com