Category: Recent Research
Los Angeles And The Rise Of The “Super-Commuter”: The Dramatic Increase In Our Long-Distance Workforce
One of the many attributes of libraries and archives is that they provide access to information which might not otherwise be discovered or accessed by those who benefit from it. Even though a standard Google search can return thousands or millions of keyword search results, it still can’t drill down into research to highlight pertinent embedded [...]
New And Powerful Transportation Research Tool: Metro Library Launches Robust Catalog Portal
Just in time for the holidays, we are pleased to make this major announcement: This afternoon, we rolled out our new online public access catalog. Times change — and so does technology. After 11 years with our previous system, it was time for an upgrade to support our technological needs and to meet the expectations [...]
From Fuel Taxes To Mileage-Based User Fees: Rationale, Technology & Transitional Issues
This week, the University of Minnesota’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute has released a final report which looks at the viability and implications of shifting from fuel taxes to mileage-based user fees. Two national commissions established by the U.S. Congress recommend replacing the current system of funding transportation based on fuel taxes with a new distance-based [...]
How We Travel: A Sustainable National Program For Travel Data
The U.S. transportation system serves hundreds of millions of travelers and handles millions of tons of freight each day to help ensure the efficient movement of peopl eand goods in support of personal goals and domestic and international commerce. A well-functioning transportation system is essential for business travel an dtourism, yet no national data have [...]
A Closer Look At Failure To Act: The Economic Impact Of Current Investment Trends In Surface Transportation Infrastructure
The nation’s surface transportation infrastructure includes the critical highways, bridges, railroads, and transit systems that enable people and goods to access the markets, services, and inputs of production essential to America’s economic vitality. For many years, the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure has been deteriorating. Yet because this deterioration has been diffused throughout the nation, and [...]
A Closer Look At Three Vital Reports On Transportation & Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This month, no less than three new reports worth a closer look have been published regarding transportation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) published the first two reports — each dealing with the impact of bicycling on the reduction of GHG emissions. One analysis is the first of [...]
Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race, Transit Climate Action Strategy & The Next 50 Years
If you’re looking for current information on the state of public transit projects across the United States, there might be no better resource than Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race, 2011: A Catalog And Analysis Of Planned And Proposed Transit Projects In The US (46p. PDF), released this month by Reconnecting America. In this up-to-the-minute research, [...]
Recent Research: The Case For Business Investment In High-Speed Rail & A New Strategy For America’s Highways
APTA has released a new report titled The Case For Business Investment In High-Speed And Intercity Passenger Rail (9p. PDF). The overall growth in the U.S. rail passenger market growing at an impressive rate. Of the 35 light rail systems in existence today, only 7 were present in 1980. Of 28 commuter rail systems today, [...]
Research Roundup: ARRA Meets Passenger Rail, Overlooked Density & The Use Of Advance Construction
In January, 2010, President Obama announced that 31 states and the District of Columbia would receive $8 billion in funds from the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act to plan, develop, and construct high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects in corridors around the country. What has been accomplished in the past year? The American Association Of State [...]
Research Roundup: A Closer Look At Transportation Policies — Energy Security Is National Security
Despite transportation accounting for 70% of U.S. oil consumption, energy and transportation policy have historically been devised and implemented in wholly disparate spheres. Transportation projects, whether highways, public transit, or port upgrades, are neither developed nor operated with any consideration for energy use. These are just a few thought-provoking points argued in Transportation Policies For [...]
