DRAFT

Recommendations

Info

Washington State Public Transportation Plan Chapter Three: Goals and Action Strategies HOW ADAPTIVE CAPACITY : SOME EXAMPLES FOR THE INDIVIDUAL Rapidly-improving traveler information systems that support better real-time travel decisions Technology-driven car sharing, ride-hailing, vanpool, taxi and bike sharing networks that are expanding options FOR ORGANIZATIONS Added transit and vanpools keep people moving during major construction Providing transit passes, bicycle facilities and carpool priority parking helps employers attract and retain skilled employees FOR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS Signal coordination and transit signal prioritization improves traffic flow, enhances safety and moves more people Big data and mobile technology empower transportation innovation Increased use of electronic fare cards reduces boarding delay 72 WSDOT | <strong>DRAFT</strong> October 2015 | WaTransPlan.com
Washington State Public Transportation Plan Chapter Three: Goals and Action Strategies Demographic, cultural, technological and economic changes are happening faster in Washington state than can be accommodated by most public agencies, largely because decision-making in public agencies requires more open, deliberative, and democratic processes than private businesses. Public agencies and their partners speak to the need for greater nimbleness in adapting to market shifts and emerging opportunities to improve the transportation system. There is also a need to consider policy issues such as privacy and public-private partnerships. So, they must balance the need for nimbleness with careful consideration of how to meet the public’s best interest. For transportation service providers, adaptive capacity offers ways to make the most of limited resources and enhance the customer experience. For example, collaboration among social service agencies and service providers helps create more cost-effective transportation for elderly and disabled clients. Transportation network companies like Lyft and Uber are exploring partnerships with transportation and social service agencies to provide subsidized, on-demand rides to qualified elderly and disabled travelers. Another example is provided by Roaring Fork Transportation Authority in Colorado, which created highway flyer-stops linked to bicycle/pedestrian feeder trails. The evolution of park and rides offers another example of adaptive capacity. In the Puget Sound Region, park and ride lots are a key element of our transportation infrastructure, providing about 40,000 parking spaces that help travelers ride the bus or train, carpool and vanpool. As the region has grown, the largest park and ride lots with the most frequent transit service are routinely above capacity. In many locations this leads to overcrowding on early morning buses and trains, encourages hide-and-ride parking in neighborhoods and limits transit ridership growth. Local communities and agencies are working together to solve this problem. Some are improving bicycle, pedestrian and transit access to park and rides. Others, like Northgate, add high density development and maintain work day parking for commuters that gets reused as parking for residents and shoppers on nights and weekends. Others are exploring the use of technology to encourage carpooling and vanpooling to park and rides. In some cases, surface lots are replaced by parking structures. But this is a costly solution that isn’t always welcome in neighborhoods where commerce, activity and density are desired. For the system as a whole, adaptive capacity strategies can help tap into emerging technologies and business models to more effectively manage system assets. Technology and innovation often reach the public sector much later than consumer or business markets. Decision makers can be understandably hesitant to adopt innovations without proof of performance. But the opportunity costs of failing to adapt quickly (or at all) can have a direct impact on the efficiency and quality of the transportation customer experience. A Capacity Project Brief of the Strategic High Research Program (SHRP2) studies ways that the “capacity effect of traffic operation improvements” is related to overall network performance. It concludes that, “capacity in both freeway and arterial situations…should be treated as a variable related to other factors, not as a constant.” Tests conducted for this WSDOT | <strong>DRAFT</strong> October 2015 | WaTransPlan.com 73
Page 1 and 2:
DRAFT
Page 3 and 4:
Washington State Public Transportat
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20: Washington State Public Transportat
Page 51 and 52: These goals, strategies and early a
Page 53 and 54: GOAL Washington State Public Transp
Page 69: Washington State Public Transportat
Page 103: Washington State Public Transportat
show all

DRAFT

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?