This course describes the evolution and role of urban public transportation modes, systems, and services, focusing on bus and rail. Technological characteristics and their impacts on capacity, service quality, and cost are described. Current practice and new methods for data collection and analysis, performance monitoring, route design, frequency determination, and vehicle and crew scheduling are also discussed. In addition, the effect of pricing policy and service quality on ridership and methods for estimating costs associated with proposed service changes are presented, together with means to improve operations through real time intervention.
This course is aimed at the aspiring planning practitioner, policy-maker, or industry decision-maker with an interest in urban transportation and environmental issues in Latin America. The course will focus on current transport-related themes confronting many cities in the region, including: rapid motorization and suburbanization and subsequent impacts on transportation infrastructure and quality of life; public sector management and improvement of privately-owned and operated transit systems; and, transportation air pollution problems and potential solutions.
The course will be geared towards interactive problem-solving, taking advantage of students' skills and experiences in: institutional analysis, policy analysis, and project and program evaluation and implementation. Detailed knowledge of transportation planning is not required; instead, the course will attempt to place the general practitioner into a specific transportation public policy situation and draw from her skills to devise real solutions. To fulfill this problem-solving orientation, the course will be divided into two parts. Part I of the course will consist of a series of lectures on the principal issues surrounding transportation in the developing world (including motorization, fiscal pressures, urban sprawl), concepts of sustainability as they relate to urban transportation, regional strategic planning approaches, and transportation policy and technology options and examples of successful implementation. After these lectures, Part II of the course will be dedicated to the two case studies, where students will apply the knowledge gained in Part I to develop strategic solutions to the transport-land use-environment challenges in two different cities.
History, policy, and politics of urban transportation. The role of the federal government and the "highway revolt." Public transit in the auto era. Analytic tools for transportation planning and policy analysis. The contribution of transportation to air pollution and climate change. Land use and transportation interactions. Bicycles, pedestrians, and traffic calming. Examples from the Boston area.
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