Browsing by Author "Iacono, Michael"

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Access to Destinations: Application of Accessibility Measures for Non-Auto Travel Modes
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, Research Services Section, 2009-07) Krizek, Kevin J.; Iacono, Michael; El-Geneidy, Ahmed; Liao, Chen Fu; Johns, Robert
Conventional transportation planning is often focused on improving movement (or mobility)—most often by the automobile. To the extent that accessibility, a well-known concept in the transportation planning field since the 1950s, has been measured or used in transportation planning, such measures have also been auto-based. Broadening the scope of accessibility to include a wide array of destinations and non-auto modes such as walking, cycling, and transit has been previously proposed as a much needed aim among planning initiatives. A central issue is that to date, however, there have been few examples of measures draw from. When it comes to bicycling, walking, and transit measures of accessibility are an endeavor long on rhetoric but short on execution. This report discusses such hurdles, presents alternatives for overcoming them, and demonstrates how accessibility for walking, cycling, and transit—and for different types of destinations—can be reliably measured. We focus on explaining specific features of non-motorized transportation that complicate the development of accessibility measures, and offer solutions that conform to conventional transportation planning practice. In this research project, non-motorized measures of accessibility were developed for the entire seven counties of the Twin Cities (Minnesota, USA) metropolitan area. For purposes of this exposition in this report, we discuss the details of creating such measures using a sample application from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA to demonstrate proof of concept for the endeavor.
Access to Destinations: How Close is Close Enough? Estimating Accurate Distance Decay Functions for Multiple Modes and Different Purposes
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008-05) Iacono, Michael; Krizek, Kevin; El-Geneidy, Ahmed M.
Existing urban and suburban development patterns and the subsequent automobile dependence are leading to increased traffic congestion and air pollution. In response to the growing ills caused by urban sprawl, there has been an increased interest in creating more “livable” communities in which destinations are brought closer to ones home or workplace (that is, achieving travel needs through land use planning). While several reports suggest best practices for integrated land use-planning, little research has focused on examining detailed relationships between actual travel behavior and mean distance to various services. For example, how far will pedestrians travel to access different types of destinations? How to know if the “one quarter mile assumption” that is often bantered about is reliable? How far will bicyclists travel to cycle on a bicycle only facility? How far do people drive for their common retail needs? To examine these questions, this research makes use of available travel survey data for the Twin Cities region. A primary outcome of this research is to examine different types of destinations and accurately and robustly estimate distance decay models for auto and non-auto travel modes, and also to comment on its applicability for: (a) different types of travel, and (b) development of accessibility measures that incorporate this information.
Access to Destinations: Measuring Accessibility by Automobile
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2010-03) Levinson, David; Marion, Bernadette; Iacono, Michael
This study describes the development and application of a set of accessibility measures for the Twin Cities region that measure accessibility by the automobile mode over the period from 1995 to 2005. In contrast to previous attempts to measure accessibility this study uses travel time estimates derived, to the extent possible, from actual observations of network performance by time of day. A set of cumulative opportunity measures are computed with transportation analysis zones (TAZs) as the unit of analysis for the years 1995, 2000 and 2005. Analysis of the changes in accessibility by location over the period of study reveals that, for the majority of locations in the region, accessibility increased between 1995 and 2005, though the increases were not uniform. A “flattening” or convergence of levels of accessibility across locations was observed over time, with faster-growing suburban locations gaining the most in terms of employment accessibility. An effort to decompose the causes of changes in accessibility into components related to transportation network structure and land use (opportunity location) reveal that both causes make a contribution to increasing accessibility, though the effects of changes to the transportation network tend to be more location-specific. Overall, the results of the study demonstrate the feasibility and relevance of using accessibility as a key performance measure to describe the regional transportation system.
Access to Destinations: Monitoring Land Use Activity Changes in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008-07) Iacono, Michael; Levinson, David; El-Geneidy, Ahmed; Wasfi, Rania; Zhu, Shanjiang
This study presents an effort to track and model land use change in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region. To that end, we make use of a unique, high-resolution, cell-level set of land use data for the Twin Cities. The data represent 75 meter by 75 meter land use cells, observed at several points in time during the period from 1958 to 2005. These data are used to validate three different types of land use models, which then are used to forecast land use several decades into the future. The models applied in this study include Markov Chain models, Markov Chain-Cellular Automata (MC-CA) models, and an empirical model based on a logistic regression specification. The models are intended to have a simple, transparent structure that allows the user to identify sources of forecast error. Forecasts of land use are made both for the entire study area and also for a specific corridor along State Highway 610 in the northwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities. The study concludes with a brief discussion of the limitations of the models, and how they might meaningfully be expanded and applied.
Access to Destinations: Refining Methods for Calculating Non-Auto Travel Times
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2007-06) Krizek, Kevin; El-Geneidy, Ahmed; Iacono, Michael; Horning, Jessica
The functioning of the system of land use and travel networks in a region can be encapsulated into measures of the ease of reaching destinations from various locations, often referred to as accessibility measures. Regardless of the form used to specify accessibility, all measures require as inputs travel times between the zones of a region. For most transportation planning purposes, these travel time calculations are limited to motorized modes (auto and public transit), since these modes carry the bulk of all urban travel. In this research study, attention is focused on developing methods for calculating travel times by non-auto modes, including walking, bicycling and public transit. Unique networks for each mode are developed, accounting for the presence of special facilities such as pedestrian or bicycle trails and on-street bike lanes. A statistical model is estimated to identify the influence of special bicycle facilities on travel speeds, using GPS data collected from bicyclists in a real-world setting. These methods are demonstrated with an application to a section of the Twin Cities metropolitan region encompassing parts of the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington. The output of the application of these methods are a set of maps depicting travel sheds from various locations within the study area. The data are displayed for three points in time: 1995, 2000 and 2005. Changes to these travel sheds over time are demonstrated with maps that show the difference in travel time between each set of origins and destinations for each pair of years. The research concludes with some suggestions about the uses of the travel time data, such as the calculation of multimodal, multipurpose measures of accessibility.
Agglomeration Economies
(Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota, 2010-01) Cao, Jason; Iacono, Michael; Levinson, David; Cui, Mengying
Economists have long recognized the importance of urban areas as focal points of economic production and exchange. In recent decades, they have also come to better understand the productivity benefits of firms being located in large urban areas. A variety of advantages may accrue to firms that cluster together in large cities relating, for example, to access to specialized labor, information spillovers, and interactions with customers or suppliers. These types of advantages are often referred to as examples of agglomeration economies in urban areas. Empirically, these gains have been shown to be potentially quite large, with reviews of the literature suggesting that doubling the size of an urban area’s population may be associated with productivity gains on the order of several percentage points. While economic research on this topic has greatly advanced our understanding of the concepts, theory, and likely quantitative implications for urban economies, there has been comparatively little emphasis on the spatial nature of agglomeration economies within urban areas. This is an important distinction, as different sources of agglomeration economies may have different spatial characteristics, and some may be sensitive to transport costs in ways that can be affected by the performance of urban transportation networks. Our research was an effort to link these concepts by operationalizing two specific types of agglomeration economies, localization and urbanization economies, and to investigate their relationship to employment density across several economic sectors within the Twin Cities.
Case Studies of Transportation Investment to Identify the Impacts on the Local and State Economy
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2013-01) Iacono, Michael; Levinson, David
This project provides case studies of the impact of transportation investments on local economies. We use multiple approaches to measure impacts since the effects of transportation projects can vary according to the size of a project and the size of the area under study, as well as other exogenous factors such as existing economic and demographic conditions. We measure effects on economic output and employment to estimate impacts of specific investments, and address issues of generative versus redistributive effects of investments, as well as identify specific economic sectors that might be disproportionately affected by such investments.
The Economic Impact of Upgrading Roads
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2009-06) Iacono, Michael; Levinson, David
Improvements to transportation networks, especially those in growing areas, tend to have impacts on local land markets. In principle, an improvement to a link in the network will confer economic benefits to adjacent and nearby properties by increasing the utility that the network provides. Traditional methods of economic analysis for highway improvement projects have focused primarily on user benefits and sought to quantify them through the estimation of reductions in travel delay or user cost. However, urban economic theory suggests that many of these benefits are capitalized into local property values, yielding a localized spillover effect. Accordingly, it should be possible to develop rough estimates of the value of the benefits from a highway project by estimating the response of local land markets to the improvement. This report explores the nature and magnitude of benefits accruing to nearby properties that arise from major highway construction or reconstruction projects, more precisely those that add capacity to an existing highway. Highway projects in three Minnesota counties (Hennepin, Jackson, and Olmsted) form the basis for our analysis.
The Impacts of Transportation Investment on Economic Growth in the Twin Cities
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2016-06) Cao, Jason; Iacono, Michael; Levinson, David; Cui, Mengying
The transportation system plays a critical role in fostering economic growth. Although previous studies have shed light on the impacts of transportation investments, their results are not readily adapted to predicting economic impacts of individual transportation projects. This study aimed to (1) investigate the impacts of transportation investments on economic growth (wages and employment) in the Twin Cities and (2) develop a method that practitioners can apply to predict economic growth resulting from investments in individual projects (as well as disinvestments). The capacity of such predictions is critical for the economy of the Twin Cities because transportation infrastructure lasts for decades once built. The method is expected to be used by practitioners of planning, programming, and finance at MnDOT and DEED, as well as at the Metropolitan Council. This study contributes to the base of knowledge by offering new empirical evidence on intra-urban patterns of agglomeration based on small-scale geographic data on job density from the Twin Cities. Our findings indicate that in general urbanization effects tend to dominate localization effects across a range of industries.
Review of Urban Road Pricing: Public and Political Acceptability by Martin Whittles and Acceptability of Transport Pricing Strategies edited by Jens Schade and Bernhard Schlag.
(2005) Iacono, Michael
Review of Urban Road Pricing: Public and Political Acceptability by Martin Whittles and Acceptability of Transport Pricing Strategies edited by Jens Schade and Bernhard Schlag As cities in industrialized economies continue to grow and prosper, they are inclined to encounter unpleasant side effects, such as increasing traffic congestion and declining environmental quality. European cities in particular, with their historically strong central districts, have encountered rather severe effects. Urban road pricing, long discussed in academic circles, has emerged as a real strategy for European cities, thanks in part to the support of research projects initiated by the European Union (EU). Despite these efforts, the aspect of public and political acceptability of road pricing policies has proven elusive and remains the single greatest barrier to implementation of pricing schemes. In two recent books, Urban Road Pricing: Public and Political Acceptability by Martin Whittles and Acceptability of Transport Pricing Strategies, edited by Jens Schade and Bernhard Schlag, new light is shed on this subject and the reasons behind rejection of pricing schemes by political leaders and the general public are examined in greater detail.
Travel Behavior Over Time
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2015-06) Levinson, David; Lindsey, Greg; Fan, Yingling; Cao, Jason; Iacono, Michael; Brosnan, Martin; Guthrie, Andrew; Schoner, Jessica
Using detailed travel surveys (the Travel Behavior Inventory) conducted by the Metropolitan Council of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul (Twin Cities) Region in Minnesota for 1990, 2000-2001, and 2010-2011, this report conducts an analysis of changes in travel behavior over time. Specifically looking at changes in travel duration, time, use, and accessibility; telecommuting and its relationship with travel and residential choices; transit service quality and transit use; effects of age and cohort; and changes in walking and bicycling. Much has changed in this period, including the size of the region, demographics, economics, technology, driver licensing, and preferences, examining in turn the effects of investment, development, and population change on behaviors for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region as a whole and for areas within the region. While this research cannot hope to untangle all of the contributing factors, it aims to increase understanding of what did happen, with some explanation of why. This will inform transportation engineers, planners, economists, analysts, and decision makers about the prospective effects of future changes to networks, land use, and demographics while also evaluating the effects of previous network investments.
Value Capture for Transportation Finance: Report to the Minnesota Legislature
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2009-06) Iacono, Michael; Levinson, David; Zhao, Zhirong (Jerry); Lari, Adeel
As vehicles become more fuel-efficient and overall levels of travel stagnate in response to increases in fuel prices, conventional sources of revenue for transportation finance such as taxes on motor fuels have been put under increasing pressure. One potential alternative as a source of revenue is a set of policies collectively referred to as value capture policies. In contrast to fuel taxes and other instruments that impose charges on users of transportation networks, value capture policies seek to generate revenue by extracting a portion of the gains in the value of land that result from improvements to transportation networks. In this report we identify a set of eight policies that contain elements of the value capture approach. These policies include land value taxes, tax increment financing, special assessments, transportation utility fees, development impact fees, negotiated exactions, joint development, and air rights. We evaluate each of the policies according to four criteria: 1) efficiency, which relates to how well the policies allocate scarce resources, 2) equity, which describes the fairness of resource allocation among different strata of society, 3) sustainability, which refers to the ability of the policy to serve as an adequate, reliable source of transportation revenue, and 4) feasibility, which refers to the degree of political and administrative difficulty associated with each policy. Since these policies are targeted toward use at the state and local level in Minnesota, we conclude by examining some legal and administrative issues related to the implementation of each policy with special reference to Minnesota.
Value Capture for Transportation Finance: Technical Research Report
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2009-06) Lari, Adeel; Levinson, David; Zhao, Zhirong (Jerry); Iacono, Michael; Aultman, Sara; Vardhan, Das; Junge, Jason; Larson, Kerstin; Scharenbroich, Michael
As vehicles become more fuel-efficient and overall levels of travel stagnate in response to increases in fuel prices, conventional sources of revenue for transportation finance such as taxes on motor fuels have been put under increasing pressure. One potential alternative as a source of revenue is a set of policies collectively referred to as value capture policies. In contrast to fuel taxes and other instruments that impose charges on users of transportation networks, value capture policies seek to generate revenue by extracting a portion of the gains in the value of land that result from improvements to transportation networks. In this report we identify a set of eight policies that contain elements of the value capture approach. These policies include land value taxes, tax increment financing, special assessments, transportation utility fees, development impact fees, negotiated exactions, joint development, and air rights. We evaluate each of the policies according to four criteria: 1) efficiency, which relates to how well the policies allocate scarce resources, 2) equity, which describes the fairness of resource allocation among different strata of society, 3) sustainability, which refers to the ability of the policy to serve as an adequate, reliable source of transportation revenue, and 4) feasibility, which refers to the degree of political and administrative difficulty associated with each policy. Since these policies are targeted toward use at the state and local level in Minnesota, we conclude by examining some legal and administrative issues related to the implementation of each policy with special reference to Minnesota.

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