Browsing by Subject "California"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Assessing the Effectiveness of Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Influencing Boater Behavior in Five States
    (2010) Jensen, Douglas A; Damme, Susan; Gunderson, Jeff
    This study was the first to comprehensively assess and compare the efficacy of boater outreach aimed at preventing the introduction and spread of (AIS) in five states. Boaters in California, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, and Vermont were surveyed by mail (53% of 1,952 boaters responded) to determine their awareness of AIS and the actions they took or would be willing to take to prevent the spread of AIS. Boaters were especially knowledgeable and took greater levels of action at water accesses in Minnesota (90%) and Vermont (82%) than in Ohio (45%), California (40%), and Kansas (30%). An indication that AIS outreach can sustain behavior is the 20% increase in taking desired actions by Minnesota boaters; 70% reported taking action in 1994. Importantly, when asked about the likelihood of taking actions in the future, intent for action rose to over 94% in each state. Boaters reported taking action based on such attitudes as "a sense of personal responsibility", “a desire to keep AIS out of our lakes”, and "prevent damage to my boat and equipment". Comparing these survey results to those previously reported by boaters in each state, the frequency of potential introduction of AIS (a.k.a., propagule pressure) decreased between 57-93%. This study demonstrates that effective AIS outreach can motivate boaters to act regardless of region. It also reveals that boaters will most likely take action if outreach is made a priority, targets the most important means for outreach, frames value on personal actions that are effective in preventing spread (self-efficacy), and conveys consistent messages. Human dimensions research offers an opportunity to improve AIS outreach, and help sustain and influence behaviors among boaters. More effective outreach offers an opportunity improve AIS management and policy.
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    Differences in ride-hailing adoption by older Californians among types of locations
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Shirgaokar, Manish; Misra, Aditi; Agrawal, Asha Weinstein; Wachs, Martin; Dobbs, Bonnie
    Ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber can complement rides offered by family, friends, paid providers, and public transit. To learn why older adults might wish to use ride-hail, we conducted an online survey of 2,917 California respondents age 55 and older. Participants were asked whether they would value four features hypothesized to be benefits of ride-hailing. We specified binary logit models and used market segmentation to investigate whether there were location-based differences in the use of ride-hailing. Our analysis showed that women, city dwellers, persons with disabilities, and those who rely on others for rides were more open to ride-hailing. Women in suburbs or small town/rural settings were more likely to ride-hail than their male counterparts for reasons of independence, fear of being lost while driving, or getting help with carrying bags. Urban women, in contrast, were less likely than their male counterparts to ride-hail for these reasons. High-income individuals in suburbs or small town/rural locations were more likely to ride-hail than low-income respondents, while high-income urban residents were less likely to ride-hail. Adoption of ride-hailing services and the reasons for doing so showed strong variability by location even among respondents with similar socio-demographic attributes.
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    Infection of gramineous species by Barley Yellow Dwarf Viruses in California
    (Crop Science, 1990) Steffenson, Brian; Griesbach, J.A.; Brown, M.P.; Falk, B.W.; Webster, R.K.
    Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDVs) continue to cause losses California cereal production. In some parts of the USA, native grasses have been implicated as reservoirs of BYDVs. This study examines the potential of native and irrigated pasture grasses as sources of BYDV inoculum in California. Theffects of both natural and natural plus supplemental inoculum were examined in field trials over two growing seasons using a completely randomized design. Results were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and verified with controlled greenhouse vector transmission trials. Thirty-seven of 56 species of cool-season grasses were infected by either PAV, MAV, or RPV isolates of the BYDVs. Of the BYDV-infected grasses, only 38% displayed symptoms typically seen in infected oat (Avena sativa L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), while the others were asymptomatic. None of the plants from seven species of Leymus, nor plants from the majority of Elymus and Elytrigia species, had detectable BYDV infections, even though they supported aphid vector populations. A survey of common grasses from irrigated pastures showed that plants from 6 of 10 species were infected by either the PAV, MAV, or RPV isolates of BYDVs. The incidence of MAV, PAV, and RPV BYDVs were roughly equivalent for the cool-season grasses, but were highly skewed toward PAV in the irrigated pasture survey. Both cool-season and irrigated warm-season pasture grasses have the potential to serve as BYDV reservoirs in California.
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    Measuring Return on Investment of Tourism Marketing: A Review of Sixteen State Tourism Offices
    (University of Minnesota Extension, 2010) Ahmed, Adeel
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    Review of California’s Rural Intersection Crashes: Application of Methodology for Identifying Intersections for Intersection Decision Support (IDS)
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008) Preston, Howard; Storm, Richard; Donath, Max; Shankwitz, Craig
    The Intersection Decision Support (IDS) research project is sponsored by a consortium of states (Minnesota, California, and Virginia) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), whose objective is to improve intersection safety. The Minnesota team’s focus is to develop a better understanding of the causes of crashes at rural unsignalized intersections and then develop a technology solution to address the cause(s). In the original study, a review of Minnesota’s rural crash records and of past research identified poor driver gap selection as a major contributing cause of rural intersection crashes. Consequently, the design of the rural IDS technology has focused on enhancing the driver's ability to successfully negotiate rural intersections by communicating information about the available gaps in the traffic stream to the driver. In order to develop an IDS technology that has the potential to be nationally deployed, the regional differences at rural intersections must first be understood. Only then can a universal solution be designed and evaluated. To achieve this goal of national consensus and deployment, the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Transportation initiated a State Pooled Fund study, in which nine states are cooperating in intersection-crash research. This report documents the crash analysis phase of the pooled fund study for the State of California.
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    Who owns the weather? The politics of cloud seeding in northern California.
    (2010-10) Whittlesey, Elicia
    Abstract summary not available