Browsing by Subject "Nonmotorized transportation"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection Manual
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2017-01) Minge, Erik; Falero, Courtney; Lindsey, Greg; Petesch, Michael; Vorvick, Thor
    The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) launched the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative in 2011, a statewide, collaborative effort to encourage and support non-motorized traffic monitoring. One of the objectives of the Initiative was to provide guidance related to monitoring bicycle and pedestrian traffic. This manual is an introductory guide nonmotorized traffic monitoring. The manual describes general traffic monitoring principles; bicycle and pedestrian data collection sensors; how to perform counts; data management and analysis; and the next steps for bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring in Minnesota. The manual also includes several case studies that illustrate how bicycle and pedestrian traffic data can be used to support transportation planning and engineering.
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    Do I walk or ride the rickshaw? Examining the factors affecting first- and last-mile trip options in the historic district of Manila (Philippines)
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Fillone, Alexis M.; Mateo-Babiano, Iderlina
    Historic urban centers (HUCs) such as the Ermita District in Manila display a compact, mixed, and human-scale urban form. Because of these features, people in these areas still depend on either walking or riding a pedicab (also known as cycle rickshaws) to reach their destinations. The latter mode, considered an informal non-motorized transport (NMT), is widely preferred by commuters as their first- and last-mile trip option to navigate the narrow street network of these historic districts. However, it is unclear what factors affect an individual’s first- and last-mile choices. Through a face-to-face intercept survey, respondents were asked about their relative preference between the two mode choices to capture the factors that influenced their decision to walk or to ride the pedicab within Ermita. By utilizing logit choice analysis, the study identified statistically significant mode-specific, as well as qualitative, variables that influenced individual decisions. The probability outcome showed that the most significant factors were access and/or egress time, cost over travel time, safety, and accessibility of the walking environment. It is also important to note that pedicab users had a longer average trip distance (about a kilometer) than walkers, and women, including those who were accompanied by children, preferred to use pedicabs. Results from this study can help district-level planning and policymaking in three ways: (1) by improving the physical environment through encouraging the use of NMT such as walking and pedicab riding as crucial first- and/or last-mile options for individuals in HUCs; (2) by aligning routes and regulations for pedicab services to be part of an overall transport service provision, and (3) by undertaking infrastructure improvements for safer walkway environments for pedestrians, considering the implications of walking and pedicab riding to individual, population-level health outcomes and overall quality of life.
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    The Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative: Implementation Study
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2015-06) Lindsey, Greg; Petesch, Michael; Hankey, Steve
    The Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative: Implementation Study reports results from the second in a series of three MnDOT projects to foster non-motorized traffic monitoring. The objectives were to install and validate permanent automated sensors, use portable sensors for short duration counts, develop models for extrapolating counts, and integrate continuous counts into MnDOT traffic monitoring databases. Commercially available sensors, including inductive loops, integrated inductive loops and passive infrared, pneumatic tubes, and radio beams, were installed both as permanent monitor sites and used for short-duration counts at a variety of locations in cities, suburbs, and small towns across Minnesota. All sensors tested in the study produced reasonably accurate measures of bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Most sensors undercounted because of their inability to distinguish and count bicyclists or pedestrians passing simultaneously. Accuracy varied with technology, care and configuration of deployment, maintenance, and analytic methods. Bicycle and pedestrian traffic volumes varied greatly across locations, with highest volumes being on multiuse trails in urban areas. FHWA protocols were used to estimate annual average daily traffic and miles traveled on an 80-mile multiuse trail network in Minneapolis. Project findings were incorporated in a new MnDOT guidance document, “DRAFT Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection Manual” used in statewide training workshops. A major challenge in implementing bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring is data management. Years will be required to institutionalize bicycle and pedestrian traffic successfully.
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    Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program Community-Wide Evaluation Study (Research Brief)
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2011-10) Center for Transportation Studies
    This two-page document summarizes the findings and lessons learned from the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) Evaluation Study, Phase 1 and Phase 2.
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    Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program Evaluation Study, Phase 1
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2007-06) Krizek, Kevin J.; Barnes, Gary; Wilson, Ryan; Johns, Robert; McGinnis, Laurie
    The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP), which is part of the 2005 federal transportation bill known as SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users), specifically included $100 million for pilot programs in four communities (Columbia, Missouri; Marin County, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin) to increase levels of walking and cycling. The NTPP requires FHWA to evaluate the efficacy of these programs. This report describes the efforts to establish baseline before data on the amount of travel by bicycling and walking in the four pilot communities (and in a control site) that will be used for comparison purposes with after data in 2010. The objective of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) is to demonstrate the extent to which bicycling and walking can carry a significant part of the transportation load and represent a major portion of the transportation solution within selected communities. To this end, the baseline survey centers around two primary goals: 1) To measure changes in motor vehicle, nonmotorized transportation, and public transportation use in communities participating in the program and assess how such changes decrease congestion and energy usage, increase the frequency of bicycling and walking, and promote better health and a cleaner environment. 2) To develop a profile of behavior and attitudes in the individual communities that can aid in planning for various walking and cycling infrastructure. This report describes the key features of walking and bicycling behavior as they relate to the stated program objectives. It also provides additional information on walking and bicycling behavior that can serve as further reference points for future comparison. Finally, it furnishes information about attitudes toward nonmotorized transportation-related issues in the program communities. The research team strategically constructed a survey to glean reliable information on the following attributes of walking and cycling: frequencies, distances, purposes, attitudes, barriers, and other related information.
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    Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program Evaluation Study, Phase 2
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2011-05) Götschi, Thomas; Krizek, Kevin J.; McGinnis, Laurie; Lucke, Jan; Barbeau, Joe
    The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) is a congressionally mandated program (SAFETEA-LU Section 1807) that, since 2006, has provided roughly $25 million each to four communities—Columbia, Missouri; Marin County, California; Minneapolis area, Minnesota; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin—to spur levels of walking and cycling via a variety of planning measures. The University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies is leading the community-wide population surveys for the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP), specifically in phase 2, to measure changes in levels of walking and bicycling as a result of the enhanced conditions for walking and bicycling. To evaluate impacts of the program, two community-wide surveys were conducted before (phase 1: 2006) and after (phase 2: 2010) the pilot program. This report describes the evaluation efforts based on community-wide population surveys. In contrast to project-specific evaluations, community-wide surveys serve the purpose of representatively assessing community-wide levels of nonmotorized travel behavior, which serve as the foundation for subsequent benefit calculations. The survey in phase 1 consisted of a short mail-out questionnaire and a computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) among respondents to the short questionnaire. In phase 2 the short questionnaire was integrated in the CATI. The final sample in phase 1 consisted of 1279 complete records and in phase 2 of 1807 complete records. Statistical analysis focused on evaluating differences between phase 1 and phase 2 in the core variables on nonmotorized travel behavior. The detailed analysis did not reveal any consistent or statistically significant differences between phases 1 and 2. It is important to point out that the inability to detect significant patterns of change is not synonymous to no change occurring. The report discusses some of the factors that make this type of research challenging.
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    Safety in Numbers: Pedestrian and Bicyclist Activity and Safety in Minneapolis
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2018-03) Carlson, Kristin; Murphy, Brendan; Ermagun, Alireza; Levinson, David; Owen, Andrew
    This investigation aims to evaluate whether the Safety in Numbers phenomenon is observable in the midwestern U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Safety in Numbers (SIN) refers to the phenomenon that pedestrian safety is positively correlated with increased pedestrian traffic in a given area. Walking and bicycling are increasingly becoming important transportation modes in modern cities. Proper placement of non-motorized facilities and improvements has implications for safety, accessibility, and mode choice, but proper information regarding estimated non-motorized traffic levels is needed to locate areas where investments can have the greatest impact. Assessment of collision risk between automobiles and non-motorized travelers offers a tool that can help inform investments to improve non-motorized traveler safety. Models of non-motorized crash risk typically require detailed historical multimodal crash and traffic volume data, but many cities do not have dense datasets of non-motorized transport flow levels. Methods of estimating pedestrian and bicycle behavior that do not rely heavily on high-resolution count data are applied in this study. Pedestrian and cyclist traffic counts, average automobile traffic, and crash data from the city of Minneapolis are used to build models of crash frequencies at the intersection level as a function of modal traffic inputs. These models determine whether the SIN effect is observable within the available datasets for pedestrians, cyclists, and cars, as well as determine specific locations within Minneapolis where non-motorized travelers experience elevated levels of risk of crashes with automobiles.
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    Transportation Impact of Transitways: A Case Study of Hiawatha Light Rail Transit in Minneapolis
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2013-03) Cao, Jason; Schoner, Jessica
    The Metropolitan Council in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area (Twin Cities) aims to greatly increase transit ridership in the next two decades. A network of transitways is an essential component to achieve the ridership goal. Since transitways represent significant infrastructure investments from federal, state, and local governments, the public and planners are interested in their ridership bonus. This study investigated transportation impact of the Hiawatha light rail transit (LRT) using a 2011 dataset collected in the Twin Cities. By employing a match-pair cross-sectional design, we surveyed residents living in the middle section of the Hiawatha LRT corridor and those in two urban control corridors and two suburban control corridors in the region. We first explored the reasons that motivated residents moving into the LRT corridor (or residential preferences) and their connections with transit use. Then we employed a propensity score matching approach to study the impact of Hiawatha LRT on transit use for residents who moved to the corridor before its opening and for those who moved after its opening. Finally, we tested the carryover effect of the LRT and built environment effect on active travel: walking to stores and strolling. The study produced interesting results and offered important implications for land use and transportation policies associated with light rail transit.