Transcript Transportation Sustainability Module.ppt

Is Transportation
Sustainable?
Objectives
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Examine and prioritize transportation project
impacts on sustainability
2. Recognize transportation project solutions’
impacts on sustainability
3. Identify mitigation strategies for transportation
solutions to reduce negative impacts on
sustainability
4. Identify transportation sustainability metrics
5. Explain the aspects of transportation projects
that may affect sustainability
Sustainability in
Transportation
 Air Quality
 Alternative Modes
 Congestion
 Construction Materials
Transportation Sustainability
Measures
 Vary from project to project
 How to measure congestion?
 What about air quality related to transportation?
 Can alternative travel modes be measured?
 Other considerations:
 Safety
 Fuel consumption
 O&M or life cycle sustainability
 Land Use
 Water Quality and Volume
Actual Cost of
Transportation
 Fuel and vehicle
 Delay/congestion
Traffic Signal Retiming
 What are goals?
 Can we measure the goals?
 Air quality
 Safety
 Social
 Infrastructure maintenance
Case Study: What to do at
an intersection?
 Traffic Signal
 Two-way Stop
 Four-way Stop
 Traffic Circle
 Roundabout
What Metrics to Consider?
 Technical
 Sustainability
 Economic
 Environmental
 Social
 Constructability
 Political Will
 Others?
Traffic Signal Characteristics
 Operating and Maintenance cost
 Controller
 Communications
 Signals
 Retiming
 High speed crashes may occur
 Can handle large volumes
 Other information needed?
Stops
 Low O&M costs, but signs must be periodically
replaced
 What are the functional classifications of the
intersecting roadways?
 May dictate, 2 vs. 4 – way stop
 Speed of crashes varies based on the functional
classifications; however, 4-way stop crashes are
typically low speed
 Other information to collect?
Traffic Circle
Characteristics
 Low capacity
 Minimal, if any O&M
 May accent neighborhood
 Low speed, often local facilities
 Other information?
 Reference: http://www.ite.org/traffic/circle.asp
Roundabout
Characteristics
 Minimal O&M cost
 Relatively high capacity
 Bike/Ped. safety
 Lower speed crashes than signalized intersections
 Other necessary information?
 Reference:
http://www.kittelson.com/kai_toolbox/roundabouts/index.htm
Put it All Together
 Choose an alternative analysis methodology
 Combine metrics
 Evaluate alternatives
 Recommend alternative
Class Activity
 What are the proposed project’s impacts on
sustainability?
 Rank order these in terms of importance and
magnitude
 What are the appropriate metrics for assessing
the project’s impact on sustainability?
 Identify possible strategies for reducing the
project’s negative impact on sustainability
Group Projects
 INSERT LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
References
 www.ite.org/traffic/circle.asp
 www.kittelson.com/kai_toolbox/roundabouts/index.htm