Surface Transportation Environmental Research A Long-Term Strategy -- Special Report 268 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 13-31
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From page 13... ...
In this context, the Surface Transportation Environmental Cooperative Research Program 1Currently, no policy has been established to quantify the full environmental costs of trans portation; that is, there has not been a national decision to impose user fees or gas taxes to cover environmental costs. If such a policy were to be established, the current priorities of Americans might be altered.
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From page 14... ...
was formed to recommend a national agenda of environmental research related to surface transportation.4 STUDY CHARGE The Advisory Board was formally charged with recommending a national agenda of energy and environment research for the surface transportation community.5 During the board's first meeting, however, it became apparent 4The term "environmental" as used in this report encompasses energy conservation. 5For purposes of this report, surface transportation encompasses only the land based modes of travel, thereby excluding water-related travel and all associated environmental impacts.
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From page 15... ...
First, the board determined that a viable agenda for environmental research related to surface transportation would have to include a focus on planning processes and methods. Unless environmental concerns are factored into the transportation planning process, the sec ondary and cumulative effects of system-level transportation decisions on larger-scale environmental systems will remain insufficiently addressed in the early stages of the process.
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From page 16... ...
At the first national conference on city planning held in Washington, D.C., in 1909, urban planners were implored to develop subways and public transit routes to the outer edges of city boundaries. Transportation was seen as the key to improving living conditions, lower ing density, and generally enhancing the state of the human environment (Wachs 1999)
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From page 17... ...
States led the way with turnpikes and toll roads built in the late 1940s and early 1950s.9 Interstate highways, funded with a 90 percent federal share after passage of the Interstate Highway Act of 1956, became the centerpiece of American sur face transportation, and land development patterns quickly reflected the greatly increased accessibility provided by the highways. The Interstate program both 6In 1900 there were 8,000 automobiles in the United States.
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From page 18... ...
often took the lead in develop ing SIPs, state highway agencies themselves were given an environmental man date in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1972. That act, which required the detailed evaluation and consideration of social, economic, and environmental effects and increased public involvement in highway decision making, along with NEPA, led many state highway agencies to increase research and devel opment on environmentally sound transportation planning and design practices (FHWA 1976)
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From page 19... ...
Transit advocates argued for a federal role in funding transit, both to help rejuvenate the systems and to provide a mobility option that many deemed bet ter suited to dense urban areas. In 1964, Congress responded with the Urban Mass Transportation Act, providing funding for capital grants to upgrade and expand transit services.
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From page 20... ...
Progress has also been made in energy efficiency, with the average fuel economy of automobiles and light trucks having increased by 54 per cent and 63 percent, respectively, between 1975 and 1998. Less well known, per haps, are the gains in water quality achieved through treatment of highway runoff; the reductions in roadkill due to new animal bypasses and tunnels under highways and railroads; and the decrease in highway noise attributable to the advent of noise barriers, vehicle controls (including quieter engines and improved mufflers)
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From page 21... ...
Given the uncertainties associated with foreign supplies, growth in demand in other countries, and the finite world supply of oil, the development of methods to reduce petroleum dependence and/or increase energy efficiency may be a necessity. Motor vehicles are estimated to be responsible for approximately 20 per cent of all U.S.
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From page 22... ...
These issues point to the need for research in a variety of fields, including basic scientific processes, man agement approaches, planning and forecasting methods, and institutional arrangements. Traffic congestion is a stressful experience for many Americans, causing elevated blood pressure and other stress-related health impacts, con tributing to absence from work, and lowering tolerance for frustration (Burchell et.
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From page 23... ...
Public concerns regarding interactions between land use and transporta tion, as well as a broad range of community and environmental impacts, suggest the need to search for better methods of planning and achieving public involvement, new organizational approaches and assignments of responsibility, and new ways of managing the transportation system. New technologies -- ranging from fuels and vehicles to methods for han dling and displaying environmental data and forecasting transportation demand -- offer possibilities for greatly improving transportation planning and transportation projects.
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From page 24... ...
as lead agency for defining national research goals and for serving as the coordinating body for transportation research for all modes. DOT was also charged with conducting an inventory of its own research activities and with developing a strategic framework for transportation research.
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From page 25... ...
Unless the focus of DOT's transportation research program were shifted, GAO cautioned, the transportation com munity would remain unprepared to fully address the goals espoused in ISTEA. A targeted, long-term research strategy was clearly needed.
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From page 26... ...
It should be noted that the Advisory Board did not attempt to provide a comprehensive list of topics for research, but rather aimed to identify research areas in which troublesome gaps in knowl edge exist and further investment in research would pay off, significantly advancing the ability of transportation professionals to provide transportation systems that are socially and environmentally sound, as well as efficient and economical. It should also be noted that the six research areas identified by the Advisory Board are necessarily interconnected; this report is therefore intended to be read in its entirety, and individual chapters are not meant to stand alone.
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From page 27... ...
Research should address modal emissions and their implications for vehicle control strategies and transporta tion system designs, as well as transportation emissions of air toxics, their health impacts, and their policy implications. Research also should examine the potential health impacts from transportation runoff and deposition; the health effects of transportation noise exposure; and strategies for avoidance, minimization, and reduction of these impacts.
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From page 28... ...
Chapter 4 examines issues of equity in transportation, including the distribution of social, economic, and environmental impacts and related issues of environmental justice. Research is needed to understand differences in mobility, access, travel behavior, and travel preferences across socioeconomic groups; to develop improved planning approaches that bet ter reflect and respond to community needs; to improve evaluation methods for examining the incidence of benefits and costs; to examine the differen tial impacts of current methods of finance and explore alternatives; and to understand the socioeconomic implications of emerging land development patterns and new transportation technologies.
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From page 29... ...
Focused, coordinated, and expanded research is needed on these topics, including the impacts of transportation investments on location decisions and land use; the costs and benefits of current development patterns and their transportation implications; the effects of the built environ ment on people's willingness to walk, drive, or take public transportation; and the roles of public policy and institutional arrangements in current and prospective land use and transportation choices. Research is also needed to develop improved data, methods, and processes for considering land use, transportation, and the environment in an integrated, systematic fashion.
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From page 30... ...
Environmental Protection Agency EIA Energy Information Administration FHWA Federal Highway Administration GAO General Accounting Office TRB Transportation Research Board Anderson, G., and H Tregoning.
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From page 31... ...
In Conference Proceedings 20: Refocusing Transportation Planning for the 21st Cen tury, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., pp.
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