PennTags /tag/highway+congestion

copy

Reason.tv Host Drew Carey examines the costs and consequences of traffic jams and explores several solutions that can get our roads moving. How does a speedy trip on the "Drew Carey Freeway" sound? Plus, one lucky commuter gets a helicopter ride to work, courtesy of Drew.

tagged Los_Angeles commuting congestion drew_carey highway transportation by jn ...on 03-NOV-07

copy

ITS-Davis: Modeling Individuals' Consideration of Strategies to Cope with Congestion

Raney, Elizabeth A., Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Ilan Salomon (2000) Modeling Individuals' Consideration of Strategies to Cope with Congestion. Transportation Research Part F 3 (3), 141 - 165

Abstract: This study continues the examination of a variety of strategies an individual may consider or adopt in response to congestion. It finds further evidence that individuals tend to progress from lower-cost, short-term strategies to higher-cost, longer-term ones as dissatisfaction persists or recurs. There is also a weaker tendency to cycle back to lower-cost strategies, although generally just one tier lower than a previously adopted strategy. Binary logit models of the consideration of each of 15 congestion-response strategies were estimated, as a function of work-, family-, leisure-, and travel-related attitudes, among other explanatory variables. ρ² goodness-of-fit measures for these models ranged from .16 to .75. Analysis of the contribution of commute-related variables to the consideration of each strategy found that contribution to be significant in fewer than half of the cases (seven out of 15 strategies). With only one exception, the strategies for which commute variables were significant fell into the higher-cost tiers. Commute variables never contributed more than 11% of a model's explanatory power, and generally much less. While other explanatory variables may also be significant for transportation-related reasons, it is clear that individuals adopt and consider the strategies studied here for many reasons other than congestion relief. Further, the transportation-related reasons for considering these strategies may be intertwined in complex ways with non-transportation reasons. One implication of these findings is that policies designed to change transportation behavior may be less powerful than expected, because reactions are filtered through a variety of other motivations and constraints. An improved understanding of the response to these policies must acknowledge and incorporate the complexity of the choice situation facing the typical individual in modern society.

tagged congestion davis highway by jn ...on 18-OCT-07

copy

CONTAINING TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN AMERICA

Title CONTAINING TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN AMERICA

Authors Cervero, R; Hall, P
Journal Title BUILT ENVIRONMENT information Vol. 15 No. 3/4

Description p. 176-184; References(14); Tables(1)

Abstract In the US there is a mismatch between demand for road space and supply. Each alternative solution results in bargaining with gainers and losers, and 'auto equalizers' have to be matched by transit incentives. But gridlock also occurs within institutions and political systems as well as on the road. Some of the ways of overcoming the institutional and political gridlock are: private investing in road building and maintaining; regional, rather than local planning; federal and state subsidies; and voter pressure to provide the political will to act.

tagged cervero congestion hall highway transportation by jn ...on 10-OCT-07

copy

The longest commute

StarTribune.com
The longest commute

A new breed of commuter is rising long before dawn to beat the rush, a lifestyle that can take a toll on family time and on infrastructure.

By David Peterson, Star Tribune
Last update: October 06, 2007 - 5:01 PM
MORA, MINN. - Two alarm clocks jolt Dawn Davis out of slumber in the countryside south of Mora at 4:15 a.m. One she winds by hand, just in case an overnight storm snuffs out her power.
For an hour, padding about in a fraying robe, sipping coffee from a bucket-sized mug, she forces herself awake. Then, in thick country darkness, she climbs into her miniature red Ford and heads south, racing 70 miles to her job in downtown Minneapolis.
By the time she returns home in the evening, she has about an hour of leisure before she hits the sack. An hour?
"That," winces the 58-year-old, "is what my friends say."
Davis is part of a rising tide of Minnesota commuters leaving home long before sunrise -- a group whose ranks are swelling by 10,000 people each year, new census figures show. More than 300,000 are out the door by 6 a.m., nearly twice as many as in 1990. It's a national trend, but one that's hitting Minnesota harder than most.

tagged congestion extreeme_commuters highway transportation by jn ...on 10-OCT-07