970:555
Page 1
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
BLOUSTEIN SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND PUBLIC POLICY
970:555
Urban Transport Policy
Prof. John Pucher
Autumn 2014
Wednesdays, 10:00-12:30
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an overview of travel trends, problems, alternative solutions, and
government policies in urban transport, focusing mainly on the United States. We survey the
characteristics of the present urban transport system and examine historical developments in both
transport and land use. We analyze several specific problems of the present car-dominated
system: energy use, equity, congestion, air pollution, safety, and urban sprawl. We also examine
problems of public transportation, particularly the fiscal crisis of transit and the need to improve
service quality.
We evaluate the relative effectiveness and cost of various proposed solutions: e.g. traffic
management, business regulation, pricing and taxation policies, improved technology, increased
transit service, carpooling and vanpooling, consumer regulation, traffic calming, better facilities
for pedestrians and cyclists, and limited investment in highway infrastructure. The
political/institutional context of urban transportation (legislation, subsidies, regulations, and
planning guidelines) has changed dramatically in recent years. The evolution of that
political/institutional context will be presented, along with discussion of its consequences for the
future of transportation planning.
This course will focus on the United States, but comparisons will be made to Canada, Australia,
and especially Western Europe, which are similar in their standards of living, economic and
political systems.
For the third year in a row, we will be devoting an entire week to freight transport, as I have
invited my colleague from Temple University’s School of Business Prof. Neha Mittal, to give a
guest lecture on freight transport, with a special emphasis on freight transport in cities, an
increasingly important issue in recent years. While freight transport is crucial to the functioning
of any city’s economy, it can also cause congestion, pollution, safety and parking problems. We
are very fortunate indeed to have Prof. Mittal come to Rutgers to lecture on this important topic.
Her lecture will be on Wednesday, Oct. 1. We will also have a special guest lecture by Dr. Deva
Deka of the Voorhees Transportation Center. On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Dr. Deka will give a
guest lecture on the important issue of equity in urban transport, which entails many different
1
970:555
Page 2
aspects. Dr. Deka is one of the leading experts on this topic and wrote the chapter on equity in
the Hanson-Guiliano textbook we will be using. In his lecture, Dr. Deka will be updating the
information from that chapter, since it was written almost ten years ago. He gave this lecture the
past three years, and the students loved it, so I am asking him to return with an encore
performance. Again, the two guest lectures will be on freight transport (Oct. 1) and equity (Oct.
29). Please note that Rutgers University officially changes class day designations the week of
Thanksgiving, so that we do not meet at all on Wednesday, Nov. 27. During Thanksgiving
week, Friday classes meet on Wednesdays, and Wednesday classes do not meet at all. So that
means you can get a head start on your Thanksgiving holiday, since Rutgers University cancels
Wednesday classes that week.
Important: If you have already taken a course similar to this before, you should NOT take this
course. Instead, you can take any of the many other transportation courses offered both by the
Bloustein School and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Please do NOT take
this course if you have already had a similar overview course. This is one of seven courses that
form the core of the transportation concentration at the Bloustein School, and you choose four of
those seven course. No single course is a required course. So you should definitely take another
course if you have already had this sort of overview course in urban transportation.
There are two main assignments for the course:


#1: PPT overview of a particular issue/program/policy/technology topic during the
same week DURING the semester, related to the overall topic for that week’s class
either individually or in teams of 2 students, with the size of the group depending on the
topic
#2: Final PPT presentation on a very specific topic or issue, usually examined in a
specific location (city, state, region), which will be presented at the end of the semester,
either individually or in teams of 2 students.
#1: OVERVIEW PRESENTATION during the semester related to a week: Students will be
asked to make presentations on some specific subtopic within a week’s general topic. These
PPT presentations can be by individuals or by teams of 2 students, depending on the topic.
Students will be asked to turn in the PPT slide printouts (handouts), 2 slides per page. The
instructor will suggest specific topics that might be covered in such overview presentations.
Some examples include the following, but please feel free to suggest other topics you would like
to speak on. These are just some possibilities:


For the week on energy: the potential of electric cars (latest status of cost, performance,
challenges); alternative fuels; raising the fuel-economy standards; raising taxes on
gasoline; mileage-based taxation and insurance rates; issue of peak oil (extent of
petroleum reserves, cost of accessing remaining oil reserves)
For the week on the environment: evidence of global warming/climate change; potential
of zero emissions vehicles, hybrids, new car technology; solar-powered cars; cap and
970:555






Page 3
trade carbon emission standards; special carbon taxes; graphical illustration of dramatic
improvement in air quality in US cities over past 50 years.
For the week on congestion: overview of congestion pricing, its economic rationale, how
it works (possibly with case studies of congestion pricing in Singapore, London,
Stockholm, Oslo, and New York City’s plan, although those could be specific topics for
the final presentation); carpooling strategies to reduced congestion; HOV and HOT lanes;
reverse-flow lanes; alternating one-way streets; vanpooling.
For the week on parking policy: cashing out free parking; minimum parking
requirements; analysis of the new parking control program being introduced in San
Francisco (although this last topic could be a final presentation instead, as it is quite
specific); why free parking represents a subsidy to driving and low density living and
how it distorts our land use patterns and travel behavior
For the week on safety: Safe Routes to School; compulsory traffic safety training for
young children in all schools, esp. safe walking and bicycling; improved car design; issue
of bike helmets and helmet use laws compared to seat belts and seat belt use laws;
crosswalk enforcement; speed and red-light cameras; complete streets; safer intersection
design; or simply a presentation of traffic safety trends in USA and how USA compares
to other OECD countries in overall traffic safety
For the week on public health: trends in obesity and relationship to car dependence;
childhood obesity as special problem, related to lack of active transport; active buildings
(stairs instead of elevators); active mixed-used communities that encourage walking and
bicycling
For the weeks on cycling and walking: bike sharing programs, cycle tracks, car-free
zones, traffic calming, tax benefits for cyclists, issue of bike helmets, etc.
For the weeks on public transport: BRT overview—description, characteristics, rationale,
and examples of systems in North America; LRT overview—description, characteristics,
rationale, and examples of systems in North America systems in North America;
commuter rail systems in the USA
These overview presentations during the semester are NOT intended to require original analysis,
but simply a gathering, organizing, and presentation of a useful summary about particular
subtopics within the overall topic for any given week. In contrast to the final presentations, the
presentations during the semester are general overviews of particular subtopics within the overall
topic for that week. The final presentation topic will generally be more specific, narrower, often
involving a case study of a particular city or special program, and usually applied to the specific
case of a particular city or state or country, or even a specific street, intersection, plaza, or
corridor within a city.
#2: FINAL PRESENTATION: The final presentation should focus on a specific case study of
a particular type of technology, specific policy issue, specific program, transport problem, or
proposed solution in a particular, specific context (usually in one or more specific cities, and
possibly on a particular street, intersection, or part of a city) as opposed to a broad, general
overview. You might examine such technologies or issues in particular cities, for example, or
970:555
Page 4
compare them in various cities. Some possibilities include city-specific BRT, LRT, congestion
pricing, traffic calming, HOV lanes, car sharing, transportation demand management, car-free
zones, transit fare policy, integration of cycling with public transit, etc. Do whatever interests
you! Your final presentations should be specific, focused case studies, and not general
overviews of broad topics.
The main difference between the final presentation (#2 above) and the more general overview
presentations during the semester (#1 above) is that the final presentations focus on specific
cases, while the mid-semester PPT overviews provide a broad summary of particular issues. For
example, a mid-semester PPT might be a broad overview of traffic calming techniques, their
characteristics, what they look like, their functions, etc. For a final presentation, you could focus
on the actual use of traffic calming techniques in one or a few specific cities, including estimates
of their actual impact on car speeds, traffic safety, etc. Many students last year were confused
about the difference, but the final presentation is more specific and narrower in focus, while the
overview presentations during the semester on particular subtopics (or issues related to the main
topic that week) are intended to be broad overviews. As always, there are exceptions, and
students should discuss topics with me in advance. Another difference is the amount of effort
involved. The final presentation should be a semester-long effort, while the presentations during
the semester are simply intended to provide useful overviews of an interesting subtopic within
the overall week’s topic.
Depending on class size, students can choose to work individually or in teams of 2 students on
joint or coordinated final semester presentations. Students will be asked to make a Powerpoint
presentation of the key aspects and main findings of their final presentations at the end of the
semester. The final PPT presentation is NOT something that you postpone until 2 weeks before
the end of the semester and then rush to throw something together in the last two weeks. It
should reflect a full semester’s worth of thought, research, and effort. Each student or group of
students will make their final presentations during the last two weeks of the course. The PPT
handouts (slide printouts), 2 slides per page, will also be turned in—before the presentations are
given. Please do NOT email the PPT files as email attachments. They must be turned in as hard
copy at the beginning of class on Dec. 10 at 10am.
Although I will allow both individual and team presentations, they would be evaluated
differently. A team presentation would be expected to show more overall effort and would also
take longer to present. Clearly, any individual presentations would be shorter than team
presentations, but there is no exact formula for this. We have exactly two weeks for all the final
presentations, and the time allowed for each will be based on the total number of students and the
total time available during those last two weeks (Dec. 10 and 17).
Class attendance, preparation, and active participation required
Students are required to attend all classes during the semester, including those where other
students are making presentations. According to new university regulations, students missing a
970:555
Page 5
class for any reason are required to notify the instructor in advance and to report the date and
specific reason for their absence on the new university attendance website:
https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ . The Rutgers reporting system then automatically sends an email
to me. Rutgers University now requires us to include this absence reporting requirement on all
course syllabi.
Students will be expected to participate actively in class discussion and should plan to do the
required readings in advance of class meetings in order to be able to participate effectively.
Your contributions to class discussions will influence the final course grade. It is absolutely
essential that, at a minimum, students do the required readings on this list. The material in these
books and articles comprises the core of information for the course and will form the basis for
class discussions. Other readings are recommended but not crucial; students should use their
own discretion, depending on interest, topic, and time available. Those readings are listed
primarily for your reference in case you are interested in pursuing several of the topics areas in
more depth. The choice is up to you.
Important: Use of laptop computers, cell phones, iPads, iPhones, Blackberrys, and other
electronic communications devices in the classroom will NOT be permitted unless you have a
disability that specifically requires use of such devices for taking notes or hearing the lecture.
In the past, I have found that many students are distracted (and rudely distracting) to both
other students and the lecturer by text messaging, emailing, websurfing, etc. during class.
This will not be permitted in the classroom. If you have a disability that requires such
electronic equipment, I need a written note from the Dean’s Office authorizing this.
Otherwise, use of such devices during class will not be permitted, and you will asked to leave
the classroom. I am very sorry to have such a strict policy on this, but my lenience in the past
has led to truly outrageous abuse by some students, and it simply will not be permitted this
year.
Access to readings for the course:
Wherever possible, I am indicating which readings can be directly accessed via the internet, but
all readings will be posted as PDF files in the Resources section of the Sakai website for this
course.
Almost all journal articles are freely accessible via the RU Library’s internet site for electronic
journals. http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/ejournals/ejournals.shtml. No need to
trek to the libraries to find these articles. You can freely download the articles and print them
out from the PDF files you can access via electronic journals.
You will also be able to access most of my own publications and some PPT talks directly from
my Bloustein School webpage (under the tabs for publications and presentations):
http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher
970:555
Page 6
We will be using two textbooks for the course, and both are available for purchase at the Rutgers
University Bookstore in downtown New Brunswick, or you can purchase them online at
Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, or any other online bookseller. I suggest that you purchase
a used copy or share a copy of the Hanson and Giuliano textbook with other students. This third
edition provides a truly superb overview of many transport policy issues, but it is 10 years old,
and the main editor, Prof. Susan Hanson, emailed me that the fourth edition will not be available
until 2015, too late for our class. Thus, I do not think it is worth buying a new copy of this book.
There is, however, a brand new, thoroughly up to date (2014) textbook that has just been
published, and I recommend it for purchase: Introduction to Transport Policy by Stopher and
Stanley. It does not provide nearly enough coverage of the USA and focuses mostly on Europe
and Australia, but it is the best overview of transport policy I’ve seen of any of the new
textbooks available currently. And it has a chapter devoted to freight transport, which is missing
from the Hanson and Guiliano book.
*Susan Hanson and Gen Giuliano, eds. The Geography of Urban Transportation (New York:
Guilford Publications, 3rd Edition, 2004), an excellent book of readings, although it is now a bit
out of date. This text is used in urban transport planning and policy courses throughout the USA,
including UC Berkeley, UCLA, MIT, Univ of North Carolina, so it has become a standard text
for this sort of course.
*Peter Stopher and John Stanley, Introduction to Transport Policy: A Public Policy View
(Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, 2014). This text provides a valuable update to the
Hanson and Guiliano textbook and provides a very nice organization of chapters, which several
chapters devoted to specific topics we will be dealing with in class.
IMPORTANT: Almost all of the journals listed below are available in electronic format via the
Rutgers University Libraries website:
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/ejournals/ejournals.shtml.
The main transportation journals (E=electronic access via RU library website):
Transport Reviews (E)
Journal of Transport Geography (E)
Transport Policy (E)
Transportation Research (E), TR-A, TR-B, TR-D, TR-E, TR-F
Transportation (E)
Transportation Quarterly
970:555
Page 7
Journal of Transport Economics and Policy (E)
Transportation Research Record (E)
World Transport Policy and Practice (E) accessible at: www.ecoplan.org
International Journal of Sustainable Transport (E)
Access (E) accessible at: http://www.uctc.net/access/access.asp
The Journal of the American Planning Association (E)
For anyone doing research for the final semester presentation, the first step should usually be a
thorough review of these journals for the past 5 or so years to determine how much existing
information will be available for use in your presentation. The best way to find relevant
literature is to check with the free transportation literature search engine of the U.S. Department
of Transportation, called TRIS (Transportation Research Information Service) which is available
on the BTS website: www.bts.gov. That website is a wealth of information with oodles of links
to other websites as well. The statistical portion of that website is: www.transtats.bts.gov. Or
just go to: http://ntl.bts.gov/index.cfm, and from there you can reach both TRIS, the literature
search engine, and TranStats, the nationwide statistics on all aspects of transportation. Google
Scholar and the Web of Science index (available through RU electronic journals, indices and
databases) are also superb search engines for finding literature on specific topics.
There are many publicly accessible websites that provide a wide range of information on
almost every aspect of transportation:
TranWeb from Northwestern University
http://tran.library.northwestern.edu/
Transportation Research Information Services
http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/index.do
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
http://www.dot.gov/
BTS (Bureau of Transportation Statistics
http://www.bts.gov/
FTA (Federal Transit Administration
http://www.fta.dot.gov/
SAFETEA – Site
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reauthorization/safetea.htm
Many links to SAFETA-LU
http://apta.com/government_affairs/safetea_lu/
MAP-21 (current federal transport law)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/
American Public Transportation Association
http://www.apta.com/Pages/default.aspx
Federal Highway Administration
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
http://www.vtpi.org
National Highway Traffic Safety Admin
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
CDC Injury Statistics Reporting System
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html
Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/metro.aspx
Resources for the Future (RFF)
http://www.rff.org/Transportation.cfm
Transportation and Energy Data Book, DOE
http://cta.ornl.gov/data/index.shtml
970:555
Page 8
National Household Travel Survey)
EU directorate transportation website
International Transport Forum
National Emissions Inventory (NEI)
Air Pollutant Emission
http://nhts.ornl.gov
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/index_en.html
http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/trends/index.html#tables
IMPORTANT DATE TO REMEMBER........
December 10
Printouts of PPT slides for final presentation due at the beginning of class
on Dec. 10, regardless of whether you are presenting on Dec. 10 or 17
RELATIVE WEIGHT OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS:
In calculating your grade at the end of the semester, the assignments will be weighted in the
following manner:
1) Overview presentation during the semester
2) Overall attendance and class participation
4) Final PPT presentation
TOTAL
30%
20%
50 %
100 %
NOTE: The following reading list may be supplemented some weeks by additional, more
current readings on particular topics.
TOPIC OUTLINE AND READINGS
All readings are posted in the class folder and on Sakai under Resources, except for
readings from the textbooks and website links. Citations and some web links are provided for
your convenience. Recommended Readings are suggested for those students wishing to read
further in any of these areas of urban transportation.
Week 1: Introduction, Course Overview, Semester Plan, and Brief Discussion of
Sustainability and Accessibility
Required Readings:
Paul Tranter, “Speed Kills: The Complex Links between Transport, Lack of Time, and Urban
970:555
Page 9
Health,” Journal of Urban Health, Vol. 87, No. 2, 2010.
Excerpts from various essays by Ivan Illich, Herman Knoflacher, and Susan Hanson about the
basic issue of the benefits and costs of mobility, speed, and travel. They are posted under
Week 1 in the Resources section of the Sakai website.
Stopher and Stanley, chs. 1 and 4
Recommended Readings:
David Banister, Unsustainable Transport, chs. 1-4 (skim for intro, but will use these chapters in
detail for later topics)
David Banister, John Pucher and Martin Lee-Gosselin, “Making Sustainable Transport
Politically and Publicly Acceptable: Lessons from the EU, US and Canada”
Accessible at:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Acceptability%20EU%20CAN%20USA.pdf
The World Bank, Sustainable Transport: Priorities for Policy Reform, Washington, D.C. 1996.
Week 2: History of the Development of Urban Transportation System and Their Impact
on Urban Form
Required Readings:
Peter Muller, "Transportation and Urban Form: Stages in the Spatial Evolution of the American
Metropolis" (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of Urban Transportation, pp. 59-85)
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 2
Video shown in class on evolution of public transport systems and land use patterns
Week 3: Recent Trends in Modal Choice, Urban Spatial Patterns, and Their Interaction;
Characteristics of the Current Urban Transportation System
Required Readings:
U.S. Department of Transportation. 2011. Summary of Travel Trends: 2009 National
970:555
Page 10
Household Travel Survey. URL link posted on Sakai site under resources for week 3 on
travel trends. This report shows travel trends from 1969 to 2009 for the USA, all trip
purposes.
Pucher and Renne, “Socioeconomics of Urban Travel,” Transportation Quarterly, Summer
2003. Accessible at: http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/TQPuchRenne.pdf
Pisarski, A. 2007. Commuting in America III: The Third National Report on Commuting
Patterns and Trends. Transportation Research Board, 2007. Short summary.
Accessible at: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/trnews/trnews247CIAIII.pdf
Podcast accessible at: http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=6699
Susan Hanson, “Context of Urban Travel: Concepts and Recent Trends,” (Hanson and Giuliano,
Geography of Urban Transportation, pp. 3-30), please just skim this chapter.
I am also asking ALL of you to visit the BTS website (www.bts.gov) and/or Transtats website
(www.transtats.bts.gov) and just check out the range of trend statistics available at those sites:
highway use, car ownership, transit use, etc.
Here is an interactive website that shows the mode split distributions (% breakdown of means of
travel) for many cities in Europe:
http://www.epomm.eu/tems/index.phtml
Weeks 4 and 5: Transportation, Energy, and the Environment

Student presentations: e.g., the potential of electric cars (latest status of cost,
performance, challenges); alternative fuels; raising fuel-economy standards; raising taxes
on gasoline; issue of peak oil (extent of petroleum reserves, cost of accessing remaining
oil reserves); evidence of global warming/climate change; potential of zero emissions
vehicles, hybrids, new car technology; solar-powered cars.
Required Readings:
David Greene, "Transportation and Energy" (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of Urban
Transportation, pp. 274-293)
Stopher and Stanley, chs. 7 and 10
Christine Bae, "Transportation and the Environment," (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of
Urban Transportation, pp. 356-381)
I am asking you to visit the BTS website (www.bts.gov) again, and check out the whole range of
970:555
Page 11
energy and environmental stats available in the National Transportation Statistics of that website,
and the even more comprehensive website of the US Dept of Energy: www-cta.ornl.gov/data
(for the 2012 edition of the Transportation Energy Data Book). See also the EPA’s website on
national trends in transportation emissions and ambient air quality in US cities:
http://www.epa.gov/air/airtrends/2007/report/sixprincipalpollutants.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/trends/index.html#tables
Week 6: Transportation Safety



All students should carefully read TRB Special Report #300 on Traffic Safety, which was
produced in 2010 by the National Academy of Sciences. It shows trends for the USA in
comparison to traffic safety in other countries. It also examines the causes for traffic
crashes. The TRB report listed below is the main reading I will expect all students to do
for this topic. The 2009 WHO report and 2004 World Bank-WHO reports are also
extremely useful sources of international information on road safety trends.
Students might wish to do a presentation showing overall trends in traffic safety, both in
USA and around the world. See the two websites below for NHTSA and IRTAD
statistics. No need for original research in these presentations, but it would useful to get a
couple of students to take charge of presenting a summary of information in the TRB
special report and the BTS, NHTSA, and IRTAD websites.
Other possible student presentations: e.g., Safe Routes to School; compulsory traffic
safety training for young children in all schools, esp. safe walking and bicycling;
improved car design; issue of bike helmets and helmet use laws compared to seat belts
and seat belt use laws; crosswalk enforcement; speed and red-light cameras; complete
streets; safer intersection design, etc.
Required Readings:
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 8
Transportation Research Board, Achieving Traffic Safety Goals in the United States: Lessons
from Other Nations. TRB Special Report #300. Washington, DC: National Academy of
Sciences. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr300.pdf
International Transport Forum, IRTAD Road Safety 2014, International Traffic Safety Data and
Analysis Group, Paris, France. (This is the most up-to-date statistical report!)
970:555
Page 12
http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/pub/pdf/14IrtadReport.pdf
For detailed, up-to-date statistics for the USA, see the BTS website (www.bts.gov), National
Transportation Statistics, section on SAFETY, and the US DOT’s website of the National
Highway Safety Traffic Administration: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov. In both cases, please
examine the range of statistics available and the trends in traffic deaths and injuries by mode of
transport. On the NHTSA website, you’ll need to pull down statistics one category at a time in
their Accident Report section, mode by mode, I think. But you also find the totals for all modes
combined.
The very best international website for traffic deaths, injury data, safety rates, for different
countries is from the International Road Traffic Accident Database:
http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/irtad/pdf/10IrtadReport.pdf
Recommended Readings:
World Health Organisation, Global Status Report on Road Safety: Time for Action. Geneva,
Switzerland, WHO, 2009.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241563840_eng.pdf
World Bank and World Health Organisation, World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention.
Washington, DC, World Bank, and WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, 2004. Accessible at:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241562609.pdf
Richard A. Retting, Susan A. Ferguson, and Anne T. McCartt, “A Review of Evidence-Based
Traffic Engineering Measures to Reduce Pedestrian-Motor Vehicle Crashes,” Amer. J of
Public Health, September 2003, Vol. 93, No. 9
Week 7: Freight Transportation


Guest lecture by Prof. Neha Mittal of the Temple University School of Business
Readings and assignments:
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 15
Ronda Kayson, “A $650 Million Expansion of Port Newark Spurs Interest in Its Environs,” NY
Times, August 21, 2012, accessible at:
file:///C:/Users/john/AppData/Local/Temp/A%20$650%20Million%20Expansion%20of%20Port
%20Newark%20Spurs%20Interest%20in%20Its%20Environs%20-%20NYTimes.htm
970:555
Page 13
“New Forecasts Predict US Water Freight Volume to Double, 2001 to 2020,” in the Sacramento
Bee, August 21, 2012. Accessible at:
file:///C:/Users/john/AppData/Local/Temp/New%20Forecasts%20Predict%20US%20Water%20
Freight%20Volume%20to%20Double,%202001%20to%202020%20%20PR%20Newswire%20-%20The%20Sacramento%20Bee.htm#storylink=cpy
John Schwartz, “Panama Canal’s Growth Prompts U.S. Ports to Expand,” New York Times,
August 20, 20 file:///C:/Users/john/AppData/Local/Temp/US-ports-seek-to-lure-big-ships-afterpanama-canal-expands.html12. Accessible at: file:///C:/Users/john/AppData/Local/Temp/USports-seek-to-lure-big-ships-after-panama-canal-expands.html
More recommended readings to follow from Prof. Mittal before or during her lecture on Oct. 24.
Useful Internet Resources on Freight Transport:
Air Transport Association http://www.airlines.org/
American Trucking Associations http://www.truckline.com/Pages/Home.aspx
American Waterway Operators http://www.americanwaterways.com/
Association of American Pipelines http://www.aopl.org/go/site/888/
Association of American Railroads (AAR) http://www.aar.org/Homepage.aspx
Bureau of Transportation Statistics http://www.bts.gov/publications/
Federal Maritime Commission www.fmc.gov
Federal Highway Administration
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/docs/11factsfigures/index.htm
Journal of Commerce http://www.joc.com/
Maritime Administration http://www.marad.dot.gov/
U.S. Department of Transportation http://www.freight.dot.gov/
Week 8: Public Transport

Possible student presentations: e.g., BRT overview—description, characteristics,
rationale, and examples of systems in North America; LRT overview—description,
characteristics, rationale, and examples of systems in North America systems in North
970:555
Page 14
America; commuter rail systems in the USA
Required Readings:
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 13
Pucher, J. 2004, “Public Transportation” (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of Urban
Transportation, pp. 199-236)
Ralph Buehler and John Pucher, “Making Public Transport Financially Sustainable,” Transport
Policy, Vol. 19, January 2011, pp. 126-138. URL link:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/PublicTransport_JTRP_BuehlerPucher.pdf
Ralph Buehler and John Pucher, “Demand for Public Transport in Germany and the USA: An
Analysis of Rider Characteristics,” Transport Reviews, Vol. 32, No. 5, September 2012,
pp. 541-567. URL link:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/PublicTransport_TRV_2012_BuehlerPucher_FINAL.pdf
APTA, Public Transportation Fact Book, 2012. (comprehensive source of transit stats)
http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/FactBook/APTA_2012_Fact%20Book.pdf
Week 9: Bicycling and Walking

Possible student presentations: e.g., bike sharing, bike parking, bike helmets, cycle tracks
(protected bike lanes), traffic calming of residential neighborhoods, bike boulevards, carfree city centers, car-free zones, tax benefits for cyclists, free bikes for employees, safe
cycling and walking training in schools, improved crosswalks for pedestrians, etc.
Required Readings:
Pucher, Buehler, Merom, and Bauman, "Walking and Cycling in the United States, 2001-2009:
Evidence from the National Household Travel Surveys," American Journal of Public
Health, Vol. 101, Published online ahead of print May 5, 2011: e1–e8.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.300067.
<http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2010.300067>
US Department of Transportation, “The National Bicycling and Walking Study: 15-Year Status
Report.” Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC, 2010, esp. pp. 1-9.
http://katana.hsrc.unc.edu/cms/downloads/15-year_report.pdf
Pucher, Buehler, and Seinen, “Bicycling Renaissance in North America? An Update and ReAssessment of Cycling Trends and Policies,” Transportation Research A, Vol. 45, No. 6,
pp. 451-474.
<http://www.ecf.com/files/2/12/22/PucherBuehlerSeinen_BikeRenaissance_TRA2011.pdf>
970:555
Page 15
Pucher and Buehler, “Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark, and
Germany,” Transport Reviews, July 2008.
Accessible at: http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf
Recommended Readings:
Pucher, Dill, and Handy, "Infrastructure, Programs and Policies to Increase Bicycling: An
International Review," prepared for the Active Living Research Program of the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, Preventive Medicine, Vol. 50, No. S1, January 2010, pp.
S106-S125. <http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Pucher_Dill_Handy10.pdf>
Pucher, Komanoff, and Schimek, “Bicycling Renaissance in North America?,” Transportation
Research, September 1999, Transportation Research, Vol. 33A, Nos. 7/8 (special issue
on transport policy in international perspective)
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/NAmBIKE.PDF
Pucher and Dijkstra, “Making Walking and Cycling Safer: Lessons from Europe,”
Transportation Quarterly, summer 2000.
Accessible at:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/MakingWalkingAndCyclingSafer_TQ2000.pdf
Peter Jacobsen, “Safety in Numbers,” Injury Prevention, 2003.
Pucher, "Bicycling Boom in Germany: A Revival Engineered by Public Policy," Transportation
Quarterly, Autumn 1997.
ALSO: Check out the freely downloadable videos on cycling on the Streetfilms website:
http://www.streetfilms.org/
“Copenhagen: City of Cyclists,” segment of DVD video from Contested Streets, Transportation
Alternatives, NYC.
Week 10: Public Health Impacts of Transportation and Land Use

Possible student presentations: trends in obesity and relationship to car dependence;
childhood obesity as special problem, related to lack of active transport; active buildings
(stairs instead of elevators); active mixed-used communities that encourage walking and
bicycling
Required Readings:
Pucher and Buehler, “Walking and Cycling for Healthy Cities,” Built Environment, December
970:555
Page 16
2010, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 391-414.
<http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/BuiltEnvironment_WalkBike_10Dec2010.pdf>
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 8
Levi, Vintner, St. Laurent, Segal, Kohn, F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s
Future, 2011. Washington, DC: Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation. http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/TFAH2011FasInFat10.pdf
Interactive maps showing obesity rates state by state in June 2011 for adults and for children:
http://healthyamericans.org/report/88/
Transportation Research Board. 2005. Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity?
Examining the Evidence. Washington D.C. (Please just skim this, as it is a very long.)
Accessible at: http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=4536
Recommended Readings:
Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research (especially chapters
3 and 4)
Accessible at: http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245a9b44-6ded-4abda392-ae583809e350%7D/HEALTHTRANS_FULLBOOK_FINAL.PDF
Bassett, D. et al. (2008). “Walking, Cycling, and Obesity Rates in Europe, North America, and
Australia.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health.
Accessible at: http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/JPAH08.pdf
John Pucher, and Lewis Dijkstra “Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public
Health: Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany,” American Journal of Public
Health, Sept. 2003.
Accessible at: http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/AJPHfromJacobsen.pdf
Frumkin, H. 2002 Viewpoint: Urban sprawl and public health. In: Public Health Reports.
Volume 117, pp. 201-217.
Accessible at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/articles/Urban%20
Sprawl%20and%20Public%20Health%20-%20PHR.pdf
Ewing, R., et al. (2003) Relationship between urban sprawl and physical activity, obesity, and
morbidity. American Journal of Health Promotion, 18: 47-57.
Accessible at: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/report/JournalArticle.pdf
McCann, Barbara and Ewing, R. (2003) Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl.
Accessible at: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/report/HealthSprawl8.03.pdf
970:555
Page 17
Week 12: Equity
Required Readings:
D. Deka, “Social and Environmental Justice Issues in Transportation," (Hanson and Giuliano,
Geography of Urban Transportation, pp. 332-355)
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 6
Equity of Evolving Transportation Finance Mechanisms, TRB Special Report 303, superb
overview and update of issues relating to equity in transport finance, Transportation
Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, 2011, freely downloadable from the
TRB website at: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr303.pdf
Plus additional readings to be suggested by Dr. Deva Deka before or during his lecture.
Recommended Readings:
John Pucher and John Renne, “Socioeconomics of Urban Travel,” Transportation Quarterly.
Accessible at: http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/Documents/Pucher-Renne-TQarticle.pdf
Check out Litman website for useful links and readings:
http://www.vtpi.org/0_equity.htm
Week 13: Congestion and Parking

Possible student presentations: cashing out free parking, minimum vs. maximum parking
requirements, market pricing of on-street parking, overview of congestion pricing, its
economic rationale, how it works; carpooling; HOV and HOT lanes; reverse-flow lanes;
alternating one-way streets; vanpooling; legal requirements for firms to reduce singleoccupant commuting to work
Required Readings:
Anthony Downs, Still Stuck in Traffic, summary chapter 18, posted on Sakai resources under
Week 10. It is crucial that everyone read this chapter very, very carefully. This is the
first year I have not required students to read the entire book, but at the very least every
970:555
Page 18
student should very, very carefully read this one summary chapter.
Stopher and Stanley, chs. 9 and 14
Texas Transportation Institute. 2009. The 2010 Urban Mobility Report. TTI.
Full report accessible at: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/mobility_report_2010.pdf
Main tables with congestion trends available at:
http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/congestion_data/national_congestion_tables.stm
Everyone should visit the BTS website, National Transportation Statistics, section on congestion
and economics costs, and also the Litman website (www.vtpi.org), which has extensive analysis
of congestion costs. You might also visit the Texas Transportation Institute’s website, which
has all sorts of publications on congestion. TTI publishes the most widely used estimates on
congestion costs for US cities: http://tti.tamu.edu.
Read a couple of the following parking policy articles by Don Shoup, the parking guru of the
world, ALL posted on the Sakai website:
Donald Shoup, “Free Parking or Free Markets,” Access, No. 38, Spring 2011, pp. 28-36.
Donald Shoup, “Evaluating the Effects of Cashing out Employer-paid Parking: Eight Case
Studies,” Transport Policy, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1997, pp. 201-216.
Donald Shoup, “The Trouble with Minimum Parking Requirements,” Transportation
Research A, Vol. 33, 1999, pp. 549-574.
Donald Shoup, “The High Cost of Free Parking,” Journal of Planning Education and
Research, Vol. 17, No. 1, fall 1997, pp. 3-20.
Donald Shoup, "An Opportunity to Reduce Minimum Parking Requirements," Journal of the
American Planning Association, 1994, Vol 61, No. 1, pp. 14-28.
And here are two videos about Don Shoup’s views about parking policy:
Here is a great video of Don Shoup talking about the overall issue of parking during a guest
lecture at Yale University: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8vkbfz8PU8
Here is a video from San Francisco (sent to me by Don Shoup) demonstrating the SF plan to
implement Don Shoup’s ideas about correct parking policy: http://sfpark.org/
Week 14: Politics and Public Policy: The Changing Institutional Environment of Urban
Transportation and Its Impact on Transportation Planning
970:555
Page 19
Required Readings:
Wachs, "Reflections on the Planning Process," in (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of Urban
Transportation, pp. 141-162)
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 3 and 16
Hansen and Guiliano, "Managing the Auto," in (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of Urban
Transportation, pp. 382-404)
David Banister, John Pucher and Martin Lee-Gosselin, “Making Sustainable Transport
Politically and Publicly Acceptable: Lessons from the EU, US and Canada.”
Accessible at:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Acceptability%20EU%20CAN%20USA.pdf
Note: The new federal transportation legislation MAP-21, which was just passed this summer
2012, changes many aspects of federal transport funding, especially for pedestrian and bicycling
projects. Here is the official USDOT summary of that legislation:
US Department of Transportation, “MAP-21: Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century,”
Summary of the new Federal transportation law, in effect on Oct. 1, 2012 and valid for two
years:
<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/summaryinfo.cfm>
And for a brief summary of the changes in this new MAP-21 federal legislation compared to
previous legislation (SAFETEA-LU), and especially implications for ped/bike funding, see:
Streetsblog DC, “MAP-21 Puts the Squeeze on Bridge Repairs and Bikes,”
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/07/25/map-21-puts-the-squeeze-on-bridge-repair-and-bikes/#more283925
SAFETEA-LU: Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, Legacy for
Users: MAIN federal transportation legislation for the period 2005-2011, establishing all federal
funding and regulations for surface transport in the USA. Please check out the following USDOT
website for detailed information about this legislation: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safetealu/
Recommended Readings:
Johnston, “The Urban Transportation Planning Process” (Hanson and Giuliano, Geography of
Urban Transportation pp. 115-140)
David Banister, Unsustainable Transport, chs. 1-4.
970:555
Page 20
Week 15: Land-Use and Urban Development (only IF time permits)

In class debate pro- and anti-sprawl, based on discussion of Ewing vs.
Gordon/Richardson articles

Student presentations related to land-use and urban development: e.g. transit-oriented
development; smart growth with mixed-use development; neo-traditional urban design;
growth moratoria in some cities; growth boundaries; land banks; the nature of local
zoning ordinances in most US communities
Required Readings:
Stopher and Stanley, ch. 16
Transportation Research Board, Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact
Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions – Special Report
298. Washington, D.C.: National Research Council, 2009.
Accessible at: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr298.pdf
Giuliano, “Land Use Impacts of Transportation Investments: Highway and Transit,” (Hanson
and Giuliano, Geography of Urban Transportation, pp. 237-273)
Susan Handy. 2005. Smart growth and the transportation - Land use connection: What does the
research tell us?
Susan Handy. 2004. “Toward an Accessibility Framework for Transportation Policy,” PPT talk
to be shown in class.
Handy, S. 2002. Accessibility vs. Mobility.
Accessible at: http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/handy/ECMT_report.pdf
Alternative views of sprawl, a two-part discussion (pro and contra) in the winter 1997 issue of
the Journal of the America Planning Association:
P. Gordon and H. Richardson. 1997. “Are Compact Cities a Desirable Planning Goal? ”
Journal of the American Planning Association, Winter 1997, pp. 95-106.
R. Ewing, 1997. “Is Los Angeles-Style Sprawl Desirable?” Journal of the American
Planning Association, Winter 1997, pp. 107-126.
I will ask all students to take a side in this debate and be prepared to defend one view or the
other. So you must come to class prepared to actually debate!
970:555
Page 21
Recommended Readings:
Newman and Kenworthy, Sustainability and Cities: Overcome Automobile Dependence
Chapter 6 – “Promoting Sustainable Urban Change”
Chapter 7 – “Ethics, Spirituality, and Community in the Sustainable City”
*** PRINTOUTS (2 PPT slides per page) OF FINAL PRESENTATION DUE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, regardless of whether you are presenting Dec. 10 or
17 (Due at 10am at the START of class. Late printouts of the PPTs will be accepted up to a
week late BUT with a penalty of 2 points for each day late. No presentations printouts will
be accepted after 10am on Dec. 17.) Presentation printouts must be turned in as printed,
hard copy. Do NOT email PPT files as email attachments.
***** FINAL SEMESTER PRESENTATIONS ON DECEMBER 10 and 17.
*****************************************************************************
FINAL PRESENTATION IN URBAN TRANSPORTATION POLICY
*****************************************************************************
Your most important assignment in the class is the final PPT presentation at the end of
the semester. Choose a topic that really interests you, and feel free to discuss this choice with the
instructor before embarking on the research for the presentation. Choose a topic that is
manageable. It is better to do a presentation on a topic that is narrowly defined, than a wideranging review that is shallow.
December 10: Printouts of PPT slides for your final presentation due at 10am at the START of
class, regardless of whether you are presenting on Dec. 10 or 17. Late PPT printouts will be
accepted up to a week late BUT with a penalty of 2 points for each day late. No PPT printouts
will be accepted after 10am on Dec. 17.
December 10 and 17
Final student presentations
Selected Previous Topics:
- Examination of jitney services in New York City, and how they serve the mobility needs of the
poor and provide employment as well, as drivers and mechanics
- Impact of light rail transit line (Hudson-Bergen Line) on development along Hudson River
shore in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Bayonne
- Tearing down urban freeways: experiences in specific US cities and potential for more
- Integration of bike and transit on NJ Transit suburban rail lines: current status and potential for
improvement
970:555
Page 22
- Overview of traffic calming techniques and their impact on speed and safety
- Potential of hydrogen fuels to increase energy efficiency of cars and reduce CO2 emissions
- Overview of BRT systems in the USA, and then case study of BRT in one city, looking at costs
and benefits, ridership, etc.
- Analysis of the bikeway plan for Westchester County
- The role of auto advertising in distorting American travel behavior
- Comparison of the land-use impacts of rail transit projects in Stockholm and San Francisco.
- The phenomenon of extremely long commutes to work in U.S., its cause, and how it is
becoming more and more usual
- Analysis of the park-and-ride facility at Interchange #9 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
- History of the Erie-Lackawanna RR and its impact on land use and current problems.
- Land-use impacts of the Washington, D.C. Metro-rail system and the potential of value capture
taxes for financing the costs of rail rapid transit construction.
- Income-redistribution impacts of the rail rapid transit system in Atlanta.
- Potential of lanes reserved for high-occupancy vehicles to reduce congestion and save energy.
- Potential for distance-based fares on the New York subway.
- Transportation patterns of working women.
- Financing the Washington, D.C., Metro.
- Critique of American transit capital grant programs.
- Effectiveness of the Rutgers campus bus system.
- Problem of growing congestion in suburban areas and the potential of traffic management
techniques for reducing this congestion.
- Potential of automated fixed guideway systems in urban areas.
- Potential of high-speed rail transportation in USA, based on experience in France and Japan.
- Problem of crime on transit systems.
- Cost/Benefit analysis of Los Angeles metro system.
- Analysis of detailed bikeway and bike route plan for Rutgers University and New Brunswick
- Role of drive-in restaurants, banks, laundries, etc. on transportation.
- Environmental problems arising from the disposal of used tires, batteries, and autos.
- The costs and benefits of air bags for auto safety.
- Technological advances in automotive fuel efficiency: past achievements and future outlook.
- Transportation themes in the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
- Past and future of urban passenger ferry systems, with case studies of NYC, SF, and Seattle
- Analysis of problem of transporting hazardous materials
- Pros and cons of raising speed limit in New Jersey
- Potential of battery-powered electric cars
- Analysis of North Jersey Coast Line of NJ Transit
- Disney World as an example of innovative, non-auto-based urban transportation systems
- Recent advances in automotive safety and prospects for future improvements
- Recent developments in light rail transit, cost-benefit analysis, study of where light rail transit
would make economic sense, where not; whether light rail transit is more appropriate in
developing countries, where funds not available for full-scale metro systems (several different
presentation topics here)
970:555
Page 23
- Advances in automotive technology to reduce air pollution emissions, progress since 1970 to
1995, and prospects for continued pollution reductions through technological advances in the
future
- Official EIS and the actual environmental impacts of the widening of the NJ Turnpike
- Safety impacts of raising the speed limit
10PLUS, literally hundreds of other topics I can't remember now, covering the entire range
of issues, all over the world as well as right here in New Jersey
Whatever topic you choose, it is essential that the final presentation you make not be simply a
regurgitation of class notes and required readings. It should be specific and concrete in its
content, and should demonstrate a significant amount of research and thinking on areas omitted,
or only briefly covered in class. You can certainly deal with a topic discussed in class, but do
not simply review what we already did in class and readings. Do NOT pick a topic so broad that
you cannot do justice to it; for example, do not propose a presentation on the environmental
impacts of transportation, which is so broad that it is impossible to cover in a student
presentation.
All professors at Rutgers University are required to include the following statement in the syllabi
for all courses:
Academic integrity
Academic honesty and intellectual integrity are fundamental to the process of learning and
to evaluating academic performance. This is the responsibility of all members of the
university, and students share the responsibility for creating and maintaining an
atmosphere of honesty and integrity. If you have any doubt about what constitutes
academic integrity, consult http://teachx.rutgers.edu/integrity/policy.html.
For this course, it is important that students cite the sources of any information, photos,
graphics, text, etc. that you use in your presentations. Direct quotations and verbatim
citation of text passages must be clearly indicated as such with quotation marks or
indented formatting, as shown in many guidebooks of style. And the sources of charts,
graphs, photos, should also be carefully referenced. Please do not go overboard in quoting
extremely long passages. Try instead to express things in your own words.