The benefits of public transportation, including reducing individual vehicle use and traffic congestion, aren’t always optimized beyond densely populated urban settings. While transit may extend to more suburban or rural areas, land development patterns can make it challenging for people to reach their destinations by transit alone. Pairing transit with an autonomous mobility service is a potential solution. Researchers assessed transportation needs in a suburban shopping area and developed a system designed to deliver passengers from the end of a transit line to their ultimate destination. Simulations of the autonomous mobility service revealed its potential to increase transit efficiency and reduce individual vehicle use.
Continue reading Enhancing Public Transit with Autonomous Mobility Service to Cover the “Last Mile”Category Archives: Multi-modal
Will Hydrogen Be a Carbon-Neutral Fuel Alternative for Freight?
Reprinted from CTS News, March 19, 2024
—Sophie Koch, contributing writer
Hydrogen is getting a lot of attention in recent years as a potential fuel source in the transportation sector. However, it is important to consider the pros, cons, and limitations of this molecule when deciding how to use it.
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Safety measures, service improvements key to increasing post-pandemic transit use in Greater Minnesota
Originally published in Catalyst, January 16, 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic took a major toll on public transit and shared transportation services in Minnesota, causing ridership and revenues to plummet. And it wasn’t just an urban problem: Smaller rural agencies and services saw sharp declines, too.
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‘Transportation Insecurity’: A New Metric to Evaluate Programs and Guide Decision Making
Reprinted from CTS News, December 7, 2023
—Sophie Koch, contributing writer
Reliable transportation has a huge impact on quality of life. Many Americans, however, are unable to travel where and when they need to go, and policymakers lack tools to measure the extent of the problem.
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Improving Driver Yielding to Pedestrians at Intersections
Improving the rates of drivers yielding to pedestrians has been challenging despite crosswalk laws. Expanding on an earlier study, researchers further explored the effectiveness of engineering treatments at road crossings, giving agencies a deeper understanding of how to maximize pedestrian safety.
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COVID-19 pandemic substantially changed commuting patterns, job access
Reprinted from CTS News, October 9, 2023
Patterns of movement in cities, especially office job commutes, were substantially altered in 2021 by telework, economic change, and other responses to COVID-19, according to new research from the Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota. While the immediate effects of these behavioral changes, such as reduced congestion and lower transit ridership, have been well documented, new data reveals deeper impacts that differ by the three modes studied: auto, transit, and biking.
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Designing Pedestrian Safety Features for Year-Round Maintenance
Pedestrian safety countermeasures near roadways require year-round maintenance to be effective. Clearing snow and ice has not generally been a design consideration for safety treatments, but new research has identified specific design criteria to help MnDOT and other agencies keep walkways clear without impeding maintenance efforts.
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On the Road to Somewhere
Measuring access to opportunities is the future math of mobility.
In December 2022, Twin Cities policymakers and planners celebrated the opening of the D Line, the latest bus rapid transit project by Metro Transit. The new line strengthened the spine of service running north-south through the urbanized core of the region: from Brooklyn Center, following Minneapolis’ long axis to the south, through the gridded suburbs of Richfield and Bloomington all the way to the Mall of America. Largely replacing Minnesota’s single busiest bus route (Route 5), the D Line features expanded high-frequency hours, higher-capacity vehicles, and improved trip speeds. The D Line represents the best of local transit service, an undoubtable improvement for the mobility of transit riders.
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Strengthening Communities with Innovative Right of Way Projects
When urban highway projects were built several decades ago, many thriving communities were physically divided and negatively impacted, experiencing social, economic and environmental hardships from highway development. A national review of innovative projects in the transportation right of way (ROW) has identified strategies for repairing and revitalizing these communities and illustrates the potential for significant benefits within communities and the transportation network.
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Alternative Transit Approaches for Rural Communities
Meeting transit needs in rural communities can be challenging. A new pilot study demonstrated the benefits of using mobile technologies and existing assets to enhance transit services and improve local economies.
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Crossroads 