Transportation Flashcards
Federal Highway Act of 1973
Created Metropolitan Planning Organizations
Established Transportation System Management to improve system without increasing physical size of roads. aimed to match travel demands to capacity, focused on effectiveness of system.
-Provided funding for existing interstate and new urban and rural primary and secondary roads in the United States.
Funded a highway safety improvement program, and permitted states for the first time in U.S. history to use Highway Trust Fund money for mass transit.
First national speed limit (of 55 miles per hour (89 km/h))
Federal-Aid Highway Acts, 1956
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of $25 billion (equivalent to $207 billion in 2022)[1] for the construction of 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of the Interstate Highway System over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history through that time
National Transportation Programs/Acts
FHWA, FTA, FRA, FAA, ACOE § National Highway System § TEA Acts and MAP-21
ISTEA (1991)
(ICE TEA) - Intermodal surface transprotation efficiency act of 1991. First multimodal act. Required that MPOs and DOTs create 3 year TIPs that establish priorities among local projects. By tying projects to funding types, TIPs become constrained to reduce frivolous spending of federal funds. Requires long range plan for 20 years. Allocated $ to improvements to reduce congestion through increased efficiency and alternatives
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1916
1st federal highway funding legislation, passed to expand road network. Farmers were asking because roads were in terrible condition. After this, every state had a DOT to administer funds
FAST act (2015)
1st federal law funding for surface transportation planning and construction. Converted ISTEA into block grants, which are more flexible funding used to preserve and improve conditions and performance on any highway, bridge, tunnel, or multimodal infrastructure
Speed hump
3-4 in tall elevated areas along road to force drivers to slow
FHWA standards on roads
after WW2, determined what was a “good” road- because prioritize free flowing traffic, not because they were effective. Too wide
Level of Service
assigns a grade (a to F) to road. C is stable, F is over capacity
AADT
Average Annual Daily Traffic - amount of traffic on a roadway in a 24 hr period, average over one year
Inter city transit
begins and ends in different urban (metro) areas. Most common used to be rail, but as rail turned mostly for freight it switched to air
SAFETEA
Created HSIP (highway safety improvement program) as a funding category for repairing and reconstructing old infrastructure. Required data driven approach for improving highway safety. Focused on traffic related fatalities.
MAP21 (2012)
Created streamlined performance based program so states would invest resources in multimodal projects. Less TEA
Choker or pinch points
curb extensions on both sides to reduce speed and narrow street - Traffic calming -
DHV
Design Hour Volumes - traffic capacity for a road
Trip generations
determined by land use and intensity of use that causes people to travel. Likelihood of users to make trips depend on purpose of trip and socioeconomic facotrs (age/income/ownership for car/etc)
Local roads
direct access to adjacent land. Do not carry through-traffic
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1944
expanded freeway to major cities and industrial centers, but not funded
Transportation Equity Act of 21st Century (TEA21) 1998
extended ISTEA. Streamlined environmental documentation, focused more on equity and connecting suburbs to transit
FHWA
Federal Highway Administration
Modal split
How people get somewhere - bike, walk, car, transit
Minor Arterial
Interconnect principle artierials and provide less mobility as they distribute traffic to smaller areas
Speed tables
larger than speed hump entire car can fit on section before continuing on road Traffic calming -
Local Street
Local roads provide direct access to adjacent land and allow users to access r
Minor collectors
lower speeds and fewer signalized intersections, serve lower density residential and commercial areas
Major Collector
Major collectors serve both land access and traffic circulation in commercial and higher-density residential areas. These roadways are typically higher speeds and have more signalized intersections than arterials.
Federal aid highway act of 1962
mandated for transportation planning around country for all areas with over 50,000 ppl. Process is 3 Cs- Continuing, Comprehensive, Cooperative
JFK
MPO
Metropolitan Planning Org, created by FHA of 1973. Carry out required transportation planning
Pedestrian shed
mixed use communities encourage more pedestrian activity than sprawled where destination exceed the desired shed
Federal-Aid Highway Acts, 1916 and 1921
Model for Subsequent Programs • Required States to form DOTs • First major inroad into transportation by the Federal Government
1916 was first for federal funding to state to provide roads
1921 refined and required the roads were interconnected
Trip Distribution
Nature of trips, distances, time, and cost of where ppl are going. Regions are divided into traffic zones and zones are analysed based on how many trips are made between each zone. Gravity model provids trip distribution estimates based on propotional attractiveness of each zone proportional to trip length.
PHV
Peak Hour Voumes- hourly traffic during peak period
Shy zone
portion of the sidewalk along roadway that pedestrians tend to avoice
Trip assignment
predicts where congestion is going to be using modes of traffic distribution on each roadway hourly. If peak volumes or hourly traffic expected is greater than capacity, get congestion
Principle Arterial
Principal arterials serve larger activity centers, have the highest traffic volume and vehicle miles traveled, and serve longer trips.
Access controls
refer to a users ability to access a roadway, which is controlled to eliminate conflict points, driveway cuts, and at-grade intersections. More access control, the higher the travel speeds. Less access control, the slower speed.
Transportation Planning focus for regions vs neighborhood
Regions - entire metropolitan area or corridors, neighborhoods looking at specifc sites and impacts of those areas
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)
related to topography, density, mass transit options, and distance to daily destinations (live, work, play). Higher VMT signifies origins and destinations are getting farther apart and there are fewer transit options. Denser areas have lower VMTs
SHV
Seasonal Hourly Volumes- peak period volumes during different seasons
Major collectors
serve both land access and traffic circulation in commercial and higher density residential areas. Higher speeds and more signalized intersections
Principle Arterial
Serve larger activity centers, have the highest traffic volume and VMT, serve longer trips
Origin Destination Survey
sets up roadblocks along major corridors and asks people about origin (where from) and destination (where to)
Trip Generation rate: which is higher SFR vs apartment
SFR is 9.1-10.2 trips per day, apartment is 6 trips per day
Complete street
street that is safe, convenient, and accessible for all individuals–ages, ability and mode.
Grid streets
tend to lead to cut-through traffic, high costs, and more conflict points.
Trip generation rate
The trip generation of a site is determined by the land use and intensity of use that causes people to travel. The likelihood of users to make trips is dependent on the purpose of the trip and socioeconomic characteristics of the user such as age, income, or automobile ownership. For instance, a residential neighborhood is likely to have each household perform two trips a day during predictable times of day; morning rush-hour and evening rush-hour are peak travel hours for single-family residential land uses. Trip generation rates are determined through an Origin-Destination Survey, which sets up roadblocks along major corridors. Users on the study route can be asked questions about their point of origin (where they’re coming from) and their destination (where they’re going). Cross-Tabulation Models can be used to estimate trip generation based on socioeconomic characteristics, land use type, and trip purpose.
Peak parking demand
Time of day when parking is most needed for a certain use or site
Realigned intersections
Traffic calming - change the roadway alignment near intersections to cause motorists to slow down before approaching
Chicane
Traffic calming - curb extensions to on alternating sides to force motorists to maneuver
Full or partial road closures
Traffic calming - go from 2 way to one way, or stop traffic beyond a point.
Roundabouts
Traffic calming - require motorists to circulate. For low speed smaller streets, unlike Traffic Circles (larger)
TOD
Transit Oriented Development. Working to encourage public transit to get from work to home. Tend to be no more than 1 mile wide, pedestrian scaled.
TIP
Transportation Improvement Programs
Transportation Improvement Programs - created by FHA of 1973. Unified work program for regions with more than 200k ppl. Prepared by the MPO and list out projects where federal funds are expected. Include multimodal projects. Outlines estimated costs, schedules for each phase
Cross tabulation models
Used to estimate trip generation based on socioeconomic characteristics, land use type, and trip purpose. Method is good for estimates where money is not available for Origine Destination Survey. But may contain errors and is less acurate.
Traffic Calming
Uses physical design to improve ped, bike and vehicle safety.
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)
§ Deal largely with transportation § Role expanding with recent legislation § Also Rural Planning Organizations
