Category News&Updates

 Transportation Choices for Sustainable Communities Research and Policy Institute, a 501c3 corporation, is delighted to announce the election yesterday of Meghna Tare to our Board of Directors and the appointment of Dr. Chris Ferrell as Executive Director.

Ms. Tare is Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainability and Global Impact at the University of Texas at Arlington and an experienced executive in public policy for sustainability in the Dallas, Texas metropolitan area. She holds three master’s degrees,  in chemistry from the University of San Francisco, environmental studies from San Jose State University, and sustainable business management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco...

On September 27, 2013 California’s governor signed SB 743 into law, in part mandating the transition from a level of service (LOS)-based to a vehicle-miles traveled (VMT)-based transportation impact analysis for environmental impact review in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Transportation Choices for Sustainable Communities (Consultant) has been hired by Changelab Solutions (Client) to perform a case study analysis of the ongoing efforts underway at a variety of local governments to comply with this change in the law...

The following paper was published in the June 2017 issue of the  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Journal.

Enjoy!

Abstract

The convergence of many issues makes it timely to reassess the role of the urban arterial: environmental concerns, climate change, complete streets, sustainability, urban livability indices, and indeed less per capita driving. While some might say technology will save us, this paper purports that something more fundamental needs to change.

TheTragedyoftheCommonsJune2017

Entering the ZTL portion of Piazza Vittorio Veneto in Torino, where LRT is also permitted.

Transportation Choices Principal Michelle DeRobertis has just published an article in the ITE Journal  (December 2016) about Italy’s traffic-limited zones, or ZTL in Italian.  Entitled Traffic-Restricted Zones in Italy: The Most Widespread Traffic Control Strategy You’ve Never Heard Of,  the paper describes the distinctly Italian practice of prohibiting all but residents (and taxis and a few other special categories of vehicles) from driving within historic city centers. They are present in Italian towns with populations ranging from 2,300 to Rome, with 2.3 million. The evolution and implementation of over 270 ZTL since the 1980′s inspired Michelle to enroll in a Ph.D...

Transportation Choices Principal and Vice-President Dr. Joseph Kott has been awarded a non-profit organization conference registration scholarship to attend Rail-Volution, the annual national conference of rail passenger service advocates, planners, and researchers. This year’s Rail-Volution will be in San Francisco from October 9th through October 12th.

Dr. Christopher Ferrell has joined Transportation Choices as a Principal. Dr. Ferrell has had a distinguished career of more than twenty years in sustainable transportation research, education, and practice. He holds a doctorate in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley and has been a Research Associate for the Mineta Transportation Institute since 2005.

Transportation Choices Principal Dr. Joseph Kott gave a presentation on June 13th on the failure, success, and prospects of pedestrian streets and districts in the United States at the International Conference on Transport and Health. The conference was hosted by the Mineta Transportation Institute on the San Jose State University campus.

The latest issue of the digital journal World Transport Policy and Practice is now available. The economic performance of investments in sustainable transport is the focus of this new issue:
http://worldtransportjournal.com/

Transportation Choices for Sustainable Communities is a funder of World Transport Policy and Practice through a generous grant from the Helen and William Mazer Foundation.

Transportation Choices for Sustainable Communities Research and Policy Institute received a $40.250 grant from Wells Fargo to fund scholarships for sixteen students for four mentors, including Transportation Choices Principal and Vice President Dr. Joseph Kott, to attend World Energy Innovation Forum 2016 on May 4^th and 5^th at Tesla Motors in Fremont, California. The Forum featured some of today’s most influential thought leaders in sustainable energy and transportation, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu. For more information on this conference, visit http://worldenergyinnovationforum.com/.

Transportation Choices Principal and Vice-President Dr. Joseph Kott presented on Saturday, May 7th at Let’s Get Moving Silicon Valley! 2016 Summit on the topic of California’s effort in SB 743 to transform traffic impact analysis under CEQA to support sustainable transportation goals. The Summit, organized by the Bay Area transportation and land use reform group Transform, took place at the Microsoft  campus in Mountain View, CA.