Mike on Traffic

Travel Demand Management - Car Sharing in Minnesota

Traffic engineers balance supply and demand when we recommend roadway improvements - a new development adds more traffic to the roads, we make sure there is enough capacity supplied.  That's the theory.  We tend to work on the supply side of the equation, adding more traffic signals and bigger roads. 

Minneapolis, Golden Valley, St. Louis Park and a few other cities have ordinances that try to get developers to reduce the demand side of the equation.  Reducing demand is done based on a Travel Demand Management Plan the developer is required to draft and implement.  Strategies such as more transit, more mixing of uses so trips can be made by foot or bike instead of a car, carpooling, etc. are usually included.  I have written a few of these, but I haven't been involved with the implementation.  Getting people out of their cars is a hard nut to crack.

A few developments in Uptown and the Warehouse district of Minneapolis have added a car sharing service called HourCar facilities to their condo buildings.  ZipCar facilities are located around the University of Minnesota.  I love the idea of a shared car to use when you need it, but you need to be able to walk to the car.  The closest garage of ZipCars or HourCars is about 3 miles away.  So we kept the extra car.

Sydney, Australia is adding another layer to the car sharing system - they are adding free parking in the downtown area (article) for car sharing vehicles.  Minneapolis offers discount parking for carpoolers, maybe they'll add this next.

Seven Parts of an Effective Traffic Safety Plan for Schools

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of the kids who die each year are killed in a motor vehicle crash.  Schools are responsible for the safety of their students once they enter the school grounds and some parents would argue the school is responsible even before the child enters the school grounds.

Most schools have developed plans to deal with many types of emergencies, most commonly the fire drill. The same level of planning should be applied to developing a traffic safety plan for the school. The strategies for improving traffic safety within the school grounds can be developed solely by school staff, but we have found parent involvement to be very helpful in creating and implementing the plan. A sound traffic safety plan will have the following components:

1. Documenting existing traffic conditions.

2. Strategies for minimizing the interaction between students and moving vehicles.

3. Strategies for minimizing the traffic impacts of school generated traffic on the local street system.

4. Strategies for increasing the visibility of students when they are required to mix with vehicles.

5. Strategies for slowing down traffic when students are near vehicles.

6. Strategies for controlling the arrival and departure of students.

7. Educating students about traffic safety.

Future posts will flesh out each of these seven components of an effective school traffic safety plan.

Mike Spack named NCITE's 2007 Young Transportation Engineer of the Year

Its a slow news day right after Thanksgiving, so please forgive this little bit of self promotion. 

As the pictures will certainly show, I was stunned to be named the Young Transportation Professional of the Year at the North Central Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers annual meeting.  I have been very involved with NCITE since I started my career and I am honored to accept this award.  Thank you to the person who nominated me (whoever you are) and to the committee that made the selection.  Also, congratulations to George Stuempfig on being named the 2007 Transportation Professional of the Year!
 

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

I am a little embarrassed to say I just found out today that this past Sunday was the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.  As a traffic engineer you would think I would be in the know on something like this.   Maybe my head was in the sand but I didn't see this in the news.  Here is a chart from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report on crashes in 2006.  In the United States, 42,642 people died in traffic crashes in 2006.  The Department of Defense has confirmed approximately 3,900 Americans have died in Iraq since the beginning of the conflict in 2003.  I will not get into the politics of the war, but our local news has at least one news story per week on the conflict (actually it is closer to daily, but these are just my observations).  A lot more Americans are dieing on our roadways than in Iraq, but it just doesn't appear to be newsworthy.  I encourage you to observe a moment of silence for those impacted by road safety. 

Elk Run - Minnesota's Proposed Bio-Science Park

There is an article in the Star Tribune today about Elk Run, the biggest project I have worked on.  I have been working on the traffic study for the development for about a year.  The study area is about 5,000 acres and will obviously generate a lot of traffic.  The traffic study along with the entire Alternative Urban Areawide Review environmental document is in for review.  The major finding of the study is that a large interchange will need to be built at Highway 52/County Road 12.  This interchange was already planned, but the area will have a lot more traffic than Mn/DOT and Olmsted County originally envisioned.  It is important that we protect the safety and mobility along Highway 52, which means no traffic signals along the highway corridor.

The article about Elk Run was a little on the skeptical side.  Tower Investments realizes the development is not business as usual.  They are attempting to create a destination development.   I think they feel a little like Walt Disney proposing Disney Land.  Obviously new ideas usually meet with a dose of skepticism.  I hope they pull off Elk Run.  It would be a huge boost to Minnesota's economy.  I wish the Star Tribune would have focused on that angle.

Flashing Yellow Arrow at Traffic Signals (Hwy 149/Hwy 110 in MN)

If you are driving through Mendota Heights you may notice an unusual traffic signal on Highway 149 at Highway 110.  Mn/DOT installed a flashing yellow light for the left turns at the intersection on September 6, 2007.  This is one of the first installations of this type of left turn control in the country.  FHWA authorized its use (memo) on an interim basis in March 2006.  Mn/DOT is studying the effect of the new indication.  If it is positive, we'll be seeing more of these in Minnesota.

What is it?
We are used to seeing the three protected arrows where you can turn freely on the green arrow and can't turn on the red arrow.  Then there is the signal with three circles and two arrows.  You can turn freely on the green arrow.  You can also turn on the green circle, but you have to yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians (jargon:  this is called protected/permitted left turn phasing).  The new indication allows traffic engineers to mix and match these operations at different times of day.  The new indication adds a second yellow arrow.   In protected mode, it will operate normally - you turn on the green arrow and stop on the red arrow.  In protected/permitted mode you can make your left turn on the green arrow and you can also choose to turn on the flashing yellow arrow, but you have to yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians.  Recap for how to drive one of these new signals:  Red arrow means stop, solid yellow arrow means clear the intersection, flashing yellow arrow means you can turn left but you have to yield to oncoming traffic, green arrow means you can turn freely.   

Cable Stayed Bridge in Minneapolis

An important pedestrian/bicycle bridge over Hiawatha Avenue was opened in Minneapolis on November 8, 2007.  The Star & Tribune has a good article about the bridge.  It allows pedestrians and bicycles to cross over Hiawatha Avenue at about 26th Street instead of crossing at a traffic signal.  We did a study of Hiawatha Avenue in 2006 for Metro Transit.  We were studying occupancy rates in the corridor before and after the LRT line was open (we found traffic volumes were down but the number of people moved in the corridor were up in 2006 vs. 2004).  There are about 45,000 vehicles per day on Hiawatha Avenue at 26th Street.  It is great to separate pedestrians and bicyclists from that much traffic!

Here is a good photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii , Star Tribune:

Traffic Signals Failing Us?

Traffic signals aren't exactly failing us, but the United States got a D in the recent National Traffic Signal Report Card.  (This is up from a D- in 2006.... baby steps I guess.)  Unfortunately the report doesn't show the grades of individual agencies.  It is my understanding Mn/DOT does a pretty good job with their traffic signals.  Probably the worst traffic signals in Minnesota are in Minneapolis.  This is about to change though.  Don Sobania at Minneapolis told me they have received word from the Metropolitan Council that they are getting grant money to update their signal system.

My brother-in-law lived in Uptown about ten years ago (a neighborhood in south Minneapolis known as the place to live for 20-somethings).  Down his block was an old traffic signal controlled by a mechanical clock.  You could hear the gears shifting as the signal went through the different phases of its cycle.  I explained this to him and we figured out the signal timing on the way back from the bar one night.  A few weeks later he walked by the signal controller with his girlfriend.  They heard the clunk of the controller switching and she asked him what that noise was.  Chris nonchalantly said it is a people counter and then stepped off the curb again right as the green light switched to yellow.  Ka-chunk went the controller again.  I think she is still confused about the people counter.  Anyways, Minneapolis is going to get rid of all of these dinosaurs with the grant money and put in updated traffic signals controlled by computers!  They should be able to leap into the C to B if the funding comes through.

City of Toronto Quantifies Health Impacts of Traffic Pollution

The City of Toronto took the extraordinary step of quantifying the health impacts of traffic pollution on their citizens.  “For the first time in Ontario, we have isolated the health impacts of vehicle emissions, and can demonstrate the potential health benefits of moving to a more sustainable transportation system,” said Dr. McKeown. “A 30 percent reduction in motor vehicle emissions in Toronto could save nearly 200 lives a year and significantly reduce hospitalization and illness, and associated economic impacts.”

The full report encourages more sustainable transportation systems.  I believe in a balanced and redundant transportation system (Minneapolis would be in a better position to handle the I-35 bridge collapse if there were parallel rail lines that could move commuters).  This report gives us another reason to diversify our transportation system.