by Innovative Mobility Research | May 30, 2019 |
Authors: Susan Shaheen Published: 2012 Abstract: The number of senior citizens is expected to double by the year 2020, representing 18% of the nation’s population. After age 75, driving performance begins to decline due to changes in health and medication effects. Indeed, one quarter of seniors over 75 are expected to require alternative transportation services in the future. This chapter examines transit and innovative mobility options to better meet the needs of the growing older population in the near (2011) and more distant (2021) future.Barriers to transit use among older adults include anxiety and confusion about using transit; inconvenience; cost and payment; safety; and physical discomfort. Emerging intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies can help to overcome these barriers and provide alternative mobility options, such as real-time information, simpler payment, demand-responsive door-to-door services, carsharing, and smart parking linked to transit. Other approaches include user training, smaller and more comfortable vehicles, and low-floor buses. While the scaling and cost reduction benefits of ITS are exciting, there are several obstacles to wide-scale deployment. One of the most significant is coordination among health and human service and transportation providers, particularly in suburban and rural locations. Some operators already struggle to provide services, and many staffers have limited experience with ITS technology. Thus, a concerted effort is needed across many different types of transit agencies to share information and compatible technologies. In the future, coordination strategies and ITS technologies will play a critical role in providing more flexibility, convenience, and choice for older travelers. View...
by Innovative Mobility Research | Jan 8, 2019 |
Authors: Susan Shaheen, PhD, Madonna Camel, Kunik Lee Date: March 2013 Abstract: Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) have primarily focused on systems management. To further improve connectivity and safety in the future, ITS might embrace a more holistic planning approach. While the future of ITS remains an open question, its evolution is closely linked to how the world evolves on many dimensions¾social, political, economic, legal, and environmental. In this paper, the authors present results from four expert workshops. These consisted of an initial steering committee workshop (February 2011), two expert scenario-planning workshops (June 2011), and a final steering committee workshop (July 2011). The scenario planning workshops explored the implications of alternative futures on ITS and incorporated a broad interdisciplinary approach in developing a long-term transportation vision (2030 to 2050 time horizon) for the United States. Twenty-four experts, representing diverse disciplines, participated in a series of workshops to envision plausible futures and to assess their effects on the transportation system. By exploring different futures, experts identified opportunities and barriers for implementing advanced seamless transportation systems. Opportunities included the deployment of adaptable, integrated technology and transportation infrastructure to address natural disasters and climate change. The most significant barriers were funding and politics. The experts suggested that financial barriers be overcome through innovative funding techniques and improved public outreach. Building upon the experts’ recommendations, several visions for an integrated ITS approach, which addresses social and environmental challenges in the future, were created. These included private-public partnerships; distributed implementation models (e.g., localized); and the development of seamless transportation systems to reduce energy consumption, emissions, and road congestion. View...
by Innovative Mobility Research | Nov 28, 2017 |
Authors: Susan Shaheen, PhD, Adam Cohen Date: April 1, 2016 Abstract: This primer provides an overview of current practices in this emerging field and looks toward the future in the evolution and development of smartphone applications for the transportation sector. The primer provides an introduction and overview smartphone applications (known as “apps”); discusses the background, evolution, and development of smartphone apps; reviews the types of smartphone applications promoting transportation efficiency and congestion reduction; discusses transportation apps and their impacts on traveler behavior; examines current challenges; and concludes with guiding principles for public agencies. View...
by Innovative Mobility Research | Oct 27, 2016 |
In recent years, technological and social forces have pushed smartphone applications (apps) from the fringe to the mainstream. Understanding the role of transportation apps in urban mobility is important for policy development and transportation planners. This study evaluates the role and impact of multimodal aggregators from a variety of perspectives, including a literature review; a review of the most innovative, disruptive, and highest-rated transportation apps; interviews with experts in the industry, and a user survey of former multimodal aggregator RideScout users. Between February and April 2016, researchers conducted interviews with experts to gain a stronger understanding about challenges and benefits of data sharing between private companies and public agencies. Key findings from the expert interviews include the critical need to protect user privacy; the potential to use data sharing to address integrated corridor and congestion management as well as various pricing strategies during peak hours; along with the potential benefits for improving coordination between the public and private sectors. In March 2016, researchers surveyed 130 people who had downloaded the RideScout app to evaluate attitudes and perceptions toward mobile apps, travel behavior, and modal shift. The goal was to enhance understanding of how the multimodal apps were impacting the transportation behavior. The survey did found that respondents used multimodal apps in ways that yielded travel that was less energy intensive and more supportive of public transit. Looking to the future, smartphone applications and more specifically multimodal aggregators, may offer the potential for transportation planners and policymakers to enhance their understanding of multimodal travel behavior, share data, enhance collaboration, and identify opportunities for public-private partnerships....
by Innovative Mobility Research | Sep 14, 2015 |
Authors: Caroline J. Rodier, Ph.D, Susan A. Shaheen, Ph.D, Ellen Cavanagh Published: February 21, 2007 Abstract: Excessive speed is considered to be a major contributing factor to motor vehicle crashes and is thus an important focus of highway enforcement efforts. Automated speed enforcement programs have been widely applied outside the U.S. to address speeding-related safety problems. This literature review explores the potential benefits and barriers to implementing automated speed enforcement programs in the U.S. by examining the large body of literature on automated enforcement programs, including red-light and speed programs....
