Some Victoria (Australia) Transport Board Papers of Interest

[daveklepper]

"Safer Than You Think! Revising the Transit Safety Narrative" (http://www.vtpi.org/safer.pdf )

Public transportation is overall safe (low crash risk) and secure (low crime risk). Transit travel has about a tenth the traffic casualty (death or injury) rate as automobile travel, and residents of transit-oriented communities have about a fifth the per capita traffic fatality rate as residents of automobile-oriented communities. Transit also tends to have lower crime rates than automobile travel, and large transit-oriented cities tend to have low crime rates. However, many people consider transit dangerous and so are reluctant to use it or support transit service expansions in their communities. Public transit agencies can help create a new transit safety narrative by developing better risk evaluation tools, better communicating public transit’s overall safety and health benefits, and providing better guidance concerning how transit users and communities can enhance safety and security. Also see, "Low Crime Rates In Large Cities Support Multi-Modal Planning and Smart Growth" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/65857 ).

 

"Factors to Consider When Estimating Congestion Costs and Evaluating Potential Congestion Reduction Strategies" (http://www.vtpi.org/ITE_congestion.pdf )

Traffic congestion can be measured in various ways that result in very different conclusions about the nature of the problem and optimal solutions. This article, submitted to the ITE Journal, describes various factors that affect congestion cost estimates and the evaluation of potential congestion reduction strategies. It discusses how these factors influence planning decisions, and describes best practices for comprehensive evaluation of congestion impacts. It summarizes information from "Smart Congestion Relief: Comprehensive Analysis Of Traffic Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Benefits" (http://www.vtpi.org/cong_relief.pdf ) and "Congestion Costing Critique: Critical Evaluation of the 'Urban Mobility Report'" (http://www.vtpi.org/UMR_critique.pdf )

 

[blue streak 1]

Interesting study   ----   How to quantify the various modes in this country.   IMHO the method would be to compare fatalities on vehicles by available seat miles ( ASMs )   So each mode of autos, buses,  light rail,  commuter rail,  Amtrak SD routes, Amtrak long distance,  Airlines.  Anyother measure would skew the stats to the higher capacity modes esp commuter rail.   Any thoughts ?.

Reevenue passenger miles would be a better metric however at present it is impossible to get those figures especially buses and commuter rail ?