SURP 866 URBAN TRANSPORTATION POLICY
Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm
Robert Sutherland Hall 554
Instructor: Dr. Ajay Agarwal ()
Office Hours: By Appointment
This course provides an introduction to some of the key planning and policy issues in urban transportation. Urban transportation is examined in the context of general economic, social and spatial trends. Particular focus is placed on 1) the role the built environment in explaining travel behavior and 2) policy tools for addressing transportation problems. The aim of this course is to provide some understanding of the nature of the “urban transportation problem,” and why transportation problems are so difficult to solve. Potential topics far exceed what can be covered in one semester; the course provides only a partial treatment.
Transportation provides both enormous benefits (indeed, society as we know it could not exist without an extensive and efficient transportation system) and enormous costs. Urban congestion problems exist the world over, from the streets of Toronto to the subways in Hong Kong. Rapid urbanization and rising auto ownership have created massive congestion in the major cities of many developing countries. With the dominance of the automobile comes a long list of environmental and social concerns, from air pollution to job access for inner city youth. Governments around the world are implementing a variety of policies to solve these problems. Many are aimed at reducing automobile use. Yet more people are driving more cars than ever before.
This course covers a rich set of expansive and complex issues. To get a useful grip on both practice and research problems, we’ll need to read a lot and then talk a lot. Each student will email me select questions/discussion topics from the day’s assigned readings. The email should be in my mailbox latest by 6:00 am on Tuesdays. I will lecture occasionally and get the discussion rolling. Together, we will address select questions raised by the group, one question at a time. This model only works if the entire class has carefully read the material beforehand.
Recommended Text: Hansen S. and G. Giuliano (2004) The Geography of Urban Transportation Third Edition, New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
All other required readings will be available for photocopying from SURP office.
GRADING
Assignment 1 10 %
Assignment 2 20 %
Draft Term Paper 15 %
Final Term paper 35 %
Class Participation 20 %
SCHEDULE
Sep 9 / INTRODUCTIONSelf-introductions, review outline, course overview, Yes Minister clip.
Assignment 1handed out: One week travel diary
Sep 16 / THEMES & DEBATES; THEORY
1. Hansen and Giuliano 2004: Chapter 1 The Context of Urban Travel: Concepts and Recent Trends.
2. Levinson and Krizek 2008 Planning for Place and Plexus Ch. 2 Diamond of Action.
3. Levinson and Krizek 2008 Planning for Place and Plexus Ch. 5 Travelling.
Assignment 1 due; Assignment 2 handed out
Sep 23 / THE URBAN CONTEXT
1. Hansen and Giuliano 2004 Chapter 3. Muller P “Stages in the Evolution of Urban Form.”
2. Giuliano, G., A. Agarwal, and C. Redfearn (2009) “Metropolitan Spatial Trends in Employment and Housing: Literature Review,” commissioned paper for TRB Speical Report 298, Effects of Land Development Patterns on Motorized Travel, Energy, and CO2 Emissions.
3. Miller E. and A. Shalaby (2003) “Evolution of Personal Travel in Toronto Area and Policy Implications.” J. Urban Planning & Development, vol.129 (1), 1-26.
Sep 30 / LANDUSE AND TRANSPORTATION
1. Giuliano, G. 1995. “The Weakening Transportation-Land Use Connection,” Access 6, 3-11.
2. Giuliano, G. and A. Agarwal (2010) “Public transit as a metropolitan growth and development strategy,” in H. Wolman, ed., Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects, Vol 3. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
3. Giuliano G. and A. Agarwal (forthcoming) Landuse Impacts of Transportation Investments: Highway and Transit
Oct 7 / THEORY AND ANALYSIS OF AGGREGATE FLOWS OF TRAVEL
1. Boarnet, M. and R. Crane. 2001. Travel by Design Ch. 4 The Demand for Travel.
2. Boarnet, M. and R. Crane. 2001. Travel by Design Ch. 3 Studies of Urban Form and Travel.
3. Hansen and Giuliano. 2004. Chapter 7 GIS in Urban-Regional Planning.
Oct 14 / BUILT ENVIRONMENT & TRAVEL BEHAVIOR
1. Filion, P. and K. McSpurren (2007) “Smart growth and development reality: The difficult co-ordination of land use and transport objectives,” Urban Studies, 44(3), 501-523.
2. Forsyth, A., J. Oates, K. Schmitz, M. Hearst (2007) “Does residential density increase walking and other physical activity?” Urban Studies, 44(4), 679-697.
Assignment 2 Presentations begin
Oct 21 / ACCESSIBILITY, JOBS-HOUSING BALANCE & SPATIAL MISMATCH
1. Cervero, R. 1997. “Tracking Accessibility,” Access 11, 1997.
2. Levine, J. 1998. “Rethinking Accessibility and Jobs-Housing Balance,” Journal of the American Planning Association 64, No. 2.
3. Levine, J. 1999. “Access to Choice,” Access 14, 16-19.
Assignment 2 Presentations Continued
Oct 24 / Special Guest Lecture by Dr. Michael Manville, Cornell University; attendance is mandatory; RSH 554, 11:15 am – 12:30 pm
Oct 28 / MIDTERM: Draft of the term paper due with bibliography; please submit to Jo-Anne before 3:00 pm; NO CLASS
Nov 4 / PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
1. Brown, J. and G. Thompson (2010) “What Really Matters For Increasing Transit Ridership: A Case Study Comparison of Two Transit Systems.” Paper submitted to TRB for presentation at the 2011 annual meeting.
2. Hansen and Giuliano 2004: Chapter 8. Public Transportation
3. Collins, Agarwal, and Healey (forthcoming) “An Examination of the Potential of Public Transit to Promote Health in a Midsized Canadian City: A Case Study of Kingston, Ontario.”
Assignment 2 Presentations Continued
Nov 11 / TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
1. Boarnet, M. and R. Crane. 2001. Travel by Design Ch. 6 Neighborhood Supply Issues
2. Boarnet, M. and R. Crane. 2001. Travel by Design Ch. 7 Transit-Oriented Planning.
3. Loukaitou-Sideris, A. and T. Banerjee. 1996. “There’s No There There: Or Why Neighborhoods Don’t Readily Develop Near Light-Rail Transit Stations.” Access 9, 2-6.
4. CerveroR, 2007, "Transit-Oriented Development’s Ridership Bonus: A Product of Self-Selection and Public Policies" Environment and Planning A, vol. 39(9) 2068–2085
Assignment 2 Presentations Continued
Nov 18 / ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL JUSTICE, GOODS MOVEMENT
1. Hansen and Giuliano 2004: Chapter 13 Transportation and the Environment
2. Hansen and Giuliano 2004: Chapter 12 Social and Environmental Justice Issues in Urban Transportation
3. Woudsma C. (2001) Understanding the movement of goods, not people: Issues, evidence, and potential. Urban Studies vol. 38(13), pp 2439-2455.
Nov 25 / SUMMARY OF THE TOPICS COVERED, CLOSING THOUGHTS
1. Hansen and Giuliano 2004: Chapter 14 Managing the Aut0
FINAL TERM PAPERS ARE DUE ON DEC 9. PLEASE SUBMIT TO JO-ANNE.
SURP 866 Urban Transportation Policy 1