The textbook for this class is:
Meyer, Michael, and Eric Miller. Urban Transportation Planning. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2001. ISBN: 9780072423327.
Note: The ISBN for the paperback version of the textbook is 9780521700801.
The textbook will be referred to as UTP in the table below. This section also contains additional suggested readings.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Course overview, different perspectives from the instructors Transport modes and characteristics (speed, capacity, LOS, external impacts...) Traffic counts Energy use at MIT, "Walking the Talk" |
(Optional, to be read after this first class.) UTP: Chapter 3 (pp. 89-96, 98-105), and Chapter 7 (pp. 390-400, 412- 425). MIT Energy Research Council. "Walking the Talk." Report of the Energy Research Council. MIT, Cambridge, MA. May 3, 2006, chapter 5. ( Hockfield, Susan. Speech in "Opening Remarks: Overview of the Energy Research Report." 00:00-15:19. MIT, Cambridge, MA. May 3, 2006. Heywood, John. Speech in "Energy for a Rapidly Evolving World." 33:28-47:07. MIT, Cambridge, MA. May 3, 2006. |
| 2 |
Transportation planning as a tool for urban design Traffic calming: Design and implementation |
UTP: Chapter 1.
|
| 3 |
Thumbnail history of Boston transportation and analysis of historical developments: Interstate system, aviation, rail and transit The planning method |
UTP: Chapter 2. Cameron, I., T. J. Lyons, and J. R. Kenworthy. "Trends in Vehicle Kilometers of Travel in World Cities, 1960-1990: Underlying Drivers and Policy Responses." Transport Policy 11, no. 3 (2004): 287-298. Kenworthy, Jeffrey R., and Felix B. Laube. "Patterns of Automobile Dependence in Cities: An International Overview of Key Physical and Economic Dimensions with Some Implications for Urban Policy." Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 33, no. 7-8 (1999): 691-723. |
| 4 |
Transportation and land use — chicken and egg The transit challenge |
Southworth, Michael, and Eran Ben-Joseph. "Street Standards and the Shaping of Suburbia." Journal of the American Planning Association 61, no. 1 (1995): 65-81. Gordon, Peter, and Harry Richardson. "Are Compact Cities a Desirable Planning Goal?" Journal of the American Planning Association 63, no. 1 (1997): 95-106. Ewing, Reid. "Is Los Angeles-style Sprawl Desirable?" Journal of the American Planning Association 63, no. 1 (1997): 107-124.
|
| 5 | Highway revolt. Resurgence of transit. Was the revolt a rebellion or a revolution? Discussion of emerging transportation issues and strategic planning model to "map" different approaches. |
Gakenheimer, Ralph. Transportation as Response to Controversy — The Boston Case. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1976, chapters 1, 7, and 11. Salvucci, Frederick P. "Some observations on the recent 25-year history of the metropolitan Boston transportation system, the legacy of the 1970 Boston Transportation Planning Review: what we should expect from ISTEA, and some new directions which may prove interesting." Paper prepared for the Boston Conference on Shaping the Accessible Region. "Priority Projects: Do Faster Federal Transportation Project Reviews Deliver Better Stewardship?" |
| 6 | Quantitative methods: GIS, 4-Step model, traffic models, NEPA |
UTP: Chapter 5. Beimborn, Edward, Rob Kennedy, William Schaefer, Citizens for a Better Environment, and Environmental Defense Fund. Inside the Blackbox: Making Transportation Models Work for Livable Communities. Milwaukee, WI: Citizens for a Better Environment, 1996. UTP: Chapter 7 (optional). Wachs, M. "Forecasting versus Envisioning: A New Window on the Future." In Symposium: Putting the Future in Planning. Journal of the American Planning Association 67, no. 4 (2001): 365-372. |
| 7 |
Transit and parking policy Employment policies, housing finance, tax code Transportation and industrial policy |
McDonald, John M. "Parking on Campus: It's Really a Numbers Game." MIT Faculty Newsletter 14, no. 3 (2002): 26-27.
|
| 8 |
Environmental concerns: Air quality, energy consumption, global warming NEPA, environmental review Infrastructure sufficiency analysis |
UTP: Chapter 3, Section 3.2.
Marshall, Stephen, and David Banister. "Travel Reduction Strategies: Intentions and Outcomes." Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 34, no. 5 (2000): 321-338. Cervero, Robert. "Induced Travel Demand: Research Design, Empirical Evidence, and Normative Policies." Journal of Planning Literature 17, no. 1 (2002): 3-20. |
| 9 | Spending other people's money — what are the rules? Economic evaluation. financial evaluation, programming, fiscal constraint, job generation, industrial policy, constituencies, Jack Sprat, and organization choices. |
UTP: Chapter 9, pp. 565-570, 586-590.
Wachs, Martin. "Local Option Transportation Taxes: Devolution as Revolution." Access 22 (Spring 2003): 9-15. Downs, Thomas. "Is There a Future for the Federal Surface Transportation Program?" Journal of Transportation Engineering 131, no. 6 (2005): 393-396. |
| 10 |
Project selection Cost-effectiveness, prioritization, institutional roles MPOs and modal agencies FTA Cost-effectiveness FHWA system completion method Guest lecturers: Laurie Hussey and Tom Rossi, Cambridge Systematics Inc.; Astrid Glynn, Massachusetts office of Commonwealth development |
UTP: Chapter 8, pp. 483-523.
Schrank, David, and Tim Lomax. The 2005 Urban Mobility Report. College Station, TX: Texas Transportation Institute, 2005. Ewing, Reid. "Measuring Transportation Performance." Transportation Quarterly 49, no. 1 (1995): 91-104. |
| 11 | ||
| 12 |
Intelligent transportation systems Congestion pricing Infrastructure reconstruction. Operations and maintenance Airport access and international access |
Lessons Learned — U.S. Department of Transportation
Gomez-Ibanez, Jose A. "The Political Economy of Highway Tolls and Congestion Pricing." Transportation Quarterly 46, no. 3 (1992): 343-360. Vickrey, William. Principles of Efficient Congestion Pricing. 1992.
Small, Kenneth. "Unnoticed Lessons from London: Road Pricing and Public Transit." Access 26 (Spring 2005): 10-15. ( Deloitte Research. "Combating Gridlock: How Road User Pricing Can Ease Congestion." 2003. Transport for London. "Central London Congestion Charging — Impacts Monitoring: Fourth Annual Report." 2006. ( |
| 13 |
"Megacities" perspective Holistic approach to transportation and land use. Course evaluations and wrap-up Information on Mikel's IAP modeling workshop | None (work on final assignment) |
Additional Suggested Readings
Mackett, Roger L., and Marion Edwards. "The Impact of New Urban Public Transport Systems: Will the Expectations be Met?" Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 32, no. 4 (1998): 231-245.
Jensen, Mette. "Passion and Heart in Transport — A Sociological Analysis on Transport Behaviour." Transport Policy 6, no. 1 (1999): 19-33.
Rubin, Thomas A., James E. Moore II, and Shin Lee. "Ten Myths about US Urban Rail Systems." Transport Policy 6, no. 1 (1999): 57-73.
Cervero, Robert. The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1998, pp. 401-445. ISBN: 9781559635912.
Schwartz, Peter. The Art of the Long View. 1st ed. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1991. ISBN: 9780385267311.
Tufte, Edward R. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd ed. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780961392147.
Gehl, Jan. Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space. 3rd ed. Copenhagen: Arkitektens Forlag, 1996. ISBN: 8774071734.
Garreau, Joel. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. 1st ed. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1992. ISBN: 9780385424349.
Bohl, Charles C., and Dean Schwanke. Place Making: Developing Town Centers, Main Streets, and Urban Villages. Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute, 2002. ISBN: 9780874208863.
Warner, Sam Bass. Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston, 1870-1900. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978. ISBN: 9780674842137.

