11.943J/ESD.

935
Urban Transportation, Land Use, and
the Environment in Latin America:
A Case Study Approach
14 February, 2002

Lecture 3:
Transportation Strategies, Options, Examples
 Paths of Intervention
Institutions

Visions, Strategies

Laws/Regs.
Investments
Plans

Operations
Supply Land Demand
Use

2
 “Supply-Side” Interventions
� Roadway Infrastructure
– Challenge: multi-agency responsibility
� local, regional, national

� maintenance,
� management
� expansion
� provision (public) vs. operation (generally private)

– Challenge: Prices charged do not reflect costs

� [Finance issues detailed in future class]

3
 Roadway Maintenance
� Roadway systems already constitute massive
public investments
– Typically poorly maintained
– Maintenance investments typically exhibit very
high rates of return
– Institutional challenges:
� responsibilities allocated according to traffic (local,
regional, national);
� revenue raising capabilities not necessarily matched
with institutional responsibilities nor user impact (i.e.,
distance and weight related registration fees).

4
 Roadway Maintenance
� Need for a “maintenance culture” and maintenance
management systems
– to plan and budget for required maintenance on a systematic
basis
– Implementing surveys of road condition, distinguishing
routine, periodic maintenance, and
rehabitation/reconstruction
� Impacts:
– Traffic flow (congestion)
– roadway safety
– vehicle maintenance and performance

5
 Traffic Management
� Maximize efficiency of existing infrastructure
– Focus on moving goods and persons (not vehicles, per se)
– Defer capital expenditures for expansion (‘buy time’)
– Immediate impacts, often with minimal adverse side
effects and at relatively low cost
� Improve safety and environmental performance
� Challenges
– Virtually impossible to satisfy needs of all users (i.e.,
pedestrians vs. motor vehicles, bus priority vs. auto, etc.)
– Often “low profile” – little political visibility
– Implies a continuous process – not a “one shot” solution

6
Traffic Management - Measures
� Traffic circulation design
– one way streets,
– vehicle bans during certain hours and/or in certain areas
– traffic calming and other measures to improve non-
motorized transport conditions
� Traffic signal management (computerized,
synchronized, specific user priority – i.e., buses,
pedestrians, cyclists)
– Linked to advances in telecommunications and
intelligent transportation systems (ITS)
– Technology “leapfrog” opportunity?
� On-street parking policies
� Enforcement
7
Traffic Management – Bus Priority
� Bus lanes: typically re-allocating general roadspace to
bus-only use; normally not physically separated
� Busways: segregated, higher capacity, often requires
new right of way.
� Latin America, particularly Brazil, has been a pioneer
– Curitiba, Recife, Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte,
Quito, Bogota, Lima, Santiago
� Signal priority: much less common (non-existent?) in
developing countries
– complex to design and manage, difficult to organize with
multiple operators (on-vehicle hardware requirements)

8
 Bus Priority - Challenges
� Operational
– difficult to enforce bus lanes (i.e., encroaching traffic)
– with high “informal” sector presence and/or many small
vehicles, and/or exceptionally high bus flow - limited
effectiveness
� Engineering
– integration with other road traffic
– protecting passengers coming/going from stops
� Political
– opposition to space re-allocation
– desire for high-tech solutions (i.e., metros)

9
Infrastructure Expansion - Roadways

� Optimal transport network size?

– U.S. cities, avg. 35% of urban area for transport
infrastructure; European cities, 20-25%; Asian
cities, 10-12%…
� Key is hierarchical network appropriately
scaled to urban fabric and adequately fit
according to need and use

10
 Roadway Hierarchy
Type Function NMT Design Direct Land Comments
Facilities speed Access
Sidewalks, Pedestrian Yes Unrestricted Essential for
paths flow access
Cycle Bike flow Yes Unrestricted Continuous
paths system preferable
Local Property Sidewalks 30-40 Unrestricted Discourage
Streets Access Km/hr through traffic
Collector Links local Sidewalks; 40-50 Generally Discourage
Streets street to bike lanes Km/hr Unrestricted through traffic
arterials possible
Arterials Intra-city Sidewalks; 50-75 Only to major “Backbone” of
travel bicycle lanes Km/hr traffic urban street
w/ demand generators system
Express­ Inter and None >75 No direct land Grade separated
ways Intra-city Km/hr access inter-sections
travel
Source: World Bank, 2001, p. 91. 11
 When to Expand Capacity?
� Typically requires system-wide analysis
– Avoid “shifting bottlenecks”
– Full comparison to alternatives (traffic management and
demand management)
– Impacts on non-motorized transport
– Comparison of full costs and benefits is necessary, but not
sufficient
� Valuation of environmental externalities,
� Better understanding of impacts on urban form
� Distributional effects of investments
– Must take into account induced demand

12
Capacity Expansion & Induced Demand
� Theory: Increases in roadway capacity attracts
increases in traffic
– Reduced travel costs (time) produces increases in
demand
� Implications
– Underestimated social costs from generated traffic
(over-estimated benefits of reduced congestion);
– Additional benefits of greater overall mobility
� Empirical estimates: Elasticities of Vehicle
Distances Traveled with respect to lane miles
– Short run: 0.5 (Noland, US State Level)
– Long run: 0.8 (Noland); 0.9 (Hansen & Huang, CA);
1.0 (SACTRA)
13
 Induced Demand - Graphically
Induced Travel w/ Growth
Induced Travel
in Underlying Demand
S1 S1
S2 S2
Travel Price

Travel Price
P1 P1
P3
P2
D3
D D1

Q1 Q2 Q2-Q1: Q1 Q2 Q3
Induced Demand
Travel Quantity Q3-Q2:
Exogenous Growth 14
 Induced Demand - Effects
� Short Run
– Changes in travel departure times, route
switches, mode switches, longer trips, and
some increase in trip generation.
� Long Run
– Changes in land use patterns and spatial
location of activities

15
Induced Demand - Implications
� Need to differentiate between induced demand and
demand growth due to demographic factors (income,
population, etc.)
– Noland’s models for US estimate over 5 year period
approximately 25% (21%-29%) of VMT growth due to
induced demand
� Implies 43 million additional tonnes of CO2 emissions
� Need to balance induced demand’s benefits
(increased mobility/accessibility) with its social costs
� Road construction cannot solve congestion

16
 Does Induced Demand Exist
for Other Modes?
� Busways, Rail, NMT facilities – an attempt, in
part, to induce demand to these modes
– Improving travel times, improving travel comfort,
security, safety
� Noland (1995) shows that increased cyclist
perception of safety produces a greater than
proportional increase in bicycle use
� Ortuzar et al (2000) estimate that cycle network
construction in Santiago (3.2 km per km 2 would
produce a 350% increase in bike mode share (from
1.6% to 5.8% of trips)
17
 Infrastructure Expansion – Mass Transit
Item Caracas Bangkok Mexico Kuala Tunis Quito Bogota Porto
Lumpur Alegre

Type Metro Metro Metro Light Light Trolley­ Busway Buway

Rail Rail busway

Layout 100% 100% 20% E 100% At At grade At grade At grade

tunnel elevated 55% G elevated grade
25% T
Capital 90 74 41 50 13 10 5.2 1
Cost/km 70 w/o 29 w/o 23 w/o 9 w/o 1.8 w/o
($mns) veh. veh. veh. veh.
Veh.
Max. 32,400 50,000 39,300 30,000 12,000 15,000 35,000 20,000
capacity
(p/h/d)

Source: World Bank, 2001, p. 120.

18
Mass Transit Infrastructure – Major Issues
� Busways
– as discussed earlier (slide 9)
– rapid to deploy
– ability to integrate with urban form? (Curitiba)
� Rail
– typically viewed as far too expensive for developing cities
– Clearly play a role in dense travel corridors
– As income grows, justification can grow – investments
become relatively more affordable; value of time savings
increases
– How to better integrate with urban form (both existing and
new infrastructure); value capture, station development, etc.
– What should pricing policy be?

19
 Transport Supply – Public Transport Mgmt.
Less Regulation

Public Monopoly (Rail Systems, Bus/Trolleybus in Mexico City)

Gross Cost Service
Contracts
(Curitiba)
Less Public Funding

Net Cost Service

Contracts (Santiago, Sao Paulo)
Franchises (Bogota)

Concessions

Quantity Licenses
(Mexico City)
Quality Licenses
Paratransit
Open Market

20
 Example of Roles in “Loose”
Regulation
City Authority(ies) Companies
Bogota Issues licenses (route, hours, Vehicle Owners pay “entry
capacity); basic fares; poor overall fee” to licensed company;
regulation premium fare
Buenos Issues concession licenses; Vehicles are “share” in
Aires Ministry of Economy sets fares; company (association);
Transport Authority operators set vehicle type;
routes/schedule company influences sched.
Mexico Issues route-based licenses for Operators determine vehicle
City buses and minibuses; sets fares type and schedule
and routes

•Source: Halcrow Fox, 2000.

21
 Example of Roles in “Strong”
Regulation
City Authority(ies) Companies
Curitiba Gross cost contracts on area basis; 10 “Formal” Companies.
reimburses operators based on per
kms; fares, vehicle type, schedule,
route, # buses specified.
Rio Licenses specify level of service 33 licensed companies.
and fares, routes and vehicle types.
Santiago Contract specifies route and ~250 companies set fares
frequency; fare and vehicle type and vehicle type via
established in bidding. bidding.
São Paulo Contract – based on standardized 50 private operators;
cost schedule – specifies route, contract does not allow for
frequency and vehicle type; much innovation.
payment on per km basis.
•Source: Halcrow Fox, 2000. 22
Public Transport Management
� Obstacles and Challenges
– Ensuring competitive route bidding
– Service and Fare Integration
– Adequate enforcement of service conditions
(frequencies, fares, etc.)
– “Formalization” of Companies
– Reducing “incumbents’ advantage”
– Long-Term profitability
– Institutional capacity and political influence

23
 Transport Supply –Vehicle
Owners
� Private Vehicle Characteristics and influence
– Size, Weight – price based
� potential influence via tax policy, registration fees
– Emissions, Safety – regulation based, possibly price
based
� New vehicle standards, in-use vehicle standards, I/M
programs,
� Potential to link to pricing mechanisms (fuel prices,
registration prices, purchase prices).
� Public Vehicle Characteristics and influence
– Via the management/regulatory regimes

24
 Transport Demand
Management
� Prices, Fares, Subsidies
– Fuel charges, road pricing charges, insurance
charges
� Blunt instruments
– Driving bans (“Hoy no Circula”)
� The Role of Traffic Management and
Supply Management

25
 Land Use: Supply-Demand
Interaction
Hypotheses of The “Three D’s”
Characteristic Vehicle Choice of non-private
Trip Rates vehicle for:
Non-Work Work
Trips Trips
Density Reduce Increase Increase
Diversity Reduce Increase Increase
Design Reduce Increase Increase

26
Land Use: Reality of the “Three D’s”
� “Modest to moderate at best”
– Densities important for personal business
– Commercial activity accessibility important for HH VMT
– Retail activity accessibility important for work trip mode
choice
– Design elements (Grid layout, limited on street parking)
important for non work travel
– Need for co-existence of the Three D’s
� In the developing world what can really be
achieved??
– (see, for example, WBCSD, Table 4.10, p. 4-28)

Source: Cervero & Kockelman, 1997. 27

 Solution Sets - Key
� Vision
� Strategy
� Tactics
� Integrated Approach
� Institutional Implications

28
The Curitiba “Story”
“Story”

29
 Curitiba: Background
Population (Thousands)
3000
Metro Region
2500 Curitiba

2000

1500

1000

500

0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Source: Curitiba Prefeitura Municipal
31
 Curitiba: Background

� City Size: 431 km2, city proper

~800 km2, metro region
� GDP per Capita: $5,150 (US$1994)
- employment: 35% retail-commercial;
19% manufacturing
� Private Autos: 270 per 1000 people
(1993)

32
 Curitiba: Evolution of a Transport
System
1965: Linear Access Plan Conceived
1970: Jaime Lerner Elected Mayor
1972: Pedestrianization of Downtown Streets
1974: First Two Busways
1978: Additional Busway
1979: First Interdistrict Bus Line
1980: East-West Busway
Fare and Service Integration
1991: Express Bus with Tube Stops
1992: Bi-articulated Buses

33
 Fundamental Principle I:
Land Use-Transport Integration
A “Linear City”:
• Focusing urban expansion along structural axes
– Centered on busways
• Promote densification of land uses on axes
– Zoning, Regulations, Incentives

34
Fundamental Principle II:
Public Transport Priority in Road Infrastructure
“Trinary” Road System
Busway

Local Collectors

High Capacity
One-Way Streets

35