Projects
Principal Investigator:
Brian D. TaylorFunding Source:
California 100 InitiativeProgram Area(s):
Transportation & CommunitiesThis project for the California 100 initiative examines transportation in California: where we are today, how we got here, and where we might be headed. We begin with facts on travel and transportation systems in California today. We next explore the decades of public and private land development and transportation systems that have shaped the current state of play: today’s transportation problems stem, in significant part, from yesterday’s land use decisions. We then consider factors that have either recently come to the fore or are likely to emerge in the near future. We review possible context-specific reforms to reshape transportation in the state, in order to better manage vehicle travel and reduce chronic congestion, shift patterns of development to make them less car-dependent, and increase access for all. Finally, we summarize the findings from a diverse panel of transportation experts convened to explore the possibilities, pitfalls, and implications of four possible future transportation and land use scenarios for California.
Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth OwenFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Public TransitThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Shinah ParkFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research ProgramProgram Area(s):
Transportation FinanceThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Andrew JarnaginFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
EnvironmentThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Doug ArseneaultFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Transportation & CommunitiesThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Teo WicklandFunding Source:
USDOT FHWA Talent DevelopmentProgram Area(s):
New Mobility, Transportation & CommunitiesThe United States’ transportation workforce is currently at a skills deficit in key areas. New and innovative transportation technologies and approaches threaten to exacerbate this situation. Yet, transportation workers need more than skills to implement new technologies: they need the skills to critically determine which technologies are likely to support a thriving nation and under what conditions. Additionally, transportation workers need the skills to support non-technology-focused solutions to the nation’s transportation challenges, including cultural, political, and social change.
Principal Investigator:
J.R. DeShazoFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research ProgramProgram Area(s):
EnvironmentAviation is a difficult sector to decarbonize. The high energy and power requirements of flight make electrification challenging and low-carbon liquid fuels face their own technical and practical hurdles. While much of the attention on air transportation pertains to passenger travel, the relatively smaller air cargo industry faces similar challenges to decarbonization as the passenger airline industry. In the face of a difficult to decarbonize aviation sector, carbon savings may be realized by facilitating modal shifts from air transportation to less-polluting ground transportation where feasible. California’s effort to build a high-speed rail network for interregional travel in California is an example of such a strategy and features prominently in the state’s Scoping Plan as one pathway towards meeting 2050 GHG emissions reduction targets in the transportation sector. Luskin Center for Innovation researchers propose conducting an exhaustive search of the relevant peer reviewed and grey literature on studies that examine the economic and environmental effects of policies, programs, and projects aimed at shifting passenger and cargo movements from the air to the ground.
Principal Investigator:
Antara MurshedFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
New Mobility, Public Transit, Transportation & CommunitiesThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Danielle ParnesFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Access to Opportunities, Public TransitThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Jacob L. WassermanFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research Program & Resilient and Innovative Mobility InitiativeProgram Area(s):
Access to Opportunities, New MobilityThis project synthesizes three primary data sources—credit data, unemployment claims data, and small business loan and grant data—to explore the financial conditions of those who drive for a living before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. Automobile debt was high among groups likely to contain professional drivers. The occupational categories in which many drivers fall had high absolute and relative levels of automobile debt compared to other workers. After the onset of the pandemic, unemployment rose dramatically in the transportation industry and in transportation occupations, peaking at rates higher than the national average. However, state unemployment claims data, among transportation employee claimants only, show less of a spike. Contractor drivers lived in areas with more Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims, a special program for self-employed workers like gig drivers. Finally, contractor drivers received unprecedented but uneven federal small business loans and grants. Drivers in many areas, however, did not receive much or any of these funds, though those areas that did tended to have more residents of color. Assessing the full effect of the pandemic on professional drivers’ debt and finances will require additional and better data, particularly workforce data from gig economy firms that contract with drivers.
Principal Investigator:
Erik FelixFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Public Transit, Transportation & Communities, Transportation & HealthThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Ryan CaroFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Public TransitThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Kimberly VenegasFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Transportation & Communities, Transportation & HealthThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Ryota AbeFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research ProgramProgram Area(s):
EnvironmentThis report partially fulfills the requirements for the Master in Public Policy degree in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Principal Investigator:
Nataly Rios GutierrezFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Access to Opportunities, Transportation & HealthThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Paavo MonkkonenFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research ProgramProgram Area(s):
Transportation & CommunitiesLos Angeles County has spent tens of billions of dollars to build over 100 miles of rail transit, but today per capita transit ridership is 40 percent lower than before rail construction began. One reason for this startling failure is that LA remains overwhelmingly laid out for the automobile: it is a low-density, parking-heavy landscape where the built environment is not conducive to transit use. Our analysis will compare costs, project timelines, and community benefits of by-right and nearby discretionary projects. We will estimate reductions in project costs and time to market resulting from by-right approvals and compare benefits by assessing differences in affordable units provided by developers. This analysis will be used to project impacts to housing affordability and availability near transit, with estimated mobility impacts that could result, including changes to transit usage and vehicle-miles traveled.
Principal Investigator:
Madeline BrozenFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research ProgramProgram Area(s):
Access to Opportunities, Transportation & CommunitiesA recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that 85% of Californians are concerned about the presence of homeless people in their community and believe addressing this issue should be a top priority. Few scholars have studied the large and growing numbers of people who live in their vehicles. According to point-in-time count data from the 2019 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, over 40% of the unsheltered homeless population in LA County, some 14,000 people, rely on vehicles (cars, vans, RVs) for shelter. The increase in vehicular homelessness raises challenges for both people who are experiencing homelessness and for cities. Vehicle living can be cost-effective relative to sky-high rents, but residents often lack essential amenities. At the same time, residents complain about the adverse effects of vehicle encampments on their neighborhoods. In response, this project seeks to create a better understanding of vehicular homelessness as a way for both homeless providers and transportation officials alike to address this precarious form of shelter.
Principal Investigator:
Benjamin BressetteFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
Public TransitThis capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Principal Investigator:
Steven KingFunding Source:
Pacific Southwest Region 9 University Transportation CenterProgram Area(s):
New MobilityThis report partially fulfills the requirements for the Master in Public Policy degree in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Principal Investigator:
Jiaqi MaFunding Source:
Statewide Transportation Research ProgramProgram Area(s):
New MobilityTransportation agencies use travel demand models (e.g., four-step models, activity-based models, dynamic traffic assignment models) to evaluate transportation improvement projects. However, existing travel demand models are unable to account for capacity changes of the network and mode shifts associated with connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies and services. This project aims to lay a foundational framework for the development of planning-level analysis capability that includes CAVs and engage in a small scale case study, toward a vision where practitioners have CAV-aware tools available. The research team will work with stakeholders in the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) to identify current needs in modeling CAVs and new mobility services in demand models. The project will develop methodologies to enhance the existing SCAG activity-based demand model, and the areas of enhancements include, but not limited to, capacity adjustments and new scenarios of travel behavior/choice modeling.