Projects

Principal Investigator:

Melissa Sather

Funding Source:

Statewide Transportation Research Program

Program Area(s):

New Mobility, Public Transit

As part of the city’s Vision Zero policy goal put forth by Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2015 to eliminate traffic related deaths on city streets, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has reconfigured a number of stretches of roadway in the city, removing lanes and installing what are commonly known as “road diets.” While numerous studies have shown road diets can greatly reduce the number and severity of collisions, especially for pedestrians and cyclists, the public response to many of the changes implemented in Los Angeles has been quite negative. This negative response has largely centered on claims of large increases in congestion and travel times along the streets where the LADOT has removed lanes.To examine this issue the research team will survey existing literature on road diets and their congestion impacts, analyze before and after LADOT daily traffic volume data for a number of street segments where the city installed road diets and nearby parallel segments where no change was made, and observe current conditions of ten intersections within the selected street segments to assess potential ongoing delay and congestion in the study corridors.

Principal Investigator:

Michael Manville

Funding Source:

Statewide Transportation Research Program & Southern California Association of Governments

Program Area(s):

Public Transit

In the last ten years transit use in Southern California has fallen significantly. This report investigates that falling transit use. The project examines patterns of transit service and patronage over time and across the region and considers an array of explanations for falling transit use: declining transit service levels, eroding transit service quality, rising fares, falling fuel prices, the growth of Lyft and Uber, the migration of frequent transit users to outlying neighborhoods with less transit service, and rising vehicle ownership. While all of these factors probably play some role, the research concludes that the most significant factor is increased motor vehicle access, particularly among low-income households that have traditionally supplied the region with its most frequent and reliable transit users.

Principal Investigator:

Carole Turley Voulgaris

Funding Source:

Statewide Transportation Research Program

Program Area(s):

Public Transit

Principal Investigator:

Brian D. Taylor

Funding Source:

Caltrans Division of Rail and Mass Transportation

Program Area(s):

Public Transit