ACCESS 42, Spring 2013
John A. Mathews
The ancient Greeks believed that the recently deceased journeyed to the land of the dead not by floating toward a bright light, but by public transportation. A boat driver named Charon carried souls across the river Styx on an express ferry to Hades. The dead who didn't have exact change were forced to wander for thousands of years, looking for a deli where they could break a drachma.
Download the PDF.
Alan Altshuler
By far the largest federal infrastructure grant program in the United States is for highways and urban mass transportation, totaling $60 billion in 2011 alone. Two of the three most recent multi-year authorizations for surface transportation programs, enacted in 1998 and 2005, featured equity in their formal titles. Many states argued that, to be equitable, federal highway aid should mirror revenue flows from each state into the federal Highway Trust Fund. In contrast, few argued for equity on behalf of the poor and disabled.
Download the PDF.
Michael Manville and
Jonathan Williams
Anyone walking through downtown Los Angeles might notice many cars parked at expired meters without a ticket. On some streets, every space is occupied, meters are unfed, and enforcement officers walk by without writing tickets. What gives? The drivers have credentials—often disabled placards—that let them park free.
Download the PDF.
Erick Guerra and
Robert Cervero
Planners and researchers use transit catchment areas—the land around stations—as geographic units for predicting ridership, assessing the impacts of transit investments and, recently, for designing transit-oriented developments (TODs). In the US, a half-mile-radius circle has become the de facto standard for rail-transit catchment areas.
Download the PDF.
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
When the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD) first appeared in the 1980s, many planners and academics enthusiastically endorsed it as a way to increase transit ridership and mitigate sprawl. But actual implementation of TOD projects in Southern California was slow to follow. Developers and funding institutions worried about TODs viability in a region married to the car.
Download the PDF.
Juan Matute
In 2008, California adopted the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, or SB 375. Enforced by the California Air Resources Board, SB 375 seeks to lower greenhouse gas emissions by changing land use and travel behavior. The law requires each of the state's metropolitan planning organizations to create a "Sustainable Communities Strategy," which outlines an integrated regional transportation and land use plan to meet state-prescribed 2020 and 2035 greenhouse gas targets.
Download the PDF.
Donald Shoup
Why do cities require so much off-street parking for new apartment buildings?
Many urban planners argue that residents who own cars will park on the streets if a building doesn't have enough off-street spaces. Others counter that parking requirements increase housing costs and subsidize cars. A third group says that banks will not finance new apartment buildings without parking, developers will not build them, and tenants will not rent them.
Download the PDF.