Telecommunication vs. Transportation
Pnina Ohanna Plaut
The functions of transportation and communication systems overlap. Both bridge the gaps between geographic locations, the one by moving physical objects, the other by moving information.
Why Don’t You Telecommute?
Ilan Salomon and
Patricia Mokhtarian
Telecommuting promises to benefit everyone. Employees can avoid time-consuming trips to work, permitting a more flexible, family- and community-oriented lifestyle. Employers can reduce their costs of expensive office space, while drawing on a larger and more diverse labor pool. Air quality may improve with reduced automobile trips.
THE ACCESS ALMANAC: Travel by Carless Households
Richard Crepeau and
Charles Lave
Over the past thirty years the federal government has funded extensive programs to improve travel options for people who do not have their own vehicles. During this same period, independent of government actions, economic and demographic trends have diminished the target population and made vehicle access nearly universal, even among the poorest households. In 1969, 20.6 percent of households (HHs) had no vehicle. By 1983 this ratio had fallen to 13.5 percent. By 1990, it fell to 9.2 percent of HHs. Further, HHs without vehicles tend to be smaller than average, so in 1990 the zero-vehicle HHs comprised only 6.4 percent of the population.
Are Americans Really Driving So Much More?
Charles Lave
Many people seem to think that increased VMT (vehicle miles traveled) spells trouble. VMT growth bothers environmentalists because it implies greater energy consumption and pollution. VMT growth concerns urban planners because it suggests increased sprawl and decreased transit use.
SmartMaps for Public Transit
Michael Southworth
Many people find the prospect of travel by public transit complex and unpredictable, rather than inviting. Riders must be able to read English, understand complex route maps and schedules, and figure out fares. Some must be able to use electronic ticket and information devices. These systems may seem simple, but many transit users have difficulty making sense of the transit information that’s usually available. Most systems ignore the special needs of children, foreigners, and users who are illiterate, sight-impaired, hearing-impaired, or otherwise disabled.
Telecommuting: What’s the Payoff?
William S. McCullough
Science fiction writers and high-tech enthusiasts may envision a world without commuting. Already, modern telecommunications technology allows people separated by hundreds of miles to work together as if they had adjacent desks. By simply lifting a phone, or switching on a computer modem, we can do our office work from anywhere- even from home. But the convenience telecommuting offers is not problem free.
Cars and Demographics
Charles Lave
Imagine that it’s January 1993. Our environmentalist coalition has swept all the national elections and is ready to declare war on the automobile. We shall make urban life in America as civilized as urban life in Europe. Our major legislative program is put forth, and passed:
We triple the price of gasoline – to $4 per gallon.
We build thousands of miles of rail transit.
We radically increase the cost of downtown parking.
We effectively restrict land use so that most of the suburban population moves back into the cities.
Compulsory Ridesharing in Los Angeles
Martin Wachs and
Genevieve Giuliano
Americans often look to South California as a place where lifestyle trends are born. Now, ironically, the land that has long glorified the car culture is galvanizing commuting behavior and encouraging abstinence from the once respectable custom of solo diving. The catalyst for this behavioral change is Regulation XV, adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in 1987. Also known “The Commuter Program,” Regulation XV requires all public and private employers (firms, government agencies, schools, hospitals, etc.) with at least 100 employees at any work site to devise commute alternatives for employees and to reduce the number of people driving alone to work.
Commuter Stress
Raymond W. Novaco
Everyone knows that being stuck in traffic is stressful, and few look forward to long commutes on congested roadways. But the negative effects of traffic congestion go beyond frustration and fatigue. Our research at UC Irvine since the late 1970s has discovered adverse health impacts of what we call “high impedance” commuting.