Rudin Center Reports
2008
de Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“Strengthening Interjurisdictional Coordination on Transportation and Related Land
Use – A Guidebook for Practitioners
,” The publication "Strengthening Interjurisdictional Coordination on Transportation and Related LandUse - A Guidebook for Practitioners" is intended to facilitate better integration of land use andtransportation planning. The guidebook is drawn from research on the jurisdictional barriers thathave had an impact on greater integration of land use and transportation planning in a variety ofrecent planning studies. It provides training matrices, including on key success factors forinterjurisdictional coordination. The guidebook builds on lessons learned from a representativesample of case studies, including the Air Train JFK project; the Route 202/35/6/Bear Mt. PkwySustainable Development Study, Westchester County; Route 303 Sustainable Development Study,Rockland County; the Staten Island Transportation Task Force; and, the Sustainable East EndStrategies (SEEDS).
Download publication2007
Spock, Linda.
“Fare Policy Regarding Regular and/or Inflation-related ("Programmed") Price Increases,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, November 2007.
Historically, transit agencies have implemented fare increases largely on an "as needed" basis. In practice, this has resulted in relatively infrequent changes in fares which are often large in magnitude by virtue of the need to "catch up" on expenses since the previous fare change. This study examines an alternative approach to fare policy - "programmed fare increases" to keep up with expenses on a pre-determined regular basis. This report documents and synthesizes the experience of twelve transit agencies with programmed fare increases. Interestingly, many of the agencies did not know of each other's experience with similar fare policies prior to this study. While still the exception rather than the rule, the research shows that programmed fare increases can be viable across a range of transit agency sizes, organization types, and funding structures. Whatever their individual differences in policy and practice, the experiences of the agencies studied suggest the importance of clearly communicating the need for regular fare increases to transit customers in the context of agencies' efforts to maintain service, constrain costs, and address customer needs and concerns. Collectively, the limited but nonetheless significant experience of the case study agencies represented in this report sets a precedent for the practice of programmed fare increases. This report provides a resource for transit agencies' consideration of adopting programmed fare increases by documenting the actual experience and lessons learned by peer agencies to date.
Download Fare Policy Report Download Appendices2006
Allison L. C. de Cerreño
“Identifying and Reducing Institutional Barriers to Effective and Efficient Freight Movement in the Downstate New York Region,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, December 2006
This report is the culmination of a study, funded by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), that seeks to identify and recommend means for reducing one set of barriers--namely institutional barriers--to effective and efficient freight movement in the downstate New York region. The goals of the report are four-fold: (1) to identify and analyze institutional barriers to effective and efficient freight movement in the downstate New York region; (2) to identify potential means for overcoming such barriers; (3) to identify regional actions that could potentially improve the movement of freight in the downstate New York region; and (4) to identify a set of priority actions that could be taken. The findings of this report call for efforts aimed at increasing communication, sharing best practices, and gathering additional information.
View Reportde Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“High Speed Rail Projects in the United States: Identifying the Elements of Success - Part 2,” MTI Report, 06-03, San Jose, CA: Mineta Transportation Institute, November 2006.
In August 2005, the Mineta Transportation Institute issued the report, High-Speed Rail Projects in the United States: Identifying the Elements for Success. The report noted that since the 1960s, highspeed ground transportation (HSGT) has "held the promise of fast, convenient, and environmentally sound travel for distances between 40 and 600 miles." After briefly discussing the different experiences with HSGT between the United States and its Asian and European counterparts, the report proceeded to review three U.S. cases-Florida, California, and the Pacific Northwest-as a means for identifying lessons learned for successfully implementing high-speed rail (HSR) in the United States.
This report is, in essence, volume 2 of the previous study. Also using a comparative case study approach, this effort adds to the earlier work with three additional cases-the Chicago Hub, the Keystone Corridor, and the Northeast Corridor (NEC). As with the earlier report, the goal of this study is to identify lessons learned for successfully implementing HSR in the United States. Given the early stages of most of these projects, "success" is defined by whether a given HSR project is still actively pursuing development or funding. However, in the case of the Northeast Corridor, a fuller discussion of success is provided since HSR has been implemented on that corridor for some time now.
View PublicationAllison L. C. de Cerreño, Martin E. Robins, Pippa Woods Anne Strauss-Wieder, Ryan Yeung
“Bi-State Domestic Freight Ferries Study,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in conjunction with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, September 2006
This study, funded by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, explores the feasibility of freight ferries as an alternative for domestic truck freight movements that cross the Hudson River via existing bridges and tunnels. While 'mode shift' efforts, such as direct rail or barging of material, can reduce some truck movements, trucking will remain a dominant component of the region's freight system and traffic. At the same time, congestion is growing on the region's roadway system, making the evaluation of alternatives for truck movements more imperative.
View Reportde Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“State Arterial Highway System Peer City Review,” Prepared for NYSDOT, September 2006.
Allison L. C. de Cerreño and My Linh H. Nguyen-Novotny
“Pedestrian and Bicyclist Standards and Innovations in Large Central Cities,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the Federal Highway Administration, in conjunction with the National Association of City Transportation Officials, Inc., January 2006
How best to promote the use of bicycles and walking, while ensuring safety and sufficient mobility for motor vehicles, presents an ongoing challenge in many locales. For large central cities, the issues are particularly complex as they balance multiple and competing interests while facing limited space and funding, with no national standards for guidance. Further hampering policy and planning initiatives for bicyclists and pedestrians are data limitations in a number of areas, including safety, design, and usage. This report is a culmination of a year-long study reviewing the common challenges and opportunities that large central cities share in promoting bicycling and walking, and provides examples of best practices in various cities nationally and internationally.
View report2005
Allison L. C. de Cerreño and Daniel M. Evans
“High-Speed Rail Projects in the United States: Identifying the Elements for Success,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the Mineta Transportation Institute College of Business, San Jose, State University, October 2005
For almost half a century, high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) has held the promise of fast, convenient, and environmentally sound travel for distances between 40 and 600 miles. While a number of HSGT systems have been developed and deployed in Asia and Europe, none has come close to being implemented in the United States. Yet this is not for lack of trying. There have been several efforts around the country, most of which have failed, some of which are still in the early stages, and a few of which might come to pass.
The goal of this study was to identify lessons learned for successfully developing and implementing high-speed rail (HSR) in the United States. Through a broad literature review, interviews, and three specific case studies "Florida, California, and the Pacific Northwest" this study articulates those lessons and presents themes for future consideration.
View reportde Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“NYMTC Streets and Highways,” Prepared for NYMTC, August 2005.
Allison L. C. de Cerreño, Todd Goldman, and Mark Seaman
“Assessing New York's Borders Needs,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the University Transportation Research Center at City College, City University of New York, June 2005
Rapidly growing international trade and heightened security requirements are leading to increasingly congested conditions at the border, threatening the economic competitiveness of Upstate New York. In light of these challenges, the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) at City College, CUNY, undertook a study, funded by the New York State Department of Transportation and the United States Department of Transportation, to examine New York State's border infrastructure needs.
View reportBruce Schaller
“Choices at a Critical Junction: New York's Mobility and Highway
Infrastructure Needs for 2005-2010,” Rudin Center for Transportation
Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public
Service, March 2005.
The report is an analysis of the $17.4 billion capital budget currently
proposed for the New York State Department of Transportation for the
next five years, and in particular the $5.9 billion proposed for the
downstate area. In its review of bridge and roadway trends, the study
finds that the improvements in roadways and bridges achieved during the
1990's have begun to erode over the last few years, and the capital
budget, as it is currently proposed, would fail to reverse the erosion.
The report was written by Bruce Schaller, a Visiting Scholar at NYU
Wagner's Rudin Center, who has experience in highway, transit and taxi
issues in New York and nationally. Schaller has authored reports on
East River bridge tolls, suburban transit access to Lower Manhattan,
commuting and the growth of non-work travel in New York City, MTA fare
policy and bus rapid transit and numerous other topics.
Rudin Center View report2004
Seaman, Mark, Allison L. C. de Cerreño, and Seth English-Young
“From Rescue to Renaissance: The Achievements of the MTA Capital Program 1982 - 2004,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the University Transportation Research Center at City College, City University of New York, December 2004
In December 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
proposed a plan for the next five years of its capital program, and, concurrently, the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, undertook a review of the program's achievements. This report, "From Rescue to Renaissance: The Achievements of the MTA Capital Program 1982-2004" reviews the investments made under the capital program, the accompanying performance improvements, and the resulting economic payoff. These
achievements are placed in the context of the evolving goals, funding sources, and leadership of the capital program.
The report also suggests that the ability of the MTA to continue making progress towards the goals identified in the capital program depends on the availability of funding. Moreover, the report finds, continued support from government will be essential to maintaining the system and preventing a return to the crisis conditions of the 1970s and early 1980s.
With the Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation Bond Act on the ballot for the November 2005 election, this report helps highlight the importance of investing in our transportation system.
View reportRosemary Scanlon and Edward Seeley
“At Capacity: The Need for More Rail Access to the Manhattan CBD
,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, November 2004.
This report examines the relationship between proposed transit system capacity improvements in the downstate metropolitan area, the updated post 9-11 job projections for the Manhattan Central Business District, and regional economic growth. It further explores a number of key issues Ed Seeley first covered in a highly publicized report on these topics for the New York City Department of Transportation in 1997. The findings of this report are relevant to the current discussions concerning the next MTA Five Year program. Ensuring that the MTA maintains a state of good repair and normal replacement is the highest priority of most, if not all transportation policy experts for the next 5 year capital program. Nonetheless, as historians and planners have frequently asserted, New York's growth and prosperity has consistently been tied to additions and improvements to its transportation network and this report suggests this is likely to be the case in the foreseeable future.
View ReportAllison L. C. de Cerreño
“High-Speed Rail Projects in the U.S.: Identifying the Elements for Success, Interim Report” Preliminary Review of Cases and Recommendations for Phase 2,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, March 2004.
The goal of this study, funded by the Mineta Transportation Institute is to identify lessons learned for successfully developing and implementing HSR in the United States. There are very few broad statements that can be made of HSGT in the United States. However, two points are clear: (1) with the exception of the Northeast Corridor there has been relatively little forward movement if one looks at the number of years spent on many of these projects; and, (2) the Federal government has played and continues to play a minimal role in HSGT, generally restricting its efforts to funding pilot studies and technological research. Thus, given the early stages of these projects, “success” cannot be based on implementation. Instead, it is defined in terms of whether a given HSR project is still actively pursuing development and/or funding. Proceeding in two phases, Phase 1 constitutes a literature review following two parallel tracks: (1) an assessment of federal (and where warranted, state) legislation to determine what was intended in terms of objectives and criteria identified in the legislation; and, (2) a broader literature review that briefly assesses all HSR efforts in the United States since 1980 to determine their history and current status. This interim report is intended to outline the information collected from the second track of Phase I and to provide recommendations on which cases should be more closely examined.
Rudin Center Allison L. C. de Cerreño and Isabella Pierson
“Context Sensitive Solutions in Large Central Cities,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, February 2004.
This report is a summary of the proceedings and findings from a one-and-a-half day peer-to-peer workshop on context sensitive design/solutions (CSD/S) held in New York City in June 2003. The goal of the session was to lay a foundation for dealing with the state of the practice and processes related to context sensitive solutions, and to identify specific urban examples that could be used as benchmarks for lessons learned and best practices. The report presents hard -to-find examples of CSD/S in large central cities, specifically from Boston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, and Philadelphia. Each example illustrates some elements of CSD.S more than others, but together they provide a baseline for understanding how large cities are coping with the myriad issues related to CSD/S and why a more concerted effort is needed in understanding and implementing CSD/S.
Rudin Center View reportAllison L. C. de Cerreño
“Evaluation Study of the Port Authority of NY & NJ's Value Pricing Initiative,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, January 2004.
Part of a larger project assessing the efficacy of value pricing and changes in the toll schedule on Port Authority facilities, this report documents the decision-making process leading up to and immediately following the implementation of value pricing so as to derive lessons learned that could be utilized when implementing similar programs elsewhere.
Rudin Center View report2003
Allison L. C. de Cerreño
“Funding Analysis for Long-Term Planning,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, July 2003.
In existence since 1956, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the source of nearly all federal highway funding and roughly four-fifths of all federal transit funding. The Highway Trust Fund is integral to the long-term transportation planning of all 50 states. However, recent Congressional Budget Office forecasts show that at the current baselines (i.e. spending at currently enacted levels with adjustments for inflation within the context of current tax policies), the Highway Account of the HTF would be depleted by 2006 and the Mass Transit Account would fall to $0 three years later. These projections have been made in the midst of discussions regarding the reauthorization for surface transportation and the looming national needs in transportation that require an estimated average annual investment from all levels of government of between $90.7 billion and $110.9 billion just to maintain the system and between $127.5 billion and $169.5 billion to improve it.
Rudin Center View reportMark Seaman and Allison L. C. de Cerreño
“Dividing the Pie: Placing the Transportation Donor-Donee Debate in Perspective,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, May 2003.
This study looks at the distribution of dollars of federal transportation funding to the states from a number of perspectives. The analysis reveals relative winners and losers at the regional and state level based on various criteria. It also shows that in many respects, New York receives a very low or at best, average apportionment of federal transportation dollars. It also shows that while New York receives more in federal highway funding than it pays in highway taxes, this 'surplus' is dwarfed by the state's overall deficit with Washington, D.C.
Rudin Center View report2002
Allison L. C. de Cerreño
“The Dynamics of On-Street Parking in Large Central Cities,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, December, 2002.
Funded by the Federal Highway Administration, the purpose of this report is three-fold: (1) to determine, to the degree possible, the impact that on-street parking has on transportation, development, and land-use; (2) to identify and review comprehensively “on-street” parking policies and management practices in large cities; and, (3) to recommend best practice strategies for on-street parking in large cities. The report is the culmination of a year-long study, which included an extensive literature review, one-on-one discussions with city parking officials, a peer-to-peer exchange session in Boston, and a detailed questionnaire to which nine U.S. cities responded.
View reportHenry Peyrebrune and Allison L. C. de Cerreño
“Security Applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Reflections On September 11 And Implications For New York State
,” A Report to the Legislature by the NYU Wagner Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, July, 2002.
This study was prepared at the request of the New York State Assembly Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices, and was funded by an appropriation made available from the New York Department of Transportation's budget. Its purpose is to provide an overview of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) as they relate to security in New York State in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Rudin Center View reportHenry Peyrebrune and Allison L. C. de Cerreño
“The Context for Intelligent Transportation Systems in New York State: Opportunities, Constraints, and the Need for Greater Institutional Coordination,” A Report to the Legislature by the NYU Wagner Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, July, 2002.
Prepared at the request of the New York State Assembly Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices, and funded by an appropriation made available from the New York Department of Transportation's budget, the purpose of this report is to provide a review of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) as they relate to New York State transportation programs and policy and to highlight policy concerns for further consideration by the state.
Rudin Center View reportde Cerreno, Allison.
“Pollution Prevention and Management Strategies for Mercury in the NY/NJ Harbor and its Watershed,” New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), July 2002.
Issued in June, 2002, the report discusses major sources of mercury and methylmercury to the Harbor. It identifies pathways of mercury into the harbor, discusses environmentally sound and economically feasible strategies to avoid this pollution, and identifies the key players in implementing these strategies.
View Report2001
Bruce Schaller
“Large City Technical Exchange and Assistance Program Final Report: Inter-jurisdictional Coordination for Traffic Management, Interagency Sharing of Fiber Optic Systems, Planning for Pedestrians in Large Urban Centers,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, November, 2001.
Rudin Center View reportKupferman, Susan
“National Dialogue on Transportation Operations Association Partners Dialogue
,” Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, July 2001.
This white paper reflects the views of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) regarding operations and management issues. It is intended to assist the U.S. Department of Transportation in furthering the National Dialogue on Transportation Operations (National Dialogue) at its 2002 fall Summit, and in formulating operations and management policy initiatives for the next reauthorization of federal transportation programs.
This project was conducted for the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration with the cooperation and support of the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) View reportde Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“Maintaining Solid Foundations for High-Tech Growth: Transportation and Communications Infrastructure in the Tri-State Region,” NYAS, July 2001.
de Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“Heat Waves, Traffic Jams, and Bugs: Challenges and Opportunities for Science and Technology in the Tri-State Metropolitan Region,” Science in Society Policy Report (NYAS), July 2001.
2000
de Cerreño, Allison L. C.
“Blue Skies and Gray Clouds: Environment, Health, and Economic Development in
the New York Metropolitan Region,” Science in Society Policy Report (NYAS), January 2000.
