transportation
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation there are (1998):
46,334 miles of Interstate highway
113,757 miles of other National Highway System roads
3,760,876 miles of other roads
Reports, Books, Articles & Organizations

Highlights:
Mayors Call for National Rail Policy 
At their recent conference, the U.S. Conference of Mayors called for a national rail policy and urged President Bush and the Congress to make passenger rail service a top priority and a solution to the growing crisis of traffic and air congestion.  U.S. Conference of Mayors also released a nationwide poll that showed strong public backing for passenger rail investment, with a vast majority of respondents (82%) supporting funding for a rail service network as an option to driving their cars.  www.mayors.org 

Public Transit Ridership Continues to Rise
In the year 2000, more Americans decided to leave the driving to someone else. Last year, usage of U.S. public transportation systems grew by an estimated 320 million rides, to a
total of 9.4 billion trips, according to preliminary estimates released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This record ridership represents the highest level of use in public transportation in more than forty years, according to APTA.  www.apta.com

Reports:
Transportation Choices Scorecard For New England and New York
Friends of the Earth has released Transportation Choices Scorecard for New England and New York, which evaluates state commitments to funding and promoting transportation choices. The findings in Transportation Choices show that states over invest in automobile transportation services at the expense of offering commuters choices, supporting transportation for the urban and rural poor, and investing in programs that would result in less air pollution from transportation. Moreover, the states generally fail to take advantage of rules that allow for the more flexible use of federal transportation funds.  The report grades the states in four transportation areas: economic incentives for sustainable transportation choices, spending on transportation choices, spending on pedestrian projects, and equitable access to mobility

Transit Lessens Burden of Congestion
 Easing the Burden, shows that road building has done little to ease congestion, while transit service is significantly lessening the burden of congestion on many commuters.  A new ranking developed by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) shows how the average commuter is affected by both congestion levels and the availability of transit in 68 U.S. cities.  STPP analyzed data collected by the Texas Transportation Institute for its annual Urban Mobility Study and found that metro areas that added the most roads have had little success in easing congestion.  But metro areas with good transit service rank significantly lower on the new Congestion Burden Index.

Since its inception in 1991, The Surface Transportation Policy Project has released numerous reports on transportation reform policy.  As opposed to listing all of their reports here, you would be wise to click on their website, www.transact.org, to review all of their material.

Benfield, Kaid, Running on Empty: The Case for a Sustainable National Transportation System (Environmental Law, Volume 25, Number 3, 1995.)

Boarnet, Marlon G. & Haughwout, Andrew, Do Highways Matter? Evidence and Policy Implications of Highways' Influence on Metropolitan Development (Brookings, Center for Urban and Metropolitan Policy, August 2000)

Carlson, Daniel, Wormser, Lisa  and Ulberg, Cy, At Road's End: Transportation and Land Use Choices for Communities (Island Press, Washington, DC, 1995.)

Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Building Healthier Neighborhoods with Metrorail: Improving Joint Development Opportunities (March 2001).

Council for Invesment in the New American City--a partership between the U.S. Council of Mayors and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America--A Report on the Changing Realities of Cities.
(October, 2000).

Friends of the Earth, D.C. at the Crossroads (February 2001).

Holtzclaw, John, Using Residential Patterns and Transit to Decrease Auto Dependence and Costs (Natural Resources Defense Council, June 1994, 29 pp.)

Great American Station Foundation, Ten Most Endangered Stations (December 2000).

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Roundabouts (March 2001).

Maryland Public Interest Research Group, Paving the Way (January 20001).

Moore, Terry and Thorsnes, The Transportation/Land Use Connection (APA Planners Press).

National Governor's Association, In the Fast Lane:  Delivering More Transportation Choices to Break Gridlock (November 2000).

National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse. Communities Benefit!:
The Social and Economic Benefits of Transportation Enhancements (December 2000.)

Noland, Robert, Traffic Fatalities and Injuries: Are Reductions the Result of improvements in highway design standards? (Center for Transport Studies, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine.  November 2000). http://www.cts.cv.ic.ac.uk/staff/wp5-noland.pdf

Surface Transportation Policy Project, Mean Streets 2000 & Dangerous by Design (STPP, July & September 2000.)

Surface Transportation Policy Project, Americans Flock to Transit, Ease Up on Gas Pedal (STPP, April 2000.)

Unitied States Environmental Protection Agency & Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Redeveloping Brownfields with Federal Transportation Funds. (Februay 2001.)  Visit www.smartgrowth.org to read.

Books:

Bernick, Michael and Robert Burke Cervero, Transit Villages in the 21st Century (Washington, DC.  McGraw-Hill Inc., 2000)
New towns built around metropolitan rail stations are reducing gridlock and spurring development. Learn how others have dealt with the issues of land use, transportation planning, community redevelopment, and local economics.
Camph, Donald H., Transportation and the Changing Face of America (Washington, D.C.: Surface Transportation Policy Project, Monograph No.3, August 1995). 
A brief booklet that describes how transit policies affect the lives of women and the elderly, and how the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act offers some relief. 
Cervero, Robert, The Transit Metropolis (Island Press, 1998).
Cervero explores a number of metropolitan areas which have in recent decades managed to mount cost-effective and resource-conserving transit services that provide respectable alternatives to car travel.
DiStefano, Joe and Matthew Raimi, Five Years of Progress: 110 Communities Where ISTEA is Making a Difference (Washington, D.C.: Surface Transportation Policy Project, 1996). 
This report, released five years after passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, documents how the law has made communities more livable, brought the public into the decisionmaking process, and transformed transportation planning and investment. 
Dunphy, Robert, Moving Beyond Gridlock (Washington, DC.  Urban Land Institute  2000)
   Learn which policies make mattters worse and what techniques hold promise for
   improving traffic. Case studies of Portland, Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Toronto, San
   Diego, and Houston let you study the practical experiences of urban areas that
   have taken the lead in dealing with gridlock.
Durning, Alan Thein, The Car and the City (Northwest Environment Watch).
Cars pollute our air and endanger cyclists and pedestrians.  What can planners do to minimize the impact automobiles have on our communities?  In this thought-provoking book, Alan Durning takes us on a journey to Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver - and uses detailed case studies to show us the innovative programs these communities have implemented to slow traffic, restore air quality, and improve the overall health of our urban neighborhoods.
Greene, David L., Transportation and Energy (Landsdowne, VA: Eno Transportation Foundation, 1997). 
A far-ranging review of the impact of transportation on energy use, with attention paid to such alternatives as improved efficiency, alternate fuels and vehicles, and strategies to change people's behavior. Greene argues for a combination of technological R&D, policies to promote efficiency and demand management, land use reforms. 
Kay, Jane Holtz, Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take It Back (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1997). 
A comprehensive history of the destructive impact of automobiles on urban design, community life, the environment, and families. The book is extensively documented and highly accessible. A one-stop introduction to the major thinkers and treatises on transit policy. 
Pucher, John and Christian Lefevre, The Urban Transport Crisis in Europe and North America (London: MacMillian Press, 1996). 
An overview of the social, economic and environmental problems brought on by the automobile, with a comparative study of eight nations: Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain, eastern Europe, Canada and the United States. The authors' grim conclusion: traffic jams and sprawl will grow steadily worse unless pro-active public policies are adopted. 
Safdie, Moshe and Wendy Kohn, The City After the Automobile: An Architect's Vision (New York: Harper Collins, 1997). 
This book offers an erudite, visionary critique of what cities could become if stronger city planning and land-use laws helped concentrate development in cities. The authors may veer into the fantastic by proposing publicly owned electric cars and elevated moving sidewalks, but who can argue with less reliance on cars and more public spaces?
Urban Land Institute, Parking Requirements for Shopping Centers, Second Edition (Urban Land Institute 1999).
How many parking spaces are needed for today’s shopping centers?  Based on a comprehensive nationwide survey of parking at shoppingcenters, Parking Requirements for Shopping Centers: Summary Recommendations and Research Study Report provides the standards for all sizes of retail facilities—from small strip centers to major malls.  One will learn how multiplex cinemas, food courts, and entertainment features affect parking, and how to make the most of existing space. The report was conducted under the direction of ULI–the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
Urban Land Institue, The Dimensions of Parking, Fourth Edition (Urban Land Institute 2000).
Get the latest information on parking development and operations.
Whether you plan to offer free or pay parking, you will learn best practices for how to plan, design, finance, build, and operate a parking facility.  Updated throughout, this edition covers the impact of sport utility vehicles and lights trucks, and best practices in financing, parking at commuter and subway rail stations and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wachs, Martin and Margaret Crawford, The Car and the City: The Automobile, the Built Environment and Daily Urban Life (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992). 
A brisk collection of twenty essays on the automobile's role in urban design, family life, the suburbs, commuting, and cultural life. Much of the material is historical; all of it has scholarly rigor. 

 

 

Articles:
"Another Federal Agency Questions Hartman-Hammond Bridge." Michigan Land Use Institute. December 6, 2000.

"An Intelligent Transportation Policy." Robert Puentes. (Brookings Review. Winter 2001).

"Rail Service Group Pushes Plan for Montana Route." Billings Gazzette.  December 29, 2000.

"Cars May Be Banned from Central Hong Kong to Reduce Pollution." Reuters.  January 8, 2001.

"The fast track; High-speed rail starts strong, but progress is slow in Midwest," Kansas City Star.  January 19, 2001 

"Groups Sue To Stop Highway," The Daily Herald.  January 18, 2001.

"Fairfax Weighs Buildup Around Metro Stations," The Washington Post. January 19, 2001.

"From My Way to Highway," Reid Ewing.  Planning.  (American Planning Association. January 2001.)

"Metrorail's 25 Years," Washington Post. March 25, 26, 2001.

"Mounting Congestion is Challenge to DOT," Washington Post. May 15, 2001.

Organizations:
Environmental Working Group
Ken Cook, President
1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Surface Transportation Policy Project
1100 17th Street, NW, 10 Floor
Washington, DC 20036 

Carfreecities
Shows vivid photographs of urban areas such as Rome, Amsterdam, etc. that have carfree plazas, streets for shopping, etc. Shows livability of particular urban centers. 

Community Transportation Association of America

Innovative Transportation Technologies

American Public Transit Association

Bureau of Transportation Statistics