ASSIGNMENT: Regional Urban Form Impact on Transportation
Reflect on how the metropolitan area urban formaffects your transportation behavior and how you would change urban form to positively affect behavior. Undertake the following steps.
1. Prepare a travel log or journal. Record all trips for four days (three weekdays and one weekend day preferred). Place the information in a table. Record at least the following:
a. Origin (where you started)
b. Destination (where you ended the trip)
c. Distance
d. Mode (e.g., car, carpool, bus, train, walk, bike, etc.)
e. Produce a map of your major / repeated transportation routes.
2. Reflect on why you chose the modes of travel that you did. What factors weighed into your decision (either consciously or not).
a. Cost?
b. Time?
c. Convenience?
d. Reliability?
e. Other? (Habit? Preferences (e.g., stigma or coolness factor)? etc.)
Note: think like a planner. This is not intended to make you feel ashamed or proud of your transportation decisions, but is rather intended to have you logically examine why you and people in similar circumstances made/ make the decisions that you do.
3. Map physical changes tothe location and design of landand local streets in the metropolitan area that would lead to "better" (as you define it)transportation behavior among similarly situated residents. Draw upon lessons from lectures and readings.
a. Define "better" - your top 3 desired outcomes
b. Map the changes.
c. What are the changes and why have you suggested them?
d. How would they have affected travelbehavior from part 2 for you and those that are similarly situated? I.e., how would they have improved the cost, time, convenience calculation of one mode versus another. Consider using the travel log to rethink the decision-making of individual trips.
Note: Be bold. For example, assume that you are the master developer for 50 years of development across the metropolitan area. Do not assume any new transportation infrastructure
4. How would the urban form changes lead to infrastructure changes over time? Map new transportation infrastructure that would become viable / in demand based on your changes.
Note: Do not begin step 4 until step 3 is complete. Don't make step 4 an afterthought.(Think about density, land use, activity center and connectivity)