The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is coming to a close, and we wanted to take a moment to look back at some of the impacts our center has had. See below for some of the outcomes of NITC research into land use and transportation planning for a more equitable, sustainable future.

• First, read about an innovative communication method of sharing research through comics.
• Next, find out how transit station area development impacts demographic, residential, and business outcomes.
• Then, read about the influentional study that showed that active transportation street improvements lead to increased revenue for local businesses.
• Finally, take a look at a unique set of collaborations between transportation and social work professionals that was pioneered at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Arizona.

Moving From Cars To People: A Comic About Transportation and Land Use

NITC researchers have approached context-sensitive travel modeling from several angles. For example, Reid Ewing of the University of Utah developed some key enhancements to the classic four-step travel demand model, as well as examining trip and parking generation at transit-oriented developments. Kelly Clifton of the University of British Columbia (previously at Portland State) and Kristina Currans of the University of Arizona have a long history of collaboration around the data, methods, and processes used to plan for multimodal transportation impacts of new development.

But it's a complicated topic, and it can be difficult to communicate its importance.

That's why the NITC-funded transportation comic, "Moving From Cars To People," was created to provide a succinct and fun explanation of how the built environment in the United States came to be designed for cars and what we can do about it.

The twenty-page comic includes a dialogue, taking place in various urban settings, between characters Kelly and Kristi who are based on Currans and Clifton. This short graphic synopsis is an engaging, approachable way for anyone – no matter their level of expertise in this topic – to learn about their findings.

It's in everyone's interest for non-transportation-professionals to have a working knowledge of the conversation that's happening around sustainable transportation options. When important policy questions show up on a ballot – for example, whether businesses should be required to provide a certain amount of parking spaces, or whether the state should subsidize public transit – people who aren't in the transportation industry might not be fully aware of the tradeoffs involved in these questions. So having the whole subject distilled into an easy format can have important, positive outcomes in the long run.

Transit Impacts on Jobs, People, and Real Estate

NITC researchers Chris Nelson. Robert Hibberd, Kristina Currans and Nicole Iroz-Elardo of the University of Arizona have conducted an extensive amount of research into transit and transit-oriented development impacts. The latest NITC report, Transit Station Area Development and Demographic Outcomes, includes a foreword written by U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer. An excerpt reads:

"This report helps us think about how to build the types of communities that people want postpandemic. We must find ways to increase community connections, improve economic mobility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ease people’s lives. The federal government has an important role to play in supporting the development of these communities and making sure they meet the needs of people across the country. Nelson and Hibberd lay out important considerations as we all undertake that work."

A recent related paper, "Complete Streets as a Redevelopment Strategy," was published in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's journal Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research. Read an August 2024 American Planning Association summary of that research by Nelson.

The research offers lessons for post-pandemic transit policy and planning. Notably, it calls for planners to downplay the role of offices in transit station areas and increase the opportunity for people to live in them. The report contains a wealth of data about transit's impacts on commuting mode choice, household demographics, real estate values, and more. It also outlines policy approaches to help mitigate adverse gentrification outcomes. 

A 2021 comprehensive NITC report, "Transit Impacts on Jobs, People and Real Estate," represents the culmination of nearly a decade of research into the economic effects of transit. Read our five-volume summary of the dense and substantial findings from 17 light rail transit, 14 bus rapid transit, 9 streetcar transit, and 12 commuter rail transit systems in 35 metro areas across the United States. 

Using this research, transportation professionals can gauge the extent to which transit and land use planning and urban design interventions achieve desirable outcomes. Learning how to interpret the lessons of transit and real estate can help cities achieve their economic, equity, and sustainability-related goals.

Economic Impacts of Bicycle and Pedestrian Street Improvements

A frequent argument against bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements is the concern that bike lanes could discourage customers and reduce revenues.

"Understanding Economic and Business Impacts of Street Improvements for Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility," a NITC project led by Jenny Liu of Portland State University, provides a solid basis for policymakers, planners and other stakeholders considering street improvement infrastructure for pedestrian and bicycle mobility to make evidence-based investment decisions.

Overall, the study found very little evidence of active transportation street improvements having a negative impact on business or economic outcomes. In many cases, improved bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure was shown to have positive impacts on sales and employment in the retail and food service sectors. 

Perhaps even more important than its findings, though, is the methodology developed in this study. Using a variety of data sources and analytical methods, this study provides policymakers and planners with a robust analytical framework and evidence to support nonmotorized transportation infrastructure investment. This study can serve as a model for other organizations wishing to conduct similar investigations.

Researchers analyzed street improvement corridors in six cities: Indianapolis, Memphis, Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. Four types of economic data sources were collected for each city:

• Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) employment data,
• Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) employment and wages data,
• Retail sales tax data, and
• National Establishment Time Series (NETS) employment and sales data.

On this data, they applied three distinct analytical approaches: 

• Aggregated trend analysis,
• Difference-in-difference (DID), and
• Interrupted time series (ITS) analysis

This multicity, multiapproach exploration allowed the authors to focus on a broader perspective than the individual findings in each corridor or city. They conducted detailed comparisons of the different available data sources and methodologies, elucidating the advantages, disadvantages and tradeoffs of each one.

The results are intended to encourage the application of similar corridor selection processes, data collection efforts and multimethod analyses in additional corridors and cities around the country.

Developing Tools for Social Workers, Engineers, and Planners to Address Mobility Gaps Collaboratively

An interdisciplinary approach developed by NITC researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) has led to unique outcomes in the area of mobility justice and equity. By strengthening collaboration between the disciplines of planning, engineering, and social work, the researchers focused their efforts on building a transportation system that better serves everyone.

Transportation planners and engineers often struggle to serve at-risk communities and environmental justice (EJ) populations. EJ populations can include older adults, people with low income, low socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals with disabilities—all groups who are at an increased risk for transportation disadvantage. Evidence of these struggles manifest as unequal transportation system outcomes related to access and opportunity.

Meanwhile, social workers often struggle to connect with the planners and engineers whose transportation designs impact the individuals and communities that they work with.

UTA researchers Noelle Fields, Courtney Cronley, Kate Hyun and Stephen Mattingly collaborated on several projects using this unique approach.Fields and Cronley were both professors of Social Work at UTA, while Hyun and Mattingly are civil engineers. UTA's Sia Ardekani, and Arlie Adkins and Yi-Chang Chiu of the University of Arizona (UA) were also involved in several of the studies. The unique cross-discipline collaboration helped re-evaluate long-held assumptions and practices within the transportation and social work professions to better understand mobility gaps.

Each of the below projects used this interdisciplinary lens to approach equity challenges and improve access to travel for EJ populations:

• App-based Data Collection to Characterize Latent Transportation Demand within Marginalized and Underserved Populations
  • To identify transportation disadvantages in their respective cities, professors from UTA, UA, and the University of Tennessee teamed up to design and test a travel diary app called MyAmble. Travel diaries are built for recording trips taken, but they often lack the ability to capture travel disadvantage or latent travel demand. In this context, travel disadvantage refers to essential trips that people plan to take but are unable to complete for some reason. Latent travel demand refers to trips that people would take but don’t bother to plan due to transportation barriers or safety concerns. The aim of MyAmble was to document trips taken as well as travel disadvantage and latent travel demand; reasons for the latter two; and real-time perceived impacts of transportation behaviors of the participants. The dataset created by MyAmble could help inform the designs of transportation systems that promote rather than restrict access to opportunities, creating a more equitable city that benefits all citizens.
• Access to Opportunities: Redefining Planning Methods and Measures for Disadvantaged Populations
  • In this project, an interdisciplinary team of planning and public health researchers from the University of Arizona investigated how standard measures and conceptions of walkability hold up across socio-economic contexts. In parallel to this work, UTA engineering, public policy, and social work faculty worked with nonprofits and other service providers to characterize transportation gaps that result from system deficiencies at a regional scale. The end goal was to develop a roadmap for future research that could transform transportation planning practice to better account for disadvantaged communities.
• Evaluating Improved Transit Connections for Ladders of Opportunity
  • Many transit operators employ limited strategies to provide connectivity to transit, like bicycle racks on buses. This project examined more innovative options, such as subsidies, hybrid ride sharing business models, flexible routing, smaller transit vehicles, transit-sponsored bike share programs, and social carpooling to meet first and last mile needs and increase mobility for all users, especially underserved and disadvantaged populations.
• How Can Interdisciplinary Teams Leverage Emerging Technologies to Respond to Transportation Infrastructure Needs? A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Civil Engineers, Urban Planning, and Social Workers’ Perspectives
  • The findings from this project indicated that there was a clear overlap in skills-based needs in connecting with stakeholders and public engagement for both social workers and transportation experts. With an eye towards training the next generation of professionals, the team established a background for developing an interdisciplinary course between the UTA College of Engineering and the UTA School of Social Work to address transportation equity and activity scheduling of EJ populations.

The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of seven U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers. NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. We pursue our theme — improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities — through research, education and technology transfer.