University of Oregon Sustainable City Year

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/10380

The Sustainable City Year program is a partnership of a cross-disciplinary group of faculty and students with one city in Oregon each year. Coursework in disciplines including design, planning, arts, ecology, journalism, engineering, business, and public policy focus on assisting that city with its sustainability-oriented goals and projects. The Sustainable City Year faculty and students work with city staff and other partners, through a variety of studio projects and service learning courses, to 1) provide students with a real world project to investigate; 2) apply their training; and 3) help a local city transition to a more sustainable and livable future.

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Browsing University of Oregon Sustainable City Year by Subject "Autonomous vehicles"

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    Autonomous Vehicle Revenue Implications For Portland, Tigard, and Tualatin
    (University of Oregon, 2017) Peterson, Justin; Lewis, Rebecca
    TriMet is known for maintaining a robust transportation network in the Portland, Oregon region. Beyond the transportation services, TriMet works with municipalities in the region to make the area a better place to live. The Portland region is expected to grow by 400,000 people in the next 20 years. As the community grows, so will the cost of providing efficient transportation services. In order to continue providing the level of service transit riders expect, TriMet and cities served by TriMet need additional and new revenue. The City of Portland is known for innovative transportation strategies and sustainable living. The City of Tigard has the long-term vision of becoming the most walkable city in the nation. The City of Tualatin has the vision of a transportation system that supports mobility, connectivity, and accessibility for all modes. The city goals indicate a shared interest in creating an equitable transportation system. Of particular interest for this report is the rapidly expanding recognition and legislation of the use of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and shared vehicles. As researchers look to the near future of the use of AVs and shared vehicles, policy makers in Portland, Tigard, and Tualatin need to better understand the impact of such technology on not only the environment, but on their respective budgets as well. Interested in all of the possible innovative funding options at the city’s disposal, TriMet partnered with Dr. Rebecca Lewis’ Public Budget Administration class. Graduate students in the School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management collaborated with TriMet and city staff in researching and evaluating several possible funding strategies. Dedicating over 4,000 hours collectively, students worked both individually and as groups. Students were assigned teams based on interests, background, and experience. Ultimately, there were three Portland groups, two Tigard groups, and two Tualatin groups. First, students in each group analyzed what transportation revenue would be impacted by shifts in technology. The transportation revenue impact assumptions were primarily based on an Eno Center for Transportation report (Fagnant and Kockelman, 2015). The revenue impacts helped students understand the municipalities’ transportation funding structure and develop a baseline need as a result of the shifting technology. Next, students worked to develop innovative revenue options to meet the anticipated revenue gap due to shifting technology. Each group created at least three revenue packages, evaluated those packages based on industry criteria, and recommended one of those funding packages. Finally, TriMet was presented with seven different funding packages, three focused on Portland, two on Tigard, and two on Tualatin. This report summarizes the seven funding packages into common recommendation themes. Appendicies A, B, and C contain detailed summaries of current transportation revenue sources, potential new revenue sources, as well as the calculations used to inform each recommendation. The report also includes a compilation of each group’s original full report. The funding packages utilized new funding solutions and traditional sources. The most common new funding solution was a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax and the most common traditional revenue source was restructuring or increasing vehicle registration fees. In the future, each city and TriMet will have to address the desires and needs of their citizens, and hopefully these recommendations will provide a useful starting point.
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    Future-Proofing Comprehensive Plans in Eugene and Gresham
    (University of Oregon, 2019) Kohnke, Jennifer; Lewis, Rebecca
    As part of the Sustainable City Year Program, students in Rebecca Lewis’s Growth Management course were asked to assess the comprehensive plans of the cities of Eugene and Gresham, Oregon. Students sought to determine each city’s readiness for the deployment of new mobility services and autonomous vehicle and the continued growth of e-commerce deliveries, along with accompanied changes to warehousing and brick-and-mortar retail. Students analyzed city comprehensive plans, focusing on the cities’ commercial and residential land use patterns. Each group compiled written reports detailing their research, analysis, and findings. In the reports, students noted positive steps that the cities are taking to create pathways for these new technologies and provided recommendations for areas of improvement. In addition to the reports, the teams presented their findings to representatives from both cities. Students were divided into four different teams to analyze the comprehensive plans. Two teams each assessed the comprehensive plans of the cities of Eugene and Gresham. For each city, one group focused on the topic of new mobility and the other analyzed e-commerce. The class evaluated the two cities’ comprehensive plans through initial independent research on e-commerce and new mobility. Students also looked at case studies of other cities and steps they are taking to address the issues. Then, students reviewed Envision Eugene Comprehensive Plan and Gresham Comprehensive Plan for policies and regulations that were conducive to allowing new mobility technologies within their city limits.
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    New Mobility Case Study
    (University of Oregon, 2018) Cohen, Rachel; Skov, Joshua
    The city of Eugene is interested in learning how its residents might benefit from technology-enabled ‘new mobility’ solutions to differently meet their transportation needs. Student teams analyzed how members of a fictional or real household in Eugene could reduce their reliance on single-occupancy vehicles in daily commutes, local and regional trips, and infrequent travel destinations. For this project, new mobility is defined as a transportation mode that is: • enabled by new technologies, including electric and autonomous vehicles, or; • enabled by new business models or social trends, sometimes referred to as shared-use mobility (a categorization that typically includes bikesharing, carsharing, e-scooters, ridehailing, and even transit at various scales). The implications of shifting a household’s transportation habits created tradeoffs between competing priorities of cost, time, flexibility, and sustainability. In order to understand the financial implications, students were asked to analyze the full—and often overlooked—costs of vehicle ownership. Upon completing this analysis, many teams found significant savings opportunities in adopting active transportation and shared-use mobility. Beyond financial cost, teams discovered opportunities, trade-offs, and barriers to adoption. Teams found that households best served by existing new mobility solutions lived closest to the city center. Feasibility was often complicated by demographic factors including income, age, and occupation. Cultural norms and attitudes toward car ownership played a role in whether households shifted their behavior, both for fictional household members and for the authors. Where currently available options were not feasible, students identified modes in other markets that might benefit Eugene residents. Students also examined emerging and future technologies not currently in existence. While feasibility varied widely based on currently available modes, the city of Eugene can foster a transition to new mobility through partnerships that support multimodal first- and last-mile solutions. The City can also work to educate residents by using tools and messaging to improving awareness, perception, and trust in new mobility options.
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    Transportation Revenue in the Age of New Mobility
    (University of Oregon, 2018) Stark, Michele; Lewis, Rebecca
    Significant changes in transportation technology will change the way cities collect revenue and fund infrastructure projects. Forward thinking cities like Eugene, Oregon and Gresham, Oregon are already considering what may happen when residents rely on electric cars, autonomous vehicles (AVs), fleets of shared cars, bikes, and e-scooters. Given cities’ current reliance on revenue from gasoline taxes, parking fees and fines, and vehicle registration fees, cities will face a significant decrease in revenue.