Sustainable City Year Reports 2019-20 (Lane Transit District)https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/246222024-03-28T08:40:07Z2024-03-28T08:40:07ZTransit-Oriented Development on Historic River RoadWrobel, OlenkaRich, MargerumRobert, ParkerKaarin, Knudsonhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/258572020-11-10T08:25:58Z2019-01-01T00:00:00ZTransit-Oriented Development on Historic River Road
Wrobel, Olenka; Rich, Margerum; Robert, Parker; Kaarin, Knudson
Graduate students in the University of Oregon’s Community and Regional Planning program worked in four groups to create implementation recommendations for land use and transportation redevelopment for different neighborhoods along River Road. These recommendations focused on the next 20 years. Each group collaborated with their team, other classmates, LTD, and professors to come up with their recommendations.
With LTD as a project partner, certain groups formed their vision around transit-oriented development (TOD) occurring over the next 20 years. Others integrated transit options into their recommendations while focusing on community and social services that cater to families in surrounding neighborhoods.
In conducting background research, each team utilized US Census information to identify key housing, economic, and education trends in the area. The teams made their conceptual and implementation recommendations in part based on this background information. Students felt it was essential to develop a long-term plan that would satisfy the needs of both current and future residents of each neighborhood.
Key themes throughout each group’s conceptual and implementation recommendations include:
• Accessible and equitable transit for all ages and mobility levels.
• Multi-use buildings with a mix of housing to address “missing middle” housing that River Road currently lacks.
• Improved placemaking elements that incorporate the neighborhood’s culture and provide a sense of community.
• Increased neighborhood economic development along River Road.
Each group approached these concepts in different ways depending on the neighborhood’s demographics and existing built infrastructure, however common themes were evident throughout. The groups aligned their recommendations with the city of Eugene Comprehensive Plan, the Eugene 2035 Transportation Plan, and LTD’s MovingAhead document. Aligning goals and preferences in this way led to more feasible and realistic recommendations should the students’ River Road corridor plans be utilized by LTD or Eugene. This report includes brief summaries of each group project with full reports included in the appendices.
232 pages
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZEnvironmental Assessment of the Emerald Express Gateway CorridorTheofield, RJYang, Yizhaohttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/255732020-09-17T07:24:15Z2019-01-01T00:00:00ZEnvironmental Assessment of the Emerald Express Gateway Corridor
Theofield, RJ; Yang, Yizhao
The Emerald Express (EmX) Gateway Corridor is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line developed and operated by Lane Transit District (LTD) that connects main centers in the cities of Eugene and Springfield.
BRT is a high-quality bus-based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective services. BRT achieves this through the provision of dedicated lanes, off-board fare collection, and more frequent service. LTD’s EmX is one of only a few BRT lines currently available in the United States (Lane Transit District, 2019). In 2011, LTD expanded EmX service by developing and constructing the EmX Gateway line. The EmX Gateway line provides daytime service between Springfield Station, Gateway Station, and Sacred Heart Station.
Nearly a decade later, the EmX Gateway Corridor experiences the lowest ridership of LTD’s three EmX system lines. To better understand why, LTD partnered with the University of Oregon’s Sustainable Cities Institute to reexamine the corridor and conduct a multi-scale environmental study. To develop this report, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the University of Oregon’s Advanced Geographic Information Systems course collaborated with LTD staff to provide a summary of neighborhood characteristics, accessibility and connectivity, and land use mix for neighborhoods along the EmX Gateway Corridor. Throughout the research, a mix of data collection and analysis methods were used. ArcGIS’s ArcMap software was used extensively to create the maps found within this report and perform spatial analyses. Data for this report were provided by the Lane Council of Governments, collected from the American Community Survey (ACS), or collected by students using the survey instrument Survey123. Students collected these survey data at each station, its walkshed, and connecting street segments on May 17, 2019.
Overall, this report finds the EmX Gateway Corridor suffers not from issues of inadequate facilities or amenities, but from incompatible land uses nearby and the absence of a well-connected transportation system. In response to this finding, we recommend LTD consider the following actions outlined in Table X, which are organized by neighborhood, accessibility and connectivity, and land use mix. Specific recommendations for each station can be found later in the report in the Stations and Vicinity section.
96 pages
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZEnvironmental Assessment of the Emerald Express Franklin Boulevard CorridorHaefliger, MarieHays-Alsin, BethanyYang, Yizhaohttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/255722020-09-17T07:24:23Z2020-01-01T00:00:00ZEnvironmental Assessment of the Emerald Express Franklin Boulevard Corridor
Haefliger, Marie; Hays-Alsin, Bethany; Yang, Yizhao
This technical report describes a multi-scale environmental study of Emerald Express (EmX) in the Franklin Boulevard Corridor. This study is a collaboration between Advanced GIS students at the University of Oregon, Lane Transit District (LTD), and the Sustainable City Year Program. The EmX is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that connects downtown Springfield to downtown and west Eugene. The study area contains stops with the highest daily average ridership on the EmX line. This study seeks to explain what makes these stops successful and how ridership, accessibility, and safety can be improved along the Franklin Corridor. This study includes an equity and demographic analysis, a network connectivity analysis, and a land use analysis. Some of the trends that affect ridership included in this study are population density, proximity to facilities, concentration of commercial parcels, and bike share stations. Students surveyed the 13 outbound stations included in the study area. This report includes station highlights and recommendations. The report also addresses specific recommendations for improving facilities and their safety.
61 pages
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZApplying Business Strategy to Manage UncertaintyCohen, RachelCabinte, Ryanhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/255712020-09-17T07:24:24Z2020-01-01T00:00:00ZApplying Business Strategy to Manage Uncertainty
Cohen, Rachel; Cabinte, Ryan
Master of Business Administration (MBA) students from the UO Center for Sustainable Business Practices were tasked with equipping Lane Transit District with a set of financial and business strategy tools to help the agency adapt to a changing mobility landscape and provide the community with a sustainable level of service for the long-term future.
Over the course of six months, the team created and presented to LTD leadership a financial projection model and a scenario planning workbook. The team also had the opportunity to test and implement these tools given real issues LTD faced at the time.
Armed with a financial baseline that models future transit tax revenues given past revenue growth and independent economic indicators, the team compared “business as usual” projections with shortfalls caused by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lane County. The team projects a gap of up to $15 million in payroll and self-employment tax revenues through the end of fiscal year 2021.
Additionally, the team deployed its scenario planning tool to envision potential opportunities and challenges LTD might face given the outcomes of uncertainties the agencies is facing, including local and regional land use policy, and the extent to which society and individuals embrace the ‘sharing economy’ over ownership of assets.
The team found that while density and reduced ownership of assets (especially personal vehicles) are generally more conducive to the traditional fixed-route transit model, LTD has many opportunities to creatively deploy new services, partnerships, and technologies to thrive and serve the Lane County community in any scenario.
While these tools have been handed over to LTD leadership alongside presentations and documentation, this report explores insights and lessons learned from the process.
Major recommendations include:
1. LTD should diversify its revenue sources and/or assets in order to build a sustainable funding model.
2. LTD should embed long-term thinking into day-to-day operations, empowering team members from operators to the Board of Directors to think about complex issues, communicate uncertainties, and participate in the process.
31 pages
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z