Mobility and Transportation

A multidimensional research initiative spanning America's fragile infrastructure systems debuts today at the Urban Institute with transportation planning expert Sandra Rosenbloom as its director.

Funding and investing in infrastructure are not only about finding adequate resources to meet the demands of citizenry, but rather requires understanding of how infrastructure fits into the broader functions of government. This brief examines the key role of pricing infrastructure projects and how the total cost of a project (including lifetime maintenance costs) should be included in funding decisions. Current federal and state policies often encourage new building rather than maintenance and care of existing infrastructure. The role of public-private partnerships in infrastructure projects is also sometimes more about political rather than economic considerations. The author presents options to better coordinate infrastructure financing and payments across levels of government.

This report evaluates the use of cameras to reduce car-related crimes in Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) commuter parking facilities. Using a randomized controlled trial design, digital motion-activated cameras (akin to red light cameras) were installed at the exits of 25 Metro parking facilities, which were matched with 25 parking facilities serving as controls. Findings suggest that the cameras were not effective in reducing crime, and no evidence of displacement was found. Researchers concluded that cameras might have yielded their intended crime control impact if they had real-time surveillance capabilities and were fully employed for investigative purposes.

The Moving to Opportunity demonstration (MTO) was launched in the early 1990s to evaluate the impacts of using housing vouchers to enable low income families to escape from high-poverty neighborhoods and move into low-poverty communities. This brief uses data from the most recent survey of MTO participants to explore patterns of residential mobility, including the extent to which families gained and sustained access to high-opportunity neighborhoods. Although MTO enabled families to escape from the most severely distressed neighborhoods, few enjoyed sustained access to high-opportunity neighborhoods, despite the provision of targeted vouchers and mobility counseling.

This report evaluates the use of cameras to reduce car-related crimes in Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) commuter parking facilities. Using a randomized controlled trial design, digital motion-activated cameras (akin to red light cameras) were installed at the exits of 25 Metro parking facilities, which were matched with 25 parking facilities serving as controls. Findings suggest that the cameras were not effective in reducing crime, and no evidence of displacement was found. Researchers concluded that cameras might have yielded their intended crime control impact if they had real-time surveillance capabilities and were fully employed for investigative purposes.

In an effort to better understand existing capacity for research on urban sustainability, researchers from the Center for Sustainability at USC conducted a survey of urban sustainability centers at U.S. universities. This analysis is the first phase of a larger project geared towards identifying a research agenda and developing common performance metrics to support federal sustainability initiatives. Results of the survey of 25 sustainability centers indicate that they are unevenly distributed throughout the country, operate on relatively low budgets, and face challenges securing funds for interdisciplinary sustainability research. A survey of current research activities suggests needed synthesis projects and framing papers on an array of sustainability topics.

Policies and strategies at all levels of government are increasingly associating educational outcomes with community planning and housing. Challenges remain for local officials and practitioners trying to align these policy areas, including persistent spatial inequity and rigid institutional silos. This report develops seven steps to link education and planning policy at the local level. The authors draw from a national scan of model activities, interviews with key experts and agency staff members, and the authors' experience working with local governing bodies. The report identifies practical solutions that encompass assessing the current educational environment, engaging the community, strategic planning and implementation of investment, and institutionalizing successful innovations.

The ripple effects of the foreclosure crisis have created increased instability for children and families. In this brief we focus on two such sources of instability in the lives of public school students in Washington, D.C.: moving homes and switching schools. We find high rates of residential and school mobility for students in general, and even higher rates associated with students who lived in buildings that entered the foreclosure process. These mobile students tended to stay in the same neighborhood or move to areas that were similarly poor and high-crime. In this policy brief, we make a series of low-cost recommendations to school districts and nonprofit housing counseling agencies in order to minimize the harm of additional instability on children.