Feb. 9 seminars eye transportation
system performance and financing

Two transportation experts will discuss the relationship between urban design and transportation system performance as well as the newest transportation financing tools Feb. 9 at Texas A&M.

The seminar, “Transportation Systems for Enhancing Community Livability: Design and Finance Solutions,” sponsored by the Central Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association, is scheduled from 1:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. in Rudder TowerRoom 308. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Texas A&M Association of Student Planners.

Eric Dumbaugh, assistant professor of urban planning at Texas A&M, will present the first session, “Urban Design Solutions for Advancing Safety and Mobility,” at 1:30 p.m.

Dumbaugh will discuss:

• the often-overlooked relationship between urban design and transportation system performance;
• how conventional land use policies undermine level-of-service and create traffic safety problems;
• creating low-cost solutions to common transportation problems through simple modifications to land use codes and
• how other communities have successfully used urban design to enhance transportation system performance.

In the second session, at 3:30 p.m., David Ellis, a research scientist at the Texas Transportation Institute, will present “Transportation Investment Decisionmaking.”

Ellis’ presentation will cover:

• strengths and weaknesses of traditional methods of transportation finance;
• what’snew in the world of transportation finance, including public-private partnerships and comprehensive development agreements, and
• emerging issues, including the effects of increased fuel efficiency, alternative fuels, telecommuting, housing patterns, demographics, new technologies and other issues likely to make the future of transportation finance different from the past.

Dumbaugh, who joined the Texas A&M faculty in 2006, is a planner and civil engineer whose research examines strategies for integrating mobility, traffic safety, and community livability into a holistic, context-sensitive approach to transportation system design and planning.

A dynamic speaker who has presented at workshops across the country, Dumbaugh has authored more than 30 scholarly and professional works and has received best paper awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and the Transportation Research Board.

Ellis, whose areas of expertise include transportation, economics and finance, demographics and tax policy, was a construction materials industry lobbyist in Austin prior to joining TTI.  He maintains an active consulting practice in urban planning, tax policy, demographics, and economic development.

In addition to publishing numerous academic articles, he co-wrote  “Applied Demography: An Introduction to Basic Concepts, Methods, and Data” with former U.S. Census director Steve Murdock.

For registration information, contact Thena Morris at tmorris@arch.TAMU.edu.

 

- Posted: Jan. 12, 2011 -

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Contact:   Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.