Transportation Funding Research Articles

Monitoring Changes in Walkability Over Time: An Environmental Exposure Change Detection Framework with Implications for Equity and Social Justice

Evidence suggests that walkability and greenspace impact travel related activity patterns and vehicle emissions which affect sustainability, public health, and equity. Resulting levels of physical activity, active, or sedentary travel time impact obesity, diabetes, and heart disease which impact COVID-19 mortality. It is now possible to track changes in locally controlled land use characteristics known to impact sustainability and health. This information can provide decisionmakers with feedback required to spatially prioritize and better link state and nationally funded transportation investments with locally sanctioned land use actions. Linking the achievement of established benchmarks of health equity-based indicators with funding establishes a more performance-based approach connecting land use with transportation investment. This study longitudinally tracks neighborhood-level walkability features at the census tract level for 2013 and 2020 for the entire USA. Longitudinal volatility-based change detection models are developed to examine how changes in walkability over time correlate with racialization and social justice. Walkability tends to increase over time with significant variations across metro regions and the urban-rural continuum. Largest and smallest increases in walkability were observed in Western Pacific and Northwest states, respectively. Increased racial and social justice disparities were observed in access to more walkable infrastructure by marginalized populations (such as less-educated, older, unemployed, and black individuals). Significant heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of walkability was observed, over the variation captured by observed sociodemographic, regional, and urban/rural factors. The findings highlight the potential for an “environmental surveillance” system to support a “performance-based” approach to transportation funding that prioritizes resource allocation consistent with Justice40 and United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

Mobility of non-binary and gender nonconforming individuals: A systematic literature review

The gendered nature of travel behaviours and experiences have long been recognised in research and policy making. However, research on non-binary people and their mobility is scarce, as is the acknowledgement of a spectrum nature of gender within the transportation discipline. This paper presents the first systematic literature review, using PRISMA guidelines, of the mobility and travel experiences of non-binary people. The review identified that to date the main research domains for non-binary people's mobility considered issues of harassment and violence on public transit, fear, security measures, intersectionality, and strategies to deal with discrimination. The paper highlights spatial and geographical constraints, such as immobility and inaccessibility, that non-binary people face when interacting with public transportation system. Strategies to improve mobility for the gender nonconforming community included upgrading public transport stations, increasing funding for public transportation, and providing gender diversity training for transit workers. The findings draw attention to the need for substantial further transportation research into the field. By including non-binary perspectives in transport research, a unique range of insights and experiences can be unlocked, while increasing inclusivity in transport research.

Strategic insights from a Delphi study: enhancing employment for multiply marginalized people with disabilities.

The employment landscape for multiply marginalized people with disabilities presents significant challenges, exacerbated by intersecting identities such as race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, poverty, and geography. Recent studies highlight the compounded employment disparities faced by this group, including discriminatory hiring practices, inadequate accommodations, and uneven gains in employment during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Our study employed a three-round Delphi process with 20 diverse experts across 14 states across the United States (U.S.) to formulate recommendations for improving employment experiences for multiply marginalized people with disabilities. The panel's insights were gathered through surveys administered online, with each round designed to refine the collective recommendations. This iterative process aimed to build a consensus on the most effective policy and practice recommendations for improving employment outcomes within this population. The Delphi study identified key areas for strategic focus, including emergency preparedness, education and training, transportation, assistive technology, workplace accommodations, and combating discrimination and stigma. Notable recommendations included improving emergency preparedness training, enhancing employment education, increasing funding for accessible transportation and assistive technology, and promoting inclusive hiring practices. The study also emphasized the need for policies supporting telework and simplifying disability-related benefits. The findings highlight the critical role of tailored strategies to address employment challenges faced by people with disabilities from marginalized communities. Meaningfully and fully implementing these recommendations would create a more inclusive environment that improves employment outcomes for multiply marginalized people with disabilities.

The present and future of road Financing: Leveraging knowledge from the tolling industry to implement road-usage charge programs in the u.s

Historically, transportation funding in the United States has been supported primarily by motor fuel taxes. In recent years, revenues from fuel taxes have been shrinking. In response to the revenue shortfalls, many states have launched pilots or full-scale programs of road-usage charge (RUC) as an alternative to motor fuel taxes for transportation funding. Some of the challenges facing RUC is the cost of implementation compared to traditional motor fuel taxes, operational complexities, and the equity concerns (Caltrans, 2017). To address these challenges, states are looking to leverage existing vehicle-level pricing programs, such as road tolling, to learn about synergies between RUC and tolling. In this paper, we conducted semi-structured interviews with experts from tolling programs across the U.S. to identify areas of overlap between tolling and RUC. We built upon the interview findings by conducting a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to evaluate how well the state-level RUC pilots and programs can integrate with tolling systems. Our results demonstrate that there are numerous mutual benefits of a RUC-tolling integration. Both the tolling industry and RUC implementations can benefit from the increased scale of operations and the spur of technical innovations, which would reduce administrative costs. RUC programs can also learn from the tolling industry to address data privacy and security issues. In terms of policy and program designs of RUC, it is essential to design RUC rates which are equitable by considering the financial burdens on low-income populations and ensuring access to the system for the unbanked and underbanked populations.

Geospatial modelling of housing rents from TOD using MGWR and implications on integrated transportation-land use planning

Revealing the effect of transit-oriented development (TOD) on housing rents is critical for supporting transportation financing and sustainable urban development. However, existing research has not thoroughly examined the effects of land use type and TOD type on housing rents, crucially lacking geospatial modelling. This study investigates the spatial effect of TOD on housing rents using multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) and the relationship of land use type and TOD type to this effect. The results show that MGWR accurately quantifies the spatial effect. Meanwhile, the important TOD variables (integrated transit index, land use entropy, overall walkability) have positive effects on housing rents, which show spatial heterogeneity. Moreover, the premium effect of TOD station areas with a smaller proportion of residential and commercial land and a larger proportion of educational and cultural facilities is higher. Furthermore, in TOD station areas where transportation supply capacity is high but urban development is lagging, land use entropy and overall walkability have a strong influence on housing rents. Based on the study's results, we offer three recommendations for implementing TOD practices into integrated transportation and land use planning. This study renews our understanding of the outcomes of TOD both perspectively and methodologically.

Are emissions from global air transport significantly underestimated?

ABSTRACT Air transport is energy-intense, and considerable attention has been paid to the sector's use of fuel and emissions of greenhouse gases. Commercial aviation is believed to currently emit about 1 Gt CO2 per year, if considering global bunker fuel use (scope 1 in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol). A growing database is becoming available on scope 1–3 emissions; this is, including up- and downstream emissions, and it is now possible to assess the aviation system's carbon intensity more comprehensively. This paper investigates the annual reports of 26 of the largest airlines in the world by market capitalisation, finding that reporting on emissions for scopes 1–3 is still inconsistent and characterised by reporting gaps. Yet, available data suggests that scope 3 emissions are significant (about 30% of scope 1 emissions). These findings have repercussions for the sector's net-zero ambitions, climate governance, consumer choices and air transport finance, as the overall contribution from air travel to climate change remains underestimated. Results suggest that it is in the sector's interest to present robust, transparent, consistent and accurate emission inventories – and to engage with the implications.

State legislator views on funding 21st century Transportation:Important problems, missed connections

This paper asks how legislative elites—lawmakers serving on statehouse committees with jurisdiction over transportation and energy—set transportation policy and funding agendas and what factors matter for compelling lawmaker policy action or explaining inaction. The role of legislatures in federalist systems has broader implications for the setting of transportation policy agendas, but in this study, we focus on U.S. state legislatures. We report on five focus group discussions conducted with 23 legislative representatives from 19 different states to reveal untapped insights into committee members' perceptions and the factors that drive their attention to certain issues in contemporary U.S. transportation policy. We find that these state-level political elites almost universally see funding as the most important issue and recognize the sector's broad fiscal reliance on motor fuel taxes as structurally unsound, given growing vehicle fuel efficiency and electric vehicle adoption. We find further that, with respect to their own policymaking activities, state lawmakers understand transportation policy and energy transition as distinct issues and appear unable to meet these known challenges by crossing committees to redesign policy. We also see implications of these results more broadly for subnational and provincial governments that, regardless of country setting, must often work across multiple layers of government to set policy agendas in the context of an evolving energy and transportation landscape and that warrant greater attention from policy scholars.

Getting Mileage Fees Right: What Does the U.S. Public Think?

The United States faces a critical policy dilemma with respect to transportation funding: how to fund roads, highways, and public transportation into the future given the dwindling productivity of fuel taxes. This paper explores survey data that shed light on public opinion about one promising replacement for fuel taxes, so-called “mileage fees.” We analyzed 14 years of national survey data from U.S. adults to provide policymakers and researchers with evidence to answer three questions. First, what percent of Americans support the concept of mileage fees and has that support changed over time? Second, does support for mileage fees vary substantially by personal characteristics such as income or annual mileage driven? And third, are some mileage fee design choices more popular with the public than others?

Blended financing application in Indian cities’ clean transportation financing

Blended financing application in Indian cities’ clean transportation financing

Policy, management, and operation practices in U.S. microtransit systems

This paper identifies the current practices and challenges related to the planning, management, and operation of microtransit systems as well as the concerns associated with the (lack of) policies in place. Our work focuses on the U.S. experience and is primarily based on an in-depth analysis of six microtransit systems using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. We investigate and classify the multiple ways public agencies form public-private partnerships to institute microtransit service in their jurisdictions and discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of the different service delivery models. We also thoroughly examine the contracts public agencies formed with private entities to disentangle the various cost elements associated with the launch and operation of a microtransit system. Our policy discussion emphasizes the lack of sustained funding sources for microtransit and the funding formulas that lead to a reduction or loss of public transportation funding when a jurisdiction replaces a fixed route service with microtransit. We also explain the requirements for ADA compliance in microtransit systems and highlight that service equivalency between disabled and non-disabled riders is not guaranteed when only some of the microtransit vehicles and operators are ADA compliant and certified. In terms of operation practices, we describe the safety risks that microtransit users may face on a day-to-day basis due to algorithm-driven virtual pick-up and drop-off locations, and the unwillingness of some service providers to enforce inclusive practices and ensure that individuals without electronic payment options and smartphones can gain access to the service. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges with balancing supply and demand in microtransit systems, and the need for allowing for both on-demand and pre-scheduled trip requests in order to ensure that critical and time-sensitive work, school, and medical trips are accommodated and prioritized.

Hypertension and diabetes patients' perspective of challenges and their coping mechanisms in Mukono and Buikwe districts in Uganda - a qualitative study.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of non-communicable diseases is steadily rising amidst a high prevalence of communicable diseases stretching the healthcare system. This study explored hypertension and diabetes patients' perspective of challenges and their coping mechanisms in Mukono and Buikwe districts in Uganda. Methods: This descriptive qualitative study involved four focus group discussions with 26 patients at four selected health facilities. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and data analysed following the thematic content analysis guided by the semantic approach with the aid of Atlas ti 6.0.15 software. Results: Five themes were identified regarding challenges and coping mechanisms of patients in managing their conditions. 1) Inadequate opportunities for diagnosis, with community screening supporting identification of patients. 2) Accessing care came amidst transport challenges, absence of health workers and the lack of essential supplies for monitoring conditions. Patients borrowed transport funds or trekked to health facilities and some formed groups to contribute resources to buy equipment and supplies. 3) Access to medications was affected by frequent drug stockouts at public health facilities which pushed patients to purchase own drugs or obtain these through friends and networks. However, other patients resorted to cheaper herbal remedies. 4) Monitoring and managing conditions was affected by insufficient knowledge and opportunities for self-monitoring. Information from health workers and experiences from peers bridged the knowledge gap while private facilities or community health workers supported self-monitoring. 5) Adopting changes in behaviour was challenging but patients fitted these within their usual routines and mobilised family members to also adopt lifestyle changes while ignoring those they deemed unrealistic. Conclusions: The coping mechanisms patients adopted to manage their chronic conditions reflects self-care initiatives at the individual and community levels which could be reinforced and supplemented to better support and empower patients as steps are taken to address existing challenges.

Tourism MaaS – The case for regional cities

Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) has predominantly been focused on urban commuter transport. Now attention is shifting towards tourism applications. MaaS could address many current challenges in transport and tourism, enabling visitors to spend less time planning their travel, and more time enjoying their visit. It also provides an avenue for businesses to reach out to potential visitors and customers. This paper explores opportunities and challenges for regional MaaS development, with a multi-county review of selected tourism applications of MaaS, including Finland, Japan, and Taiwan. Then, a regional applicability study was conducted in three Queensland (Australia) regional centres of varying forms – Townsville, Rockhampton-Yeppoon, and Gladstone. Stakeholder interviews and a workshop were conducted, followed by a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis across four dimensions: i) stakeholder collaboration, ii) technology, iii) operating environment, and iv) service and market. The results suggest that a multimodal tourism-based MaaS offering has better potential in a place with a diverse economy and a growing tourist offer. Respondents indicated that a successful MaaS requires close integration of various modes, and also non-transport value-adding services (e.g., events, accommodation or attractions). Significant challenges remain in intermodal integration, long term transport funding, and cooperation between various businesses and transport operators.

Futures Market for Demand Responsive Travel Pricing

While transportation funding can be collected in a variety of direct (e.g., fares, tolls, and gas taxes) or indirect (e.g., property and sales tax) ways, dynamic demand responsive pricing not only collects revenue but also incentivizes travelers to avoid peak-demand periods, thus utilizing infrastructure capacity more efficiently. Unfortunately, the demand response to price changes, called the price elasticity of demand, is generally greater for longer-term travel planning (e.g., air and rail travel) than it is for more atomized short-term planning (e.g., highway tolls and transit fares). While this is caused by a plethora of factors (e.g., time flexibility, housing choice, automobile investment, etc.), a critical factor is that travelers simply lack sufficient information for future travel planning. For example, airline prices at different times can easily be compared, but a highway driver cannot accurately predict congestion nor congestion pricing. For this reason, such price changes have little effect on demand. This leaves any congestion abatement up to inefficient trial and error, and anecdotal speculation by travelers. Moreover, dynamic pricing is politically unsavory because of price uncertainty and collateral equity concerns. This article seeks to help remedy these concerns by proposing a simple “futures” market mechanism that can augment existing fare/toll collection technologies, providing travelers with sufficient pricing information and purchasing options to preplan their travel and avoid excessive prices. Users can optionally pre-pay their future fares/tolls to lock in a lower price for expected trips, thus encouraging good travel planning and efficient infrastructure utilization, while reducing price uncertainty.

Barriers in quest for cancer care access in two states of northeast India.

The cancer burden in northeast India is high, with low survival and low case detection. Despite the availability of cancer institutes in the region, existing literature remarks on the increasing travel outside the region for cancer care. However, research is sparse on identifying impediment factors to the access of state cancer institutes. To examine the barriers to cancer care in five common cancer sites: oral, lungs, stomach, breast and cervix. Following a descriptive multiple-embedded case study design integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches, 388 participants were selected in phase one by stratified random sampling. In phase two, by purposive sampling, 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The result suggests that family decision is the central factor in cancer care access. Treatment initiation is delayed because the existing government health insurance scheme does not cover diagnostic tests. Adverse steps are taken to fund cancer treatment. Besides, opting for alternative medicines were due to fear of surgery, chemotherapy and recommendations by relatives. Arranging accommodation, transportation and infrastructure shortage was another hurdle. In contrast, the lack of awareness of the state cancer institutes was a barrier to its access. This paper identifies and describes factors that hinder access to state cancer institutes. The findings could enhance policy interventions for efficient cancer care access in the region. Integration with NGOs working at the state level for cancer services would support ease of access by providing funds for diagnostic tests, accommodation and transportation, especially for those who cannot afford it.

The selection of PPP scheme using VfM analysis for Sekupang – Batam Centre Corridor

The study on public mass transportation in Batam City was started in 2010 by BP Batam. The study is still in a long polemic due to problems arise in technical and non-technical aspects, such as limited funding capacity of local government. Therefore, the government wants to involve private sectors in the development plan. This study aims to analyse the selection of Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme using value for money (VfM) as one of the solutions for public transportation funding problems. The methodology used in this study is the benchmarking method from several scenarios with an emphasis on the point of view of economic and financial feasibility studies. Several scenarios of PPP Scheme with different concession period and investment proportion were analyzed based on its VfM policy. The result of the VfM analysis shows that the VfM value for actual condition is 1,139,946 (IDR Mill). The most significant factors that affect the value of VfM is the changes in the concession period. The concession period of 20 years gives the maximum VfM value. In all scenarios, there is no negative VfM value which indicates that this public project is better if it is carried out with the PPP scheme.

Legal nature of the tasks and functions of the financial control of railway transport of Ukraine

The purpose of the article is to reveal the legal nature of tasks and functions of financial control of railway transport of Ukraine. Research results. The essence of state financial control has been studied. The peculiarities of financial control on the whole and in railway transport in particular are determined. The concepts of "financial control", "tasks of financial control", "functions of financial control" are clarified. Practical meaning. The main tasks and functions of state financial control in general and in rail transport specifically are established. Value/originality. It was determined that the functions of the state financial control of railway transport of Ukraine should be understood as a certain system of tasks and responsibilities assigned to authorized state bodies and services in order to ensure efficient and economical use of railway transport funds.

Thinking Beyond the Gas Tax: A Case Study Analysis of a Road User Charge System for Texas

Surface transportation funding in the U.S. is heavily reliant on fuel taxes that are becoming less effective as fuel efficiency increases and alternative fuel vehicles become more common. This report examines the benefits and challenges of using road user charges (RUCs) of various types to address this issue, before analyzing the potential revenue from a hypothetical RUC on four urban corridors within Texas. Common issues for RUCs are discussed, which include privacy, interstate coordination, and program administration. A range of possible options for RUCs are discussed, followed by an analysis of four corridors in the following counties: Bexar, Collin, Harris, and Lubbock. Data from TTI’s Urban Mobility Report on VMT were utilized along with vehicle registration data from TTI’s TRENDS model to estimate an average miles per gallon for each county based on the local fleet. Three scenarios were then developed including a revenue recovery scenario, a variable pricing scenario, and a carbon tax scenario. This report concludes with a discussion of the scenario results. Specific challenges and barriers for each scenario are discussed along with a discussion of the data sources and privacy trade-offs.

How buses alleviate unemployment and poverty: Lessons from a natural experiment in Clayton County, GA

Many studies have documented the linkage between public transportation and economic outcomes, though there is relatively little empirical evidence on the consequences of losing existing transit services, especially bus services, which disproportionately serve low-income populations. We investigate the impacts of bus access on poverty and employment using a natural experiment in Clayton County, GA, where the local bus transit was terminated between 2010 and 2015. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find substantial increases in poverty and unemployment rates in affected neighbourhoods during the five-year period. Our findings suggest both the spatial mismatch hypothesis, which predicts the reduction in transit access can lead to reductions in job accessibility and employment, and the residential sorting hypothesis, which states that poor households gravitate towards neighbourhoods with better transit access, could be at play. Overall, we find strong evidence that disruptions in bus transit could have significant adverse impacts on neighbourhood economic outcomes. Our findings underscore the need for federal and local public transportation funding to help improve job access, alleviate poverty, and maintain neighbourhood stability.

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL HEALTH OF SHRIRAM TRANSPORT FINANCE COMPANY LTD (STFC)

Shriram Transport finance company Limited (STFC) is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) having approximately five to six percent share of market in new trade financing and about twenty five percent market share of pre-owned trade financing. The company customer base is more than 18 lacs. It has exposed to continuous increasing competition from banking sector and other NBFCs. Revenue of the company is placed at 6th rank among its top ten companies. In our study timeframe, it has also faced challenge of COVID-19. All these factors have affected performance of the company therefore it becomes pertinent to look into the financial performance and soundness of the company by using an analysis tool in order to determine its healthy zone. This paper is quantitative and empirical in nature which is based on secondary data collected from various records, websites, reports and financial books of the company. Altman ‘Z’ score has been used to judge the financial position of the STFC. Altman Z score has been used to analyse the financial health and soundness of the company. This score has been found out by including ratio of working capital to total assets, retained earnings to total assets, EBIT to total assets ratio, market value of equity to total liabilities ratio and net operating revenue to total assets ratios. Therefore, this analysis suggests five accounting ratios in order to prepare a solvency index and uses as an effective tool to evaluate corporate performance to predict bankruptcy. Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) has applied for the period 2011-12 to 2021-22 to determine the financial health of the company. At last, various measures have been suggested to improve the financial position of the company in future. KEYWORDS: STFC, Finance, COVID-19, Financial Health, NBFC, Z Score

Review of Financing Mechanisms to Promote Decarbonization Alternatives in Rail and Inland Waterway Transport

The financial market has a strong influence on supporting the transition to a zero-emission transport system, as this sector requires large investments to implement low-emission technologies and infrastructure and to promote intermodality. This article presents the results obtained from a literature review on the financing mechanisms that have been used in different countries to finance alternatives to decarbonization in rail and inland waterway modes. For this purpose, databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus, MDPI, websites of governments and other related organizations were reviewed. Over 240 sources of information from articles and documents focusing on green finance in rail and inland waterway modes were reviewed. Our study identified many gaps in the literature on green transport financing. We also identified that in the databases consulted, it was possible to obtain more academic sources related to rail transport than inland waterway transport. Finally, an analysis is made of how implementation projects in the rail and inland waterway modes have been financed in Colombia.