[OKC] From NRDC: America's Smartest Regions For Transportation

[Miles, Karen]

America's Smartest Regions For Transportation

 
By Alice Henly 
Empty coffers and rising gas prices may be the talk of the town, but
cities across the country are finding innovative solutions to costly
commutes by providing cheaper, healthier alternatives. In Lincoln,
Nebraska, a 2011 Smarter City for transportation, low-income riders pay
a mere $7.50 for unlimited bus rides all month long. Getting from place
to place is more affordable in New York-at an average annual household
cost of $5,289-than in any other large city. And at an average of 9,920
miles a year per household, New Yorkers travel fewer miles in the car
than residents in any other region in the country besides Jersey City,
New Jersey.
"By and large, 'location efficient' places - with essential services
that are nearby or accessible by many transportation modes - lower
transportation costs for residents," says Scott Bernstein, president of
the Center for Neighborhood Technology <http://htaindex.cnt.org/>
(CNT). "Cities and regions that foster compact, walkable, transit-rich
communities can reduce reliance on automobiles and help lower at least
one expense for households struggling to get by in the current economy."
Lincoln, New York and Jersey City are three of 15 metropolitan regions
selected by NRDC's Smarter Cities team for their impressive and
effective transportation programs. The study, created in collaboration
with CNT, compares and profiles U.S. cities based on public transit
availability and use; household automobile ownership and use; and
innovative, sustainable and affordable transportation programs.
"Transportation policies that deliver a variety mobility options
including integrated bike paths, bus, rail, and even vanpools not only
benefit the environment, but they also enrich urban life by making city
attractions and neighborhoods more accessible," says Deron Lovaas,
director of Federal Transportation Policy at NRDC. "By improving
regional transportation programs we boost local economies, reduce air
pollution, enhance quality of life, and even benefit public health by
making walking and biking safer and more enjoyable for commuters."
The Smarter Cities team sought advice from experts both in and outside
of NRDC to develop its research plan. And to ensure that the study
encompassed the wider impacts of suburban and exurban commuters, Smarter
Cities used U.S. census defined metropolitan regions as the basic unit
of study. The term "city" (or city/metro region) here is used in this
broader sense and city profiles report on innovations in both municipal
and regional transportation programs.
"It was crucial to first figure out the scope and focus of the
transportation study, which raises the perennial, fundamental issue of
whether to compare cities or regions," explains Kaid Benfield, director
of NRDC's Sustainable Communities & Smart Growth and a Smarter Cities
project advisor. "Regional data often gives a truer indication of the
environment of a place than jurisdictional boundaries as it encompasses
commuters traveling both in dense urban city centers and in surrounding
suburbs. Yet municipalities and cities mostly act separately as
instruments of policy, innovate more and are inherently more sustainable
and 'smarter'."
This transportation study is the second in the Smarter Cities series,
which aim to inspire regions nationwide by recognizing what leading
metro regions, cities and municipalities across the country are doing to
make themselves more efficient and livable. To identify these leaders,
the Smarter Cities team focus on one sustainability factor
<http://smartercities.nrdc.org/sustainability-factors>  at a time -- 
energy
<http://smartercities.nrdc.org/articles/american-cities-get-smart-about-
energy> , air quality or smart growth, for example -- and using
quantitative and qualitative analysis, compare regions on their efforts
to make themselves more sustainable.
To read the rest of the article and find out the large, medium, and
small "2011 Smarter Cities for Transportation", go to 
http://smartercities.nrdc.org/topic/transportation/americas-smartest-reg
ions-transportation
 
 
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