PA 5231/CEGE 5213: Transit Planning and Management(3 credits)
Lecture: 6:00 - 8:45 PM Thursday, HHH 184
Instructor: Jason Cao,
Office hour: 4:00-5:00 Thursday and by appointment at HHH 295G
Please see me if you have a problem with some aspect of the course. I cannot know you are having difficulty unless you tell me. Keep in mind that office hours are not only a time to address problems. I’d happy to talk with you about your areas of interest, help brainstorm topics for your final project, etc.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
US HUD-DOT-EPA initiated an Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities in 2009 ( Transit and transit-oriented development (TOD) are key components to achieve several of its livability principles. In the Twin Cities, federal, state, and local governments have made substantial investments on transit and associated development to improve the livability of the region. The course will help you understand how to make transit a catalyst for livable communities. It will cover:
- transit services and transit-oriented developmentin the region, in the US, and around the world;
- transit managementtechniques including design standard, capacity analysis, and route scheduling;
- transit agency organization, transit finance and politics;
- cutting-edge research on transit-related issues in the region.
Besides, this course will offer you platforms to
- interact with practitioners;
- understand transit planning process and appreciate the roles of stakeholders in the process;
- understand equity issues in transit planning;
- assemble and analyze ideas and information from research and practice;
- improve your written and oral communication skills;
- address group dynamics through team building.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Research shows that students learn more and remember what they learn much longer when they are active participants in the learning process. Be ready to participate in group discussions, think-pair-share, jigsaw, and so on. The goal of these strategies is to facilitate yourlearning through engagement.
Presentation skills are important for planners because we “have to present projects [and plans] at various stages to clients, officials, or the public” ( This courseoffers you a platform to evaluate and improve your presentation skills. We will togetheridentify commonly-seen problems in presentations, critique your recorded presentation in individual-group meetings, and summarize how to make improvements in future presentations.
Many students find speaking in front of a group quite stressful, especially as a non-volunteer. The best way to overcome the anxiety of public speaking is to come prepared and to participate regularly. You should participate in classroom discussions. If you tend to be quiet during class, you should push yourself to raise your hand and join the discussion. If you are a regular participant, you should limit the frequency of your comments to allow others to participate. Some of you may be more likely to volunteer a comment when there are fewer hands raised or when there is a gap in the discussion. Some of you will have an answer ready almost immediately; some of you will take more time to formulate your thinking and get ready to speak. I will try to provide an opportunity for everyone to participate. In calling on students who raise their hands, I will usually call first on students who participate less often. When the only raised hands I see are from frequent participants, I may wait for others to be ready to join the discussion, or call on a non-volunteer.
In class, I will call upon both non-volunteers and volunteers each day. If I call on you, I expect you to make a good faith effort to answer them. If you do not know how to answer a question, you may simply say so and I will either rephrase my question, or invite another student to assist us. And you don't have to be absolutely certain about an answer to contribute to the discussion. Often the best learning in class will occur from discovering how to think through a question to get to an answer or walking through the steps that led to a wrong answer.
I also strongly encourage you to ask questions. Framing questions is part of the learning process. Some questions I will answer right away, because it is important to clear up a confusing point that is critical to our topic. Some questions are ones to which I will be unable to give a clear answer immediately, without creating more confusion. I will think about those questions and answer in the next class or by email.
READINGS
We will cover some sections of the following books, reserved at Wilson library. Neither is required.
(1) Cervero, R (1998). The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry. Island Press. Washington DC.
(2) Dittmar, H and G Ohland (2004). The New Transit Town: Best Practice in Transit-Oriented Development. Island Press. Washington DC.
Several TCRP reports will be heavily used:
TCRP 102: Transit-Oriented Development in the United States--Experiences, Challenges, and Prospects
TCRP 128: Effects of TOD on Housing, Parking, and Travel
TCRP 135: Controlling System Costs: Basic and Advanced Scheduling Manuals and Contemporary Issues in Transit Scheduling
TCRP 100: Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
The course assignments provide you with experiences in memo writing, professional presentation, analysis and evaluation,independentand teamwork. Specifically, the course requires two case study memos, one presentation, one summary, two exercises, and one final project. For all assignments, the penalty for each day of delay (1 minute to 24 hours) is worth 20% of the assignment grade. For group assignments, although only one submission is required for a group, all members are responsible for the late assignment. Please confirm/double check with your group members to ensure on time submission. If you wish to dispute the grade of an assignment, you must do so IN WRITING within one week after the assignment has been returned. You must include a specific rationale for why your assignment deserves a higher grade. "I think I deserve a better grade" does NOT constitute a rationale.
Grades will be based on the following:
Case studymemos (team work)b2×10%
Case study presentation(team work)b5+ 5%a
Review (individual work)10%
Route scheduling exercise (team work) b15%
Capacity analysis exercise (team work)b10%
Final project(individual work)25%
Participation (individual work)10%
a My evaluation and students’ evaluation account for 5%, respectively.
b. To avoid free ride, students are required to confidentially evaluate their team members at the end of the semester. Your individual score is computed by weighting your overall team score with the autorating system designed by Felder and Brent in Cooperative Learning.
Attendance is required. You will get a 2-point penalty per absence if you miss more than two 75-minute lectures (except legitimate, documented excuses such as doctor’s notes).
When you have questions on the assignments, please send me an email, stop by during office hours, or make an appointment. My goal in this class is to inspire each of you to learn and to challenge yourself to reach your fullest potential. I expect you to work hard on your own, with each other and with me, to accomplish this goal.
POLICIES
Academic Dishonesty: Students are expected to do their own assigned work. If it is determined that a student has engaged in any form of Academic Dishonesty, he or she may be given an "F" or an "N" for the course, and may face additional sanctions from the University. Academic dishonesty in any portion of the academic work for a course shall be grounds for awarding a grade of F or N for the entire course. See
Diversity and Collegiality: This course draws students from a variety of disciplines. This diversity of academic experience, assumptions regarding learning, and ways of approaching problems is one of the most enriching aspects of the course. In addition, every class is influenced by the fact that students come from widely diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and hold different values. Because a key to optimal learning and successful teaching is to hear, analyze, and draw from a diversity of views, the instructors expect collegial and respectful dialogue across disciplinary, cultural, and personal boundaries.
Student Conduct: Instructors are responsible for maintaining order and a positive learning environment in the classroom. Students whose behavior is disruptive either to the instructor or to other students will be asked to leave. Students whose behavior suggests the need for counseling or other assistance may be referred to their college office or University Counseling and Consulting Services. Students whose behavior may violate the University Student Conduct Code may be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs.
Sexual Harassment: University policy prohibits sexual harassment as defined in the University Policy Statement ( adopted on December 11, 1998. Complaints about sexual harassment should be reported to the University Office of Equal Opportunity, 419 Morrill.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Participants with special needs should talk to the instructors by the end of the second week to gain maximum access to course information. All discussions will remain confidential. University policy is to provide, on a flexible and individualized basis, reasonable accommodations to students who have documented disability conditions (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, or systemic) that may affect their ability to participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact Disability Services and their instructors to discuss their individual needs for accommodations. Disability Services is located in Suite180 McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak Street. Staff can be reached at or by calling 612/626-1333 (voice or TTY).
Student Mental Health: As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. University of Minnesota services are available to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. You can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus via
Acknowledgements
Some sections were adapted from the syllabus of David Laverny-Rafter and Steve Mahowald.
SCHEDULE(subject to last-minute changes due to conflicts of guest speakers)
Week 1: Introduction + overview of public transportation 9.10
Syllabus
TCRP 100: Chapter 1 of Part 2
Cervero (1998). What contributes to the decline in ridership? pp. 27-39
Pucher and Renee (2003). Socioeconomics of urban travel: Evidence from the 2001 NHTS. Transportation Quarterly, 57, 49-78.
American Public Transportation Association (2007). Public Transportation: Benefits for the 21st Century.
Week 2: New Start (Mark Fuhrmann) + transit-oriented development (1) 9.17
TCRP (2010). Legal Handbook for New Starts Process. Legal Research Digest 30.
Chapter 2 in Dittmar and Ohland (2004).
Conclusion sessions of Chapter 1- 6, Table 7.1 and Chapter 20 in TCRP 102.
Summary of TCRP 128.
CTOD (2008). Station Area Planning: How to Make Great Transit-Oriented Places. The Center for Transit Oriented Development.
Week 3: Bottineau LRT (Joe Gladke) + transit-oriented development (2) 9.24
Bottineau Transitway Alternatives Analysis Study: Final Report. Prepared by SRF. Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority.
[Start working on case study 1 memo]
Week 4: Transit in North America + international transit policies10.1
TCRP 100: Chapters 2, 3 and 5 of Part 2 and Chapter 2 of Part 4
Executive Summary of Transportation Research Board (2001). Making Transit Work. Special Report 257.
Cervero (1998). Types of transit metropolis. pp. 5-14
[Start working on case study 2 memo]
Week 5: Quality of service+ design standard 10.8
TCRP 100: pp.11-12 of Part 1 and pp. 1-22 of Part 3
Optional reading:
Chapter 3 of Part 3 in TCRP 100
Appendix G: transit design and performance standards in 2040 Transportation Policy Plan.
[Start working on walking distance review]
Week 6: Basic route scheduling 10.15
TCRP 135: Chapter 2 and the first two sections of Chapters 3-6
[Start working on scheduling project]
Week 7: Gateway corridor BRT development (Lyssa Leitner Grams) 10.22
Week 8: Basic route scheduling & case study presentation 10. 29
TCRP 135: Chapter 2 and the first two sections of Chapters 3-6
Week 9: Basic route scheduling (Kristin Thompson) & case study presentation 11.5
Week 10: Capacity analysis + case study presentation 11.12
TCRP 100: Chapter 3 of Part 1 and Chapters 1, 4-6, and 9(Ex 1, 2, 4, 5) of Part 4
[Start working on capacity analysis]
Week 11: Transitway research + capacity analysis 11.19
TCRP 100: Chapter 3 of Part 1 and Chapters 1, 4-6, and 9(Ex 1, 2, 4, 5) of Part 4
Week 12: Thanksgiving 11.26
Week 13: Transit finance (Cole Hiniker) + transit politics 12.3
Garret, M. and Taylor, B. (1999). Reconsidering Social Equity in Public Transit. Berkeley Planning Journal, 13, 6-27.
Optional reading:
O’Toole, R. (2006). A Desire Named Streetcar: How Federal Subsidies Encourage Wasteful Local Transit Systems. Policy Analysis, 559, CATO Institute.
O’Toole, R. (2010). Fixing Transit: The Case for Privatization. Policy Analysis, 670, CATO Institute.
Week 14: Paratransit (John Harper and Andrew Krueger) 12.10
Field trip to Metro Transit (about three hours in an afternoon between Nov. 5 and Dec. 4)
IMPORTANT DATES
All assignments are due at 6 AMby email to . No hard copy is accepted. Save trees.
Final project problem statement due Sept. 25
Memo 1 due Oct. 2
Memo 2 due Oct. 9
Review due Oct. 16
Presentation slides due the presentation day
Route scheduling due Oct. 23 and Nov. 6
Final project progress report due Oct. 30
Capacity analysis due Nov. 25
Final project report: Dec. 11
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