David Weinreich’s research while affiliated with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and other places

Metropolitan public transportation systems vary in their performance and governance, and evidence suggests linkages between these. However, such linkages remain largely untested due to the complexity of governance and the absence of reliable and valid measures of it. We develop a conceptual framework for understanding metropolitan public transportation system governance using the familiar concepts of polycentricity and fragmentation. We introduce the novel concept of governance topology to parse the complexity of the many organizational arrangements and interorganizational relationships that comprise metropolitan governance. We then propose a method of measurement using a concentration index, and apply it to the Chicagoland region.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) utilize new technology that promises to enhance transportation equity, accessibility, and safety; however, their acceptance by consumers, as well as their future performance, is reliant upon the planners understanding the public’s perceptions of the current transportation services. Most of the existing studies that evaluate the public’s opinions and perceptions of AV technology were conducted by using stated preference surveys in metropolitan areas with multiple public transit options; little emphasis was given to a qualitative approach that included all of the potential users. This study explores the concerns and preferences of future riders about the integration of a shared self-driving shuttle into an existing ridesharing service in a city with no existing public transit system, multiple population segments, and potential users. Utilizing a qualitative approach, we conducted three focus groups that were comprised of the general public; university faculty, staff, and students; and people with disabilities in Arlington, Texas (n =24). A content analysis method was imple-mented to analyze the data and identify the main themes and subthemes related to each discussion.The results revealed that all three groups identified service accessibility, flexibility, and reliability as the factors that most strongly shape the demand for existing transportation services. Additionally, people with disabilities cited the capacity of the existing paratransit service and the lack of access to distant health care facilities as barriers that frequently prevent them from using the service.Participants also expressed their concerns about the proposed shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) service, and while accessibility and safety were the primary concerns, they also worried about the capacity of the service, the trip cost, and provisions for people with disabilities. Partic-ipants with disabilities indicated that they would adopt the SAV as long as service planners provide a supportive environment such as access to sidewalks, ramps, and curb cuts in the pick-up and drop-off locations. This study provides insights into transportation strategies that can integrate SAVs into existing on-demand ridesharing services to improve people’s mobility needs. To predict the short-term and long-term adoption of an SAV deployment, it is essential to identify the potential users’ concerns, preferences, and expectations of self-driving technology. The research findings are expected to support transportation planners and policymakers in their quest to recognize and utilize the most effective ways to promote the efficiency of SAV services.

Despite strong interest in toll finance, the process of decision making and revenue allocation is not well understood. This study examined toll road data over 10 years, to understand how revenue was spent, and whether there were differences by governance structure. A representative sample of 60 toll roads across 20 US states was catalogued, selected based on their governance structure, centerline miles, and rate of toll increase since 2007. Archival sources were examined to identify whether/how much tolls had increased/decreased, and the question of how governance methods affected spending outcomes was addressed through interviews with staff and elected officials from four toll road authorities. The study found strong incentives toward profit in private and public–private partnership roads, but weak incentives to encourage transparency. The study identified barriers to using revenue toward expenditures intended to soften the impact of toll increases on low-income populations. This was because of debt covenants and incentives to distribute money toward new projects within an agency’s outer boundaries, thus failing to address the equity concerns that hamper public confidence in tolls as a revenue source. Nesting a toll road within a multimodal transportation authority could mitigate this, providing incentives to subsidize public transit, and taxing powers that make debt less necessary—an institutional design which could mitigate equity concerns that have hampered public acceptance of tolls as a revenue source.

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are new technologies with the potential of becoming a viable mobility option that mitigate the transportation barriers. This study aims to understand the concerns and preferences of a proposed AV service in Arlington, Texas through conducting focus group discussions with the university and public participants. Results indicate both focus groups were concerned about the spatial accessibility, capacity, trip cost, and disability friendliness of the AV service. University participants believed that the AV service would be safer than other services because of its speed; however, they are less tolerant of accidents caused by self-driving vehicles than human errors. Accessibility to recreational facilities at late hours was important for both groups. Participants expected the AV service could improve the mobility of seniors in Arlington. Besides, technology improvements were considered as a factor that increases the reliability of AV service. This study provides new insights into implementing efficient AV services.

This study explores how people with disabilities perceive and accept autonomous vehicles (AVs) as a technology to improve their mobility. A focus group discussion was conducted to explore individuals' preferences towards integrating a level 4 AVs into the existing microtransit service in Arlington, Texas. Participants demonstrated a positive perception towards the integration of AVs into the current microtransit infrastructure. The results suggest that accessibility to a well-designed built environment is vital in adopting AVs by people with disabilities. Moreover, AVs' accessibility to healthcare facilities is one of the main concerns for people with disabilities. Furthermore, people with visual impairment expect that technological improvements of future AV services could ease their mobility through advanced apps, booking systems, and vehicle equipment. This study offers several implications for designing AV service in line with disabled people's needs while combining with the current microtransit service.

Transportation governance is an understudied topic, despite its potential to have significant influences on the quality of transit service, and integration of services across transit agencies. Past research has usually tackled this topic obliquely, or through studies focused on a single region or multiple regions in a single state. The present study builds on this foundation through the systemic analysis of data measuring jurisdictional fragmentation and cross-jurisdictional formal institutions facilitating ties across transit agency and local government jurisdictional boundaries (defined here as regionalization), for example, via state government involvement, multi-jurisdictional organizations, multi-jurisdictional funding, shared board memberships across agencies (conjunctions) and interagency agreements. The authors use comparative case study analysis to examine four highly fragmented metropolitan statistical areas, two with strong cross-jurisdictional institutions, and two where such institutions are comparatively weak, or nonexistent. The objective is to use a cohesive research strategy for measuring different cross-jurisdictional, regionalizing governance strategies with a single indexed measure, and trace narratively how differences in the indexed measure and the institutions it represents correspond to differences in transit system outcomes.

This study examines how the voluntary nature of local membership in transportation agencies can impact resource allocation, drawing on details from a major US transit agency in a state that lets cities opt in or out of transit agency membership. This study finds significant correlation between local opt-outs and transit service using national data. This study examines the impact opt-outs have on transit resource allocation and decision making over time, their effect on transit service over decades, and equity implications, using historical case study analysis from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system (DART). This study concludes that authorizing legislation allowing local jurisdictions to opt out of transit districts weakens planning capacity, creates a structure making it difficult to allocate scarce transit dollars based on transit need and social equity goals, instead favoring allocation based on satisfying each municipality.

App-based, on-demand services are a nascent mode of public transportation, which can provide point to point transportation, first-last mile access to fixed route transit, or serve in place of paratransit, among other uses. First-last mile service has emerged as a dominant service model in the Federal Transit Administration's MOD Sandbox Program. However this service model also requires strong integration between app-based, on-demand services and the traditional fixed route lines they connect to. Following previous research identifying the role transit governmental institutions can play in creating barriers to service integration, this study examines whether and how governmental institutions known to impact fixed route services have a similar effect on app-based, on-demand modes. This study surveys cities and transit agencies across Texas. Interviews and archival analysis are used to identify fragmentation challenges and causes in app-based, on-demand services. This study finds that many of the jurisdictional challenges identified for fixed route services also apply to emerging app-based, on-demand services. However the need for integration of apps poses a challenge not seen before. Integration needs make app-based, on-demand services of limited suitability for first/last mile connectivity when provided by separate agencies or companies, when formal and informal coordination is poor, and when fixed route services are infrequent.

This paper explores the connection between local autonomy and inequitable transit service distribution. The authors use a mixed methods approach, first analyzing fine grained data in the Dallas region to compare levels of accessibility across space. The authors then examine the policy decisions that led to inequitable distribution of financial resources at the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system (DART). Primary causes identified were state authorizing legislation that gave significant power to local member cities, forcing DART to focus its attention on spreading resources across its members, rather than providing services designed to help low income residents access the jobs and services needed to get ahead.