Transforming Traffic Engineering—A Sustainable Multimodal Approach

The impact of the Covid pandemic, along with ever-increasing oil prices, has become the catalyst for a change in mobility behavior. While many agencies’ efforts in promoting public transit as a sustainable development have been in vain during the pandemic, the public’s interest in shifting to alternative transportation modes has become more prominent. Public agencies should recognize not only the challenges to the existing infrastructure due to this paradigm shift in transportation mode, but also the opportunities to achieve system optimization and reduce total vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT). California has adopted policies to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as part of wide-range strategies to curb carbon emissions. Furthermore, on September 23, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an ambitious executive order to ban the sale of new combustion-engine vehicles in the state starting in 2035. Traditional vehicles’ position as the predominant transportation mode has been and will continue to be challenged by not only electric vehicles but also by other alternative transportation modes. Integrating a multimodal system serving all roadway users, such as pedestrians, bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV), and other unconventional vehicles, is the only sustainable solution for future transportation infrastructure. However, the success of such integration cannot be achieved without higher level systems-thinking, applying innovative and emerging technology, as well as active and effective policy legislation and public education. After this session, participants will be able to:
• Recognize the challenges of taking a multimodal approach due to the shift in traffic engineering practice and public opinion from automobile convenience to sustainable mobility.
• Explore opportunities to use new standards to enhance safety, expand mobility, and improve efficiency.
• Convince the governing bodies and their constituents that a multimodal approach is the sustainable future of traffic engineering practice.