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 t 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, Goverr 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 t 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 cant be achieved without higher level systems-thinking, applying invative and emerging techlogy, 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.