|
| |
The National Center for Transit Research's National TDM and Telework
Clearinghouse at the University of South Florida is pleased to announce our
first netconference for 2011. In partnership with the Association for Commuter Transportation, NCTR will offer:
Instant Carpooling - Just Add Passengers and Go: the Phenomenon That Is Casual Carpooling
Thursday, March 31, 2011
2:00 PM to 3:15 PM EDT
1:00 PM to 2:15 PM CDT
Noon to 1:15 PM MDT
11:00 AM to 12:15 PM PDT
Summary: Your mother told you never to ride with strangers. Obviously, your mother wouldn't understand slugging or casual carpooling. Slugs (as they are called in Washington DC and Houston areas) or casual carpoolers (in the San Francisco area) travel that way on a daily basis! However, slugging is a very organized system with its own set of rules, proper etiquette, and specific pickup and drop-off locations. With thousands of vehicles at their disposal, thousands of commuters move daily by jumping in the car and flying down the high occupancy vehicle lane without (usually) paying anything. Slugging gets people to and from work faster than the typical bus, metro, or train without the need to be tied to a specific carpool. The National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) at the University of South Florida and the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) have arranged for three presenters who participated in a recent FHWA funded scanning tour of casual carpooling/slugging in the U.S. to share their previous research and observations from the field.
- Northern Virginia: Marc Oliphant, U.S. Department of the Navy, will describe how "slugging" works in Northern Virginia. Since the moment that the I-95/395 managed lanes first opened to carpoolers in the mid 1970's commuters have been matching up with strangers to take advantage of 27 miles of free-flowing HOV lanes. More than 5,000 commuters participate every workday. Marc Oliphant will explain what he has learned from surveying slugs, researching dynamic ridesharing, and organizing the first ever DC Area Slugging Symposium. Marc's research has been particularly focused on finding ways to make dynamic ridesharing work where it hasn't appeared organically.
- Houston: Mark Burris, PhD, Texas A &M will discuss the evolution of slugging in Houston before and after the opening of managed lanes. The Katy Freeway recently changed from HOV3+ free in the peak to HOV2+ free in the peak - resulting in a significant impact on casual carpooling. Dr. Burris will discuss this impact, his experience as a slug during the scan tour, the results of a travel survey of casual carpoolers, and counts of casual carpoolers performed on an infrequent basis over the last 5 years.
- Casual Carpooling in San Francisco Bay Area: Susan Heinrich, Metropolitan Transportation Commission will discuss casual carpooling in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the response from introducing tolls for carpoolers across the Bay Bridge in July 2010. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Regional Rideshare Program has conducted three comprehensive counts and travel surveys of casual carpoolers over the past thirty years - most recently just before the carpool toll was implemented. Ms. Heinrich will compare the casual carpool trends in these studies and discuss the "don't-fix-what-isn't-broken" role that MTC's traditional rideshare program has played over the years.
Donna Smallwood with MassRides/URS will be our moderator.
Register your ACT chapter site(s) here
1st seat for Chapter is free. Additional seats are $100 ($125 after early registration period ends on March 17)
INFORMATION
To reserve a seat for your chapter, please
use the registration application link above to reserve a seat for your
chapter and submit by
March 17, 2011.
How many locations within our chapter can
participate?
Each chapter is allotted one free seat.
Additional seats can be purchased from ACT through arrangements with an ACT
chapter.
What does it cost?
We have a limited number of "free" seats. We will be able to accommodate
at one free virtual seat for each chapter. Chapters are able to secure
additional "virtual" seats for $100 each ($125 each after
March 17). Please contact Caryn Souza at
souza@actweb.org to arrange to
purchase additional seats.
NCTR National TDM and Telework Clearinghouse is making the netconference
service available to ACT. ACT's is funding the toll-free charges
of the netconference.
What if I have more questions?
If you have any
questions, please contact Phil Winters at (813) 974-9811 or
winters@cutr.usf.edu
*A separate
confirmation with the URL and the toll-free telephone number for the netconference, and copies
of the slides will be sent
via email to the Host registering for the chapter.
|
813.974.5168 fax