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These articles represent a selection of our perspectives
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PUBLICATIONS |
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2007 Articles
2006
Articles
2005
Articles
2004 Articles
2003 Articles
2002 Articles
2001 Articles
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2007 Articles
The Role of TDM and Other Transportation Strategies in State Climate Action Plans
Written by Frank Gallivan, Jeffrey Ang-Olson, William Schroeer, and Frank Mongioi of ICF International. This article, published in the November 2007 issue (pp. 10-14, Issue 2, 2007) of TDM Review, highlights the growing role of transportation demand management strategies in state climate action plans, as states develop and implement policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Entry-Level Transportation Construction Workforce Shortages
Produced by ICF International for the Florida Department of Transportation, September 2007. This report explores the factors that have the greatest impact on job choice decisions of youth entering the workforce, with the goal of informing marketing and recruitment efforts of transportation construction within the state. ICF recommends three broad strategies for addressing marketing and recruitment challenges and offers 42 ideas on how to implement them. Additionally, to fully address the workforce shortage, transportation construction companies must become more effective at managing their workforce. ICF offers 13 ideas for how companies can improve their organizational management.
EPA SmartWay Continues To Drive Success
Written by Buddy Polovick of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Joseph Aamidor of ICF International. This article, published in the September 2007 issue of Food Logistics, profiles the trucking fleets of Kraft Foods and Perdue and describes steps they have taken to reduce their fuel consumption and reduce their emissions. Both companies participate in EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary program designed to help companies in the freight industry save fuel and reduce their emissions.
Transportation Demand Management Programs as an Emissions Reduction Strategy: New Challenges and Opportunities
February 2007.
ICF International releases analysis highlighting the potential role of transportation demand management (TDM) strategies in reducing multiple air pollutants. TDM strategies reduce motor vehicle emissions primarily by decreasing vehicle travel and encouraging the use of other transportation modes, such as transit, bicycling, or walking; increasing vehicle occupancy through carpooling or vanpooling; eliminating vehicle trips, through strategies such as telecommuting and compressed work weeks; reducing vehicle trip lengths through better urban design and land use mixing; and linking vehicle trips. In addition, TDM strategies also can encourage shifts from peak periods to less congested periods, thereby reducing travel delay and idling.
Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.:
Reducing Dependence on Oil
January 2007. ICF International's study analyzes the amount of petroleum saved by the use of public transportation systems in the United States. The analysis reveals that public transportation currently saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline annually. The study further examines actual savings in household budgets attributable to public transportation use and included factors that influence travel such as income, household size, neighborhood density, and the number of workers in the household. It concludes that public transportation use correlates with 16 fewer miles driven per day, per household. This amounts to an estimated $1,400 per year in annual fuel costs. Two-worker households in which one worker uses public transportation have the opportunity to save substantially more if they have only one car. These families can save an estimated $6,200 per year, accounting for both public transportation use and vehicle ownership.
2006 Articles
Primer
on Information Design for Transportation Agencies
Prepared by William Schroeer of ICF International for the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Standing Committee
on Planning, July 2006, as part of the National Cooperative Highway Research
Program (NCHRP), Project 08-36. How can we use the vast array of data that
are collected by transportation agencies to create information that is easily
understood and acted on by target audiences? Practitioners have powerful data
management, integration, and dissemination tools to work with. However, the
NCHRP believed that a more sophisticated approach to developing and communicating
information was needed to further improve the decision-making process. This
primer aims to educate and guide transportation professionals as they create
information graphics for documents and presentations.
Enabling
Transformation with Communities of Practice (CoP)
ICF International has partnered with the U.S Department of Transportation's Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) to bring innovative approaches to internal operational
challenges in FHWA's Knowledge
Sharing Initiative. This Communities
of Practice Case Study describes a virtual network of people tied together
by a common job function or focus area. FHWA's external communities link more
than 4,000 staff members from partner organizations in an ongoing information-sharing
effort to find common solutions to common problems in the industry.
Including
Aviation into the EU ETS: Impact on EU Allowance Prices
ICF International was commissioned by the UK
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and UK Department
for Transport (DfT) to provide a quantitative assessment of the impacts of including
the aviation sector into Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (2008-2012).
The February 2006 report examines the impacts of including aviation within the
EU Emissions Trading Scheme commencing in 2008 and the sector's impact on EU
Allowances prices for the period 2008-2012. ICF International used its proprietary International
Carbon Pricing Tool (InCaP) to provide this rigorous analysis. The report
was used by the government in order to inform policy development and to provide
a response to any European Commission proposal on aviation's inclusion within
the Scheme.
2005 Articles
Solving
Airside Airport Congestion: Why Peak Runway Pricing is
Not Working
Published in the Journal of Air Transport
Management, by Joshua
L. Schank of ICF International. The paper examines why peak runway
pricing has never been effectively implemented. Some of the
literature discussing the theory is examined to show the basis
for the theory and the potential for flaws in practice. Three
cases where airports attempted to implement peak runway pricing
are analyzed. The findings indicate that there may be some
institutional barriers to peak pricing theory that prevent
effective implementation. Airports and others seeking to reduce
congestion might consider focusing their efforts on working
towards providing alternatives for passengers, rather than
attempting to use peak pricing as a congestion-reduction mechanism
in isolation.
Saving
Oil in a Hurry
Published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, ©2005. ICF International co-authored a detailed
study for the International Energy Agency (IEA), which
the IEA turned into a book. The study analyzed a number of
immediate demand measures that can significantly reduce both
the increased cost of gasoline and the macro-economic losses
of long gas lines, freight system disruption, rationing/allocation
schemes, and more. Multiple variations of each of the approaches
were analyzed to quantify how much petroleum they could save
per day. In aggregate, a comprehensive program of the emergency
approaches could reduce U.S. gasoline demand by as much as
18 percent over the limited duration of a crisis.
Approach
to Mass Transit Security in the United States
July 8, 2005 - The recent bombings in London have put the
spotlight on the vulnerabilities of mass transit systems.
However, the United States has already ramped up its efforts
to make all modes of transportation (including trains and
buses) safer as a result of previous attacks and a desire
to implement best practices. In addition to the state,
local, and industry efforts in mass transit security, two
key federal efforts are supporting the nationwide approach
to transportation security protection and response.
Neighborhood
Schools and Sidewalk Connections: What Are the Impacts
on Travel Mode Choice and Vehicle Emissions?
Published in Transportation
Research News 237,
March-April 2005, pp. 4-10, by William Schroeer of ICF International,
Reid Ewing of the University of Maryland,
and Christopher V. Forinash of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Copyright,
Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Research Council,
Washington, D.C. Reproduced with permission of TRB. This article
is a condensed version of the "School
Location and Student Travel: Analysis of Factors Affecting
Mode Choice" study,
which quantifies the relationship between school location,
the built environment around schools, student travel to school,
and the emissions from that travel. Findings argue for neighborhood
schools and improvements to sidewalk networks around schools.
Centrally located schools to which students can walk or bike
would reduce vehicle emissions significantly. The results
have been widely cited because they confirm that the steep
decrease in kids walking to school is in large part linked
to trends toward giant schools in remote areas. Despite other
trends and concerns (increased driving, crime), when kids
can walk to school, they do.
Analyzing the Effects of Commuter Benefit Programs on Transit
Systems
(broadcast requires Microsoft® Windows
MediaTM Player)
Internet
conference (live broadcast April 7, 2005) featuring
ICF International’s Michael Grant, lead author of the
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 87, "Strategies
for Increasing the Effectiveness of Commuter Benefits Programs." Grant
summarized the key findings from a review of 21 surveys conducted
by transit agencies and other organizations in 12 metropolitan
areas, analysis of worksite trip reduction records from three
regions with mandatory employer trip reduction programs,
and interviews with seven transit agencies. The net conference
was sponsored by the National Center for Transit Research’s
National Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and Telework
Clearinghouse at the University of South Florida and the
Association for Commuter Transportation. This study received
the 2005
Transportation Demand Management Institute (TDMI) Research
Excellence Award.
Emissions
Trading: Aviation's Next Steps
Published in Environmental
Finance, December 2004/January 2005, by Abyd Karmali of ICF International.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recently resolved to permit
the aviation sector to be included in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading
schemes. This article explores some of the complex technical, economic, and
competitive implications of including aviation in the European Union Emissions
Trading Scheme (ETS). Read about ICF International's study
for ICAO on options for an emissions trading system in the aviation sector.
Relationship
Between Motor Vehicle Emissions of Hazardous Pollutants,
Roadway Proximity, and Ambient Concentrations in Portland,
Oregon
Published in Environmental Modelling & Software, Volume 20, Issue
1, January 2005, by Jonathan Cohen and Edward Carr of ICF International and by
Richard Cook and Chad Bailey of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The
report describes the results of an ICF International project analyzing air quality
predictions for Portland, Oregon from the CALPUFF
dispersion model. A regression model was developed to predict ambient concentrations
of three hazardous air pollutants—benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and diesel
particulate matter—based on traffic volumes and emission rates for individual
roadway links, wind speeds and directions, and on the distances and directions
between the roadways and the receptor points. This regression model provides
a useful approximation to the more complicated CALPUFF dispersion model.
2004 Articles
School Location and Student Travel: Analysis of Factors
Affecting Mode Choice
Published in the Transportation
Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board,
No. 1895, Transportation
Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.,
2004, pp. 55-63. Reproduced with permission of TRB. The study,
by William Schroeer of ICF International, Reid Ewing of the University
of Maryland, and William Greene of New York University,
is the first to examine the relationship between mode of travel
to school and the full range of factors that might affect mode
choice. Students with shorter walk or bike times to school
proved significantly more likely to walk or bike. Findings
argue for neighborhood schools serving nearby residential areas
and for safe routes to school through sidewalk improvements.
Tales of a Transit Junkie
Published in the October 2004 issue of Planning Magazine, copyright
American Planning Association. A first-person account by
Liisa Ecola of ICF International that describes six Asian transit
systems from the point of view of the rider—the signage,
costs, cleanliness, and artwork. Her experiences ranged from
fairly poor systems to world-class ones, and she distills
some lessons for U.S. transit providers.
2010
and Beyond: A Vision of America's Transportation Future—21st
Century Freight Mobility
Study prepared for the National Cooperative
Highway Research Program (NCHRP) by ICF International with DELCAN,
Inc., August 2004, investigates the capacity of the
nation's freight transport system, the factors that are driving
significant increases in demand, and the types of goverment
responses that can help ensure efficiency and reliability.
ICAO Exploring Development of a Trading Scheme for Emissions
from Aviation
By ICF International's Abyd Karmali and Melinda Harris;
published in ICAO Journal, May 2004. Emissions
trading can be an effective means of reaching environmental
objectives while minimizing the financial burdens
on participants. ICF International
recently carried out a study for the International
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that examined options
for an emissions trading system to cover international
emissions of greenhouse gases from the aviation sector.
Transit Benefit Programs: An Evaluation of Effects
on Travel Behavior
Published in TDM
Review,
Association for Commuter Transportation, Issue 1 (2004), by
Michael Grant and Liisa Ecola. This article discusses ongoing
research on the impacts of commuter benefits on employee travel.
Based on a review of 17 surveys from 13 metropolitan areas,
transit use increases by an average of 30 percent when benefits
are introduced into a workplace.
2003 Articles
Assessing
the Economic Impacts of Port Security Regulations
Published in ICF International's Perspectives, a quarterly report that
provides executive briefs on key insights and perspectives, Fall 2003.
Effect
of Coast Guard Maritime Security Rules on EPA-Regulated
Facilities
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) published final rules on October 22, 2003, to implement
the security requirements of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002
in regard to oil spill prevention and marine safety. The rules include provisions
addressing Area Maritime Security (ports), vessels, and facilities. Some of
these entities contain transportation-related and non-transportation-related
components that are regulated by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the USCG, such as a marine transfer facility (under USCG jurisdiction)
with aboveground storage tanks (under EPA jurisdiction). This white paper introduces
approaches that EPA can take to continue coordination with USCG and to assist
regulated facilities in complying with these new requirements.
Strategies for Increasing the Effectiveness of Commuter
Benefits Programs
TCRP Report 87 was prepared for the Transit Cooperative
Research Program (TCRP) by Will Schroeer, Michael Grant,
Liisa Ecola, and Keri Funderburg of ICF International, in
association with the Center for Urban Transportation Research,
Nelson\Nygaard, and ESTC, and sponsored by the U.S. Federal
Transit Administration, copyright 2003 Transportation Research
Board. The report is designed to help transportation agencies—such
as transit providers, metropolitan planning organizations,
and transportation management associations—improve
their commuter benefits offerings to better meet employer
needs and increase participation through more effective
marketing.
The Impact of Differential Pricing on Barge
Freight Transportation
Published in the Journal of the
Transportation Research Board No. 1820 (2003), by Laurence
O'Rourke of ICF International. Since the U.S. Congress deregulated
railroad pricing to help railroads achieve profitability, customers
have been charged different prices according to their willingness
to play, which is known as differential pricing. Shippers attest
that railroad pricing strategies are abusive because railroads
refuse to quote rates to competing transportation facilities
or set prices to divert traffic onto the rail network. This
study measures the impact of differential pricing of rail services
on barge transportation in the Ohio River Basin, using a model
to predict freight traffic volumes at barge terminals.
Energy
Efficiency Strategies for Freight Trucking: Potential
Impact on Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Published in the Journal of the Transportation Research
Board No. 1815 (2003), by Jeffrey Ang-Olson and Will Schroeer
of ICF International. Trucking is the dominant mode
of domestic freight and offers a substantial opportunity to
improve transportation energy efficiency and reduce the emission
of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG). This report assesses eight trucking
strategies to improve efficiency and reduce emissions through
voluntary actions under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Ground Freight Transportation Initiative.
Economic
Analysis of Proposed Intermodal Standardisation And
Harmonisation Requirements
Prepared
by ICF International and GTM-Universitaires
Catholiques de Mons (Belgium)
for the European Commission, October
13, 2003. This
study examined the costs and benefits
of a series of proposed measures to
facilitate
intermodal
transportation in Europe. ICF International found that, depending
on the commodity, the corridor, and
present transport operations, reductions
in transport costs range from none
to around ten percent, with the greatest
gains going to commodities currently
shipped in standard maritime containers
with at least one water mode. After
the full effects of the Directive
have been felt, an aggregate average
logistics cost savings was estimated
at approximately two percent for
containerised dry cargo moving four
hundred kilometres or further.
Walls of Fame
Published in Public Roads magazine, a publication
of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway
Administration, May/June 2003, by John J. Sullivan IV of
ICF International. The article describes how states are partnering
with the public to design aesthetically pleasing highway
noise barriers.
Overview of Europe's Aviation Industry: Structure and Competition
By ICF International, in association with Dr. Kenneth Button,
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, May 2003. Europe's
aviation industry is in a state of flux. The move toward a
single European market, and corresponding liberalization and
privatization initiatives, mean that traditional models based
on a national "flag
carrier" likely
are not sustainable. Furthermore, low-cost carriers such
as Ryanair have shown that new ways of doing business can
be successful and can lead to important changes in industry
conduct and performance. However, the number of carriers operating
in Europe and the many types of services offered mean that
this industry is highly fragmented, and poised for consolidation.
As KLM's Leo
van Wijk indicated when KLM's merger with Air France was announced, "All
airlines know that the structure of our industry cannot be
maintained." Yet, only a number of studies have been conducted
on the structure, conduct, and performance of Europe's aviation
industry. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of
the industry's structure, investigating alternative analysis
methods. It concludes that the heterogeneous nature of this
complex industry is best captured by an industry classification
scheme that accounts for the differences in business models
that airlines tend to operate under. It demonstrates how the
business models deal with competition, and presents the basis
for more targeted industry and policy analyses.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Road Safety Improvements
Prepared for the European Commission, June 12, 2003. In an effort to cut in half the number of deaths on European roads by 2010, the European Commission (EC) is calling for better enforcement of road safety rules in Member States to prevent and reduce road accidents. Although legislation exists to punish speeding, drunk driving, and non-use of seat belts, compliance varies country to country. In conjunction with London's Imperial College Centre for Transport Studies, ICF International prepared this report to document the positive and negative implications of the EC's proposed directives for stricter enforcement of road safety rules, which takes into consideration the human tragedy of 40,000 deaths annually in the EU, as well as the economic cost of 160 billion Euros spent each year on associated costs (medical, property, police, insurance, etc.).
Evaluation
of U.S. Commercial Motor Carrier Industry Challenges
and Opportunities
By ICF International, with George L. Edwards and Associates, March 31, 2003. The
productivity of the U.S. trucking industry is vital to the U.S. economy. However,
rising fuel prices, increases in insurance costs, new security requirements,
safety and environmental regulations, driver shortages, and a myriad of other
challenges threaten the ability of motor carriers to provide fast and reliable
services to shippers. This report (conducted for the U.S. Federal Highway Administration)
identifies and assesses the challenges that currently are faced by trucking
companies, and discusses strategies for overcoming them.
Linking
Economic Development to Highway Improvements
Published in ICF International's Perspectives, a quarterly
report that provides executive briefs on key insights and
perspectives, Summer 2003.
Consulting
Insights: Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance Offers Potential Benefits
to Consumers and the Environment
Published in ICF International's Perspectives, a quarterly
report that provides executive briefs on key insights and
perspectives, Winter 2003.
2002 Articles
Getting
to Yes!: Lessons Learned for Increasing the Effectiveness
of Commuter Benefit Programs
(broadcast requires Microsoft® Windows
MediaTM Player)
One-hour Internet conference (live broadcast August 14, 2002)
featuring Millennium Pharmaceuticals's Tracy Simpson and
ICF International's Michael Grant, co-author of the Transit
Cooperative Research Program report "Strategies for Increasing the
Effectiveness of Commuter Choice." Grant summarized
national research on employer experiences with commuter benefits,
and Simpson provided a first-hand perspective on setting
up and maintaining a commuter program. The recorded netconference
is hosted by the National Center for Transit Research at the University
of South Florida with sponsorship provided by the Association
for Commuter Transportation.
Internet
Watch—One-stop Shopping for Geospatial
Data
Published in Public Roads magazine, a publication
of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration,
May/June 2002, by Keri Funderburg of ICF International. This article
describes a Web site developed by the U.S. Department of Interior
that serves as a one-stop shop for geospatial data and information,
which can be helpful in planning a transit route, rehabilitating
an existing road, or performing other tasks in the public and
private sectors of the transportation industry.
Freight Activity and Air Quality Impacts in Selected North
American Free Trade (NAFTA) Corridors
Published in the Transportation Research
Record, No. 1815
(2002), by Jeffrey Ang-Olson and Bill Cowart of ICF International. This paper
examines the current and future air quality impacts that occur as a result of
the development of North American trade and transportation corridors, and explores
strategies to mitigate these impacts. The analysis focuses on five specific bi-national
corridor segments: Vancouver-Seattle, Winnipeg-Fargo, Toronto-Detroit, San Antonio-Monterrey
and Tucson-Hermosillo.
Economic
Effects of Transportation: The Freight Story
By ICF International and HBL Decision-Economics. Copyright January
2002. All rights reserved. This report (for AECOM) describes
how an efficient and reliable freight transportation system
helps to generate improvements in economic productivity.
It draws on the technical concepts that have been constructed
under the Freight Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) Study that
is being sponsored by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA).
Making
Commuter Benefits Programs More Effective
Published in Passenger
Transport, January 7, 2002, Vol. 60, No. 1.,
by Liisa Ecola and Michael Grant. This article discusses some
of the lessons learned from stakeholders to make commuter
benefits programs more effective.
2001 Articles
Telecommuting/Telework Programs: Implementing Commuter Benefits
Under the Commuter Choice Leadership Initiative
This document was prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Office of Transportation and Air Quality by Michael
Grant and Liisa Ecola of ICF International, September 2001.
It is one in a series of Commuter Choice Leadership Initiative
briefing papers designed to help employers implement commuter
benefits. The report explains benefits for the employer and
employee, outlines possible implementation issues and costs,
and provides case studies, a guide to implementation, and
additional resources.
Commuter
Choice Programs Improve Transportation Options for Employees
and Generate Business Benefits
Published in ICF International's Consult, a quarterly
report that provides executive briefs on key insights and
perspectives, Fall 2001.
Characterization of Off-Road Motorcycle Use
Prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) by ICF International, September 2001. ICF International conducted a study of
off-road motorcycle uses to assist the EPA in establishing
emission standards for off-highway motorcycles used in
competition, which are excluded from the Clean Air Act.
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