TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE |
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February/March
2000
News Briefs
Information will be collected from 15,000 Bay Area households by a survey research firm, MORPACE International, between now and November 2000. The data will be used to develop statistical models of future travel patterns. "Because we are sampling only a small percentage of the 2.4 million Bay Area households," MTC Executive Director Lawrence D. Dahms said, "everyone who participates will be playing an important role in helping shape our transportation policy and investment decisions." Participants in the survey will be selected at random from each of the nine Bay Area counties. They will be recruited in telephone interviews by MORPACE staff, who will question heads of households about their household characteristics and their willingness to participate in this study. If they agree to take part, participants then will be mailed an information packet that includes household activity diaries. Household members will be asked to record their activities and trips in the diaries during an assigned two-day period. Participants must keep continuous records of their activities, with no gaps in time. After the diaries are completed, the participants will be debriefed in a second phone interview and also asked to return their diaries by mail. All of the information collected will be strictly confidential and used for research purposes only. The MTC travel survey project will overlap with the 2000 U.S. Census, which will begin
collecting data in April. "By conducting our survey this year, we can capitalize on having
a good, recent set of demographic data provided by the Census," MTC project manager Kenneth
Vaughn said. "Our data will complement and augment the Census' journey-to-work figures on
Bay Area commute habits. By using Census data, our survey analysts can weight and expand
travel survey data to more accurately reflect the region's entire population."
Motorist-aid call boxes along some of the Bay Area's most heavily traveled roadways have been outfitted with a device to make it easier for drivers with speech or hearing impairments to get help. The so-called "yes-no" devices have been installed in 249 of the 3,500 existing call boxes throughout the region in a year-long pilot program that began in early January. The devices fit neatly into the existing bright yellow call boxes and are operated by three buttons. Motorists can select the button indicating the voice option -- or simply lift the receiver -- to be connected to call box dispatchers. Those with speech or hearing disabilities press a second button to be connected, and a "language select" button to indicate their preference for communicating in English or in Spanish. Once the button selecting visual communication is pressed, a series of preprogrammed questions -- such as "ambulance?" or "fire?" -- appear on a small screen, in the appropriate language. The motorist responds by pressing the left-hand button for "yes," the right-hand one for "no." The dispatcher then transmits whatever follow-up questions are needed, concluding with the message that help is being sent and advising the motorist to wait in a safe place. "At the end of our pilot program, we expect to retrofit all of our call boxes with
devices that allow motorists with speech or hearing impairments who need roadside help to
use any call box in our network," said Lisa Davies, call box project manager for the MTC
Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE), which administers the region's call
box program in partnership with the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans. MTC
commissioners oversee the regional SAFE. Currently, an average of 10,000 motorists a month
use the Bay Area call box network.
Motorists driving along Interstate 80 between Vallejo and Crockett will soon see a graceful, suspension bridge taking shape to the west of the existing Carquinez Bridge. Construction has begun to replace the west span, the older of the two cantilever steel truss spans that make up the bridge. The new span will have room for a fourth lane to accommodate carpools and other high-occupancy vehicles, as well as a pedestrian/ bicycle lane. Scheduled to be completed by early 2003, the $340 million bridge project is one of several being overseen by MTC in its role as the Bay Area Toll Authority. Contents |
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