- Traffic

Traffic Congestion and Transit Use
Transportation and Mobility
-- Healthy Natural Environment --

What are the Most Important Goals?

• Informed populace
• Visionary leaders
• Engaged institutions
• Accessible services
• Balanced demographics
• Continuous education
• Creative economy
• Directed growth
• Good health
• Integrated infrastructure
• Valued ecosystems

What Can We Do?

Individuals:
• Carpool whenever possible and participate in employer-sponsored Transportation
Management Associations
(TMAs).
• Use mass transit whenever possible.
• Walk, bicycle or use other
alternative modes of travel
whenever possible.

Communities:
• Support mass transit services within the community.
• Reduce the number of curb cuts accessing development along roadways.
• Require fewer driveway
crossings.
• Provide pedestrian shortcuts in areas with curvy streets and cul-de-sacs, and between businesses.
• Provide benches, shelters and information kiosks.
• Support zoning bylaws that reduce sprawl and encourage more compact development patterns.

What is this Indicator?

The Traffic Congestion Indicator measures average annual daily bridge crossings over the Sagamore and Bourne bridges; data is available for the past 26 years. While there are many possible indicators of congestion, the bridge traffic is easy to measure, provides data on long-term trends, and has significant implications for traffic Capewide, as many who bring their cars across the bridge use them for virtually all local or regional trips.

The Transit Use Indicator measures the total number of riders using public transit annually. The indicator measures local and regional (on-Cape) ridership on public transit systems, but does not measure the ridership on private carriers or commuters to Boston.

Why are these Indicators Important?

Traffic is one of the most important issues to Cape Cod residents. It affects our ability to move around the Cape and get on- and off-Cape when needed. The amount of traffic also impacts the amount of road capacity needed, which in turn influences land development, wildlife habitat, and the general character of the community. These things, in turn, affect groundwater quality. Traffic also increases noise and air pollution, increases the use of non-renewable energy, and degrades the daily experience of the Cape's citizens. In fact, the very first experience that visitors have on Cape Cod is the traffic congestion they must endure getting to their destinations.

The Transit Use Indicator is a more positive measure of what Cape Codders and visitors are doing to avoid automobile use. Transit use measures participation in on-Cape trip reduction. The greater the ridership, the more local automobile trips are avoided. Even if bridge crossings continue to increase, increased transit ridership could greatly alleviate the local, daily traffic problems the Cape encounters, and improve the overall sustainability of Cape Cod.

Analysis of Data

Bridge Crossings have been rising steadily over the past 26 years. Starting in 1972 with 41,513 daily bridge crossings, the figures had more than doubled to 93,648 by 1998. There was a gradual increase in crossings between 1972 and 1979. At the beginning of the 1980s, the numbers continued to rise, with the most dramatic increase of 10% occurring between 1983 and 1984. Overall, there was an increase of 60% in bridge crossings from 1980 to 1990. The annual rate of increase has ranged from 0.5% to 4% during the 1990s. There are no signs indicating that these numbers will decrease in the future. The graph provided shows the recent average annual daily bridge crossings for the last ten years.

What Can We Do?

Decision-makers:
• Require developers to
contribute to the cost of mass transit in the community and develop TMAs.
• Support mass transit services within the community.
• Construct sidewalks for safe pedestrian travel.
• Provide leadership in
promoting land use patterns
that support transit use.

Transit Use

Because the Transit Use Indicator measures local and regional (on-Cape) ridership on public transit systems, but does not measure the ridership on private carriers or commuters accessing Boston, transit use and bridge crossings tell us very different things. Bridge crossings tell us how many cars are coming here; transit use tells us how many local and regional car trips are avoided once the people in those cars arrive.

The following graph includes annual Cape Cod Regional Transit System ridership for the fiscal years starting in 1994. Data is available on different services starting with the b-Bus, a demand-response service beginning in 1979. The other CCRTA services were fairly well established by 1994 and this has been chosen as the baseline for data, giving nine years to develop trend data. Significant changes in ridership occurred between 1994 and 1995 when four summer trolley services were introduced, including The Villager, and between 1999 and 2000 when the Provincetown/Truro Shuttle was introduced.

Even if bridge crossings
continue to increase, increased transit ridership could greatly alleviate the local, daily traffic problems the Cape encounters, and improve the overall sustainability of Cape Cod.

What Connections Does This Indicator Have?

Transportation interacts in many ways with land use, air quality and energy. Community character, space for living and recreational activities, wildlife habitat, and water quality are all adversely affected as traffic increases, and more, wider roads are constructed as a result. Alternatively, increased transit ridership positively affects all of these issues. In addition, the choices we make regarding transportation are strongly influenced by our land-use decisions. Sprawling development patterns make automobile use compulsory for virtually all trips; more compact development focused in and around village centers and commercial nodes makes transit much more economical and easy to use.

Economic
As we drive more, we increase traffic congestion. This increases the cost of energy and the likelihood of being involved in automobile crashes. Congestion also reduces access to businesses and recreation. This in turn can threaten tourism as people decide to seek other locations for vacation and even second homes. More traffic also translates to a higher public cost for road improvements and maintenance needed to accommodate increased traffic. On the other hand, as we increase the use of public transit, we reduce traffic congestion, the cost of energy, and the public costs for roadway improvements, as well as reducing the likelihood of being involved in automobile crashes.

Environmental
As sprawl development increases, so does traffic and thus the need for additional roadway capacity and parking. This means more impervious parking lots and roadway surface as roads are widened or built. With additional impervious surface, plant and wildlife habitat decreases and the area available for groundwater recharge of our solesource aquifer is diminished. Runoff from impervious surfaces, and spills and leaks
of automobile fluids increase as well. Because of the Cape's economic dependence on tourism and recreation, all of these environmental impacts in turn affect the economic sustainability of the Cape. More cars on the road and increased congestion also increase the amount of air and noise pollution, which in turn negatively affect our participation in outdoor activities, our health, and the health of our environment. Increased transit use can reduce all of these environmental impacts.

Social
Cars give people the ability to move about easily, which encourages suburban sprawl and large lots located far from needed services. As people spread out over the landscape in their houses, and drive in isolation in their cars, they become increasingly disconnected from their neighbors and other residents, and cohesive neighborhood interaction becomes more difficult. People also spend more time in their cars as traffic increases, increasing stress and taking time away for family, friends, and relaxation. With increased traffic congestion, our ability to move about on Cape Cod decreases, with a resulting increase in stress and tension.

Public transit provides opportunities for incidental social interactions as well as reducing traffic congestion, noise, air pollution, and environmental degradation. The human service aspect of public transportation is also significant on Cape Cod as 24% of the population is over 65 and this segment is growing. Transit provides a mobility option for those who are unable to drive.