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urban planning writing question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn. All work is to be independent and original. Please document all of your sources with proper citations in an attached bibliography. Try to address each of the questions within each overall essay as best you can. Organize your responses so that it is apparent which question you are answering within each essay. Your exam should be no more than one page for each of the 5 essay questions – single-spaced. Short, clear, documented responses are favorable. Use the internet – Google Scholar is excellent and another good site is www.nas.edu/trb and find the TRIS online search engine. Please make use of materials from class including readings and lecture notes. Essay #1 Identify and describe the four components of the Urban Transportation Modeling System (UTMS). Provide a detailed description of each component, the underlying modeling approaches to each component, and how these four components are linked together to simulate travel choice. How are urban travel demand modeling packages calibrated – meaning what information is used to make these models accurate to predict travel patterns within a given region? Identify limitations of this modeling system and alternatives that you feel could enhance the level of comprehensiveness of the system. For example, what are the limitations of the four-step modeling process in capturing nonmotorized travel -- be specific in terms of scale of analysis, etc. How is the UTMS linked with and impacted by land use? At which stages in the modeling framework is land use considered? Finally, what improvements could be made to enable the UTMS to better address land use? Essay #2 The study of urban transportation and travel patterns requires a basic understanding of statistical methods and analytical techniques. Which aspects of travel choice are continuous functions and what types of tools would you employ to evaluate the effect of various transportation infrastructure investments or programmatic / policy actions (both regulatory and fiscal) on these aspects of travel choice? Which particular aspect of travel choice is a discrete function – and what analytical tools and approaches to data analysis would you employ to study this critical aspect of travel behavior? Explain how certain aspects of travel choice and their relationships with various programmatic actions ranging from supply side, systems management, and demand side are “non-linear” in nature (e.g. a certain amount of change in something that influences travel patterns needs to reached). What are some policy implications of these “non-linearities or threshold conditions?” Essay #3 Provide an overview of the methodology used to calculate level of service (LOS) in transportation planning that has been developed to measure highway performance. Provide a summary of the 6 LOS standards that result from this simple ratio and what you think they would look like if you were experiencing them. What are some inherent limitations of this approach to measuring transportation system performance? How might this approach to assessing system performance narrow the potential set of solutions to improve mobility and accessibility for specific modes of travel? What might be considered as an alternative approach to estimating travel needs that support a more holistic approach to developing regional transportation systems. How would you propose to design a LOS system to measure the quality and desirability of walking and what factors would you consider? Consider how such a system would fundamentally differ from our current approach to assessing roadway LOS. Essay #4 Provide an account of the influences of land use and transportation investment practices on travel patterns. Which land use strategies do you think hold the most promise in reducing the levels of auto dependence for retrofit purposes and which do you think have the greatest promise in terms of green field development? Be specific about how think certain aspects of land use may impact certain aspects of travel choice and why you think these relationships exist. What aspects of the built environment do you think also impact travel patterns that are not well measured to date that could have a dramatic influence on the choice to walk or take transit? Why do you think these aspects of the built environment have an influence on travel patterns? Essay #5 Technological advancement including the proliferation of smartphones is providing real time information to the masses. Cell phones provide location, speed, and other characteristics that are related with a wide array of emerging travel options. Digital images have been taken by Google of urban streetscapes for much of the western world. This information has been harnessed in recent years to create a range of new transportation services including Uber and Lift and a range of car and bike sharing options along with advancement in predicting travel time across a range of modes. This in conjunction with a growing sharing economy is having major impacts on the movement of people and goods and is also impacting the design and urban form of cities. Please describe these new transportation choices and provide some published evidence to support how you think the future will unfold for these new travel options and what you think their impact will be on urban design and how you think they may impact the amount of sprawl we see in years to come. Finally, provide your perspective on how you think driverless vehicles will shape future development patterns and convey how some published evidence depicts the future with driverless vehicles. Under what conditions do you think autonomous vehicles would promote or hinder active living and physical activity? Requirements: 5 page