How 'mobile' are the Poconos? Time to study Universal Basic Mobility | Howard J. Grossman
Do you know what UBM stands for in planning and development circles? These letters mean Universal Basic Mobility and represent a way toward increasing options for transportation.
These are designed to enhance and ensure a baseline level of mobility for all people. Mobility is a way to get people to and from work. In an article in a recent issue of “Planning”, the magazine of the American Planning Association, two examples are cited in Pittsburgh and Oakland, California.
UBM is described as a concept to eliminate barriers— financial, logistical, informational- to transportation and ensuring a baseline level of mobility for all. Some define UBM as a set of strategies aimed at maximizing traveler choices and demonstrating how long-term behavior can change as mobility barriers are reduced.
Seattle is another place where UBM is being applied. While these are all large cities, UBM has application to some smaller locales as well, and perhaps in a region such as the Pocono-Northeast, it can be utilized in a cooperative manner between and among groups of localities.
The idea would be to analyze and evaluate what can be one to give regional residents more options than currently exist to move between home and work. As more development takes place in this region, more ideas can surface toward mobility factors that can be invented that can be implemented.
Perhaps, in this region, a UBM process can be started that utilizes busses and automobiles and other movement factors such as the growth of other types of choices since we do not have rail or subway movement as may exist in larger cities or metropolitan areas. We do have talent, college influences, many larger and medium size industries, and a host of other assets that may be applied to what is called UBS. Much driving takes place by one in a car, and although more attention is being placed on charging stations and electric hybrid and single vehicles, these sources all should be thought of as regional attention is placed upon UBM.
Therefore, here are a few thoughts and ideas relative to mobility in this region.
Bring a specialist to the region from perhaps Pittsburgh or other locations to discuss UBS concepts being tried elsewhere.
Evaluate the transportation patterns in this region to help provide a baseline source of information that relates to moving people between home and work.
Have various community groups in the region concerned with growth and development look at UBS and help determine its applicability.
There should be a home to work analysis regionally anyway, and that could lead to a UBS approach inside the region, based upon what has been accomplished elsewhere.
Even though we have many cell phones and other technology tools, perhaps there is a need to examine how these tools can best be used in home to work strategies. Many people are working from their home anyway and that is something that relates to the future steps in working components. Looking at these regional steps should become opportunities for advancing mobility actions to benefit the one million plus citizens who live in this region.
Howard J. Grossman, AICP operates his own consulting company, HJG Associates, in Pittston, PA. He has a Master of Public Administration from New York University. He served as Executive Director of the Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania (EDCNEPA). He may be contacted at grossmanhj@aol.com.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Opinion: How effective are Poconos public transit?
