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This professional report aims to develop a transportation performance measurement system that will evaluate and achieve the sustainability objectives for the Austin metropolitan area Activity Centers, while addressing the Federal Livability Principles. It employs the use of local data for the evaluation of performance measures, and provides a platform upon which both current and future development scenarios can be evaluated. Based on a literature review and other studies on travel behavior and transportation performance, it is possible to derive the appropriate indicator measurements according to the sustainability. The overarching purpose of this report is to develop a set of performance indicators that reflect sustainability concerns. These indicators will be appropriately quantified and benchmarked, and will address each objective, such as reduction of automobile vehicle miles travelled (VMT). The main challenge of this report is that many sustainability indicators are not practically implemented at the community level, but can be more easily considered at the aggregate level. / text

Sustainability has become a universal goal stated by communities and public agencies in visioning their future. However, when it comes to implementing sustainability, stakeholders often confront all sorts of barriers, ranging from different metrics of performance measures to competing local or agency-specific interests. This professional report (PR) introduces a tool developed through the Sustainable Places Project (SPP) for the Austin, TX region for collective visioning and practicing of sustainable development. SPP received a grant support from the federal program "the Partnership for Sustainable Communities", which was initiated jointly by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, and Environmental Protection Agency in 2009. Under SPP, the Capital Area Texas Sustainability (CATS) Consortium was formed. "Envision Tomorrow plus for Austin"(ET+Austin) is developed as both an analytical tool and a platform for public dialogue among CATS partners. The PR focuses on the development of transportation modules within ET+Austin. It VI first introduces the local setting in which SPP originated. Following the introduction, the PR describes a general policy context concerning sustainability and sustainable transportation. Next, it provides a review of the empirical and analytical context in which the transportation modules of ET+Austin are structured and built. The basis that transportation indicators are selected and grouped is presented in the subsequent section. The implementation of ET+Austin Transportation is illustrated through scenario analyses for four SPP demo sites from four communities in the region; they are Hutto, Elgin, Dripping Spring and Lorkhart. The PR ends with a brief summary and discussion of directions for tool improvements. / text

The impact of a chromium smelter on pollution was evaluated by determining Cr(VI) in topsoil, grass and tree bark by electhrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). It was found that bark reflected the levels of air pollution better than soil and grass due to its high accumulative ability of Cr(VI). The tree bark was contaminated with Cr(VI) by a factor of 9 than in soil. It is therefore suggested that the bark be used as an indicator of air pollution for long-term exposure. The concentration of Cr(VI) in the bark was always a fraction of the total concentration of Cr and ranges between 1.6 and 3%. The method used in the preparation of samples was validated by the analysis of certified reference materials.

The study compared plant and avian diversity and species composition between four habitats to review the potential implications of two distinct management practices on a forestry estate, namely to rehabilitate riparian zones to grasslands or woodlands as the two habitats that historically occurred on the property.The study habitats were Plantation (Pinus trees in riparian zone), Bushland (recently harvested), Grassland (cleared of broadleaf plants), and Woodland (control). At seven sampling sites per habitat, a vegetation assessment was conducted, while birds were caught with mist nests. Plant species richness increased from Plantation to Woodland, whereas most bird species and individuals were found in Bushland. Plant and bird species composition differed significantly between habitats. Bushland and Grassland birds were closely associated with exotic forbs. Grassland attracted birds with diverse habitat and nesting-site associations, and Woodland birds associated with woody plants. It is recommended that the majority of riparian zones be managed as grasslands, although the exact affect of the biennial summer burning and presence of exotic plants on birds needs to be investigated. To attract cavity-nesting birds to the Estate, some suitable riparian zones should be rehabilitated to Woodland by planting Ficus andAcacia trees, as these trees are the most abundant and frequently occurring in this habitat. Rather than manage avian diversity per se, the African stonechat in Grassland and lesser honeyguide in Woodland can be employed as indicators of the rehabilitation state of the riparian zones.

The thesis investigates methods of evaluating indexes that measure concepts of human values. My understanding of indexes, especially on how they relate to the real world and concepts (that are the objectives of the measurement), is influenced by my study of literature on models used in economic and in physics. We learn from this study of models the following: (1) regularities described in theories do not represent real world phenomena, which consist of many different forces acting simultaneously; (2) but such regularities are true in models, because they describe specific conditions under which regularities in nature are displayed; (3) there are more than one model that can represent the same phenomenon depending on which particular aspect of the phenomenon to focus on; and (4) the success of a model has to be evaluated partly by criteria that are independent from theoretical ones. Since the role indexes play in relation to real world and concepts are similar to the role models play in relation to theories, I have applied the above knowledge to propose the following three criteria to evaluate successful indexes: (1) Purpose-dependent criteria: criteria that are based on particular motivations of the measurement project; (2) Theory-dependent criteria: criteria that are reflected in the theories that expressly or implicitly guide the development of the project of measurement; and (3) Conditions-dependent criteria: criteria that are based on the conditions under which the index measures what it is designed to measure. I apply these three criteria of successful indexes to examine two projects of measuring human values, one called the Human Development Index developed by the United Nations Development Programme and the other called the Life Satisfaction Indicator developed by an officer at the Economic Planning Agency in Japan. Among the findings from the examination of those two indexes are that they can be the products of a mixture of concerns that include convenience, conventions, practicality, politics and consistency with relevant theories, and some of these concerns may conflict with each other. Another important finding is that because there are many assumptions made and simplifications applied in order to choose a quantitative representation of a human value, the application of the measure is limited. I conclude that both in using and in evaluating indexes of human values, it is important that we are aware of such limitations, so that we can more effectively know both how to avoid misusing the indexes and how to improve them over time.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-51). Also available via the Internet.

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Sustainable development is one of the greatest challenges to urban planning in the 21st century. Current patterns of urban development, called byspecially sprawl, and human activity have led to environmental degradation and created a serious threat to continued human existence and sustainability of life on earth. The United States, concerns over consequences of urban sprawl have led to increased advocacy for more compact and traditional urban development. The compact city is now widely accepted as the most effective solution to sustainable urban form. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between sustainability and urban form. In order to achieve the aims of this study, 50 cities in the United States are analyzed and compared with the 2008 sustainable city rankings from the organization SustainLane, using four categories of urban form indicators: densities, mode of commute to work, mean travel time to work & traffic congestion cost, and planning & land use. This research is based on the hypothesis that a sustainable city has a compact city form. According to the SustainLane 2008 US sustainable city ranking high ranked cities were considered more sustainable cities and low ranked cities were regarded as less sustainable cities. Using SPSS’s correlation analysis tool, I studied the relationship between overall city ranking and four categories of urban form the indicators. The overall finding of the analysis of the relationship between each indicator and urban form yields mixed results. The result of this research found that that sustainable city and urban form has several correlations; densities, mode of commute to work, and planning and land use have a strong positive correlation with sustainable city; however, mean travel time to work and traffic congestion cost have a negative correlation with SustainLane’s sustainable city ranking. These results mean that sustainable cities which were high ranked cities in the SustainLane 2008 US sustainable city ranking have a high density, sustainable mode of commute to work, and strong planning and land use. Particularly, when a mixed land use, centeredness, and street connectivity were combined, the planning and land use category of indicators shows stronger correlation with sustainability. According to this result, these findings suggest that when the planning and land use indicators are combined synergistically compact urban form can be an indicator of a more sustainable city.