scholarly journals Investigating the Preferences of Local Residents toward a Proposed Bus Network Redesign in Chattanooga, Tennessee

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110130
Author(s):  
Abubakr Ziedan ◽  
Cassidy Crossland ◽  
Candace Brakewood ◽  
Philip Pugliese ◽  
Harrison Ooi
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Bus Network ◽  
Bus Networks ◽  
Bus Service ◽  
Transit Agencies

Many transit agencies are considering or implementing bus network redesigns. Considering this growing trend, this study investigates the preferences of local residents for a proposed bus network redesign in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The study uses survey data collected by the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority and its partners as part of a bus network redesign planning process. Using the survey data, three logit models are estimated to explore preferences between different bus network redesign philosophies, transit network improvements, and willingness to pay for proposed transit improvements and expansion. There are three main findings. First, respondents who ride the bus prefer access to more places over frequent bus service, whereas non-riders prefer more frequent transit service. Second, the models suggest that younger generations are more supportive of transit improvements than older age groups. Third, people living near bus routes and those with higher income levels are more willing to pay for proposed transit improvements. The findings of this study should inform transit agencies that are considering or are in the process of redesigning their bus networks.

Using GTFS to Calculate Travel Time Savings Potential of Bus Preferential Treatments

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110092
Author(s):  
Daniel Arias ◽  
Kara Todd ◽  
Jennifer Krieger ◽  
Spencer Maddox ◽  
Pearse Haley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Travel Time ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Travel Time Savings ◽  
Bus Lane ◽  
Time Savings ◽  
Bus Network ◽  
Bus Networks ◽  
Transit Agencies

Dedicated bus lanes and other transit priority treatments are a cost-effective way to improve transit speed and reliability. However, creating a bus lane can be a contentious process; it requires justification to the public and frequently entails competition for federal grants. In addition, more complex bus networks are likely to have unknown locations where transit priority infrastructure would provide high value to riders. This analysis presents a methodology for estimating the value of bus preferential treatments for all segments of a given bus network. It calculates the passenger-weighted travel time savings potential for each inter-stop segment based on schedule padding. The input data, ridership data, and General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) trip-stop data are universally accessible to transit agencies. This study examines the 2018 Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) bus network and identifies a portion of route 39 on Buford Highway as an example candidate for a bus lane corridor. The results are used to evaluate the value of time savings to passengers, operating cost savings to the agency, and other benefits that would result from implementing bus lanes on Buford Highway. This study does not extend to estimating the cost of transit priority infrastructure or recommending locations based on traffic flow characteristics. However, it does provide a reproducible methodology to estimate the value of transit priority treatments, and it identifies locations with high value, all using data that are readily available to transit agencies. Conducting this analysis provides a foundation for beginning the planning process for transit priority infrastructure.

Bus networks as graphs: new connectivity indicators with operational characteristics

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 788-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Quintero-Cano ◽  
Mohamed Wahba ◽  
Tarek Sayed
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Traffic Analysis ◽  
Coverage Area ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Network Characteristics ◽  
Operational Characteristics ◽  
Public Transportation System ◽  
Bus Networks ◽  
Transit Agencies

A transit network, visualized as a graph, can be evaluated using indicators such as connectivity, coverage, directness, and complexity, among others, based on the relationships between network elements. This study focuses on the analysis of interconnected and operationally complicated bus networks, a shortcoming of existing approaches tailored to simpler, metro networks. A new procedure is proposed for drawing bus networks as graphs, by disaggregating them into sub-networks at the traffic analysis zone level. As well, improved network connectivity indicators are proposed which incorporate the influence of bus operational characteristics. The effect of bus route transfers is analyzed by introducing intermediate walking transfer edges. The contribution of this research will provide transit agencies with quantitative measures to analyze the network characteristics and the related operational attributes at a zonal sub-network level across the agency’s coverage area. The proposed methodology was demonstrated by applying it to the Greater Vancouver Regional District public transportation system.

Planning Approaches in Contracted Fixed-Route Bus Transit Service in the United States: Private Sector’s Role in the Planning Process and Its Influence on Performance Outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 2651 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-59
Author(s):  
Joel Mendez ◽  
Jeffrey R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Planning Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Bus Transit ◽  
Positive Performance ◽  
Bus Service ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Do So ◽  
Planning Approaches

This study explored the role of planning approaches implemented by agencies that contracted a significant portion of fixed-route bus service and related those planning approaches to service performance. Of particular interest are the rationale behind agency decisions of where to situate planning functions, the role of the contractor in the planning process, and the implications of planning approaches on service cost, quality, and efficiency. Eight cases focused on U.S. transit agencies located in major metropolitan areas that contracted more than 20% of their fixed-route bus service. The authors utilized a combination of agency documents, National Transit Database data, and respondent interviews to uncover the planning approaches employed by each agency and to relate them to key performance indicators. The results show that agencies that do not contract planning functions do so to retain maximum control and oversight of bus service, the role of the contractor in the planning process is augmented as the proportion of contracted service increases, and agencies that employ a strategy with heightened levels of contractor interaction are more likely to experience positive performance outcomes.

Applications of Inferred Origins, Destinations, and Interchanges in Bus Service Planning

2017 ◽  
Vol 2652 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Vanderwaart ◽  
John P. Attanucci ◽  
Frederick P. Salvucci
Keyword(s):  
Network Design ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Massachusetts Bay ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Transit Network Design ◽  
Bus Service ◽  
Transit Agencies

A growing number of researchers and transit agencies are using fare card and vehicle location data to infer passengers’ origins, destinations, and transfers. A number of researchers have suggested that these new data sets provide valuable information for transit network design, but few concrete applications have been developed to address bus network design and service planning problems. This paper proposes new service planning procedures to aggregate these automated data to examine travel patterns to specific locations of interest to propose needed improvements. The data from existing passengers’ trips are then analyzed to assess the benefits of the proposed service changes. In particular, the number of existing passengers who would likely experience shorter travel times with the service changes is calculated according to the geometry of how a proposed new or extended route intersects with the existing transit network. The results of this analysis provide planners with better information than is currently available to support decisions on how to allocate the scarce resources typically available for service changes. Several case studies from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority are presented to illustrate these analytical techniques.

scholarly journals The Role of Family and Friends in Return Migration and Its Labor Market Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Joseph Gillespie ◽  
Clara H. Mulder ◽  
Christiane von Reichert
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Return Migration ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Market Stability ◽  
Onward Migration

AbstractDrawing on survey data on individuals’ motives for migration in Sweden (N = 2172), we examine the importance of family and friends for return versus onward migration, including their importance for different age groups and in different communities on the rural–urban spectrum. The results point to a significant relationship between the importance of family and return versus onward migration, with family importance decreasing with age among returning migrants. At the same time, the importance of friends for returning increases with age. The findings did not suggest a significant relationship between urbanicity and returning versus migration elsewhere. Based on a subset of respondents who were employed prior to migrating (n = 1056), we further examined labor market outcomes for onward versus returning migrants. The results broadly indicate that return migrations are linked to lower likelihoods of labor market deterioration and improvement, suggesting greater labor market stability for return vis-à-vis onward migrations. However, the importance of family for returning (versus moving elsewhere) is associated with higher likelihoods of labor market deterioration and improvement compared with staying the same, indicating greater volatility in labor market outcomes when the importance of family is considered.

Transit Network Frequency Setting With Multi-Agent Simulation to Capture Activity-Based Mode Substitution

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110569
Author(s):  
Ziyi Ma ◽  
Joseph Y. J. Chow
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Substitution Effects ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Agent Simulation ◽  
Bus Network ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Route Cost

We propose a bilevel transit network frequency setting problem in which the upper level consists of analytical route cost functions and the lower level is an activity-based market equilibrium derived using MATSim-NYC. The use of MATSim in the lower-level problem incorporates sensitivity of the design process to competition from other modes, including ride-hail, and can support large-scale optimization. The proposed method is applied to the existing Brooklyn bus network, which includes 78 bus routes, 650,000 passengers per day, 550 route-km, and 4,696 bus stops. MATSim-NYC modeling of the existing bus network has a ridership-weighted average error per route of 21%. The proposed algorithm is applied to a benchmark network and confirms their predicted 20% growth in ridership using their benchmark design. Applying our proposed algorithm to their network with 78 routes and 24 periods, we have a problem with 3,744 decision variables. The algorithm converged within 10 iterations to a delta of 0.064%. Compared with the existing scenario, we increased ridership by 20% and reduced operating cost by 25%. We improved the farebox recovery ratio from the existing 0.22 to 0.35, 0.06 more than the benchmark design. Analysis of mode substitution effects suggest that 2.5% of trips would be drawn from ride-hail while 74% would come from driving.

Accessibility Scenario Analysis of a Hypothetical Future Transit Network: Social Equity Implications of a General Transit Feed Specification–Based Sketch Planning Tool

2017 ◽  
Vol 2671 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Guthrie ◽  
Yingling Fan ◽  
Kirti Vardhan Das
Keyword(s):  
Planning Process ◽  
Social Equity ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
Planning Tool ◽  
Transit Planning ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Accessibility Analysis ◽  
Transit Accessibility

Accessibility analysis can have important implications for understanding social equity in transit planning. The emergence and the increasingly broad acceptance of the general transit feed specification (GTFS) format for transit route, stop, and schedule data have revolutionized transit accessibility research by providing researchers with a convenient, publicly available source of data interoperable with common geographic information system (GIS) software. Existing approaches to GTFS-based transit analysis, however, focus on currently operating transit systems. With major transit expansions across the nation and around the world increasing in number and ambition, understanding the accessibility impacts of proposed projects in their early planning stages is crucial to achieving the greatest possible social benefit from these massive public investments. This paper describes the development of a hypothetical transit network based on current GTFS data and proposed 2040 transit improvements for the Twin Cities region of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as its use as a sketch planning tool in exploring the proposed system’s impacts on access to job vacancies from historically disadvantaged areas. This research demonstrates the importance of accessibility analysis in planning a transit system that increases opportunity for marginalized workers and concludes by calling for broader, easier access to accessibility analysis for practitioners and community groups to refine the early stages of the transit planning process and democratize an increasingly crucial transit planning tool.

scholarly journals Measuring when Uber behaves as a substitute or complement to transit: An examination of travel-time differences in Toronto

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mischa Young ◽  
Jeff Allen ◽  
Steven Farber
Keyword(s):  
Travel Time ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Gap Filling ◽  
Service Levels ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The City

Policymakers in cities worldwide are trying to determine how ride-hailing services affect the ridership of traditional forms of public transportation. The level of convenience and comfort that these services provide is bound to take riders away from transit, but by operating in areas, or at times, when transit is less frequent, they may also be filling a gap left vacant by transit operations. These contradictory effects reveal why we should not merely categorize all ride-hailing services as a substitute or supplement to transit, and demonstrate the need to examine ride-hailing trips individually. Using data from the 2016 Transportation Tomorrow Survey in Toronto, we investigate the differences in travel-times between observed ride-hailing trips and their fastest transit alternatives. Ordinary least squares and ordered logistic regressions are used to uncover the characteristics that influence travel-time differences. We find that ride-hailing trips contained within the City of Toronto, pursued during peak hours, or for shopping purposes, are more likely to have transit alternatives of similar duration. Also, we find differences in travel-time often to be caused by transfers and lengthy walk- and wait-times for transit. Our results further indicate that 31% of ride-hailing trips in our sample have transit alternatives of similar duration (≤ 15 minute difference). These are particularly damaging for transit agencies as they compete directly with services that fall within reasonable expectations of transit service levels. We also find that 27% of ride-hailing trips would take at least 30 minutes longer by transit, evidence for significant gap-filling opportunity of ride-hailing services. In light of these findings, we discuss recommendations for ride-hailing taxation structures.

scholarly journals Not Minding the Gap: Does Ride-Hailing Serve Transit Deserts?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesus Barajas ◽  
Anne Brown
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Employment Density ◽  
Bus Service ◽  
The City ◽  
Rail Service ◽  
Research And Policy

Transit has long connected people to opportunities but access to transit varies greatly across space. In some cases, unevenly distributed transit supply creates gaps in service that impede travelers’ abilities to cross space and access jobs or other opportunities. With the advent of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, however, travelers now have a new potential to gain automobility without high car purchase costs and in the absence of reliable transit service. Research remains mixed on whether ride-hailing serves as a modal complement or substitute to transit or whether ride-hailing fills transit service needs gaps. This study measures transit supply in Chicago and compares it to ride-hailing origins and destinations to examine if ride-hailing fills existing transit service gaps. Findings reveal clustering of ride-hailing pickups and drop-offs across the City of Chicago, but that the number of ride-hailing pickups and drop-offs was most strongly associated with high neighborhood median household income rather than measures of transit supply. In bivariate analyses, transit service was not associated with ride-hailing trip ends. But after controlling for neighborhood socioeconomic status, transit dependency, population density, and employment density, we found fewer ride-hailing trips in neighborhoods where bus service dominated and significantly more ride-hailing trips where rail service was prevalent. Patterns were slightly different for overnight weekend ride-hailing pick-ups, where higher transit density predicted a greater number of trips in nearby tracts. Additional research and policy is needed to ensure that ride-hailing services provide travel options to those who need them the most and fill transit gaps in low-income communities when options to increase service are limited.

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