Equity Analysis and New Mobility Technologies: Toward Meaningful Interventions

2020 ◽  
pp. 088541222095519
Author(s):  
Matthew Palm ◽  
Steven Farber ◽  
Amer Shalaby ◽  
Mischa Young
Keyword(s):  
Social Equity ◽  
Active Travel ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Equity Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Bike Share

Transit agencies in multiple countries have started piloting the integration of new mobility technologies (NMTs) into their transit services. This article reviews the emerging evidence from NMT-based transit pilots to identify the social equity impacts of NMT–transit integration. We focus on ride-hailing, on-demand transit, microtransit, and active travel NMTs like dockless bike share. We find evidence that three of these technologies have the potential to improve the social equity of transit systems, but we note that most agency pilots do not explicitly measure equity impacts. We offer recommendations on how future pilots should frame equity measurement to yield policy-relevant insights.

Accessibility in Social-Equity Evaluation

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Jonathan Levine ◽  
Joe Grengs ◽  
Louis A. Merlin
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Equity ◽  
Racial Minority ◽  
Decisive Factor ◽  
Equity Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
Equity Evaluation

This chapter argues that because the concept of accessibility enables comparison of transportation's benefits among social groups, it is essential to proper evaluation of the social-equity impacts of transportation decisions. Unlike mobility metrics, which tend to focus on the performance of infrastructure, accessibility metrics are readily analyzed with regard to specific groups of people, such as low-income and racial-minority groups. One group that deserves special attention in equity analysis is people without access to an automobile, because the travel modes available to individuals are the single most decisive factor in determining whether they can reach destinations. However, because accessibility is inherently multidimensional and more complex than standard mobility-based metrics, several methodological considerations are essential for meaningful analysis; considering differences in mode alone is not sufficient. The influence of mode on accessibility tends to vary systematically in metropolitan space, and accessibility analysis must consider the effect of mode and location simultaneously. The chapter then explains the mobility nature of current equity evaluation, and proposes and demonstrates the use of accessibility-based equity-evaluation tools.

Microtransit Has the Potential to Flip Transit on Its Head

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110145
Author(s):  
Jerome Mayaud ◽  
Francesca Ward ◽  
Josh Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
North America ◽  
Dynamic Routing ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Routing And Scheduling ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Unique Dataset

Fixed-route transit in the U.S.A. is facing stiff competition from more convenient mobility options. Microtransit—shared transportation that offers dynamic routing and scheduling to efficiently match demand—is emerging as an ally to fixed-route services. However, its positive impacts are too often constrained by the politics and economics imposed by existing transit infrastructure. This paper proposes a solution that “flips transit on its head.” By rapidly prototyping microtransit services across cities and analyzing supply-demand mismatches, it is possible to launch truly data-driven transit services. To illustrate the framework, a unique dataset generated from a year of Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s GoLink service, one of the largest on-demand microtransit services in North America, is used. Mapping and machine learning are combined to empower planners to “join the dots” when (re)designing fixed-route transit lines. It is shown that microtransit should not simply fill in the gaps left by inefficiently scheduled bus routes: by incorporating it fully into their planning processes, cities and transit agencies could dramatically reverse the fortunes of public transit.

Measuring Benefits of Rural and Small Urban Transit in Greater Minnesota

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812199001
Author(s):  
Jeremy Mattson ◽  
Del Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Urban Transit ◽  
Societal Benefits ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Benefit Cost

The objective of this research was to measure the benefits of rural and small urban transit services in Minnesota. The study accomplished this by first identifying, describing, and classifying the potential benefits of transit. Second, a method was developed to measure these benefits. Where possible, benefits were quantified in dollar values. Other benefits that could not be quantified in monetary terms were either quantified in another way or described qualitatively. The study included an analysis of societal benefits and economic impacts within local communities. Third, the developed method was applied to a series of six case studies across Greater Minnesota. Data were collected through onboard rider surveys for each of the six transit agencies. Total benefits and benefit-cost ratios were estimated for the six transit agencies—all showed benefits that exceeded costs—and results were generalized to Greater Minnesota. Economic impacts were also estimated showing the effect on jobs, labor income, and value added. This research provides information to assess the benefits of public spending on transit, which gives decision makers the data needed to inform investment decisions.

On-Demand Public Transit: A Markovian Continuous Approximation Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel F. Silva ◽  
Alexander Vinel ◽  
Bekircan Kirkici
Keyword(s):  
System Performance ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Continuous Approximation ◽  
Efficient Operation ◽  
Fleet Sizing ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Single Vehicle ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Using Data

With recent advances in mobile technology, public transit agencies around the world have started actively experimenting with new transportation modes, many of which can be characterized as on-demand public transit. Design and efficient operation of such systems can be particularly challenging, because they often need to carefully balance demand volume with resource availability. We propose a family of models for on-demand public transit that combine a continuous approximation methodology with a Markov process. Our goal is to develop a tractable method to evaluate and predict system performance, specifically focusing on obtaining the probability distribution of performance metrics. This information can then be used in capital planning, such as fleet sizing, contracting, and driver scheduling, among other things. We present the analytical solution for a stylized single-vehicle model of first-mile operation. Then, we describe several extensions to the base model, including two approaches for the multivehicle case. We use computational experiments to illustrate the effects of the inputs on the performance metrics and to compare different modes of transit. Finally, we include a case study, using data collected from a real-world pilot on-demand public transit project in a major U.S. metropolitan area, to showcase how the proposed model can be used to predict system performance and support decision making.

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 Longer distance cycling for interspecies mobility justice in Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Scott
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Active Travel ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Central Cities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Specific Number

This article explores how longer distance cycling can advance interspecies mobility justice, a theory of (im)mobilities and justice that includes other-than-human persons and habitats as worthy of our positive moral obligations. I argue that longer distance cycling can advance interspecies mobility justice by promoting socially inclusive and ecologically good cycling practices that redress the active travel poverty of marginalized and colonized populations, while replacing rather than augmenting auto roads with active travel routes that help humans respect other species. The article theorizes longer distance cycling not as some specific number of kilometres, but rather as the social production of cycling space across gentrified central cities, struggling inner suburbs, outer exurbs and rural countrysides. To explore this argument my analysis focuses on Canada, an extreme context for longer distance cycling. I offer a comparison of two case studies, situated on the country’s west and east coasts, Vancouver, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia, drawing on an ongoing ethnographic study of cycling practices and politics in Canada.  

scholarly journals City Best Practices to Improve Transit Operations and Safety

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle DeRobertis ◽  
Christopher E. Ferrell ◽  
Richard W. Lee ◽  
David Moore
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Metropolitan Planning ◽  
Passenger Safety ◽  
Municipal Policies ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
The City ◽  
Policies And Practices

Public, fixed-route transit services most commonly operate on public streets. In addition, transit passengers must use sidewalks to access transit stops and stations. However, streets and sidewalks are under the jurisdiction of municipalities, not transit agencies. Various municipal policies, practices, and decisions affect transit operations, rider convenience, and passenger safety. Thus, these government entities have an important influence over the quality, safety, and convenience of transit services in their jurisdictions. This research identified municipal policies and practices that affect public transport providers’ ability to deliver transit services. They were found from a comprehensive literature review, interviews and discussions with five local transit agencies in the U.S., five public transportation experts and staff from five California cities. The city policies and practices identified fall into the following five categories: Infrastructure for buses, including bus lanes, signal treatments, curbside access; Infrastructure for pedestrians walking and bicycling to, and waiting at, transit stops and stations; Internal transportation planning policies and practices; Land development review policies; Regional and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) issues. The understanding, acknowledgment, and implementation of policies and practices identified in this report can help municipalities proactively work with local transit providers to more efficiently and effectively operate transit service and improve passenger comfort and safety on city streets.

Knowledge Sharing in a Learning Management System Environment Using Social Awareness

2012 ◽  
pp. 28-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray M. Kekwaletswe
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Management System ◽  
Learning Management System ◽  
Social Awareness ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Learning Management ◽  
Knowledge Support ◽  
Specific Learning

The premise for this chapter is that learning and knowledge sharing is a human-to-human process that happen independent of space and time. One of the essential facets of learning is the social interaction in which personalized knowledge support is an outcome of learners sharing experiences. To this point, this chapter does not directly address a specific learning management system (LMS) platform but addresses forms of communication that can be encountered as tools of LMS platforms. The chapter argues that LMS ought to be able to facilitate the social interaction among learners not confined to particular places. Learners, because of their mobility, perform tasks in three varied locations or contexts: formal contexts, semi-formal contexts, and informal contexts. In this chapter, learners use social awareness to determine the appropriateness of an LMS tool to engage in a knowledge activity, as they traverse the varied contexts. Thus, the chapter posits that a ubiquitous personalized support and on-demand sharing of knowledge could be realized if a learning management system is designed and adopted cognizant of learners’ social awareness.

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