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 Structural Analysis in Transit System Using Network Theory Case of Guadalajara, Mexico

Urban Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Orlando Barraza ◽  
Miquel Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Transport Network ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Network Properties ◽  
In Transit

Structural analysis in a transit network is a key aspect used to evaluate in a planning process. In this sense, the use of network science was applied in this work to generate a framework of the main structural features of a transport network. In this case, an alternative transport network in Guadalajara, Mexico was taken as an example. The network properties selected were grade of accessibility, spatial friction, and vulnerability. In the case of the grade of accessibility, this propriety makes reference to the efficiency of the travel time that the network gives due to its structural features. The spatial friction measures how direct in terms of distance the trips that the network provides are, and the vulnerability relates to the ease with which the network can comprise its performance by affectations to their nodes or links. In this sense, this work presents a detailed methodology and a set of open-source tools that can be used to measure these key structural elements for decision making.

scholarly journals A Novel Trip Coverage Index for Transit Accessibility Assessment Using Mobile Phone Data

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyi Cai ◽  
Dianhai Wang ◽  
Xiqun (Michael) Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Base Stations ◽  
Mobile Phone Data ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Transit Accessibility ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
The Individual

Transit accessibility is an important measure on the service performance of transit systems. To assess whether the public transit service is well accessible for trips of specific origins, destinations, and origin-destination (OD) pairs, a novel measure, the Trip Coverage Index (TCI), is proposed in this paper. TCI considers both the transit trip coverage and spatial distribution of individual travel demands. Massive trips between cellular base stations are estimated by using over four-million mobile phone users. An easy-to-implement method is also developed to extract the transit information and driving routes for millions of requests. Then the trip coverage of each OD pair is calculated. For demonstrative purposes, TCI is applied to the transit network of Hangzhou, China. The results show that TCI represents the better transit trip coverage and provides a more powerful assessment tool of transit quality of service. Since the calculation is based on trips of all modes, but not only the transit trips, TCI offers an overall accessibility for the transit system performance. It enables decision makers to assess transit accessibility in a finer-grained manner on the individual trip level and can be well transformed to measure transit services of other cities.

scholarly journals The Multimodal Connectivity at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Stations and the Impact on Ridership

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mintesnot Woldeamanuel ◽  
Craig Olwert
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Social Equity ◽  
Bus Rapid Transit ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Transit Planning ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Transit Use ◽  
The Impact

A multimodality index (MI) is developed to evaluate the accessibility and convenience of transit use by investigating the connectivity of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with other modes of travel. Better connected stations increase transit system ridership, resulting in environmental and social equity gains. The integration of the Orange Line BRT system in Los Angeles with other travel modes, including bicycles, pedestrians, regular buses, and private automobiles, was analyzed using field observations and LA Metro data to create a multimodality index (MI). While multimodal connectivity of the Orange Line BRT system varies across stations, a positive relationship exists between ridership and the MI, indicating that the MI is a reliable predictor of transit ridership and a useful tool for transit planning.

scholarly journals Analysis of a Flexible Transit Network in a Radial Street Pattern

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Hongguo Shi ◽  
Mingyao Gao
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Topology ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Grid Structure ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Street Pattern ◽  
Optimal Network ◽  
Optimal Value ◽  
Access Cost

Traditional transit systems are usually composed of fixed routes and stops, which are suitable in densely populated areas. This paper presents a reformulation of the flexible transit model developed by Nourbakhsh and Ouyang (2012) to adapt it to many low demand cities in the world, especially those characterized by radial street patterns. Unlike traditional ones, buses of the proposed transit network are allowed to traverse in a predetermined service area and their precise trajectories hinge on the exact locations of passengers. To identify the optimal topology structure of the flexible transit system, continuous approximation approaches are developed to explore the optimal value of design parameters of the whole system, defining the optimal network layout through minimizing its objective function. To exhibit its advantages, numerical experiments are conducted to compare the flexible transit system with its two variants. The results show that the flexible transit system proposed in this paper outperforms the other two variants. The higher the access cost is, the more it would tilt towards the flexible transit system with a significant margin. Besides, the flexible transit system in a radial pattern competes more effectively than that in a grid structure. This is encouraging because the proposed transit system can be applied in a number of real-world cases.

scholarly journals Comparative Measures for Transit Network Performance Analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Jae Lee
Keyword(s):  
Network Performance ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Transit Planning ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Transportation Modes ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
In Transit ◽  
Simple Average

This paper discusses existing measures for the analysis of transit network performance and develops new measures that use a comparative approach to examine the efficiency of transit network configuration. Most measures in transit planning and operating are estimated by the transit system itself, but because transit competes with other transportation modes, comparative measures are necessary to attract more transit riders. This paper introduces two measures: the Degree of Competitiveness and the Degree of Circuity. While these measures examine performance for each zone-to-zone travel, simple average and weighted average are also introduced to evaluate the entire transit network.

Developing an Index of Transit Service Availability

1996 ◽  
Vol 1521 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Russell H. Henk ◽  
Sarah M. Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
System Capacity ◽  
Service Availability ◽  
System Efficiency ◽  
Planning Tool ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Service

The procedures and results associated with the development of an index of transit service availability are summarized. This index uses the factors that most effectively quantify the availability of public transit service (both bus and rail) in an urban area at a macroscopic planning level. The factors that are included in the index are based on FTA Section 15 data and information from the 1990 census. The development of the index involved the application of more than 30 prospective measures of transit service availability to 228 urban area transit systems throughout the United States. The index uses three measures that quantify transit service coverage, frequency of transit service, and transit system capacity. The index is designed to serve as a planning tool and was specifically developed to facilitate the comparison of transit service availability between urban areas with similar demographics and allow transit systems to examine service availability over time. The index is not intended for use in assessing transit system efficiency or performance.

Commuter-Centric Resilience Index for Rapid Transit System Networks: Case Study of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Network

2017 ◽  
Vol 2648 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Jian Sheng Yeung ◽  
Jason B. P. Lee ◽  
Yun Han Wee ◽  
Keng Seng Mak
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
The Public ◽  
Commute Time ◽  
Resilience Index ◽  
Rail Line ◽  
Mass Rapid Transit

Rapid transit systems (RTSs) will increasingly play an important role in the daily commute. However, RTSs are complex systems and are susceptible to degradation over time, and recurring RTS service disruptions are inevitable. Therefore, resilience should be considered in the design of an RTS network, to provide commuters alternative paths that enable them to work around service disruptions. This paper proposes a commuter-centric resilience index for RTS networks that is based on the concept of an acceptable commute time. The proposed index was applied to the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit network, and the findings revealed that the introduction of each new rail line increased the resilience of the RTS network. Ring lines or orbital lines appeared to be most effective in improving network resilience. The resilience index can also be determined for individual stations to help planners identify gaps in the RTS network and to provide useful insight for land use and transport planning. The proposed index would be applicable to RTS networks in other cities or regions, but while information on an RTS network can be sourced from the public domain, computation of the index requires the corresponding commuter trip data.

scholarly journals Bus Transit Network Structure Selection With Multiple Objectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
K. Ramacandra Rao ◽  
Subhro Mitra ◽  
Joseph Szmerekovsky
Keyword(s):  
Network Structure ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Structure Selection ◽  
Bus Transit ◽  
Bus Transportation

Bus transportation is the essential mode of public transportation available for intra-district movements in India. The planning of different stages of bus transportation planning is usually done in an ad-hoc manner on the basis of the experience of the operators. For a rational design of the bus transit system, it is essential to take into account the objectives of different interest groups. Selection of an appropriate network structure is an essential part of the planning process. In this paper, a model developed for generating a number of alternative network structures using link deletion concept is presented. One of these alternatives can be selected on the basis of the trade-off between the user and operator objectives. The model has been applied to a case study of bus transit network of Visakhapatnam region in Andhra Pradesh.

Continuous Approximation Model for Hybrid Flexible Transit Systems with Low Demand Density

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812199713
Author(s):  
Charalampos Sipetas ◽  
Eric J. Gonzales
Keyword(s):  
Agency Cost ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Optimization Process ◽  
Analytical Models ◽  
Continuous Approximation ◽  
Flexible Systems ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Approximation Techniques ◽  
Service Areas

Flexible transit systems are a way to address challenges associated with conventional fixed route and fully demand responsive systems. Existing studies indicate that such systems are often planned and designed without established guidelines, and optimization techniques are rarely implemented on actual flexible systems. This study presents a hybrid transit system where the degree of flexibility can vary from a fixed route service (with no flexibility) to a fully flexible transit system. Such a system is expected to be beneficial in areas where the best transit solution lies between the fixed route and fully flexible systems. Continuous approximation techniques are implemented to model and optimize the stop spacing on a fixed route corridor, as well as the boundaries of the flexible region in a corridor. Both user and agency costs are considered in the optimization process. A numerical analysis compares various service areas and demand densities using input variables with magnitudes similar to those of real-world case studies. Sensitivity analysis is performed for service headway, percent of demand served curb-to-curb, and user and agency cost weights in the optimization process. The analytical models are evaluated through simulations. The hybrid system proposed here achieves estimated user benefits of up to 35% when compared with fixed route systems, under different case scenarios. Flexible systems are particularly beneficial for serving corridors with low or uncertain demand. This provides value for corridors with low demand density as well as communities in which transit ridership has dropped significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessment of Regional Transit Accessibility in the San Francisco Bay Area of California with UrbanAccess

2017 ◽  
Vol 2654 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
Samuel D. Blanchard ◽  
Paul Waddell
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
San Francisco Bay Area ◽  
Annual Household Income ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Transit Accessibility ◽  
Block Level ◽  
Operational Schedule

Accessibility is an important metric in regional transportation and land use planning and as a component in equity analyses. Accessibility in the San Francisco Bay Area of California was characterized with a new multimodal network accessibility tool, UrbanAccess. Accessibility was measured with open pedestrian and operational schedule transit network data at the Census block level across a large metropolitan extent. In addition, a framework was developed to assess changes in accessibility that resulted from alternative transit network structures. Results indicated that accessibility to jobs in the Bay Area was relatively high by walking and by taking transit. However, accessibility varied significantly by annual household income and geography. Disparities in job accessibility were most pronounced between Census blocks that were in poverty and Census blocks that were not in poverty.

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