The Minimum Circuity Frontier and the Journey to Work

In an urban context people travel between places of residence and work destinations via transportation networks. Transportation studies that involve measurements of distances between residence and work locations tend to use Euclidean distances rather than Network distances. This is due to the historic difficulty in calculating network distances and based on assumptions that differences between Euclidean distance and network distance tend to be constant. This assumption is true only when variation in the network is minor and when self-selection is not present. In this paper we use circuity, the ratio of network to Euclidean distance, as a tool to better understand the choice of residential location relative to work. This is done using two methods of defining origins and destinations in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. The first method of selection is based on actual choice of residence and work locations. The second is based on a randomly selected dataset of origins and destinations in the same region. The findings of the study show circuity measured through randomly selected origins and destinations differ from circuity measured from actual origins and destinations. Workers tend to reside in areas where the circuity is lower, applying intelligence to their location decisions. We posit this because locators wish to achieve the largest residential lot at the shortest commute time. This finding reveals an important issue related to resident choice and location theory and how resident workers tend to locate in an urban context

Accessibility-oriented development

Municipal governments worldwide have been pursuing transit-oriented development (TOD) strategies in order to increase transit ridership, curb traffic congestion, and rejuvenate urban neighborhoods. In many cities, however, development of planned sites around transit stations has been close to non-existent, due to, among other reasons, a lack of coordination between transit investments and land use at the regional scale. Furthermore, the ability to access transit differs from the ability to access destinations that people care about. Reframing transit-oriented development as accessibility-oriented development (AOD) can aid the process of creating functional connections between neighborhoods and the rest of the region, and maximize benefits from transport investments. AOD is a strategy that balances accessibility to employment and the labor force in order to foster an environment conducive to development. AOD areas are thus defined as having higher than average accessibility to employment opportunities and/or the labor force; such accessibility levels are expected to increase the quality of life of residents living in these areas by reducing their commute time and encouraging faster economic development. To quantify the benefits of AOD, accessibility to employment and the labor force are calculated in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada in 2001 and 2011. Cross-sectional and temporal regressions are then performed to predict average commute times and development occurring in AOD areas and across the region. Results show that AOD neighborhoods with high accessibility to jobs and low accessibility to the labor force have the lowest commute times in the region, while the relationship also holds for changes in average commute time between the studied time periods. In addition, both accessibility to jobs and accessibility to the labor force are associated with changes in development, as areas with high accessibility to jobs and the labor force attract more development. In order to realize the full benefits of planned transit investments, planning professionals and policy makers alike should therefore leverage accessibility as a tool to direct development in their cities, and concentrate on developing neighbourhoods with an AOD approach in mind

Chasing sustainability: Do new TOD residents adopt more sustainable modes of transportation?

It is suggested that one of the solutions for mitigating the detrimental effect of motor vehicles on 3 society is to implement Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). This type of development is 4 intended to reduce automobile use and urban sprawl as well as to provide communities with more 5 socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable neighborhoods that offer a variety of 6 mobility choices. This paper attempts to find out whether new TOD residents adopt more 7 sustainable modes of transportation after their relocation. The analysis determines which factors 8 influence travel mode switching decisions by specifying a multilevel multinomial logistic 9 regression model. Data for the analysis are drawn from a travel behavior survey conducted on 10 residents in seven different North American TODs in 2013. Our results show that TOD 11 newcomers adopt more sustainable travel modes for amenities and leisure trips, whereas they are 12 less likely to do so for work and shopping trips. To encourage more sustainable travel modes, our 13 findings suggest that transit incentives coupled with workplace parking charges need to be 14 considered. Awareness of the environmental impact of each travel mode, walkability of the 15 neighborhood and availability of various destinations as well as proximity to transit stops are 16 factors that increase the probability of switching to a more sustainable mode of transportation for 17 new TOD residents. However, larger household size and becoming a homeowner, as well as the 18 addition of a new car, have a negative impact. Findings from this research provide new insights 19 into TOD planning and its link to travel behavior that can be of benefit to planners, engineers and 20 policy makers adopting this approach of development with the goal of mitigating car usage. 21 2

How land-use and urban form impact bicycle flows: Evidence from the bicycle-sharing system (BIXI) in Montreal

ABSTRACT Installed in 2009, BIXI is the first major public bicycle-sharing system in Montreal, Canada. The BIXI system has been a success, accounting for more than one million trips annually. This success has increased the interest in exploring the factors affecting bicycle-sharing flows and usage. Using data compiled as minute-by-minute readings of bicycle availability at all the stations of the BIXI system between April and August 2012, this study contributes to the literature on bicycle-sharing. We examine the influence of meteorological data, temporal characteristics, bicycle infrastructure, land use and built environment attributes on arrival and departure flows at the station level using a multilevel approach to statistical modeling, which could easily be applied to other regions. The findings allow us to identify factors contributing to increased usage of bicycle-sharing in Montreal and to provide recommendations pertaining to station size and location decisions. The developed methodology and findings can be of benefit to city planners and engineers who are designing or modifying bicycle-sharing systems with the goal of maximizing usage and availability

Urban access across the globe: an international comparison of different transport modes

ABSTRACT: Access (the ease of reaching valued destinations) is underpinned by land use and transport infrastructure. The importance of access in transport, sustainability, and urban economics is increasingly recognized. In particular, access provides a universal unit of measurement to examine cities for the efficiency of transport and land-use systems. This paper examines the relationship between population-weighted access and metropolitan population in global metropolitan areas (cities) using 30-min cumulative access to jobs for 4 different modes of transport; 117 cities from 16 countries and 6 continents are included. Sprawling development with the intensive road network in American cities produces modest automobile access relative to their sizes, but American cities lag behind globally in transit and walking access; Australian and Canadian cities have lower automobile access, but better transit access than American cities; combining compact development with an intensive network produces the highest access in Chinese and European cities for their sizes. Hence density and mobility co-produce better access. This paper finds access to jobs increases with populations sublinearly, so doubling the metropolitan population results in less than double access to jobs. The relationship between population and access characterizes regions, countries, and cities, and significant similarities exist between cities from the same country

The far side story: Measuring the benefits of bus stop location on transit performance

ABSTRACT Determining the proper location of bus stops is an important planning decision in the transit planning field. While previous efforts in the literature have suggested several advantages and disadvantages regarding certain bus stop placements, there has been little effort towards understanding the impacts of bus stop location on the transit system performance at the stop level of analysis. This article aims to evaluate the impact of bus stop location on bus stop time and stop time variation. It uses stop-level data collected from the Société de transport de Montréal (STM)'s automatic vehicle location (AVL) and automatic passenger count (APC) systems, in Montréal, Canada. The study findings show that stop times occurring on the near side of intersections are in average 4.2 to 5.0 seconds slower than stop times occurring on the far side of intersections, with no impact on stop time variation. A validation model is utilized to confirm the impacts of bus stop placements on stop time, using data from TriMet's automated bus dispatch system, in Portland, Oregon. This study offers transit planners and policy makers a better understanding of the effects of bus stop location on stop time and its variation in order to improve service quality while minimizing service variation at the stop level