Growing number of solo households may require greater social support through public services in the future

Among the demographic changes experienced by the United States over the past decades, perhaps the most significant are the growth of single-person (solo) households and the decline of married-couple households. These changes have serious implications for policy makers, planners, and public service providers. In a recent study, Devajyoti Deka identified some of these implications by comparing the living, moving, and travel characteristics of persons from American solo households with adults from married-couple households

The relation between transit availability and automobile ownership: the case of Los Angeles County

We explore housing foreclosure as a mechanism that links economic shocks and neighborhood change, particularly the process of racial transition. A panel data set of the 1980 and 1990 New Orleans, Louisiana Census of Population and Housing was merged with mortgage foreclosure data aggregated to the block group level. The analysis indicates that housing foreclosures added momentum to the process of racial transition and neighborhood change, net of the effects of exogenous economic shocks and other variables like median income of residents, change in the value of owner-occupied housing, or the existing racial distribution of population in the neighborhood. Foreclosure appears to have the strongest effect on racial transition in block groups where resident incomes are above the lowest levels, and there is a pre-existing and increasing black population

Performance Measures to Assess Resiliency and Efficiency of Transit Systems

Transit agencies are interested in assessing the short-, mid-, and long-term performance of infrastructure with the objective of enhancing resiliency and efficiency. This report addresses three distinct aspects of New Jersey’s Transit System: 1) resiliency of bridge infrastructure, 2) resiliency of public transit systems, and 3) efficiency of transit systems with an emphasis on paratransit service. This project proposed a conceptual framework to assess the performance and resiliency for bridge structures in a transit network before and after disasters utilizing structural health monitoring (SHM), finite element (FE) modeling and remote sensing using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The public transit systems in NY/NJ were analyzed based on their vulnerability, resiliency, and efficiency in recovery following a major natural disaster

Local Access Management Regulations

The primary objective of this research is to identify and recommend strategies, tools, and guidelines to facilitate access management on local (i.e., county and municipal) roads intersecting and/or impacting state highways in New Jersey. State of New Jersey has an access management code that applies to state highways, but it does not apply to local roads. Local authorities in New Jersey do not have uniform access management codes, regulations, standards for local roads, as a result of which issues arise when developments take place on local roads near intersections with state routes. This research evaluated if/when similar issues are encountered in other states, how other state departments of transportation (DOTs) address access management on local roads, and how New Jersey local government and officials perceive access management on local roads near state highways. The study included a review of the literature and best practices, several stakeholder meetings, structured interviews with officials from other states DOTs, a survey of in-state officials, case studies involving intersections between local roads and state highways, and synthesis of results

An exploration of the environmental and rider characteristics associated with disability paratransit trip delay

Over the past two decades, a number of studies have been published on the efficiency of paratransit service for persons with disabilities. Although speed, delay, and pick-up duration can significantly affect overall efficiency of paratransit service, studies that have focused on these performance measures have been rare. This study examines how these performance measures are associated with local environmental characteristics such as density and the characteristics of the trip makers. It uses a dataset containing detailed information on a large volume of trips made by the registered clients of Access Link, a paratransit service operated by NJ TRANSIT for persons with disabilities. To measure speed and delay, network distances for 1.91 million trips were estimated by the ArcGIS Network Analyst extension. Analysis of variance and regression models were used to examine the associations between the performance measures and a set of variables pertaining to trips, passengers, and characteristics of pick-up and drop-off locations. Models for the entire study area as well as specific Access Link regions show that there is a significant association between local environmental and personal characteristics of passengers and the performance measures. Evidence was found that higher density of population, employment, and intersections at the local level may have a significant adverse effect on service efficiency because of lower speed and higher delay. Planning implications of the findings are discussed

Are millennials moving to more urbanized and transit-oriented counties?

Recent studies show that two distinct narratives have emerged about the millennials’ behavior, attitudes, and preferences regarding their choice of residence and transportation. According to the optimistic narrative, by living and traveling sustainably, millennials are planting the seeds of an urban renaissance. According to the pessimistic narrative, the changes in their behavior are due to economic constraints. To examine whether the inter-county migration pattern of American millennials is consistent with the optimistic narrative, this study compares some spatial and travel characteristics of the origins and destinations of millennials (age 25-34) and older adults (age 35-64) by using data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey and the 2010 Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics. Basic comparisons show that the destinations chosen by millennials are likely to have the characteristics that are consistent with the optimistic narrative. The push-pull regression models show that the effects of the county characteristics on migration are often significant but modest. The effects are not remarkably different for the two age groups

Public Transit in the Social Marketing Framework

In view of the recent successes of social marketing in the various areas within the public, nonprofit sector, this study considers public transit as a socially marketable concept. The study contends that although service marketing is also important for the transit industry, there is a greater need for emphasizing the social marketing of transit. It is argued that social marketing of transit will have to deviate from the conventional service marketing approach in the key areas of market identification and segmentation, communication, distribution, and consideration of price

Are millennials moving to more urbanized and transit-oriented counties?

Recent studies show that two distinct narratives have emerged about the millennials’ behavior, attitudes, and preferences regarding their choice of residence and transportation. According to the optimistic narrative, by living and traveling sustainably, millennials are planting the seeds of an urban renaissance. According to the pessimistic narrative, the changes in their behavior are due to economic constraints. To examine whether the inter-county migration pattern of American millennials is consistent with the optimistic narrative, this study compares some spatial and travel characteristics of the origins and destinations of millennials (age 25-34) and older adults (age 35-64) by using data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey and the 2010 Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics. Basic comparisons show that the destinations chosen by millennials are likely to have the characteristics that are consistent with the optimistic narrative. The push-pull regression models show that the effects of the county characteristics on migration are often significant but modest. The effects are not remarkably different for the two age groups

Role of Public Transportation as Job Access Mode Lessons from Survey of People with Disabilities in New Jersey

Transportation barriers are often the reason for the discrepancy in the employment rate between people with disabilities and others, yet little information about the transportation barriers and the needs of people with disabilities who are searching for employment is available. The primary objective of this paper is to share valuable information from a unique survey of people with disabilities who were actively searching for employment in New Jersey. The paper examines the role of public transportation in providing job access to people with disabilities and provides information and insights on the availability, use, needs, barriers, and perceptions of the survey respondents about different public transit modes. The paper also discusses the implications for agencies that provide transportation for people with human services needs. Research shows that despite the frequent use of public transportation by job-seeking people with disabilities, many of them are dissatisfied with public transportation. Although satisfaction with vehicle equipment compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act seems high, many individuals are dissatisfied with the level of transit service and environmental barriers between homes and transit stations and stops. It can be inferred from the results that a multitude of strategies will be needed to address the travel needs and barriers of job-seeking people with disabilities in the state. In addition to providing assistance with transportation for people with human services needs and providing insights to vocational rehabilitation counselors, the study will serve as a means for laying the framework for more rigorous research on the transportation needs and barriers of people with disabilities

A comparison of the personal and neighborhood characteristics associated with ridesourcing, transit use, and driving with NHTS data

The opportunity to conduct an overarching national study to examine the characteristics of ridesourcing users and their neighborhoods was absent until the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) dataset was released in 2018. As the 2017 NHTS combines ridesourcing with taxi and limo in the trip file, ridesourcing trip characteristics cannot be separately analyzed. Thus, the paper examines the characteristics of users and neighborhoods associated with ridesourcing trip frequency from the person file, defined as the number of rides taken in 30 days. Because the public-use NHTS dataset includes only limited information about the neighborhoods where the respondents live, additional data from the NHTS DOT files were analyzed so that the characteristics of the neighborhoods could be fully comprehended. In an effort to examine the proximity of those neighborhoods to public transit stations and stops, GIS data on transit stations and stops were analyzed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the US Department of Homeland Security. A zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model was used to identify the variables associated with ridesourcing trip frequency. Two similar models were used to identify the variables associated with public transit trip frequency and annual vehicle miles driven. The analysis showed that the direction of the effects of the personal and neighborhood characteristics on ridesourcing and transit trip frequency is mostly similar, but often dissimilar to their effects on miles driven. A significant finding of this research is that people living near transit stations/stops use ridesourcing more frequently