Traveler expectations and willingness-to-pay for Web-enabled public transport information services

Web-enabled public transport (PT) information systems that combine information on different PT modes, different PT companies and different geographical regions, can be built to improve the accessibility of public transportation. As the potential list of information aspects that can be included in such systems is long, it is interesting to examine the relative importance of different information aspects. This study reports the relative importance travelers attach to a range of information aspects. In addition, the willingness to pay for this information was examined by conducting a stated choice experiment, in which price was traded off against groupings of information aspects. The results of the study indicate that even though public transport travel information is highly price sensitive, travelers are willing to pay for it if the information systems provide additional functionality such as real-time information and, to a lesser extent, additional trip planning options.     

Perceived accessibility,mobility, and connectivity of public transportation systems

Although public transportation is considered effective at reducing the external cost of driving private vehicles, many urbanites do not use public transportation. This study develops measures employing accessibility, mobility, and seamless connectivity for an entire public transportation service chain as indicators for evaluating public transport services, prioritizes underperforming scenarios from the perspective of urban travelers, and derives various market segmentation strategies that consider different socio-demographic characteristics. A conceptual model is set up herein to assess these latent constructs that describe unobservable and immeasurable characteristics. As a Likert ordinal scale can generate misleading statistical inferences, the Rasch model is used to eliminate bias generated by an ordinal scale when measuring these three latent constructs separately. The Rasch model compares person parameters with item parameters, which are then subjected to logarithmic transformation along a logit scale so as to recognize specific difficulties of service scenarios that cannot be easily eliminated by certain urban travelers. The multidimensional Rasch model also measures the perceptions of urban travelers in terms of the interactions between accessibility, mobility, and seamless connectivity of this public transportation system. While comparing urban travelers of two large cities in Taiwan, Taipei and Kaohsiung, the empirical results demonstrate that perceived accessibility, mobility, and seamless connectivity differ based on travelers’ age, frequency of weekly sports activities, and environmental awareness. This paper also advances appropriate improvement strategies and provides policy suggestions for urban planners, public transportation service operation agencies, and policy makers when they seek to create user-friendly public transportation services. The proposed approach can be generalized in other cities by considering their local context uniqueness and further evaluating their public transport services.     

The influence of integrated space–transport development strategies on air pollution in urban areas

The phenomenon of urban sprawl has strong impacts on transport performance and accessibility and causes an increase of air pollution. Effective control of urban sprawl requires an integrated approach comprising urban transport and land-use planning. Current research is insufficient to demonstrate the effects of urban sprawl on travel behavior and air pollution emission. The present paper examines the potential of an integrated approach on space–transport development strategies with the aim of increasing accessibility and reducing air pollution. A combination of space and transport strategies has been simulated for the rapidly expanding city of Surabaya. A comparative analysis of the impact of those cases indicates the promising potential alternatives to minimize the phenomenon. The transport options considered are combinations of Public Transport (PT), comprising Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rapid Transit (LRT), and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The options for urban structure include a compact zone development for the city, as formulated by the city planning agency, and a polycentric city set-up based on a job-housing balance aimed at minimizing the house-job distance. The results indicate that the polycentric city structure has the potential to make public transport work successfully for the city of Surabaya. This city structure creates a trip demand pattern which matches citizens’ PT preferences. Compared to the current situation, the combination of such a city structure with an expansion of PT systems would lead to a considerable improvement of transport performance, i.e. a PT mode share, a mean commute distance, and a significant reduction in emissions.     

A multi-objective optimization approach to balancing economic efficiency and equity in accessibility to multi-use paths

Improving public health through active transpiration investments has increasingly become a new research focus in transportation planning. This study is to propose a multi-objective optimization modeling framework, through an optimal allocation of active transportation investments, to maximize the total accessibility while minimizing the total differences in accessibility over a city. Accessibility to multi-use paths is calculated for Fresno, California that measures the total length of multi-use paths a resident could reach with a 30-min cycling ride. Then, a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is used to capture the local relationships between accessibility outcome and previous transportation investments. The marginal-effect analysis for the GWR results indicates economically efficient, inefficient, and indifferent locations for further investments. This study is one of the few to incorporate such a GWR model into a multi-objective optimization modeling framework to improve accessibility to multi-use paths and address inequality issues in transportation. Solving the multi-objective optimization model provides decision-makers a new insight into the making of an economically efficient and socially equal active transportation plan to improve public health.

     

Transport and equity in Latin America: a critical review of socially oriented accessibility assessments*

ABSTRACT

A growing concern for mobility-related social inclusion and equity is evident from both academic research and planning best practices. Scholarly research promotes accessibility as the main aim of transport planning, assuming it as the evaluative approach that better conveys how mobility contributes to individuals' well-being and participation in social life. Accessibility can be crucial to address the socio-spatial inequalities that characterise manifold settings across the world. Amongst them, Latin American countries have been keen in tackling such imbalances through mobility-related interventions, as the renowned cases of Curitiba, Medellin and Bogotá show. The widespread interest in mobility as both a cause and effect of social disparities has generated an increasing stream of work that examines Latin American settings through the lenses of accessibility. This paper aims at critically reviewing the growing scholarly works that, providing accessibility-based evaluations, has examined issues of transport and equity in Latin America. Proposing a novel conceptual framework that considers the underlying ethical stance, components of accessibility and implications for planning and policy, this work examines what approaches, features and indicators are present in the current literature, as well as what settings have been taken into consideration by scholarly research. Moreover, the review has an explicit operational interest, to define what indicators are relevant or missing to assess accessibility in the light of social concerns, as well as to consider the current and potential implications that such research findings have on transport planning and policy. The review highlights how a growing but still limited body of work has examined transport and equity in Latin America, suggesting academic, technical and operational avenues to enhance theoretical and practical approaches to the issue.     

Modeling access to public transport in urban areas

It is important to measure public transport accessibility to help improve the sustainability of transport systems in metropolitan areas. Although many studies have defined different approaches for measuring public transport accessibility, there have been limited methods developed for measuring accessibility levels that incorporate spatial aspects. Population density is an important distributional indicator that has also been ignored in previous methods developed for quantifying accessibility. This paper outlines the research context for measurement of public transport accessibility and then describes a methodology developed as well as an application the Public Transport Accessibility Index in Melbourne area, Australia. Using the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity dataset, we applied separate‐ordered logit regression models to examine how the new index performs with a series of predictor variables compared with two existing approaches. Key findings indicate that there is a higher probability of public transport patronage in areas with higher levels of accessibility. Furthermore, it was found using statistical modelling that the new index produces better results compared with previous approaches. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An integrated measure of accessibility and reliability of mass transit systems

The growth of a city or a metropolis requires well-functioning transit systems to accommodate the ensuing increase in travel demand. As a result, mass transit networks have to develop and expand from simple to complex topological systems over time to meet this demand. Such an evolution in the networks’ structure entails not only a change in network accessibility, but also a change in the level of network reliability on the part of stations and the entire system as well. Network accessibility and reliability are popular measures that have been widely applied to evaluate the resilience and vulnerability of a spatially networked system. However, the use of a single measure, either accessibility or reliability, provides different results, which demand an integrated measure to evaluate the network’s performance comprehensively. In this paper, we propose a set of integrated measures, named ACCREL (Integrated Accessibility and Reliability indicators) that considers both metrics in combination to evaluate a network’s performance and vulnerability. We apply the new measures for hypothetical mass transit system topologies, and a case study of the metro transit system in Seoul follows, highlighting the dynamics of network performance with four evolutionary stages. The main contribution of this study lies in the results from the experiments, which can be used to inform how transport network planning can be prepared to enhance the network functionality, thereby achieving a well-balanced, accessible, and reliable system. Insights on network vulnerability are also drawn for public transportation planners and spatial decision makers.     

Optimization of bus stop placement for routes on uneven topography

The improvement and expansion of public transport is an increasingly important solution to the high congestion costs and worsening environmental impacts of the car dominated transport systems seen in many cities today. The intelligent design of stop locations is one way to improve the quality of PT and thereby improve its ridership. Stop placement is a relatively complex task as it involves a trade-off between two competing goals; accessibility and operation; however this trade-off can be made explicit using an appropriate mathematical model. Many such models have been developed in the literature, however none consider the effects of uneven topography. Topography is an important but often neglected factor in the design of public transportation systems, with the potential to have a significant impact on the accessibility, operation and planning of a transit service. In this work a mathematical modelling approach to bus stop placement is developed which includes considerations of uneven topography in three ways; (1) Its effect on walking speed; (2) Its impact on the attractiveness of an access path to a transit service; and (3) Its effect on acceleration rates at stops. Because of the complexity of the model developed, a heuristic evolutionary algorithm’ is employed to approximate an optimal solution to the model. Finally, the model and solution method are applied to a case study in the Auckland CBD area in New Zealand.     

Things planners believe in,and things they deny

The paper examines the economic theory of consumer behavior from the Modern Psychoanalytic point of view with a metaphor of (transport) planning as a backdrop. It is claimed that the utility maximization principle of economic theory, no matter how broadly interpreted, does not envelop the motivation of human behavior and that the economic explanation of the aims of human behavior, which disregards the "dark side" of man, will result in narrowly conceived plans and policies.The application of economic theory, and other social sciences, to public policy has led to disjointedness of data collection, method of analysis, and planning and implementation. This, combined with a tautological behavioral theory, has made the current planning and public policy procedures self-verifying, and issues an invitation for a new theoretical approach which is comprehensive, does not ignore complexity and the large "error term", and appreciates the unity of data collection, method of investigation, and process of implementation.It is argued that unsatisfactory performance of the transport system, large errors inherent in data and models, the inability of extant transportation planning and policy to address key issues successfully, the environmental problem, and the value of the individual all call for new kinds of skills from the planners and policy makers.Freud's dualistic formulation of instinctual drives -- the life and death instincts -- is used as the new framework of explanation. This theory is seen to offer a convincing, more realistic and deeper understanding of the forces motivating human behavior, and one which is more in accordance with observable facts. If applied, the theory will lead to significantly different planning processes and to a profoundly different approach to public policy.     

Towards a more equitable distribution of resources: Using activity-based models and subjective well-being measures in transport project evaluation

In this paper, we develop an innovative and comprehensive transport evaluation criterion to better account for equity considerations in transport project evaluation. This work explores transportation benefits from the consumer’s perspective to accessibility as a key benefit generated by any transportation project. To assess the full benefits of transportation project implementation for various consumers and calculate the improvement in accessibility, it is best to use Activity-Based Models (ABM). ABMs have two important advantages for equity analysis, which have not been utilized in the literature so far: first, ability to analyze results by various groups of the population; second, these models can utilize the Activity Based Accessibility (ABA) measure to estimate the overall benefits from transport investments and policies. The ABA measure allows one person to have different accessibilities for different choice situations, depending on his/her characteristics. We suggest including social and spatial factors in social welfare assessment by introducing the concept of accessibility gains to key social activities. Specifically, it is suggested to incorporate subjective well-being consideration into a new evaluation framework “Equity Benefit Analysis” (EBA). we use an alternative measure, “Subjective Value of Accessibility gains” (SVOA), which is based on the ABM accessibility measure as well as on Subjective Well-Being (SWB) measure, as the key benefit taken into account in the evaluation process. The SVOA is not intended to replace the current practice of analyzing equity by comparing various impacts on different groups of the population, but can aid by providing policymakers with a single measure advancing both equity and efficiency considerations and facilitating comparison among alternatives. Initial case study results indicate the SVOA can show higher benefits to policies focusing on the needs of vulnerable social groups that compared traditional measures.     

Accessibility appraisal of land-use/transport policy strategies: More than just adding up travel-time savings

We examine the accessibility benefits associated with some land-use policy strategies for the Netherlands that anticipate on expected climate change. A disaggregate logsum accessibility measure using the Dutch national land-use/transport interaction model TIGRIS XL is used to compute changes in consumer surplus. The measure provides an elegant and convenient solution to measure the full accessibility benefits from land-use and/or transport policies, when discrete choice travel-demand models are available that already produce logsums. It accounts for both changes in generalised transport costs and changes in destination utility, and is thus capable of providing the accessibility benefits from changes in the distribution of activities, due to transport or land-use policies. The case study shows that logsum accessibility benefits from land-use policy strategies can be quite large compared to investment programmes for road and public transport infrastructure, largely due to changes in trip production and destination utility, which are not measured in the standard rule-of-half benefit measure.     

Free public transport: A socio-cognitive analysis

In this study, the modal shift potential of introducing a free alternative (free public transportation) and of changing the relative prices of transportation is examined. The influence of a cognitive analysis on the zero-price effect is also analyzed. The data used for the analysis stem from a stated preference survey with a sample of approximately 670 respondents that was conducted in Flanders, Belgium. The data are analyzed using a mixed logit model. The modeling results yield findings that confirm the existence of a zero-price effect in transport, which is in line with the literature. This zero-price effect is increased by the forced cognitive analysis for shopping trips, although not for work/school or recreational trips. The results also demonstrate the importance of the current mode choice in hypothetical mode choices and the importance of car availability. The influence of changing relative prices on the modal shift is found to be insignificant. This might be partially because the price differences were too small to matter. Hence, an increase in public transport use can be facilitated by the introduction of free public transport, particularly when individuals evaluate the different alternatives in a more cognitive manner. These findings should be useful to policy makers evaluating free public transport and considering how best to target and promote relevant policy.     

Mapping spatial accessibility of public transportation network in an urban area – A case study of Shanghai Hongqiao Transportation Hub

Accessibility is a key metric when assessing the efficiency of an urban public transportation network. This research develops a methodology for evaluating spatial accessibility of a system with multiple transportation modes in an urban area, Shanghai Hongqiao Transportation Hub (SHTH) and its surrounding area. The method measured total traveling time as an accessibility indicator, which summed the time people spent on walking, waiting, transfer and transportation in a journey from the SHTH to destinations. Spatial accessibility was classified into five levels from very high to very low. The evaluation was conducted at a cell-by-cell basis under an overall scenario and three specific scenarios. Evaluation results were presented in a series of maps. The overall accessibility scenario shows a concentric-ring trend decreasing from the SHTH to the fringe of the study area. Areas along the metro lines generally have a much higher accessibility than those along the bus lines with some exceptions where bus routes play a more important role. Metro stations identified as either time-saving or time-consuming points are mainly distributed around the urban center. Some suggestions are proposed for improving accessibility of public transportation network in the study area. The results from this study provide a scientific basis and useful information for supporting decision-making on urban planning, and assisting dwellers to travel in a time-efficient manner. The methodology offers a simple, flexible way to the spatial evaluation, metro station identification and network modification of accessibility of public transportation systems with multiple transportation modes.     

Shifting towards environment-friendly modes: profiling travelers using Q-methodology

Due to a variety of reasons, the previous century is characterized by an extraordinary growth in car use that has continued into the current century. This has resulted in serious environmental repercussions. Despite technological advancements, the externalities remain an ecological threat that can not be discarded by policy makers. Therefore, it is essential that policy makers focus on reducing car use and on stimulating the shift towards more environment-friendly transport modes. In this study, Q-methodology is adopted as the technique to segment people, and to ascertain which approaches and determinants matter to medium distance travel. Segmentation is important, as policy measures will be more efficient and effective if they are fine-tuned on specific target groups. The analysis revealed that four discourses preponderate the paradigm of environmentally sustainable transport: travelers who use public transport as a dominant alternative, car-dependent travelers, travelers with a positive perception of using public transport, and travelers with a preference for car use. Concerning rational, economic motives, individuals evaluate travel time reliability as most important. To increase the reliability policy makers should consider the use of separate bus lanes and traffic light manipulation. In addition, public transport can be made even more attractive, when costs of cars are made more variable by road or congestion charging. When the s motives are discussed, the differences between the different groups of travelers were more pronounced. Next to increasing the benefits of using public transport, policy makers should also pay attention to removing psycho-social barriers.

A framework to analyze the vulnerability of European road networks due to Sea-Level Rise (SLR) and sea storm surges

This study proposes a framework to explore the concepts of exposure, vulnerability and connectivity in EU road network and to assess the potential transportation infrastructure sensitivities towards Sea-Level Rise (SLR) and storm surges. The magnitude and significance of impacts were determined and knowledge of network robustness was built up based on existing climate data and on future trends. Various spatial databases were integrated and a four-stage transport model was used to explore the likely impacts of network degradation. The pattern of the network was assessed via both node- and link-based measurements, where different road databases, namely TRANS-TOOLS and Tele Atlas/TomTom, were employed in order to analyze the impact of spatial resolution within network connectivity analyses. This general framework developed for European Union, was tested on a specific and articulated case study area; namely, the north-east coastal region of Spain. The research conducted, yielded useful methods for the analysis of network vulnerability, where impacts are more significant in regional accessibility patterns. Accessibility indicators at the regional level changed drastically, with some regions showing up to a 26% decrease. According to the results of network connectivity indicators, the changes in network topology have reduced the number of alternative routes and placed more pressure on the transport system. The implementation of this framework and quantitative assessment methodologies outlined in this paper could be employed to assist policy makers to recognize the opportunities that may arise or diminish the adverse effects.     

Dynamic Modal Accessibility Gap: Measurement and Application Using Travel Routes Data

Accessibility is a key concept in transportation research and an important indicator of people’s quality of life. With the development of big data analytics, dynamic accessibility that captures the temporal variations of accessibility becomes an important research focus. Few prior studies focus on comparative measures of dynamic accessibility to Points of Interest (POIs) by alternative travel modes. To fill this research gap, we propose a new index called dynamic modal accessibility gap (DMAG), which draws upon available data on residents’ real travel routes using different travel modes, as well as the data on POIs. We study the DMAG in the real-travel covered area, assuming POIs are only useful if it is within someone’s real-travel covered area. We then apply this DMAG methodology to Shanghai’s central city and peripheral area. In both cases, we measure the accessibility for public and private travel modes. As an example, one-week taxi GPS and metro smart card data, and POIs data are used to generate the DMAG index for 30-minute and 60-minute trip durations for weekdays and holidays. Results show that DMAG can reflect the pattern of temporal variations. The proposed DMAG analytical framework, which can be applied at both the user and the system levels, can support urban and transportation planning, and promote social equity and livability.     

A framework for urban freight policy analysis

This paper provides an overview of the urban freight process, in the context of the supply and demand aspects of freight. A framework for analysis is developed, and within that framework, particular aspects of the urban freight process are described. Issues of concern from a public policy viewpoint are highlighted.

Seven main instruments related to public policy are introduced and their application described — taxes and subsidies, regulations, investment, operational instruments, planning, public ownership and research.

It is concluded that the importance of urban freight to the community and its relevance to urban transport justifies a higher level of attention in transport planning and policy formulation, and that there are a wide range of policy instruments available to enable this to be done. The objective of such planning and policy making needs to be specified in each specific context.     

Identification and quantification of link vulnerability in multi-level public transport networks: a passenger perspective

Robust public transport networks are important, since disruptions decrease the public transport accessibility of areas. Despite this importance, the full passenger impacts of public transport network vulnerability have not yet been considered in science and practice. We have developed a methodology to identify the most vulnerable links in the total, multi-level public transport network and to quantify the societal costs of link vulnerability for these identified links. Contrary to traditional single-level network approaches, we consider the integrated, total multi-level PT network in the identification and quantification of link vulnerability, including PT services on other network levels which remain available once a disturbance occurs. We also incorporate both exposure to large, non-recurrent disturbances and the impacts of these disturbances explicitly when identifying and quantifying link vulnerability. This results in complete and realistic insights into the negative accessibility impacts of disturbances. Our methodology is applied to a case study in the Netherlands, using a dataset containing 2.5 years of disturbance information. Our results show that especially crowded links of the light rail/metro network are vulnerable, due to the combination of relatively high disruption exposure and relatively high passenger flows. The proposed methodology allows quantification of robustness benefits of measures, in addition to the costs of these measures. Showing the value of robustness, our work can support and rationalize the decision-making process of public transport operators and authorities regarding the implementation of robustness measures.     

Estimating light-rail transit peak-hour boarding based on accessibility at station and route levels in Wuhan,China

Promoting public transit is a well-recognized policy for sustainable urban transport development. Transit demand analysis proves to be a challenging task in fast growing cities, partially due to the lack of reliable data and applicable techniques for rapidly changing urban contexts. This paper presents an effort to meet the challenge by developing a framework to estimate peak-hour boarding at light-rail transit (LRT) stations. The core part of the framework is an accessibility-weighted ridership model that multiplies potential demand by integral LRT accessibility. Potential demand around LRT stations is generated by using a distance-decay function. The integral LRT accessibility is a route-level factor that indicates the degree of attractiveness to LRT travel for stations in an LRT corridor. A case study in Wuhan, China, shows that the proposed method produces results useful for improving transit demand analysis.