Article Abstracts
Volume 3, No. 1, 2000
Transit Station Area Land Use/Site Assessment with Multiple Criteria: An Integrated GIS-Expert System Prototype
Reza Banai
University of MemphisAbstract
This article is intended to assist decision-makers confronted with the problem of determining the suitability of a site with a proposed light rail transit (LRT) stop as a transit supportive (re)development by exploring a prototype, integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) and decision-support system. An inclusive concept of a hierarchy is presented in which the multiple, diverse dimensions of the land-use/site assessment problem-from goal, criteria, to alternatives-can be embedded in deciding suitability of a site as a transit-supportive development.
Framed as a multicriteria procedure, and integrated with a GIS, the decision-support system provides the flexibility to account not only for the configurational or physical features of the built environment and the patterns of growth (or decline) of the population and employment in the region, but also the socioeconomic, demographic, and trip-making characteristics of the targeted population. The joint effects of the population (demand) characteristics and the features of the built environment of land use/transportation (supply) are reflected in the scores of the site assessment. Furthermore, the prototype facilitates decision making by deriving the relative importance of the multiple "supply" and "demand" factors strategically and adaptively vis-a-vis the site-specific constraints and opportunities. Finally, criteria-weighted land-use suitability scores are computed and displayed to indicate the suitability of the site as a transit-supportive development. The multicriteria part of this prototype is implemented with a C++ program as an interactive, expert decision-support system integrated with a GIS.Issues on the Application of an Advanced Public Transit System to Dial-a-Ride Service
Julian M. Benjamin and Ryoichi Sakano
North Carolina A&T State UniversityAbstract
The Federal Transit Administration's Advanced Public Transportation System (APTS) program consists of demonstration projects that illustrate the use of new technologies in public transit. In view of the fact that similar systems are beginning to use new technology to locate and dispatch vehicles, this article reports on a study that examined issues that must be considered in implementing new systems. Specifically, the study focused on initial parameters for the computer program, defining and accessing these parameters in relation to quality of service, and measuring rider responses to guarantee performance.
The implications of these issues for service quality were examined for the APTS demonstration project in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The study analyzed consumer response to the Mobility Manager, a Geographic Information System (GIS) applied to the site's demand-responsive minibus service for the elderly and people with disabilities. Survey data from two questionnaires issued before and after the implementation of the Mobility Manager were utilized to examine travel behavior and perceived service quality. In addition, data from driver manifests issued after implementation of the Mobility Manager are used to clarify results.A Dynamic Competitive Environment and Shifting Management Paradigms: Implications for Marketing Public Transit Services
J. Joseph Cronin, Jr., Florida State University
Roscoe Hightower, Jr., University of AkronAbstract
This article reports on the results of a telephone survey of 352 commuters who reside in a suburban area and work in a major city. Results indicate that the commuters are well educated and well paid. They also suggest that much of what has passed for marketing strategies in the transit industry has been ineffective at best. Solutions for the dilemma are identified and considered.
Simulated Relationships between Highway Capacity, Transit Ridership, and Service Frequency
Robert B. Noland
Centre for Transport Studies, Imperial College, London
Abstract
This article analyzes the relationships between highway capacity additions and transit patronage, both in the short and long run. A methodology using a model of schedule disutility is shown to provide a technique to account for transit service frequency. This technique, combined with a supply-side model of a highway corridor is used to evaluate the impact of transit headway changes and highway capacity, increases on total transit ridership, using a synthetic sample of commuters. Simulation results are used to evaluate the impact on travel times and utility of the two modes and the long-run degradation of transit service predicted by the Downs-Thomson paradox. While the results do not show congestion as necessarily being worse than before capacity expansion, they do show that transit service frequency could be reduced significantly over time.
A Systems Model for Evaluating Transit Performance
Joanne M. Sulek and Mary R. Lind
Urban Transit Institute, North Carolina A&T State UniversityAbstract
The purpose of this study was to illustrate how a systems modeling approach to transit performance measurement can be used to integrate the issues of service quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. The mathematical formulation of the systems model developed in this article was used to construct a single transit performance metric that can be used by elected officials, transit system personnel, taxpayers, and other decision-makers to compare similar transit systems. In this study, the systems model was applied to a set of small transit systems operating in the United States. Results revealed that fewer than one-fourth of these systems were efficiently using labor, fuels, materials, and capital to provide quality transit service.
Reading between the Regulations: Parking Requirements, Planners' Perspectives, and Transit
Richard W. Willson, California State Polytechnic University, PomonaAbstract
This article reports on local planers' perspectives on metropolitan parking requirements. Workplace parking requirements, which are often in excess of demand, influence parking pricing and urban form. In turn, these affect transit demand and transit service potentials. These connections have led researchers and policy-makers to call for changes, but the perspectives of planners who create the parking requirements are not well understood. Using southern California cities as a study area, a telephone survey revealed that most parking requirements are driven by concerns about traffic mitigation, spillover parking, and risk avoidance. These factors push parking requirements in the direction of oversupply. The article proposes methods to reduce the risk of changing parking requirements and develops a typology of approaches for change. Transit agencies will benefit if they play a role in reforming local parking requirements.