Browsing by Author "El-Geneidy, Ahmed M."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Access to Destinations: How Close is Close Enough? Estimating Accurate Distance Decay Functions for Multiple Modes and Different Purposes
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008-05) Iacono, Michael; Krizek, Kevin; El-Geneidy, Ahmed M.
    Existing urban and suburban development patterns and the subsequent automobile dependence are leading to increased traffic congestion and air pollution. In response to the growing ills caused by urban sprawl, there has been an increased interest in creating more “livable” communities in which destinations are brought closer to ones home or workplace (that is, achieving travel needs through land use planning). While several reports suggest best practices for integrated land use-planning, little research has focused on examining detailed relationships between actual travel behavior and mean distance to various services. For example, how far will pedestrians travel to access different types of destinations? How to know if the “one quarter mile assumption” that is often bantered about is reliable? How far will bicyclists travel to cycle on a bicycle only facility? How far do people drive for their common retail needs? To examine these questions, this research makes use of available travel survey data for the Twin Cities region. A primary outcome of this research is to examine different types of destinations and accurately and robustly estimate distance decay models for auto and non-auto travel modes, and also to comment on its applicability for: (a) different types of travel, and (b) development of accessibility measures that incorporate this information.
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    Access to Destinations: Parcel Level Land Use Data Acquisition and Analysis for Measuring Non-Auto Accessibility
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008-07) Horning, Jessica; El-Geneidy, Ahmed M.; Krizek, Kevin
    This research aids in tackling one important part of accessibility metrics—measuring land use. It introduces complementary strategies to effectively measure a variety of different destination types at a highly detailed scale of resolution using secondary data. The research describes ways to overcome common data hurdles and demonstrates how existing data in one metropolitan area in the U.S. –the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul –can be exploited to aid in measuring accessibility at an extremely fine unit of analysis (i.e., the parcel). Establishment-level data containing attribute information on location, sales, employees, and industry classification was purchased from Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. The research process involved cleaning and tailoring the parcel dataset for the 7-county metro area and integrating various GIS datasets with other secondary data sources. These data were merged with parcel-level land use data from the Metropolitan Council. The establishment-level data were then recoded into destination categories using the 2 to 6-digit classifications of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The development of important components of this research is illustrated with a sample application. The report concludes by describing how such data could be used in calculating more robust measures of accessibility.
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    Estimating Running Time and Demand for a Bus Rapid Transit Corridor
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2009-12) Horning, Jessica; El-Geneidy, Ahmed M.; Hourdos, John
    Due to the increasing ease and affordability of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) data collection, new methods for assessing conditions along current and future transit corridors are available. Measures such as average speed, travel time, and intersection delay can be determined for car and bus traffic along a corridor using readily available technology. These measures can be used to monitor the performance of the transportation system for existing modes and to estimate measures for proposed additions to the system. The goal of this research is to utilize GPS device records from regular vehicles as well as busses to estimate running time and potential passenger demand for a proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor on Cedar Avenue in the southern Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Demand for future BRT service is predicted based on frequency and reliability of service and socio-demographic characteristics of the region around the corridor. Average passenger counts for existing transit service along the corridor in combination with existing commuting patterns in the region are used to estimate passenger demand. The running time and demand models produced by this study can be integrated with existing cost benefit software to evaluate the effects of intelligent transportation systems technologies on BRT running time (IBAT). The findings of this research introduce a benchmark for comparison between transit and private vehicle running time for general applications in Hennepin County. These findings also help to create additional understanding of the potential for BRT service in the Twin Cities region.
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    The importance of neighborhood type dissonance in understanding the effect of the built environment on travel behavior
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2015) Manaugh, Kevin; El-Geneidy, Ahmed M.
    For many years, researchers have struggled to separate the effects of personal tastes—including residential choices—from built environment and transport related factors when attempting to understand and model travel behavior. This paper will briefly describe how issues related to self-selection, if not controlled for in a travel behavior analysis, can lead to over- and under-estimation of the effect of the built environment on travel behavior. A theoretical model is presented, which is followed by an empirical analysis based on survey data capturing residential choice factors to test our theory. Our analysis shows that by separating people that have chosen their current home location based primarily on transport-related concerns from people who have located based primarily on housing and neighborhood characteristics, we are able to gain a nuanced understanding of how various “costs” associated with using public transit (access time, waiting time, and transfers) affect the likelihood of taking transit. We find a strong aversion to transfers as well as different responses to these factors based on reasons for living in a given location. We demonstrate how model predictions vary greatly especially when self-selection factors are included in the analysis. Findings from this research shed light on the importance of self-selection in travel behavior research, giving transport planners and engineers clear examples how ignoring these factors can lead to misleading findings.
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    What makes travel ‘local’: Defining and understanding local travel behavior
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Manaugh, Kevin; El-Geneidy, Ahmed M.
    In recent years, land use and transportation planning priorities have shifted from issues of mobility to focus on the capacity of neighborhoods to provide opportunities to live, work, shop, and socialize at the local scale. This research explores a sample of households from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that engaged in multiple trip purposes on the same day and measures the effects of household, individual, and trip characteristics on their travel behavior, especially the localization of these trips. A new measure to understand the spatial dispersal of actual activity space of each household is proposed while controlling for distance traveled. The findings show that levels of regional and local accessibility have different effects on this new index. Furthermore, these effects vary with household size and socio-demographic factors. This study could help transportation professionals who are aiming to develop policies to localize household travel patterns through land use and transportation coordination at the neighborhood and regional scale. As wealthier car-owning households are seen to exhibit more dispersed travel behavior regardless of accessibility measures, implications for social equity and exclusion are also explored.