Browsing by Author "Ma, Liang"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Do people’s perceptions of neighborhood bikeability match “reality”?
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Ma, Liang; Dill, Jennifer
    Do people perceive the built environment the same as we objectively measure it? If not, what are the relative roles of the objective versus the perceived environment on bicycling behavior? This study, based on data from Portland Oregon, explored the match or mismatch between the objective and perceived bicycling environment, and how it affects people’s bicycling behavior. The descriptive analysis indicated a fair agreement between perceived and objective measures. Older adults, women having children, less-educated and lower-income persons, and those who bicycle less tended to perceive their high-bikeable environment (measured objectively) as low-bikeable. In addition to the socio-demographics, this study also found social environment can play a role in the relationship between objective and perceived environment. Finally, results of this study indicated that actual and perceived built-environment both are associated with the bicycling behavior, particularly for utilitarian bicycling. For recreational bicycling, the objective environment attributes measured in this study are not significant factors, while the perceptions do matter.
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    How does the built environment affect transit use by train, tram and bus?
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2020) De Gruyter, Chris; Saghapour, Tayebeh; Ma, Liang; Dodson, Jago
    While much research has explored the influence of the built environment on public transport use, little focus has been given to how this influence varies by public transport mode. Using a case study of Melbourne, this study assesses the influence of the built environment and other characteristics (transit service quality, demand management and socio-demographics) on commuting by train, tram and bus. Key findings indicate that the built environment has a significant influence, but with notable differences between individual public transport modes. Commuting by tram was found to have the strongest association with the explanatory variables, while bus had the weakest explanatory power. Differences in the geographical coverage of public transport services in Melbourne play a key role in explaining the influence of the built environment. Population density is positively associated with tram use, which operates in older, higher density environments, but is negatively associated with train and bus use. Furthermore, the association with land-use mix is only significant for train and tram use, as buses tend to operate in areas with greater land-use homogeneity. When focused on inner Melbourne only, the influence of the built environment is diluted, while distance to public transport becomes more significant. The findings have important implications for practice, not only in terms of improving transit demand forecasting but also in targeting changes to the built environment to leverage higher transit ridership by mode.
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    Transport disadvantage, social exclusion, and subjective well-being: The role of the neighborhood environment—evidence from Sydney, Australia
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Ma, Liang; Kent, Jennifer L.; Mulley, Corinne
    This study explores the effects of the neighborhood environment on transport disadvantage, social exclusion, personal health and subjective wellbeing (SWB) using survey data collected in Sydney, Australia. The data is analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Overall, our model supports the hypothesis that a walkable neighborhood environment helps to reduce transport disadvantage and increase social inclusion. Neighborhood density has negative effects on both physical and mental health, but a positive effect on SWB. Further, a cohesive neighborhood environment is associated with less transport disadvantage, more engagement in political and civic activities, more social help, better mental health and higher SWB. By contrast, perception of crime in a neighborhood is associated with more transport disadvantage and worse physical health. Neighborhood aesthetics and the neighborhood social environment have stronger effects on SWB than other neighborhood environment characteristics.