JTLU Volume 10, No. 1 (2017)

Persistent link for this collection

https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/187702

Note: Starting in 2017, the Journal of Transport and Land Use will release articles as they are published. They will no longer be published in three separate issues.

Table of Contents:

Car drivers’ characteristics and the maximum walking distance between parking facility and final destination, pp. 1-11

On-street parking search: A UK local authority perspective, pp. 13-26

Bundled parking and vehicle ownership: Evidence from the American Housing Survey, pp. 27-55

Work schedule flexibility and parking preferences, pp. 57-75

Taking advantage of a historic opportunity? A critical review of the literature on TOD in China, pp. 77-92

Performance measures for public transport accessibility: Learning from international practice, pp. 93-118

Exploring property value effects of ferry terminals: Evidence from Brisbane, Australia, pp. 119-137

Defining critical success factors in TOD implementation using rough set analysis, pp. 139-154

Framework for land value capture from investments in transit in car-dependent cities, pp. 155-185

Does telework weaken urban structure–travel relationships?, pp. 187-210

Constraints in household relocation: Modeling land-use/transport interactions that respect time and monetary budgets. pp. 211-228

Non-linear influences of the built environment on transportation emissions: Focusing on densities, pp. 229-240

The impact of walkable environment on single-family residential property values, pp. 241-261

The effect of the Dubai Metro on the value of residential and commercial properties, pp. 263-290

Do people’s perceptions of neighborhood bikeability match "reality"?, pp. 291-308

A portrait of accessibility change for four US metropolitan areas, pp. 309-336

A model of the rise and fall of roads, pp. 337-356

The aerotropolis: Urban sustainability perspectives from the regional city, pp. 357-373

Automatic street widening: Evidence from a highway dedication law, pp. 375-393

Accessibility and the evaluation of investments on the Beijing subway, pp. 395-408

Coping with interrelatedness and fragmentation at the infrastructure/land-use interface: The potential merits of a design approach, pp. 409-435

Synergistic neighborhood relationships with travel behavior: An analysis of travel in 30,000 US neighborhoods, pp. 437-461

Feedback and the use of land for parking, pp. 463-476

How do socio-demographics and built environment affect individual accessibility based on activity space? Evidence from Greater Cleveland, Ohio, pp. 477-503

The Propensity to Cycle Tool: An open source online system for sustainable transport planning, pp. 505-528

Identifying transit deserts in major Texas cities where the supplies missed the demands, pp. 539-540

The effect of light rail transit on land-use development in a city without zoning, pp. 541-556

The freight landscape: Convergence and divergence in urban freight distribution, pp. 557-572

Using trip chaining and joint travel as mediating variables to explore the relationships among travel behavior, socio-demographics, and urban form, pp. 573-588

Multi-dimensional geometric complexity in urban transportation systems, pp. 589-625

Prudential measures in housing access: Should one include transport costs in the front-end ratio?, pp. 627-654

Built environment determinants of bicycle volume: A longitudinal analysis, pp. 655-674

Analyzing spatiotemporal congestion pattern on urban roads based on taxi GPS data, pp. 675-694

Proximity to four bikeway types and neighborhood-level cycling mode share of male and female commuters, pp. 695-713

Pipeline right-of-way encroachment in Arepo, Nigeria, pp. 715-724

Open for business? Effects of Los Angeles Metro Rail construction on adjacent businesses, pp. 725-742

Transit-oriented development in China: Literature review and evaluation of TOD potential across 50 Chinese cities, pp. 743-762

Built environment and travel behavior: Validation and application of a continuous-treatment propensity score stratification method, pp. 763-788

Photos, tweets, and trails: Are social media proxies for urban trail use?, pp. 789-804

WSTLUR 17 Special Section: Active Travel: Scofflaw bicycling: Illegal but rational, pp. 805-836

WSTLUR 17 Special Section: Active Travel: Comparing importance-performance analysis and three-factor theory in assessing rider satisfaction with transit, pp. 837-854

WSTLUR 17 Special Section: Equity: Does where you live affect how much you spend on transit? The link between urban form and household transit expenditures in Mexico City, pp. 855-878

WSTLUR 17 Special Section: Active Travel: Transit accessibility, land development and socioeconomic priority: A typology of planned station catchment areas in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, pp. 879-902

WSTLUR 17 Special Section: Active Travel: A tale of two millennials, pp. 903-910

WSTLUR 17 Special Section: Equity: Spatial accessibility of public transport in Australian cities: Does it relieve or entrench social and economic inequality?, pp. 911-930

Cruising for parking: New empirical evidence and influential factors on cruising time, pp. 931-943

Which D's are the important ones? The effects of regional location and density on driving distance in Oslo and Stavanger, pp. 945-964

Impact of traffic zones on mobility behavior in Tehran, Iran, pp. 965-982

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Impact of traffic zones on mobility behavior in Tehran, Iran
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Salarvandian, Fatemeh; Dijst, Martin; Helbich, Marco
The use of private cars has increased rapidly in developing countries, causing congestion and pollution in cities. In Iran, measures have been taken to manage the extensive automobile use in Tehran. Two downtown traffic zones were introduced: The Restricted Traffic Zone (RTZ) based on pass permission and the Odd-Even Zone (OEZ) based on license-plate number. This article investigates how and to what extent traffic zoning influences mobility behavior in Tehran. Two neighborhoods within these zones and one elsewhere were selected to compare the impact of traffic zoning on mode choice and travel time by means of regression analyses. The results show that zoning has decreased driving in both neighborhoods; although compared to the RTZ, the OEZ has had a limited impact. While car use has diminished in both neighborhoods compared to the area without restrictions, travel time has increased in the traffic zones. An explanation might be the low quality of the infrastructure for alternative modes (e.g., cycling). Tehran's spatial functional specialization and the monocentric urban structure induce more car trips and longer travel times, regardless of traffic restrictions. Policymakers are advised to integrate restrictions on automobile use with improvements in public transport to enhance the impact of traffic zones.
Which D's are the important ones? The effects of regional location and density on driving distance in Oslo and Stavanger
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Næss, Petter; Cao, Xinyu (Jason); Strand, Arvid
Based on a study in the Greater Oslo and Greater Stavanger urban areas in Norway, this paper employs quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the influences of residential location and neighborhood characteristics on car driving distances. Cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal analyses show that built environment characteristics — especially the distance from the dwelling to the main city center — influence driving distances in both urban areas. In Stavanger, the impact of inward moving seems to be larger than that of outward moving, possibly reflecting self-selection to the inner city. In the relatively monocentric Greater Oslo, the distance to the city center has a stronger impact on weekday driving than on weekend driving. In the more polycentric Greater Stavanger, where the importance of downtown as a destination for commuting is weaker, the distance to the city center has similar effects on weekday and weekend driving. In Greater Stavanger, distance to the secondary center Sandnes also plays a role although the impact is small. Population density and job density have impacts in Greater Oslo but not in Greater Stavanger, where we instead find a weak effect of local-area job surplus. There is no tendency toward compensatory increased weekend driving among inner-city dwellers in either Greater Oslo or Greater Stavanger.
Comparing importance-performance analysis and three-factor theory in assessing rider satisfaction with transit
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Cao, Jason; Cao, Xiaoshu
Transit ridership depends on its quality of service. Many studies have analyzed rider satisfaction surveys to explore important service attributes and/or identify improvement priorities. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is capable of serving both purposes. However, it assumes that service attributes have a symmetric influence on rider satisfaction. To relax the assumption, this study applies three-factor theory to classify service attributes into basic, performance, and excitement factors. Using the 2013 data of bus, bus rapid transit (BRT), and metro transit riders from Guangzhou, China, it compares the results from two alternative IPA and two applications of the three-factor theory. Explicit IPA and implicit IPA classify service attributes somewhat differently but produce similar improvement priorities. For the three-factor theory, the importance grid yields more plausible results than regression with dummy variables. This study further concludes divergent improvement priorities for different services: comfort while waiting at station/stop and service reliability for bus; safety while waiting, safety while riding, and comfort while waiting for BRT; and spatial coverage for metro transit. If resources are abundant, transit agencies could also improve customer service for bus and comfort while riding for BRT.
A tale of two millennials
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Delbosc, Alexa; Ralph, Kelcie
In recent years, the millennial generation (those born roughly between 1980 and 2000) has gained significant attention in transport research. Initial research characterized this generation as multimodal, urban and tech-savvy; they have at times been painted as our great hope for a sustainable transport future. Yet more recently a parallel narrative has emerged. According to this view, millennials are simply reacting to difficult economic circumstances that have restricted their ability to pay for a car. This paper explores the evidence for these two conflicting narratives of the millennial generation and possible reasons why the two narratives have come about. It discusses the implications of the two millennial narratives on both social and technological equity and sets out initial thoughts on how these issues may be addressed in future research and policy.
Transit accessibility, land development and socioeconomic priority: A typology of planned station catchment areas in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Farber, Steven; Marino, Maria Grandez
The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is in the process of implementing a wide array of transit expansion projects. Despite being an important evaluator of transit efficacy, accessibility is not a typical variable included in the business cases of the local planning authorities. We address this shortcoming by computing current and future accessibility scores for each proposed transit route and station. Our results are compared against measures of availability of developable land within station catchment areas and the socioeconomic priority of populations residing within catchment areas. A typology of station types is produced via a multi-criteria analysis, and this is further used to assess the efficacy of the transit plans in meeting the redevelopment and intensification goals and social priorities in the region. We are able to conclude that significant mismatches between accessibility and developable land exist. Furthermore, there is a lack of alignment between accessibility and socioeconomic priority; however, where these two criteria align, risks of redevelopment-based gentrification are low, due to the unavailability of readily developable land in these station catchment areas.
Scofflaw bicycling: Illegal but rational
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Marshall, Wesley E.; Piatkowski, Daniel; Johnson, Aaron
Nearly everyone has jaywalked, rolled through a stop sign, or driven a few miles per hour over the speed limit, but most such offenses face no legal consequences. Society also tends to see these relatively minor infractions that almost all people make—though they are unmistakably illegal—as normal and even rational. Bicyclists who break the law, however, seem to attract a higher level of scorn and scrutiny. While the academic literature has exhaustively covered unlawful driving behaviors, there remains little research on bicyclists who break the rules of the road. This paper examines rule-breaking bicyclists and the factors associated with such behaviors. We also explore the question: are bicyclists making rational, albeit illegal, choices—similar to most drivers and pedestrians—or are bicyclists reckless and dangerous? Because it’s proven effective for reaching hard-to-reach populations, we employed a snowball-sampling framework and an online, scenario-based survey completed by nearly 18,000 respondents. Via multi-level statistical analyses, our results suggest that younger people and males tend to exhibit higher levels of illegal bicycling behavior, but even when combining high-risk factors, the overwhelming majority of bicyclists are not reckless. Controlling for the context and social norms of the city where one lives tends to outweigh individual bicyclist characteristics such as race/ethnicity and income. Unlawful drivers and pedestrians tend to rationalize their behaviors as time saving; bicyclists similarly rationalize their illegal behaviors but were more inclined to cite increasing their own personal safety and/or saving energy. Most bicyclists can generally be described as rational individuals trying to function safely and efficiently given the context and norms of where they live and the transportation system put in front of them.
Spatial accessibility of public transport in Australian cities: Does it relieve or entrench social and economic inequality?
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Scheurer, Jan; Curtis, Carey; McLeod, Sam
City planning in Australian cities has seen a gradual shift in approach, away from planning to facilitate mobility by car in the post-war period toward planning for land-use/public transport integration. By assessing the supply of public transport for city accessibility, a considerable variation within each city can be seen. Of interest is the extent to which there is a relationship between the quality of public transport accessibility and the spatial distribution of socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage. This paper examines this issue by mapping spatial data on socioeconomic disadvantage and advantage against indicators of public transport accessibility. The findings show that Australian cities are characterized by a significant level of spatially manifested socioeconomic inequality exacerbated by transport disadvantage. It is argued that a coincidence of public transport infrastructure and service improvements as well as urban intensification and housing affordability policies are required to counteract these trends.
Does where you live affect how much you spend on transit? The link between urban form and household transit expenditures in Mexico City
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Guerra, Erick
Long and expensive transit trips burden millions of households in many low- and middle-income cities. Geography likely plays an important role. In Mexico City, suburban households earn 30% less than urban households, have 40% longer commutes, and spend nearly twice as much per transit trip. This paper examines the relationship between where households live in Mexico City and how much they spend on transit using a large metropolitan household travel survey matched to measures of the built environment. Transit expenditures vary systematically with neighborhood population density, land-use diversity, municipal job density, street network density, and distance to the metro and urban center. These relationships are complex and nonlinear but robust with the inclusion of household income, size, and structure. They are also relatively strong with job density, destination diversity, distance to the metro, and population density being as strongly correlated with transit expenditures as household income. In dollar values, the savings associated with more convenient household locations are substantial and in the same ballpark as total metro fare revenues and a back-of-the-envelope estimate of the total daily external costs of suburban congestion.
Cruising for parking: New empirical evidence and influential factors on cruising time
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Lee, Jinwoo (Brian); Agdas, Duzgun; Baker, Douglas
The goal of this study is to explore the perceptions and behaviors of drivers who cruise for parking. We conducted surveys with drivers in Brisbane, Australia, to understand potential factors that influence drivers’ cruising behavior. This study reveals that errors in drivers’ perception of parking cost are one of the leading factors encouraging drivers to cruise for on-street parking. Drivers are not necessarily well informed about parking costs, even when they claim to be familiar with these costs. The survey also reveals that the more informed drivers are about the local traffic and parking conditions, the less likely they are to cruise for extended periods of time. This finding demonstrates the value of traffic and parking information to effectively mitigate cruising for parking. The interview results also demonstrate that the on-street parking premium (i.e., accessibility or convenience factor) could be much larger than our common assumptions and a significant contributor to increased cruising time. Finally, this study introduces the sunk cruising cost and its potential impact on cruising time. Our hypothesis is that the effect of the sunk cost may manifest in a greater tendency for drivers to continue cruising because the time spent cruising is simply unrecoverable past expenditure. The survey data supports our hypothesis, and with findings on the drivers’ misperception about parking cost and the familiarity factor, this result highlights the value of accurate and timely parking cost and availability of information to drivers to tackle the cruising-for-parking issue.
Photos, tweets, and trails: Are social media proxies for urban trail use?
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Wu, Xinyi; Wood, Spencer A.; Fisher, David; Lindsey, Greg
Decision makers need information on the use of, and demand for, public recreation and transportation facilities. Innovations in monitoring technologies and diffusion of social media enable new approaches to estimation of demand. We assess the feasibility of using geo-tagged photographs uploaded to the image-sharing website Flickr and tweets from Twitter as proxy measures for urban trail use. We summarize geo-tagged Flickr uploads and tweets along 80 one-mile segments of the multiuse trail network in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and correlate results with previously published estimates of annual average daily trail traffic derived from infrared trail monitors. Although heat maps of Flickr images and tweets show some similarities with maps of variation in trail traffic, the correlation between photographs and trail traffic is moderately weak (0.43), and there is no meaningful statistical correlation between tweets and trail traffic. Use of a simple log-log bivariate regression to estimate trail traffic from photographs results in relatively high error. The predictor variables included in published demand models for the same trails explain roughly the same amount of variation in photo-derived use, but some of the neighborhood socio-demographic and built-environment independent variables have different effects. Taken together, these findings show that both Flickr images and tweets have limitations as proxies for demand for urban trails, and that neither can be used to develop valid, reliable estimates of trail use. These results differ from previously published results that indicate social media may be useful in assessing relative demand for recreational destinations. This difference may be because urban trails are used for multiple purposes, including routine commuting and shopping, and that trail users are less inclined to use social media on trips for these purposes.
Built environment and travel behavior: Validation and application of a continuous-treatment propensity score stratification method
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Parady, Giancarlos Troncoso; Takami, Kiyoshi; Harata, Noboru
This article discusses the validation and implementation of a propensity score approach with continuous treatment to test the existence of a causal relationship between the built environment and travel behavior using cross-sectional data. The implemented methodology differs from previous applications in the planning literature in that it relaxes the binary treatment assumption, which polarizes the built environment into two extremes (e.g., urban vs suburban). The effectiveness of the proposed methodology in reducing bias was validated via Monte Carlo simulation. The proposed approach was shown to reduce self-selection bias against Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression in all but extreme levels of non-linearity. Empirical results suggest that an increase in urbanization has a negative effect on home-based maintenance car trip frequencies, and conversely, a positive effect on home-based maintenance non-motorized trip frequencies. Result estimates suggest the existence of a causal mode substitution mechanism between car and non-motorized modes given increases in the urbanization level at residential locations, thus providing some empirical support to the arguments put forth by compact city advocates.
Transit-oriented development in China: Literature review and evaluation of TOD potential across 50 Chinese cities
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Xu, Wangtu (Ato); Guthrie, Andrew; Fan, Yingling; Li, Yongling
Transit-oriented development (TOD) has been widely accepted in recent years as an important urban development policy. This article reviews the existing TOD literature pertinent to conditions in China, introduces TOD practices in China, and evaluates land development impacts of TOD across 50 Chinese cities that either have metro systems already or expect to have operating metro systems by 2020. The evaluation analysis contributes to the existing literature because most research on TOD in Chinese cities has focused on large, national or provincial capitals such as Beijing, Shanghai, and/or Guangzhou. Based on simulation analysis, we evaluate TOD’s land development impacts across all Chinese cities that are expected to have metro systems by 2020. Our results show that the second- as well as the third-class cities of China will have more potential for TOD implementation than the first-class cities in the next five years.
Open for business? Effects of Los Angeles Metro Rail construction on adjacent businesses
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Ray, Rosalie
Recent court cases and news reports have focused on the effects of transit construction on business revenue and survival, yet the topic is underexplored in the scholarly literature. This paper examines whether transit construction negatively affected the revenue and survival of businesses along the second segment of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Red Line under Vermont and Hollywood Boulevards. Using National Establishment Time-Series business data, the research shows that business survival was significantly lower among businesses within 400 meters of stations, where cut and cover construction was used. A difference-in-differences technique was employed to determine whether revenue loss was the main mechanism by which businesses were displaced, but revenue loss was not found to be significant. The increased failure rate provides evidence that construction effects of mitigation programs for businesses should be standard practice when building new transit lines. Further research and data collection on business tenure are needed to understand the dynamics of business displacement around transit and to make such programs more effective. 
Pipeline right-of-way encroachment in Arepo, Nigeria
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Oyinloye, Michael Ajide; Olamiju, Isaac Oluwadare; Oladosu, Benjamin Lanre
Encroachment by host communities on pipeline right-of-way (PROW) constitutes a major problem for the oil and gas sector of the economy. This paper uses remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies to assess the level of vulnerability of people living along the PROW in Arepo, Ogun State, Nigeria. A satellite imagery of the community was acquired and processed using ArcGIS computer software. A GIS buffering operation was performed on the PROW using 15 m, 30 m, 60 m, and 90 m distances, respectively. Three hundred and forty buildings were identified in the buffered zones, out of which 200 (60%) were randomly selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to household heads in the sampled buildings. Empirical analysis shows that 140 buildings (70%) observed less than a 30 m setback to the pipeline. Also, residents benefit from incidents of oil spillage and see these as an avenue to vandalize the pipeline, making them more vulnerable. GIS analysis shows that more than 30% of respondents are highly vulnerable to the hazard of pipeline explosion incidents. Enforcement of setback regulations by the Town Planning Authority and public education and awareness of risks associated with encroachment on the PROW are canvassed among others.
Proximity to four bikeway types and neighborhood-level cycling mode share of male and female commuters
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Teschke, Kay; Chinn, Anna; Brauer, Michael
We studied 2011 cycling mode share at the census-tract level in Montréal and Vancouver, Canadian cities with relatively high mode shares and diverse bike infrastructure. We examined whether mode share variability, for all commuters and male and female commuters separately, was related to proximity to any bikeway, proximity to four bikeway types, slopes on routes to bikeways, or commute times. Cycling mode shares at the census-tract level varied from 0 to 20.4%. About a third of cycle commuters were female, but this proportion approached parity with males in census tracts with mode shares of 7% and higher. A one-kilometer closer proximity to any bikeway was associated with four times higher cycling mode share. Proximity to cycle tracks was associated with higher cycling mode shares in both cities. Other bikeway types did not have similar associations in the two cities, and the pattern of results suggested that the networks formed may have been more important than specific bikeway characteristics. Uphill slopes to bikeways were associated with somewhat lower mode shares in bivariate analyses but not in adjusted models. Cycle commuting was most common in neighborhoods with intermediate average commute durations: 20 to 29 minutes. Our results suggest that cycle tracks and bikeways that form a connected network are associated with higher neighborhood cycling commute mode shares. These features appeared even more important to women, and their cycling (or not) was strongly related to overall cycling mode shares.
Analyzing spatiotemporal congestion pattern on urban roads based on taxi GPS data
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Zhang, Kaisheng; Sun, Daniel (Jian); Shen, Suwan; Zhu, Yi
With the development of in-vehicle data collection devices, GPS trajectory has become a priority source to identify traffic congestion and understand the operational states of road network in recent years. This study aims to investigate the relationship between traffic congestion and built environment, including traffic related factors and land use. Fuzzy C-means clustering was used to conduct an exhaustive study on 24-hour congestion pattern of road segments in urban area, so that the spatial autoregressive moving average model (SARMA) was introduced to analyze the output from the clustering analysis to establish the relationship between built environment and the 24-hour congestion pattern. The clustering result classified the road segments into four congestion levels, while the regression explained 12 traffic-related factors and land use factors’ impact on road congestion pattern. The continuous congestion was found to mainly occur in the city center, and the factors, such as road type, bus station in the vicinity, ramp nearby, commercial land use and so on have large impact on congestion formation. The Fuzzy C-means clustering was proposed to be combined with quantitative spatial regression, and the overall evaluation process will assist to assess the spatial-temporal levels of service of traffic from the congestion perspective.
Built environment determinants of bicycle volume: A longitudinal analysis
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Chen, Peng; Zhou, Jiangping; Sun, Feiyang
This study examines determinants of bicycle volume in the built environment with a five-year bicycle count dataset from Seattle, Washington. A generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) is used to capture the bicycle volume change over time while controlling for temporal autocorrelations. The GLMM assumes that bicycle count follows a Poisson distribution. The model results show that (1) the variables of non-winter seasons, peak hours, and weekends are positively associated with the increase of bicycle counts over time; (2) bicycle counts are fewer in steep areas; (3) bicycle counts are greater in zones with more mixed land use, a higher percentage of water bodies, or a greater percentage of workplaces; (4) the increment of bicycle infrastructure is positively associated with the increase of bicycle volume; and (5) bicycling is more popular in neighborhoods with a greater percentage of whites and younger adults. It concludes that areas with a smaller slope variation, a higher employment density, and a shorter distance to water bodies encourage bicycling. This conclusion suggests that to best boost bicycling, decision-makers should consider building more bicycle facilities in flat areas and integrating the facilities with employment densification and open-space creation and planning.
Prudential measures in housing access: Should one include transport costs in the front-end ratio?
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Coulombel, Nicolas
A widespread prudential measure limits the housing expense ratio—defined as the share of income spent on the rent or loan payment—to ensure household solvency. This policy is increasingly criticized, however, as it would induce households to settle far from the city center in search of lower housing prices, fostering urban sprawl. It would even prove counterproductive as high transport costs in distant areas would more than offset the lower housing costs. To avoid these unintended effects, several researchers advocate limiting the joint housing plus transport expense ratio instead. This paper aims to shed light on this issue by comparing the two prudential measures—limiting either the housing or the housing plus transport expense ratio—using the monocentric model. By constraining residential choices and reducing housing consumption, both policies improve household solvency and reduce urban sprawl. While this seems to contradict previous claims, the joint constraint proves more efficient in both regards. Provided the constraint is not too stringent, both policies have limited impact on household welfare and often even improve welfare. But this time, capping only the housing expense ratio always dominates the joint housing plus transport constraint. A numerical application to the Paris region illustrates our findings for a real case study. Results suggest that replacing the current limitation of the housing expense ratio with a joint housing plus transport constraint would significantly improve household solvency and curb urban sprawl, with a negligible welfare loss.
Multi-dimensional geometric complexity in urban transportation systems
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Peiravian, Farideddin; Derrible, Sybil
Transportation networks serve as windows into the complex world of urban systems. By properly characterizing a road network, one can better understand its encompassing urban system. This study offers a geometrical approach toward capturing inherent properties of urban road networks. It offers a robust and efficient methodology toward defining and extracting three relevant indicators of road networks—area, line, and point thresholds—through measures of their grid equivalents. By applying the methodology to 50 U.S. urban systems, one can successfully observe differences between eastern versus western, coastal versus inland, and old versus young cities. Moreover, we show that many socioeconomic characteristics, as well as travel patterns, within urban systems are directly correlated with their corresponding area, line, and point thresholds.
Using trip chaining and joint travel as mediating variables to explore the relationships among travel behavior, socio-demographics, and urban form
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Chen, Yu-Jen; Akar, Gulsah
Using the 2012 Household Travel Survey data for the Cleveland metropolitan area, this study aims to examine the connections between travel behavior by using trip chaining and joint travel as mediating variables of travel distances and controlling for socio-demographics and urban form. Trip chaining and joint travel capture the complexity of tours and intra-household interactions, respectively. Socio-demographics represent personal and household characteristics. Urban form, which is measured not only at tour origins but also at tour destinations, helps capture the effects of residential density, retail and non-retail densities, transportation connectivity, public transit accessibility, and land-use mix. Structural equation model (SEM) approaches are applied to examine the interrelationships among these variables. The model results reveal that significant effects with expected signs exist among travel behavior: Trip chaining is negatively associated with joint travel and positively related to travel distances, and joint travel has negative effects on travel distances. Consistent with existing literature, socio-demographic attributes are strong explanatory factors of travel behavior. Urban form characteristics have significant influence on travel distances at both tour origins and destinations. The findings of this study will improve the future evaluation of transportation projects and land-use policymaking.