JTLU Volume 5, No. 3 (2012)

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https://hdl.handle.net/11299/170176

Table of Contents:

Assessing the reality—Transport and land use planning to achieve sustainability, pp. 1-14

What makes travel ‘local’: Defining and understanding local travel behavior, pp. 15-27

Impact of light-rail implementation on labor market accessibility: A transportation equity perspective, pp. 28-39

How built environment affects travel behavior: A comparative analysis of the connections between land use and vehicle miles traveled in US cities, pp. 40-52

Does public transit use enhance the economic efficiency of urban areas?, pp. 53-67

The paths from walk preference to walk behavior: Applying latent factors in structural equation modeling, pp. 68-82

Delivering the ’D’ in transit-oriented development: Examining the town planning challenge, pp. 83-99

Book Review: Human transit: How clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives, pp. 101-102

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Assessing the reality—Transport and land use planning to achieve sustainability
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Banister, David
This paper takes a historical perspective on how cities have become less sustainable in terms of transport, but it will argue that many positive changes have taken place even before the current concerns over CO2 and oil. There seem to be many more opportunities for further change through the encouragement of high-quality city-based lifestyles that do not require high levels of carbon-based mobility. But it is in the newly emerging “megacities” that the main problems occur, as there is a discontinuity between the slow growing, stable, and well-structured cities of the west and the rapidly growing, unstable, and unstructured cities of the east.
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.
Impact of light-rail implementation on labor market accessibility: A transportation equity perspective
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Fan, Yingling; Guthrie, Andrew; Levinson, David
This study seeks to examine transit’s role in promoting social equity by assessing the before-after impacts of recent transit changes in the Twin Cities, including the opening of the Hiawatha light-rail line, on job accessibility among workers of different wage categories. Geospatial, descriptive, and regression analyses find that proximity to light-rail stations and bus stops offering direct rail connections are associated with large, statistically significant gains in accessibility to low-wage jobs. These gains stand out from changes in accessibility for the transit system as a whole. Implications of the study results for informing more equitable transit polices are discussed.
How built environment affects travel behavior: A comparative analysis of the connections between land use and vehicle miles traveled in US cities
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Zhang, Lei; Hong, Jinhyun; Nasri, Arefeh; Shen, Qing
Mixed findings have been reported in previous research regarding the impact of built environment on travel behavior—i.e., statistically and practically significant effects found in a number of empirical studies and insignificant correlations shown in many other studies. It is not clear why the estimated impact is stronger or weaker in certain urban areas and how effective a proposed land use change/policy will be in changing certain travel behavior. This knowledge gap has made it difficult for decision makers to evaluate land use plans and policies according to their impact on vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and consequently, their impact on congestion mitigation, energy conservation, and pollution and greenhouse gas emission reduction. This research has several objectives: (1) re-examine the effects of built-environment factors on travel behavior, in particular, VMT in five US metropolitan areas grouped into four case study areas; (2) develop consistent models in all case study areas with the same model specification and data sets to enable direct comparisons; (3) identify factors such as existing land use characteristics and land use policy decision-making processes that may explain the different impacts of built environment on VMT in different urban areas; and (4) provide a prototype tool for government agencies and decision makers to estimate the impact of proposed land use changes on VMT. The four case study areas include Seattle, WA; Richmond-Petersburg and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, VA; Baltimore, MD; and Washington, DC. Our empirical analysis employs Bayesian multilevel modeling method with various person-level socioeconomic and demographic variables, and five built-environment factors including residential density, employment density, entropy (measuring level of mixed-use development), average block size (measuring transit/walking friendliness), and distance to city center (measuring decentralization and level of infill development). Our findings show that promoting compact, mixed-use, small-block, and infill developments can be effective in reducing VMT per person in all four case study areas. However, the effectiveness of land use plans and policies encouraging these types of land development is different both across case study areas and within the same case study area. We have identified several factors that potentially influence the connection between built environment shifts and VMT changes including urban area size, existing built environment characteristics, transit service cover- age and quality, and land use decision-making processes.
Does public transit use enhance the economic efficiency of urban areas?
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Drennan, Matthew; Brecher, Charles
This paper explores the relationship between the scale of public transit services in large urban areas of the United States and the efficiency of those economies, with efficiency measured by commercial office rents. Panel regressions are estimated in which real office rent is the left-hand variable. The key right-hand variable is per-capita transit use. Other right-hand variables include demand for office space, office vacancy rate, average real wage, and unemployment rate. Two-stage least-squares equations are estimated to deal with possible simultaneity between office rents and transit use. Results indicate a positive relationship between public transit use and office rents. The relationship is positive and significant in urban areas with higher concentrations of office space in the central business district, and nonexistent in urban areas with lower concentrations. The estimated dollar impact of transit use on office rents is small.
The paths from walk preference to walk behavior: Applying latent factors in structural equation modeling
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Coogan, Matthew; Adler, Thomas; Karash, Karla
A structural regression model has been developed to explore the relationship among key factors in the explanation of utilitarian walking. The model examines the relationship between and among unobserved, or “latent,” factors that reflect (1) the values and preferences operant at the time of residential selection; (2) the urban form of the neighborhood; (3) the urban form of the residence; (4) the level of auto dependency; and (5) the extent to which the neighborhood is found satisfactory by the participant and those whose opinions he/she respects. The model allows the detailed examination of the paths from initial inclination toward a neighborhood with walkable destinations, through a series of mediating unobserved factors, each of which might either impede or facilitate the adoption of utilitarian walking. Analysis of the model results shows that values and preferences held at the time of residential selection are directly associated with the amount of utilitarian walking undertaken and indirectly associated through their influence on the choice of the built environment and the extent of auto orientation. The model is designed to facilitate the observation of the manner in which the various factors interact.
Delivering the ’D’ in transit-oriented development: Examining the town planning challenge
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Curtis, Carey
This paper examines the extent to which different town planning approaches succeed in implementing transit-oriented development (TOD). Of particular interest is the articulation of town planning policy through to implementation of development change on land around railway stations. A series of investigations include policy analysis and development mapping using Perth, Western Australia, as a case study. This research found that development change has been slow despite long policy lead times, and implementation has been inconsistent and patchy. Development planning for TOD has faltered, especially in relation to station precincts on new railways. Where development change has occurred, the greatest success has been through the use of public development agencies rather than through conventional planning approaches. Significant action in town planning is needed if development is to be delivered to a greater number of station precincts across the metropolitan area.
Book review: Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives, by Jarrett Walker
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Watkins, Kari Edison
This paper reviews the book Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives, by Jarrett Walker (Island Press, 2012).