Asking the Right Questions About Transportation and Land Use: Access to Destinations Research Summary No. 1

Abstract

This research summary serves as both an introduction to the Access to Destinations Study and a summary of the study's initial findings. It is the first in a planned series of research summaries that will present findings and policy implications to a broad audience of transportation stakeholders, policymakers, and others interested in the future of the transportation system.

At the heart of the summary are the findings of the first Access to Destinations research report, published in November 2006. Report authors David Levinson and Ahmed El-Geneidy explored techniques for measuring accessibility (particularly the access of workers to jobs and of employers to labor) using automobiles as the primary mode of transportation.

In addition to employment access, the researchers also looked at how accessibility can affect home prices and patterns of land use. Linking transportation to land use is one of the main goals of the Access to Destinations Study.