Developing an indicative spatial accessibility analysis tool for urban public transportation system

Abstract

This study proposed a simplified and indicative methodology for spatial accessibility analysis using limited data to specify areas where Public Transportation (PT) is mostly needed. It was based on the difficulties associated with previously used methodologies that required complicated mathematical functions and intensive origin-destination data. Amman city, Jordan, was selected to apply the proposed methodology and find the optimal routes for running a PT system.Canny Spatial Accessibility Analysis (CSAA) was used to identify PT routes that were most in demand and provide route classifications based on the route importance for running PT. CSAA was performed by combining three models: Gravity Model, Weighted Overlay, and Space Syntax. It examined the factors behind achieving an efficient PT system (land use, population density, population income level, primary services in the city, and street network hierarchy) with accessibility measurements and connectivity estimates to identify the network's priority routes. The comparison between the existing PT routes and the proposed routes showed that the latter was more efficient in covering higher demand percentages of the population, points of interest, and land-use, which resulted in classified routes by the need for PT system.The adopted novel methodology exhibited the attractiveness weight of the city's primary services, gave a clear image of the city's existing conditions, and identified areas where PT system is highly demanded. It outlined a crucial step for designing PT system based on easily accessible information, presenting a key PT planning tool that delineated the demanded PT despite the lack of funding and exhaustive statistical information.