Representations of everyday travel experiences: Case study of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Disparity of access to transportation also affects access to essential urban resources, particularly for lower income populations and minorities. Studies have shown how current transportation planning practices are dominated by the notion of planners as experts that produce the knowledge of future transportation needs using a series of analytical steps and computer modeling. Consequently, existing practices such as transport modeling perpetuate barriers to mobility and lack of accessibility, and therefore, there is a need to make explicit how these existing practices exclude particular population groups. Using the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metropolitan Area as a case study, this paper makes a stronger connection between the assumptions planners make regarding transportation needs and goals with everyday travel experiences of a variety of residents. This research utilizes travel diaries to provide in-depth understandings of individual’s travel experiences from various neighborhoods in the DFW Region to understand how differences in mobility and accessibility affect access to places.