Implications For Transport Planning Research Articles

Travel behaviour changes among young adults and associated implications for social sustainability

Travel behaviour changes among today’s young adults in relation to important life events, and associated implications for environmental sustainability have been discussed in recent studies. However, the social implications of their travel behaviour changes remain less explored. Applying latent transition analysis on longitudinal data collected in 2019 and 2022, we examined travel behaviour changes among young adults in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada in response to two life events- start of employment after completion of education and residential relocation and explored their social sustainability-related implications in terms of potential transportation-related social exclusion. Young adults showed a higher probability of becoming car users in 2022, however, those who joined workforce and relocated to urban areas were more likely to become transit users and active modes users. Young adults who switched away from active modes to public transit participated in fewer activities and were more likely to experience transportation-related social exclusion. Implications for transportation planning and policy have been discussed.

Commuting Behaviors of People with Disabilities and the Implications for Transport Planning and Policy: A Preliminary Study

This research aimed to obtain an initial understanding of the commuting behaviors of people with disabilities, which has not been widely discussed in the transportation planning literature in Indonesia. Facets studied included frequency of weekly commuting; trip duration to the workplace; trip chaining behavior; usage of public transportation; and utilization of private vehicles. Commuting trips were limited to the home-work-home context, and the research was conducted on adult disabled commuters (aged 17 to 60) in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (Jabodetabek). A total of 51 commuters with motor and sensory (visual and auditory) disabilities participated in the survey. The results indicate that people with disabilities tend to spend more hours commuting; use public transportation, with the TransJakarta Bus Rapid Transit and paratransit in the form of online motorcycle taxis as the primary modes of transport; and engage in pre-planned trip chaining activities, primarily for visiting family, friends, and clients as well as doing grocery shopping and getting medical treatment. The research findings can serve as valuable resources for developing inclusive transportation policies and planning, such as improving and enhancing access to public transportation for people with disabilities, supporting inclusive training policy in the public transportation field, implementing TOD strategies, and advancing transportation technology to enhance convenience for people with disabilities.

Impact of navigation apps on congestion and spread dynamics on a transportation network

In recent years, the widespread adoption of navigation apps by motorists has raised questions about their impact on local traffic patterns. Users increasingly rely on these apps to find better, real-time routes to minimize travel time. This study uses microscopic traffic simulations to examine the connection between navigation app use and traffic congestion. The research incorporates both static and dynamic routing to model user behavior. Dynamic routing represents motorists who actively adjust their routes based on app guidance during trips, while static routing models users who stick to known fastest paths. Key traffic metrics, including flow, density, speed, travel time, delay time, and queue lengths, are assessed to evaluate the outcomes. Additionally, we explore congestion propagation at various levels of navigation app adoption. To understand congestion dynamics, we apply a susceptible–infected–recovered (SIR) model, commonly used in disease spread studies. Our findings reveal that traffic system performance improves when 30–60% of users follow dynamic routing. The SIR model supports these findings, highlighting the most efficient congestion propagation-to-dissipation ratio when 40% of users adopt dynamic routing, as indicated by the lowest basic reproductive number. This research provides valuable insights into the intricate relationship between navigation apps and traffic congestion, with implications for transportation planning and management.

Demographic Changes in the US Elderly Population between 2009 and 2017: Implications for Transportation Planning and Transferability of Elderly Person Trip Generation Models

Demographic Changes in the US Elderly Population between 2009 and 2017: Implications for Transportation Planning and Transferability of Elderly Person Trip Generation Models

A supervised machine learning model for imputing missing boarding stops in smart card data.

Public transport has become an essential part of urban existence with increased population densities and environmental awareness. Large quantities of data are currently generated, allowing for more robust methods to understand travel behavior by harvesting smart card usage. However, public transport datasets suffer from data integrity problems; boarding stop information may be missing due to imperfect acquirement processes or inadequate reporting. This study introduces a supervised machine learning method to impute missing boarding stops based on ordinal classification using GTFS timetable, smart card, and geospatial datasets. A new metric, Pareto Accuracy, is suggested to evaluate algorithms where classes have an ordinal nature. The results are based on a case study in the city of Beer Sheva, Israel, consisting of one month of smart card data. We show that our proposed method is robust to irregular travelers and significantly outperforms well-known imputation methods without the need to mine any additional datasets. The data validation from another Israeli city using transfer learning shows the presented model is general and context-free. The implications for transportation planning and travel behavior research are further discussed.

Active travel to school: Understanding the Ghanaian context of the underlying driving factors and the implications for transport planning

IntroductionEven though active travel to/from school is a major form of physical activity, and indispensable in improving the health and well-being of children, research on children's active travel to/from school is underdeveloped in Sub-Sahara Africa. This study reports findings of the factors influencing active travel to/from school in Ghana, which has not been examined in previous studies. The novelty of this study is that it highlights and discusses key differences in the findings between children and teenagers in association with environmental factors, children and characteristics of their parents. MethodsPrimary data for this study were drawn from a cross-sectional survey consisting of 1236 respondents from 97 schools in Tamale, Ghana. A univariate logistic regression model was first fitted to preliminarily identify and select the factors statistically correlated with active travel to/from school followed by a combined logistic model to provide deeper understanding of the key underlying factors and their correlation effects on walking and cycling. ResultsThe results show that children's age, home ownership and the employment status of mothers are negatively associated with active travel to/from primary school but not to secondary school. Conversely, frequency of walking and cycling on the part of the parents, distance to school and living in inner core areas are positively correlated with active travel to/from both primary and secondary schools. Differences in gender only exist in the secondary school trips, suggesting that female teenagers are less likely to actively travel to school. ConclusionUrban planners and policy makers should take the findings of this study into consideration in developing educational programmes and in planning for a more active travel supporting environment to encourage more walking and cycling to/from school.

Public transport mode preferences of international tourists in Ghana: Implications for transport planning

Generally, most studies on tourism in Ghana have laid emphasis on motivations and experiences of tourists, their preference for accommodation and restaurant facilities, and the quality of services rendered at these facilities ignoring a significant component of tourism, which is transportation. This paper examines public transport mode preferences of international tourists in Ghana. Primary data were collected from 479 out-bound international tourists at the departure hall of the Kotoka International Airport in Ghana between June and August 2015. The analyses of the study were done using frequencies, charts, chi-square statistic and multinomial logistic regression model. The study found that generic dimensions of transport services such as their affordability, accessibility, availability, safety and comfort influence public transport mode choice of international tourists in Ghana. Aside these factors, there were strong relationships between socio-demographic characteristics of tourists and their mode preference. It is therefore recommended that emphasis should be given to accessibility-based transport planning in order to help public transport provide quality services to meet the transport needs of international tourists.

Factors Associated with High School Students' Delayed Acquisition of a Driver's License

In recent years the number of teenagers and young adults acquiring a driver's license has declined in many developed countries worldwide, with long-term implications for transportation planning. However, the reasons for this decline are only partially understood. Some research has focused on surveys of young drivers without licenses, but few studies have looked at the characteristics and attitudes of youth of driving age as a whole. Other studies have focused on young adults but not teenagers. This study addressed these gaps by examining the results of a survey of students at three high schools in Northern California. These results indicated that demographic factors such as race–ethnicity and parental education level, which was used as a proxy for socioeconomic status, were correlated with licensing and the age at which a license was obtained. Smartphone use, frequency of participation in after-school activities, and bicycle ownership also corresponded positively with increased licensing rates, while actual bicycle use, enjoyment of riding the bus, and ability to rely on parents for transportation corresponded with decreased licensing rates. Use of electronic communications in general was not found to correspond highly with licensing rates, and environmental concern had no significant relationship. These results suggest the need for further research to separate economic factors from other possible factors influencing licensing rates of high school students.

„Ach, da fahr ich ganz spontan.“ Mobilität im Alltag älterer Menschen auf dem Land

Since the problematisation of the demographic change, mobility research has taken a stronger interest in the mobility of the elderly. It’s here that the research is often influenced by the needs of transportation planning and policy. This often results in framing the mobility of elderly people as a technical or organisational problem. However, if mobility viewed as a social phenomenon, the question must be asked: How are mobility und the routines of daily life intertwined? The paper approaches the everyday mobility of the elderly from an agent-centred perspective. To provide an understanding of how the elderly living in rural areas view mobility and integrate it into their daily lives is the main aim of the paper. Using the results of a qualitative study, this paper emphasises causes leading to travel decisions and illustrates the importance of emotions and the functional aspect of maintaining health. Most importantly, this paper will show the value of social contacts. Even if everyday needs, such as grocery shopping or a trip to the doctor, prove to be the reason for mobility, occurrences of social interaction are which count and which influence the lives of elderly people living in the countryside. Finally, based on the findings, the implications for transportation planning and policy will be outlined and explored.

Using Place Rank to measure sustainable accessibility

Sustainability and its implications for transport planning is an area of growing interest to researchers, transport practitioners and policy makers. This study draws from recent research on the concept and measurement of sustainable accessibility in urban areas. The paper focuses on the particular case of small urban areas, where walking and cycling represent a significant proportion of the overall travel mode share. The methodology suggested in this paper departs from the use of traditional gravity-based measures of accessibility and sustainability, which tend to focus on motorised modes of travel. Instead, the present study suggests an extension of the Place Rank accessibility method to incorporate a measurement of sustainability through the multi-modal analysis of commuting trips for the City of Galway, Ireland. The paper concludes that the use of a multi-modal approach to the measurement of sustainable accessibility offers an additional insight into the nature of urban commuting and the spatial distribution of employment in small cities, where the understanding of non-motorised travel-to-work mode use is of great importance for urban transport planning and practice.

Transportation Market Distortions

Properly functioning markets efficiently allocate resources. Such markets must reflect certain principles, including consumer options, cost-based pricing, and economic neutrality. Transportation markets often violate these principles. This report examines these distortions and their implications for transport planning. Transportation market distortions include various types of underpricing of motorized travel, planning practices that favor automobile travel over other modes, and land use development practices that create automobile-dependent communities. Although these distortions may individually appear modest and justified, their impacts are cumulative and synergistic, leading to economically excessive motor vehicle use. These distortions exacerbate many problems, including traffic congestion, facility costs, accidents, reduced accessibility (particularly for non-drivers), consumer transportation costs, inefficient energy consumption, and excessive pollution. Market reforms that reduce these distor- tions would provide significant economic, social, and environmental benefits. In a more efficient market, consumers would choose to drive less, rely more on alternative transport options, and be better off overall as a result.

Tolls and Control

This article examines efforts to lease revenue-generating transportation facilities in the twenty-first century, focusing on two high-profile toll roads: the Pennsylvania Turnpike, operated by an independent public authority, and the Chicago Skyway, originally built and managed under the auspices of the City of Chicago. In 2004, the Chicago City Council unanimously approved a ninety-nine-year Skyway lease for $1.83 billion. In contrast, the fate of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was hotly contested, and in 2008 a long-term lease deal failed to win approval. The divergent history of these facilities highlights the close relationship between infrastructure financing and the locus of control, with important implications for transportation planning.

A Copula-Based Sample Selection Model of Telecommuting Choice and Frequency

The objective of this study is to contribute to the telecommuting literature by jointly examining the propensity and frequency of workers to telecommute, using a rich set of individual demographics, work-related and industry characteristics, household demographics, and commute-trip/work-location characteristics. The data are drawn from the Chicago Regional Household Travel Inventory, collected between 2007 and 2008. From a methodological standpoint, the current study adopts a copula approach that allows the testing of several types of dependency structures between the telecommuting choice and frequency behavioral processes. To our knowledge, this is the first formulation and application in the econometric literature of a copula approach for the case of a binary self-selection mechanism with an ordered-response outcome. The results clearly indicate that telecommuting choice and the frequency of telecommuting are governed by quite different underlying behavioral processes. For instance, women are less likely to telecommute relative to men, though there is no statistically significant difference in telecommuting frequency propensity between men and women telecommuters. Similarly, full-time employed individuals (≥30 hours per week) are more likely to have a telecommuting arrangement than those working part-time (<30 hours per week). However, among those who telecommute, full-time employed individuals telecommute less frequently than part-time employed individuals. Further, the results suggest that the analyst risks the danger of incorrect conclusions regarding dependency in the telecommuting choice and frequency behavioral processes, as well as inconsistent and inefficient parameter estimates, by imposing incorrect dependency structures or assuming independence between the two behavioral processes. Overall, the empirical results indicate the important effects of several demographic and work-related variables on telecommuting choice and frequency, with implications for transportation planning and transportation policy analysis.

Variations in the rates of passenger usage of portable Technology on intercity buses, trains and planes: Implications for transportation planning

The use of portable electronic devices by passengers on intercity transportation services has apparently risen markedly in recent years. To support the use of such devices, carriers have installed Wi-Fi systems, power outlets, and cell-phone signal boosters for passenger use. To gain perspective on the effects of portable electronic technology on intercity travel behavior, this study evaluates newly collected data for 9,005 passengers on bus, train, and air trips. Field researchers conducted visual surveys to measure the use of devices with audio capability, such as music players and cell phones, and those with visual or audiovisual capacity, such as laptop computers and DVD players. The data collection involved field observations in 14 states as well as the District of Columbia and in Canada. Usage between transportation modes differs in a manner consistent not only with the mix of passengers they serve but also their relative attractiveness to technology use. The highest usage was observed on high-speed trains, which offer spacious seating configurations, Wi-Fi, and power outlets. During peak periods, 47.8% of passengers on Amtrak’s Acela Express were using technology at randomly selected points. This compares to 39.4% and 35.8% of passengers on “curbside buses” and Amtrak trains using some form of technology—more than twice the share of conventional bus services and commercial flights. Rail travelers are much more likely to use visual devices than bus and air passengers. Usage tends to be higher on the East Coast than in Midwest states, California, and Canada. Interpreted broadly, the research suggests that the ability to use portable electronics may be a factor offsetting the longer travel times associated with certain bus and train trips. Portable technology appears to be providing a new incentive for travelers to use surface-transportation modes operating to and from the downtown areas of major cities.

A Walk (or Cycle) to the Park : Active Transit to Neighborhood Amenities, the CARDIA Study

Building on known associations between active commuting and reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, this study examines active transit to neighborhood amenities and differences between walking and cycling for transportation. Year-20 data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (3549 black and white adults aged 38-50 years in 2005-2006) were analyzed in 2008-2009. Sociodemographic correlates of transportation mode (car-only, walk-only, any cycling, other) to neighborhood amenities were examined in multivariable multinomial logistic models. Gender-stratified multivariable linear or multinomial regression models compared CVD risk factors across transit modes. Active transit was most common to parks and public transit stops; walking was more common than cycling. Among those who used each amenity, active transit (walk-only and any cycling versus car-only transit) was more common in men and those with no live-in partner and less than full-time employment (significant ORs [95% CI] ranging from 1.56 [1.08, 2.27] to 4.54 [1.70, 12.14]), and less common in those with children. Active transit to any neighborhood amenity was associated with more favorable BMI, waist circumference, and fitness (largest coefficient [95% CI] -1.68 [-2.81, -0.55] for BMI, -3.41 [-5.71, -1.11] for waist circumference [cm], and 36.65 [17.99, 55.31] for treadmill test duration [seconds]). Only cycling was associated with lower lifetime CVD risk classification. Active transit to neighborhood amenities was related to sociodemographics and CVD risk factors. Variation in health-related benefits by active transit mode, if validated in prospective studies, may have implications for transportation planning and research.

Luxurious Buses As Means Of Night Journey In Nigeria: Challenges and Implications For Transportation Planning.

While, past studies on road safety have been restricted to accident, recent events today show that the issue of safety goes beyond accident. This study investigates the level of safety of night journey using luxurious buses in Nigeria and examines how it could be improved. 150 questionnaires which were designed to elicit related information on road safety in the night were randomly administered to patrons and operators of luxurious buses. Result shows that one of the major reasons for the attack by armed robbers on luxurious buses is to deprive commuters of their cash and luggage. It was also discovered that journey times are often prolonged during the day when buses pass through cities because of traffic congestions and reduced during the night when congestions are reduced. This indeed is an advantage. However, night journeys are prone to attacks of armed robbers and accidents of which assistance may not be readily available on time. The study therefore recommends that security personnel trained to combat armed robbers should be used as escorts and secret intelligent personnel be employed by transport companies to monitor the activities of their workers as well as commuters patronizing them. Metal screening equipments should also be used at the point of embankment not only for the passengers but as well as their luggage. Travelers should adopt the new methods of money transfer to discourage robbery cases on our roads. Passengers should also keep their traveling plans secret as much as possible as a way of fostering safety. Keywords: night journey, armed robbers, luxurious buses and police escorts Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management Vol. 1 (3) 2008: pp. 52-62

A relative total cost index for the evaluation of transportation network robustness in the presence of degradable links and alternative travel behavior

AbstractIn this paper, we demonstrate how to capture the robustness of a transportation network in the case of degradable links represented by decreasing capacities. In particular, with the use of Bureau of Public Roads user link travel cost functions, we propose two relative total cost indices to assess transportation network robustness in the case of travel behavior associated with either user optimization or system optimization. We derive upper bounds of the relative total cost index for transportation networks with special structure and congestion parameters under the user optimal flow pattern. We also derive an upper bound for the relative total cost index under the system optimal flow pattern for general transportation networks. Numerical examples are presented for illustration purposes. This research is the first to quantify transportation network robustness in the presence of degradable links and alternative travel behavior. This research has implications for transportation planning and management, for vulnerability analysis, as well as for security issues.

Activity-Travel Patterns of Nonworkers in the San Francisco Bay Area: Exploratory Analysis

Analysis of activity-travel patterns is an important component of any activity-based transportation planning exercise. Most of the current activity-travel literature focuses on studying the characteristics of workers. In comparison, little emphasis has been placed on studying non-worker activity-travel patterns. The results of an exploratory analysis of the activity-travel patterns of nonworkers in the San Francisco Bay Area are presented. The attributes of a nonworker’s overall activity-travel pattern are examined in terms of three dimensions: number of stops of each activity type, trip chaining, and the temporal sequencing of activities. Implications for transportation planning and policy analysis are discussed.

A typology of relationships between telecommunications and transportation

This paper defines the relationship between telecommunications and transportation, by expanding on linkages already identified in the literature, by identifying additional relationships, and by putting these relationships into a robust conceptual framework. There are conceptual, physical, analytical, and regulatory parallels between telecommunications and transportation. Telecommunications affects the demand for, and supply of, transportation — and vice versa. In the broadest sense, all communication requires transportation in order to occur: transportation either of people, of objects, or of electronic impulses. In other words, communication takes place via one or more of those three modes. It is suggested that “communication breeds communication.” That is, the easier it is to communicate (whether through travel or communications), or the more that one or another form of communication takes place, the more that communication as a whole is stimulated. The relative shares of each of the three modes of communication may vary as one mode partially substitutes for another, but the absolute amounts of communication via each mode are likely to increase. Two empirical studies are summarized, one illustrating that teleconferencing increased travel, the other illustrating that telecommuting decreased travel. Other implications for transportation planning are highlighted.

Public/private-sector cooperation in urban transportation: Lessons from ridesharing experiences in Connecticut

An important characteristic of urban transportation policy and planning today is the increasing role that the private sector is playing in identifying and implementing transportation projects. For example, a recent examination of the possible forms of such involvement found that there were four major categories of action that could be used to classify recent private-sector efforts in urban transportation: (1) aid to and/or provision of transportation services; (2) formation of advocacy or advisory groups whose purpose is to influence public policy; (3) sponsorship of transportation studies; and (4) provision of management assistance to public agencies (Gordon, 1982). In many of these efforts, the successful implementation of a project or program required close cooperation between public and private-sector officials. The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of this interaction and explore the implications for transportation planning and policy.