Regional Transport Infrastructure Research Articles

Cooperation in the regional transportation infrastructure sector in South Asia

Regional integration is of long-standing concern in South Asia. Despite increasing general levels of prosperity observed in some of its countries, an ongoing problem is how to ensure a good quality transportation system for the entire region. The purpose of the present study is to investigate opportunities for cooperation in the transport sector in South Asia. The study suggests adopting a common transport policy in South Asia for the optimum utilisation of existing utilities, as well as the expansion of new facilities in the region.

Neighbourhood Composition and Residential Land Prices: Does Exclusion Raise or Lower Values?

Hedonic price models are used to explore the degree to which land-use and racial composition, used as outcome proxies for local zoning practices, influence residential land values in Santa Clara County, California. Fiscal pressures have prompted many California communities to zone on the basis of tax-yield potential, especially in fast-growing settings like Santa Clara County. Controlling for variables related to job accessibility as well as proximity to regional transport infrastructure, the analysis shows that indicators of land-use diversity and jobs-housing balance generally correlate with high residential land prices. While the fiscal instincts of Californian municipalities is to shun housing in favour of commercial development and thus to create imbalanced land development patterns, this research suggests these fiscal advantages are partly offset by lower land values and thus lower property tax intake. Racial diversity, on the other hand, lowered residential property values, even when controlling for neighbourhood factors like average household income. This finding suggests that, to the degree that local zoning responds to land-market forces, exclusion in residential settings is more a product of racial than land-use composition. As long as land markets attach either values or disbenefits to land-use mix and racial diversity, market-sensitive zoning policies that reinforce these outcomes will be likely to prevail, particularly in buoyant real-estate markets like Santa Clara County.

Development of a regional transport infrastructure: some lessons from the Zhujiang Delta, Guangdong, China

This paper examines the impact of the Open Door Policy on the transport geography of the Zhujiang Delta, which has been rightly described as ‘taking one step ahead’. In particular, it discusses the major factors which governed the sources of development initiatives, financing strategies and changing transport geography of the region under ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’.

Defining a Strategic Freight Network for the Greater Toronto Area

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation, in cooperation with regional municipalities, is developing a comprehensive transportation plan for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to enhance mobility for people and goods while supporting broader economic, environmental, and social objectives. Trucks are responsible for the transportation of an estimated 80 percent of the goods in the GTA. To provide input into the current GTA transportation planning exercise, the strategic freight network in the GTA was identified, the importance of the strategic road network for efficient and effective goods movement was assessed, and initiatives concerning operational improvements and infrastructure programs that can enhance or support goods movement were identified. It was postulated that the majority of goods-movement trips in the GTA were concentrated to, from, or in “Freight Centres” and that most truck activity took place on prominent parts of the local and regional transportation infrastructure between these Freight Centres. Four distinct and specific land uses were identified as being strong indicators of goods-movement origins and destinations. They are manufacturing and assembly facilities; warehouses; intermodal terminals; and trucking support facilities, including yards, terminals, parking, and service locations. Congestion and the absence of sufficient routing information were found to be the principal issues faced by the goods-movement industry. Several informational, capital, and operational improvements were subsequently identified and should be considered within the context of the strategic freight network that could enhance the use of the system by goods-movement operators.

Balancing mobility and environmental quality: The politics of regional transportation infrastructure investment planning in the metropolitan United States : Coughlin Joseph, Francis, Ph.D. Boston University, 1995. 259 pp. Major professor: Betty H. Zisk

Balancing mobility and environmental quality: The politics of regional transportation infrastructure investment planning in the metropolitan United States : Coughlin Joseph, Francis, Ph.D. Boston University, 1995. 259 pp. Major professor: Betty H. Zisk

The impact of the Channel Tunnel on Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The Channel Tunnel project has already had a major impact on the environment and local economy of the coastal zone within Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The construction of the fixed link has also been a stimulus to the upgrading of the regional transport infrastructure, with the development of new motorway links and the high-speed rail system, linked to the tunnel. This paper examines the possible impact of these major developments within the context of a relatively depressed region of France. It is certainly possible that Nord-Pas-de-Calais will gain some economic benefit from the Channel Tunnel and related transport developments, but this is by no means inevitable, and much will depend on the ability of the region to exploit the new opportunities which exist. New transport links will be of greatest benefit to a limited number of well-served, nodal locations and it seems likely that this will lead to a further widening of the existing internal economic disparities within the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region.