01485120

Component

Maximizing transit ridership in small and medium-sized communities requires, among other factors, strategic stop placement, network connectivity characteristics that encourage walk and bike trips, as well as mixed use development patterns that provide residents with walkable destinations. Although a growing body of research has demonstrated automobile trip rate suppression effects due to mixed-use and transit-oriented development, as well as a correlation between walking/cycling trips and street connectivity, no single analysis tool has the ability to objectively compare transit stop locations based on a combination of physical and socioeconomic attributes. The proposed methodology demonstrates a technique that relies on geographic information system (GIS) analysis within a one-mile radius of a future or existing transit node to present layered imagery at the street level in order to highlight blocks in need of infrastructure improvement and/or land use changes to support transit. As medium-sized communities, particularly in suburban Sunbelt contexts, often lack the traditional urban infrastructure that readily supports transit usage, the method provides a critical set of analysis tools that can provide guidance for establishing a more transit-supportive built environment. The paper describes a total of nine measures of physical connectivity, mix of use, and socioeconomic factors that relate to transit usage. Walkscore (http://www.walkscore.com), which measures straight line distance to 13 amenity types including grocery stores, movie theaters, and restaurants, provides an aggregate mixed-use retail score based on proximity. As the method ignores accessibility to these locations, however, walk time information as well as intersection density, dead-end frequency, and total sidewalk mileage provide an indication of the local network connectivity. Additionally, a weighted summation of residential and employment density, termed the activity intensity measure, is used to assess the socioeconomic activity of the TAZs contained within the one-mile region of interest. Taken together, these indices provide a detailed analysis of the mixed of use, the overall connectivity of the network, as well as the land use intensity within a one-mile radius of the transit node. Layering of the visual components provides a clear, concise, and easy to understand representation of the zone that highlights areas in need of improvement at the block level and provides a method of comparing sites that can be used to communicate site selection criteria to the public and generate discussion.

01483192

English

12p

2010

12th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

Digital/other

CD-ROM; Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Geographic information systems; Land use planning; Mixed use development; Ridership; Socioeconomic factors; Transit oriented development; Walking

Walkscore

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jun 25 2013 11:27AM

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