01596025

Component

It is important to measure public transport accessibility to help improve the sustainability of transport systems in metropolitan areas. Although many studies have defined different approaches for measuring public transport accessibility, there have been limited methods developed for measuring accessibility levels that incorporate spatial aspects. Population density is an important distributional indicator that has also been ignored in previous methods developed for quantifying accessibility. This paper introduces a new approach to measure the accessibility of public transport in metropolitan areas. A Public Transport Accessibility Index (PTAI) is formulated and a case study in the Melbourne metropolitan area, Australia is presented. A public transport network model is applied to identify the service coverage of public transport modes using geographical information systems. The framework outlined provides a consistent method for evaluating public transport accessibility for different levels of analysis, from single elements, including public mode stops to network analysis. The Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA) dataset was used to evaluate the index and investigate the association between the level of accessibility and trip stages undertaken by public transport modes. It was found that areas with higher a PTAI, had more public transport patronage.

01584066

16-4970

English

18p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Accessibility; Measurement; Metropolitan areas; Population density; Public transit; Ridership; Sustainable development

Melbourne (Australia)

Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Apr 14 2016 9:22AM