00741897

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1571-18

http://scholar.google.com...eyer&publication_year=1997

The conventional view of public transit is that it serves the mobility needs primarily of poor, mostly inner-city residents. In 1979 the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) opened rail service connecting inner-city neighborhoods to downtown. By the mid-1990s, rail service had been extended south to Atlanta's international airport, east and west to Interstate 285 (Atlanta's perimeter freeway), and north into the region's affluent, mostly white suburbs. Research into how MARTA's rail system has influenced travel behavior among affluent "northern-tier" suburbanites is reported. Four major findings are offered. First, in those corridors where rail transit is provided, mode choice among commuters has shifted measurably from the single-occupant vehicle to transit. Second, the opening of rail stations in suburban areas is shown to reduce vehicular traffic on nearby surface streets, further suggesting rail's influence on travel behavior in the suburbs. Third, rail transit is found to attract affluent, white, male commuters who are willing to (a) travel longer distances to access rail and (b) travel longer distances on rail than the general population of rail patrons. Fourth, transit riders appear to be more sensitive to transit service than to fare increases--that is, as the rail system expands, ridership among suburbanites increases regardless of changes in fare. The overall picture that emerges is that affluent suburban communities respond favorably to rail transit. This leads to a set of policy implications that transcend Atlanta's experience.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1571, Public Transit 1997: Bus, Paratransit, Intermodal, and Rail.

English

p. 142-150

1997

Transportation Research Record

0309061512

Figures (2) ; References (17) ; Tables (6)

Case studies; Commuters; Fares; Highway traffic; History; Modal shift; Rapid transit; Ridership; Service life; Suburbs; Travel behavior; Trip length

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

Reduction (Decrease)

Atlanta (Georgia)

Atlanta (Georgia)

Design; Highways; History; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Oct 3 1997 12:00AM

• ACHIEVING SUBURBAN TRANSIT POTENTIAL: SACRAMENTO REVISITED
• AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, PARATRANSIT, AND DIALYSIS
• APPLICATION OF INDUSTRIAL STANDARDS TO BUS MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES
• BLAMING THE VICTORS: CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC TRANSIT VEHICLE OPERATORS INVOLVED IN ON-BOARD ALTERCATIONS
• BUS PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AND SERVICE REGULARITY
• COST AND PRODUCTIVITY IMPACTS OF A "SMART" PARATRANSIT SYSTEM
• DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSED MYRTLE-WYCKOFF INTERMODAL FACILITY
• DIESEL LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT: NICHE DESCRIPTION AND RATING SYSTEM
• EFFECTS OF BUS STOP DESIGN ON SUBURBAN ARTERIAL OPERATIONS
• FORECASTING DEMAND FOR PARATRANSIT REQUIRED BY THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
• INTEGRATED TIMED TRANSFER: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
• INTEGRATION OF PARATRANSIT AND TRANSIT SERVICES: IMPORTANCE OF VEHICLE TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS TO CONSUMERS
• ITERATIVE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION: A MODEL OF SUCCESSFUL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT
• LOADGEN: NJ TRANSIT'S RIDERSHIP ALLOCATION MODEL
• NEW JERSEY STATEWIDE RAIL RIGHT-OF-WAY STUDY: TOWARD A FRAMEWORK FOR PLANNING AND PRESERVATION
• NEW VEHICLE OPTIONS FOR LOWER-COST RAIL MOBILITY: USING DIESEL OR DUAL-POWERED LIGHT RAIL CARS AS A TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
• NJ TRANSIT'S RAIL COACH PURCHASE: LETTING THE CUSTOMERS CHOOSE
• PARATRANSIT CUSTOMER: MODELING ELEMENTS OF SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE
• PERFORMANCE IMPACTS OF OPERATING SUBSIDIES IN THE PARATRANSIT SECTOR
• PRODUCTIVITY FREQUENCY INDEX
• PUBLIC DECISION MAKING FOR THE CALTRAIN DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO EXTENSION PROJECT
• RAIL IN MULTIMODAL TRANSIT SYSTEMS: CONCEPT FOR IMPROVING URBAN MOBILITY BY INCREASING CHOICES FOR TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE
• REDISCOVERING THE URBAN RAILROAD
• TRIP ASSIGNMENT MODEL FOR TIMED-TRANSFER TRANSIT SYSTEMS
• WE CAN'T HEAR YOU! SAN DIEGO'S TECHNIQUES FOR GETTING BALANCED COMMUNITY INPUT IN MAJOR INVESTMENT STUDIES