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Title:

Equity and Access to Greenways: Measurement and Application to the Capital Area Greenway in Raleigh, North Carolina

Accession Number:

01088444

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

Greenways offer promising opportunities for safe and connected non-motorized travel, as well as a place for free recreation and exercise. But, questions remain as to whether greenway trails are successful at achieving these benefits, and for whom. All of the described advantages of greenways assume populations not only have access, but equitable access, to these facilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the accessibility and spatial equity of greenways. Using trails of the Capital Area Greenway in Raleigh, North Carolina, the analysis explored differences between two different applications of the covering accessibility model and straight-line distance metric. It contrasted populations captured by the conventional approach of buffering the trail boundary to the populations captured by a potentially more precise alternative, buffering individual entrance points. It also compared the populations captured by each method against a larger reference population. The results revealed significant differences between the populations considered to have access to the greenway and an inequitable distribution of the facility. The outcomes demonstrate the aggregation concerns associated with the assumption that a greenway is accessible along the entire boundary. Planners need to critically reflect on the conventional approach used in to measure accessibility and equity. The alternative method presented in this study offers planners an improved approach, which can enhance the technical analysis that informs policy decisions.

Monograph Accession #:

01084478

Report/Paper Numbers:

08-2345

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Kreisa, Emily

Pagination:

19p

Publication Date:

2008

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2008-1-13 to 2008-1-17
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

DVD

Features:

Figures; Maps; References (34) ; Tables (4)

Geographic Terms:

Raleigh (North Carolina)

Subject Areas:

Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Terminals and Facilities; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2008 Paper #08-2345

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Jan 29 2008 4:43PM