Grocery store accessibility: Different metrics – Different modal disparity results and spatial patterns

Most accessibility studies focus on within transport mode travel performance variations. However, modal accessibility disparity analysis adds value to the single-mode analysis by assessing the interaction between different transport modes and land use. A review of modal disparity studies shows that different accessibility metrics lead to different results, and so it is unclear how this impacts modal accessibility disparity variation. Moreover, the correspondence of the disparity spatial pattern between the different metrics is unclear. This research examines how three typical accessibility metrics (closest facility, cumulative opportunity, space-time constrained) impact modal disparity of grocery store accessibility in Warsaw, Poland. Further, local indicators of spatial association are used to identify areas of similarity and difference between the metrics. This study finds that cumulative opportunities during non-rush hours indicate the best car advantage for all travel times but indicate the best transit advantage during rush hours for 15 min. Generally, the space-time metric indicates better transit accessibility than the closest facility metric which in turn shows better transit accessibility than cumulative opportunities. The city center has significant spatial similarity while peripheral, especially dense, areas have significant spatial difference. Similarity areas have higher transit stop and population densities, while difference areas have average-to-low stop, population, road and store densities.     

A compact city for the wealthy? Employment accessibility inequalities between occupational classes in the London metropolitan region 2011

The prevalence of gentrification and housing marketisation processes in many cities points to increasingly wealthy inner-city areas and potentially greater population segregation by income. It is plausible that these trends are contributing to regional accessibility inequalities, though quantitative research testing this link is limited. This paper examines differences in employment accessibility between Standard Occupational Classification groups in the London Metropolitan Region for 2011 for car, transit, bus only and walking modes. Additionally, changes in occupational class populations 2006–2016 are considered, revealing continuing inner-city gentrification. Employment accessibility is calculated using cumulative measures, based on travel times from multi-modal network modelling. The results show that while car accessibility is relatively equal between occupational classes, public transport, bus and walk accessibility have significant inequalities favouring professional classes. Low income groups have lower accessibility for the most affordable bus and walk modes, and inequalities are greater for residents in the wider metropolitan region. Furthermore, professional groups combine accessibility advantages with the highest rates of owner occupation, maximising housing wealth benefits. Lower income groups are exposed to rent increases, though this is offset by social housing, which remains the most prevalent tenure in Inner London for low income classes.     

Equity in job accessibility and environmental quality in a segmented housing market: The case of Greater London

Job accessibility and environmental quality are rarely equally distributed in spatial and/or social dimensions within metropolitan regions. Availability of these affects the quality of residential locations, and can be expected to be capitalised into house prices. For prospective house owners, their options will be limited to sub housing markets within certain price bands depending on their available housing budgets. Availability and marginal prices of job accessibility and environmental quality, as well as trade-offs between them, might be different between these submarkets. Using Greater London as the case metropolitan region, this study explored such differences, to shed light on the role of housing market in equity and/or inequity in job accessibility, environmental quality and their interactions. Results of this study show that lower-price submarkets have advantages in job accessibility in terms of marginal price, but are disadvantaged in terms of availability. Differences are more mixed in marginal price and availability between the submarkets for environmental quality. When balancing job accessibility and environmental quality within constrained housing budgets, households in lower-price submarkets would find it relatively easier to gain job accessibility with less sacrifice on environmental quality as compared to those searching in higher-price submarkets, but hard to reach the higher levels of job accessibility that are mainly reserved for the higher-price submarkets.     

Transit-based job accessibility and urban spatial structure

Job accessibility is a measure of people, opportunities, and transportation system that are fundamental elements of urban spatial structure. Therefore, job accessibility can be used as a tool to understand urban spatial structure. Studying transit-based job accessibility can provide more insight into inner cities. To study transit-based job accessibility, a person-based approach is needed in order to take full consideration of the elements. However, person-based approaches are substantially restricted by the availability of individual trip data. This paper takes a simulation approach to study transit-based job accessibility. First, transit-dependent worker agents are generated using a population synthesis. Then the agents are enabled with job search and commuting capabilities. Once the agents are deployed in a commuting simulation, individual commuting trips are recorded. An individual job accessibility index is developed based on simulated commuting trips. The index is normalized with an expected value of 1.0 and a measurable uncertainty level, which makes it easy to interpret and suitable for cross-regional studies. A case study is conducted in Tucson, Arizona, where about 10,000 transit-dependent worker agents produce more than 600,000 individual commuting trips during morning and afternoon peak hours. Census block, group-level job accessibility shows a random spatial pattern that coincides with a dispersed urban spatial structure of the case study area.     

A GIS-based spatial statistical approach to modeling job accessibility by transportation mode: case study of Columbus,Ohio

Improving job accessibility based on transport connectivity helps to address equity issues. Spatial autocorrelation (SA) is also a focus of interest in transportation planning, but has been neglected in analyzing job accessibility in metropolitan areas. In this study, GIS-based job accessibilities by walking, transit, and car are computed for the metropolitan area of Columbus, Ohio, and three transport-based spatial autoregressive (SAR) models are estimated to account for the SA of job accessibility among neighboring block groups, while controlling for built-environment and socioeconomic factors. SA intensities and extents are compared in order to better understand local spatial clusters of job accessibility across the region. Direct and indirect spillover effects due to an investment change in transportation facilities are estimated and provide important transportation planning information. The results also show that walking-accessed jobs are primarily related to physical settings (e.g., land uses) at the local level. Locations with a higher share of zero-vehicle housing units have better job accessibility by transit. There is a spatial mismatch between Asian population clusters and transit-accessed jobs, possibly because of the car-oriented residential clusters around Honda of America Manufacturing in suburban areas. More importantly, locations with a higher share of single-parent households are at a disadvantage in overall job accessibility. Due to its complex transportation needs, a society friendly to single parents should spatially integrate accessible jobs with other needed activities via land-use and transportation planning. Alternatively, car-ownership programs and non-spatial social supports also might be effective to help secure job opportunities and perform daily life activities.     

Access to jobs and apartment rents

This study empirically explores the relationship between access to jobs and apartment rents. Specifically, the research examines the following three hypotheses: job accessibility positively influences apartment rents, the effect of job accessibility on apartment rents varies by transportation mode, and the effect of job accessibility on apartment rents varies by rent level. To examine these hypotheses, this study applies gravity-type job accessibility indexes based on a study sample of 7077 observations in the Taipei Metropolitan Area, Taiwan, from the year 2009. The sample data are analyzed using linear and quantile regressions. The empirical evidence confirms the positive effect of job accessibility on apartment rents, and its variability depending on the transportation mode and rental level. The effect of job accessibility on apartment rent is significantly positive in the median or lower-rent-level sub-markets, but insignificantly negative in higher-rent-level sub-markets. Job accessibility by motorcycle and public transit has a higher positive influence on rent than accessibility by car. These findings provide new knowledge on the role of access to jobs in explaining apartment rents, and reveal a fresh policy direction on rental subsidy programs for lower-income workers living in cities.     

The first rapid tram line in Poland: How has it affected travel behaviours,housing choices and satisfaction,and apartment prices?

The opening of the Poznań Rapid Tram (pol. Poznański Szybki Tramwaj, PST) in the year 1997 symbolically marked the beginning of a new era in the development of urban transportation systems in Poland. In this paper we would like to address the following question: more than one decade after the opening of the PST, what are its effects in terms of travel behaviours, housing choices and satisfaction, and apartment prices? In order to answer this question, we combined data on travel behaviours and housing choices from a survey based on a sample of nearly 300 households with data on housing prices from over 1400 real estate transaction records from the period between 2010 and 2013. Our results show that the proximity to PST affects travel behaviours, as respondents living close to PST stops confirmed that they use this form of transportation more often. There also seems to be some effect on housing choices; in locations close to PST stops we found many households living in rental housing, particularly university students. Also, about 20% of interviewees declared that they would pay more for apartments located closer to the rapid tram. However, that effect was only partly confirmed through the analysis of transaction prices. Using standard and spatial econometric regressions including variables like apartment size, floor number, amenities, and type of building we found a weak correlation between the proximity to PST and apartment prices. In conclusion, we argue that treating property price effects as the main justification for public transportation projects might be a doubtful choice, because in some cases the principal impacts of such projects might be visible in terms of residents' satisfaction and travel behaviours.     

Suburbanization and transit-oriented development in China

The suburbanization of large Chinese cities has placed many residents in locations that are far less accessible than their prior residences, requiring motorized travel. This paper examines the impacts of relocation to outlying areas on job accessibility, commuting mode choice, and commuting durations based on a current-day and retrospective survey of recent movers to three suburban neighborhoods in Shanghai. Job accessibility levels were found to decline dramatically following the move, matched by increased motorized travel and longer commute durations. Relocating to a suburban area near a metrorail station, however, was found to moderate losses in job accessibility and for many, encourage switches from non-motorized to transit commuting. We conclude that transit-oriented development holds considerable promise for placing rapidly suburbanizing Chinese cities on a more sustainable pathway.     

Measuring and visualizing place-based space-time job accessibility

Place-based accessibility measures, such as the gravity-based model, are widely applied to study the spatial accessibility of workers to job opportunities in cities. However, gravity-based measures often suffer from three main limitations: (1) they are sensitive to the spatial configuration and scale of the units of analysis, which are not specifically designed for capturing job accessibility patterns and are often too coarse; (2) they omit the temporal dynamics of job opportunities and workers in the calculation, instead assuming that they remain stable over time; and (3) they do not lend themselves to dynamic geovisualization techniques. In this paper, a new methodological framework for measuring and visualizing place-based job accessibility in space and time is presented that overcomes these three limitations. First, discretization and dasymetric mapping approaches are used to disaggregate counts of jobs and workers over specific time intervals to a fine-scale grid. Second, Shen's (1998) gravity-based accessibility measure is modified to account for temporal fluctuations in the spatial distributions of the supply of jobs and the demand of workers and is used to estimate hourly job accessibility at each cell. Third, a four-dimensional volumetric rendering approach is employed to integrate the hourly job access estimates into a space-time cube environment, which enables the users to interactively visualize the space-time job accessibility patterns. The integrated framework is demonstrated in the context of a case study of the Tampa Bay region of Florida. The findings demonstrate the value of the proposed methodology in job accessibility analysis and the policy-making process.     

An innovative transit system and its impact on low income users: the case of the Metrocable in Medellín

The Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia, is an innovative system to improve access to deprived areas located in hilly zones. The idea to use cable cars as feeders to the metro was integrated into an ambitious urban project that, to date, has improved accessibility dramatically for some low-income residents. Using data before and after the project’s implementation, we evaluate the impact on social equity for the population in the zone of influence, considering changes in accessibility to employment and in housing-related costs. The access provided by the project to the main high-employment centres has doubled the number of opportunities that can be reached by the “target population,” even though travel-time savings and costs have seen only small changes. In fact, prior access to the CBD was poor and expensive, but time and costs were reduced with the Metrocable, although this reduction was not equal for all locations in the metropolitan area. In general, we argue that the main benefits, in terms of accessibility that differentiates the areas analysed from those used for comparison, are related to a localised ease of access to specific centres of activity according to the centralised development of the city’s job market along the mass transit lines. In terms of housing costs, we developed a set of difference-in-difference models that considered rent, transport, and public utilities costs; however, none of them have allowed us to conclude that there was a statistically valid relationship between the Metrocable and the changes in costs between the two analysed populations.     

Exploring job accessibility in the transformation context: an institutionalist approach and its application in Beijing

There is a strong need to explore the determinants of worker’s commuting time as the declines in job accessibility associated with the dramatic growth of commuting time have become a serious negative effect on the quality of urban life in megacities of China. Most well-developed theories exploring change in commuting time are based on neo-classical economic theory. This paper argues however that in the case of China institutional factors of the housing provision system and labour mobility management have been more important. The paper conceptualizes an institutionalist approach incorporating housing and controls over labour mobility and applies it to analyse these influences on workers’ commuting time in Beijing. The analysis shows that the interaction of housing provision, the market system and the Hukou system together have significant impact upon individual commuting time allowing for worker’s annual household income, occupation and transport mode. The findings suggest that the market-oriented housing reforms have changed the local jobs–housing balance that prevailed in pre-reform era and have thus induced growth of commuting time; the remaining the unfair treatment of residents according to their Hukou status may influence the floating worker’s ability to connect housing and workplace opportunities that could reduce commuting time. With respect to future studies, the institutionalist approach seems to be an efficient means of exploring particular factors that emerge in the transformation of an economy.     

Dependence between travel distance,individual socioeconomic and health-related characteristics,and the choice of the travel mode: a cross-sectional study for Kaunas,Lithuania

The aim of this study was to analyse the associations between individual socioeconomic and health-related characteristics, travel distance, and the choice of different travel modes in urban population. A cross-sectional study included 932 adults of Kaunas city, Lithuania. The choice of the travel mode and individual characteristics were self-reported by the participants, and their travel routes were calculated using the geographic information system. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the most significant factors determining the choice of a car, cycling, walking, or public transport. In total, 529 participants reported using a car, of whom 65.8% had medium or high education levels. These participants were more likely to be younger, male, married, and employed. Among bicycle users, statistically significant differences between the employment status, body mass index, and travel distance were observed. Walkers were significantly more likely to be older, those with lower incomes, unemployed, and travelling the shortest distances. The analysis of the travel distance on the choice of the travel mode revealed that men travelled longer distances with a car compared to women. The employment status was significantly associated with travel distance by car or public transport. Employed individuals travelled longer distances by public transport or by car, compared to unemployed individuals. Among bicycle users, we found that people with higher levels of education and overweight individuals cycled the longest distances. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering different individual characteristics when analysing the choice of transport modes. It provides evidence that is relevant for all urban populations on the choice of the transport mode, particularly considering active versus passive transport.     

Assessing equity in park accessibility using a travel behavior-based G2SFCA method in Nanjing,China

Spatial equity of parks is a major concern in environmental justice studies. While many measurements have been used to evaluate access to parks, few studies have considered the impact of travel behavior on park accessibility. This study aims to establish a travel behavior-based Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (TB-G2SFCA) method to assess spatial equity of parks in the Nanjing region, and Local Moran's I index is applied to identify spatial agglomeration patterns in assessing equity. The results demonstrate that (1) the traditional single-mode model maybe cannot provide accurate approach to evaluating park accessibility while the TB-G2SFCA method can provide a more realistic park accessibility evaluation; (2) the inhabitants of most communities distributed south of the Yangtze River can obtain better park services than the northern areas; (3) the spatial disparities of equity in park accessibility are severe in three suburban districts, relatively minor in four central districts, and insignificant in two central districts. These findings may assist urban planners and policy makers to frame more reasonable policy and planning to improve spatial equity to parks in urban areas.     

What drives sustainable student travel? Mode choice determinants in the Greater Toronto Area

Examination of mode choice behavior is an important step in accurately predicting future travel demand. Despite having somewhat unique travel needs and challenges, there is a lack of knowledge in understanding the mode use behavior of university student population. The existing studies on university populations relied on a relatively smaller sample in investigating the behavior. Therefore, using world's largest university student's travel database, this study examines the factors affecting the mode choice behavior of a diverse university student population with student samples from four universities and their seven campuses located across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Canada. Additionally, stratifying this diverse population using their attitudinal responses towards numerous travel modes, this study also estimates three additional mode choice models to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of how students in different markets, with different latent attitudes towards transportation, vary in terms of sustainable mode choice. A cluster analysis based on fourteen attitudinal responses, was conducted to stratify the sample whereas the popular multinomial logit approach was used to estimate the mode choice models. This study finds transit pass and bike ownership as important determinants that govern sustainable mode choice among the students in the region. The findings of this study could facilitate the sustainability offices at the four universities in making an informed policy decision in shifting the mode use behavior of students towards sustainable modes.     

Disentangling the behavioural side of the first and last mile problem: the role of modality style and the built environment

The first and last mile (FLM) problem, namely the poor connection between trip origins or destination and public transport stations, is a significant obstacle to sustainable transportation as it is likely to encourage the use of cars for FLM travel, if not for the entire trip. This study examines the role of modality style and built environment in FLM mode choice behaviour, in order to identify the key features that might invoke a travel mode shift from cars to more sustainable travel options for both mandatory and discretionary trips. More specifically, this study draws on disaggregate data from the South East Queensland household travel survey and presents a latent class choice model to unravel modality style groups. Results reveal two distinct individual-level modality style groups: (1) driving and walking oriented; (2) multimodal travellers. Individuals in the second modality style group were found to be relatively inelastic to FLM travel time for mandatory trips, while individuals in the first group were largely unaffected by built environment characteristics and highly habitual in their mode choice behaviour for both mandatory and discretionary trips. Home residence environments with high road intersection density and public transport accessibility, and home residence environments with diverse land use mix, respectively encourage individuals within the second modality style to walk for mandatory trips, and discretionary trips. To this end, when place-based policies seek to change certain built environment features, individuals in the second modality style are more likely to shift their preference from cars to more sustainable modes. Finally, our findings have practical planning implications in targeting mode shift through highlighting the importance of considering the intersection of individual modality style in a given locale and mode choice behaviour. More specifically, our findings advocate for place-based policies that seek to target particular locales with the certain modality style deemed to be more predisposed to adopting a mode shift.     

Accessibility across transport modes and residential developments in Nairobi

A key goal of urban transportation planning is to provide people with access to a greater number of opportunities for interaction with people and places. Measures of accessibility are gaining attention globally for use in planning, yet few studies measure accessibility in cities in low-income countries, and even fewer incorporate semi-formal bus systems, also called paratransit. Drawing on rich datasets available for Nairobi, Kenya this analysis quantifies place-based accessibility for walking, paratransit, and driving using three different measures: a mobility measure quantifying how many other locations in Nairobi can be reached in 60 min, a contour measure quantifying the number of health facilities that can be reached in 60 min, and a gravity measure quantifying the number of health facilities weighted by a time-decay function. Health facilities are used because they are an essential service that people need physical access to and as a representation of the spatial distribution of activities more broadly. The findings show that place-based accessibility is highest for driving, then paratransit, then walking, and that there are high levels of access to health facilities near the Central Business District (CBD) for all modes. Additionally, paratransit accessibility is comparatively better in the contour and gravity measures, which may mean that paratransit is efficiently providing access based on the spatial distribution of services. The contour measure results are also compared across different residential levels, which are grouped based on neighborhood characteristics and ordered by income. Counterintuitively, the wealthiest areas have very low levels of place-based accessibility for all modes, while poor areas have comparatively better walking access to health facilities. Interestingly, the medium low residential level, characterized in part by tenement apartment buildings, has significantly higher accessibility than other residential types. One way to reduce inequality in access across income groups is to increase spatial accessibility for the modes used by low- and middle-income households, for example with policies that prioritize public transport and non-motorized travel, integrate paratransit with land use development, and provide safe, efficient, and affordable options.     

Spatial and socio-demographic determinants of South East Queensland students’ school cycling

The low prevalence of Australian students’ utilitarian school cycling could be attributed to the varied and context specific demographic, socio-economic and spatial school travel mode choice determinants. Travel distance is universally important for school cycling and is reliant amongst related home and school spatial proximity factors on a student’s choice of schools. This paper, primarily based on school students’ travel data extracted from the 2009 South East Queensland Household Travel Survey (SEQHTS), examines comparative school cycling travel patterns, school catchment choices and the significant analytical determinants of cycling mode choices from within an urban regional Australian context. Students’ choice of a school external to that located within their designated State school catchment zone was associated with household attributes of parent/guardian employment location, number of income earners and ownership of private vehicles coupled with State school and catchment attributes. Noteworthy variations in school travel distances and modal splits were allied with school catchment choices. Adolescent male students from two parent households owning fewer than two cars and more than two bicycles, with parents/guardians commuting using non-motorised travel modes and resident in Census Collection Districts with conducive cycling environments, contributed largely to the one-way bi-directional primary and secondary school cycling mode shares. This prevalent student cyclist profile indicates the need for enhancements in student school cycling participation, through policies addressing both the spatial (built) and social environment which impact students’ personal and traffic safety coupled with utilitarian cycling image enhancements. Concerted efforts to bolster cycling amongst student segments with current low cycling participation inclusive of females, students from single parent households and those with adequate access to private motorised travel modes may be necessary to further enhance school cycling mode shares. The paper makes a case for individualised targeted travel interventions informed by segregated mode choice determinant analysis for respective primary and secondary school types and directions of school travel.     

Modelling the joint access mode and railway station choice

This study models the choices of Dutch railway users. We find a steeper negative distance effect on the utility of departure stations accessed by the non-motorized modes of walking and bicycle as compared to the motorized modes of car and public transport. Availability of parking places and bicycle standing areas have a positive effect on the choice of departure railway stations accessed by car and bicycle, respectively. Public transport frequency has a positive whereas travel time has a negative effect on the choice of departure stations accessed by public transport. The derived rail service quality index (RSQI), which provides a measure of rail accessibility to all other stations, has a significant and positive effect on the choice of departure stations accessed by all modes. The outcome of this paper can be used to develop a comprehensive railway accessibility indicator for neighbourhoods, for hedonic pricing studies.     

Spatial analysis of access to and accessibility surrounding train stations: a case study of accessibility for the elderly in Perth,Western Australia

Approximately one-fifth of Perth’s population is aged 60 or older. Projections suggest that this proportion will continue to increase as a result of the large number of children born after the World War II (1946–1964). Access to and accessibility around train stations for the aging population is and will become a more important issue as the elderly population continues to grow. The aim of the paper is to develop and apply a new measure of accessibility to train stations at a fine spatial scale, justified by the special circumstance of the elderly using a case study in Perth, Western Australia. Intercept surveys are used to collect data on factors affecting train station accessibility for patrons aged 60 years or older, at seven highly dispersed train stations. Overall accessibility is measured separately using a composite index based on three travel modes (walk-and-ride, park-and-ride and bus-and-ride). The results illustrate that key variables, such as distance from an origin to a station, walking or driving route directness, land-use diversity, service and facility quality, bus connection to train stations, all affect the accessibility to train stations for the elderly. This implies that improvements to these factors will improve accessibility for this population group.     

Measuring the long-distance accessibility of Italian cities

Long-distance accessibility is a crucial element for economic development and for territorial cohesion. To be revealing, however, a measure of accessibility must not only consider the distance or travel time of a single mode, but should include the fares, the frequency and the interchanges of all available modes.The paper aims to address whether and where there is an accessibility problem between Italian regions, through a comprehensive measure of accessibility covering the entire Italian territory. The measure used in the paper is potential accessibility, with an exponential decay impedance function. Different from similar studies, this one gives a more in-depth definition of impedance parameters due to the availability of a transport model that includes the entire Italian long-distance supply (roads, coaches, long-distance rail services, air services, and ferries). The opportunities at destination are proxied by population, and private and public sector employees.The main outputs are detailed maps of accessibility that are significantly more realistic than using simple infrastructure indicators or single-mode measures. In addition, some policy conclusions are drawn in terms of past and future investment policies.