The geography of advance transit-oriented development in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, 2000-2007

Phoenix adopted overlay zoning (an additional, targeted layer of regulations) in some light-rail transit (LRT) station areas at the site-selection stage to reduce planning-related uncertainty. This prompts consideration of advance transit-oriented development (TOD)—development that takes place before LRT system operation. In this paper we break down almost $1 billion worth of advance TOD in the Phoenix area by type of TOD, type of station area, and use of overlay zoning. Factor analysis and cluster analysis are applied to GIS-based parcel-level data to identify five distinct station-area types. We then use ANOVA to verify statistically significant relationships between station-area type and: the value of advance TOD, the percentage of parcels with overlay zoning, and the percentage of advance TOD with overlay zoning. The five station-area types, ordered from highest to lowest advance TOD per station, are employment centers; Middle-Income Mixed-Use areas; transportation (park-and-ride) nodes; high population/rental areas; and urban poverty areas. Overlay zoning was used most in areas of urban poverty and least in station-area types with the most single-family housing. Advance TOD coincided strongly with overlay zoning in areas of urban poverty and least in employment and amenity centers.     

Attitudes towards transit-oriented development: Resident experiences and professional perspectives

Transit-oriented development (TOD) provides highly efficient access to transit facilities and, when implemented in concert with streetscape changes, improves neighborhood walkability. In some regions, TOD has generated controversy, seen as impinging on the local populations' preferences for single-family housing, as well as the desire of developers to build that category of housing. In New Jersey, however, there has been increased policy support for TOD. The question addressed here is how, if at all, TOD and TOD-proximate residents' perceptions of the benefits and shortcomings of TOD are perceived and addressed by professionals involved with TOD planning and development. A qualitative research approach was used, with focus groups with residents and structured interviews with professionals. A relatively well-fitting correspondence was found: There was broad agreement by residents and professionals on the value of transit and TOD for increased accessibility and walkability. Problems were identified with retail development and traffic problems; the latter expressed as a congestion problem by professionals but as a pedestrian safety problem by residents. This information provides useful insight for planners and developers seeking to deliver TOD designs that match the preferences of residents and potential residents, and for new avenues of research on how best to achieve this.     

A joint analysis of residential location,work location and commuting mode choices in Hanoi,Vietnam

The influence of land use policy on people's residential and travel choices may be overestimated because of self-selection effects. In the context of commuting, neighborhood and travel preferences may induce self-selection effects in choices about residential location, work location, and commuting mode. Presumably, such self-selection effects may vary across different job markets. To date, however, no study has been done in developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap by using data collected in Hanoi, Vietnam. A joint model with the above three choices is built by incorporating self-selection effects, where effects of land use attributes are emphasized. Choices of labor-intensive workers (11,344) and knowledge-intensive workers (12,360) are compared. The statistical significance of multiple self-selection effects is confirmed, which suggests that the joint estimation of the above three choices is a useful approach. As for the magnitude of influence of self-selection effects, self-selection seems to be more influential in knowledge-intensive workers' residential location and work location choices. As for land use attributes, different types of households, and labor-intensive and knowledge-intensive workers show different responses to different types of land in location choices (especially the work location choice). Effects of land use diversity and population density on the commuting mode choice are mixed. Additionally, the centralization of knowledge-intensive employment and decentralization of labor-intensive employment are captured. These findings may be useful for city planners in Hanoi in designing land use patterns in the future in order to keep knowledge-intensive workers working and living close together.     

Residential dissonance and mode choice

Residential dissonance refers to the mismatch in land-use patterns between individuals’ preferred residential neighbourhood type and the type of neighbourhood in which they currently reside. Current knowledge regarding the impact of residential dissonance is limited to short-term travel behaviours in urban vs. suburban, and rural vs. urban areas. Although the prevailing view is that dissonants adjust their orientation and lifestyle around their surrounding land use over time, empirical evidence is lacking to support this proposition. This research identifies both short-term mode choice behaviour and medium-term mode shift behaviour of dissonants in transit oriented development (TODs) vs. non-TOD areas in Brisbane, Australia. Natural groupings of neighbourhood profiles (e.g. residential density, land use diversity, intersection density, cul-de-sac density, and public transport accessibility levels) of 3957 individuals were identified as living either in a TOD (510 individuals) or non-TOD (3447 individuals) areas in Brisbane using the TwoStep cluster analysis technique. Levels of dissonance were measured based on a factor analysis of 16 items representing the travel attitudes/preferences of individuals. Two multinomial logistic (MNL) regression models were estimated to understand mode choice behaviour of (1) TOD dissonants, and (2) non-TOD dissonants in 2009, controlling for socio-demographics and environmental characteristics. Two additional MNL regression models were estimated to investigate mode shift behaviour of (3) TOD dissonants, and (4) non-TOD dissonants between 2009 and 2011, also controlling for socio-demographic, changes in socio-demographic, and built environmental factors. The findings suggest that travel preference is relatively more influential in transport mode choice decisions compared with built environment features. Little behavioural evidence was found to support the adjustment of a dissonant orientation toward a particular land use feature and mode accessibility they represent (e.g. a modal shift to greater use of the car for non-TOD dissonants). TOD policies should focus on reducing the level of dissonance in TODs in order to enhance transit ridership.     

Study of the regional accessibility calculation by income class based on utility-based accessibility

With the Republic of Korea facing many challenges in urban housing development, the Korean government has implemented various public housing policies to stabilise the residential life of low-income households. While the government has established different housing policies for each household income class, there is a lack of research on rational accessibility models that consider the characteristics of each income class. Therefore, this study constructed an accessibility calculation model that reflects the transportation characteristics of various household income classes and used it to calculate the accessibility of each area and the household location of each income class. The results demonstrated limited difference in accessibility between income classes in Seoul; however, in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, high-income accessibility was lower than low-income accessibility. It was also confirmed that the low-income households were more likely to be located in areas of low accessibility, while middle and high-income households were more likely to be located in areas of high accessibility. The main contributions of this study are as follows. First, it systematically derives the traffic characteristics by income class and uses these to calculate accessibility. Second, it presents a more reasonable model for calculating accessibility than the nominal model used in government policy decisions. Finally, it evaluates household location by income class based on the accessibility calculated in this study.     

Residential self-selection and travel behaviour: What are the effects of attitudes,reasons for location choice and the built environment?

In studies of the effect of built environment on travel behaviour, residential self-selection is an increasingly important issue. Self-selection implies that households locate in places that provide them with conducive conditions for their preferred way of travelling. In these studies, it is assumed that attitudes toward different travel modes are an important factor in location choice, and that households are unconstrained in choosing their preferred residential location. This paper challenges these assumptions, by distinguishing between the more passive travel attitude and travel considerations as a deliberate reason to locate in a certain place. Based on a survey among 355 recently relocated households in Dutch TOD locations, we find that the association between travel attitude and residential environment is weak, and that the association between travel attitude and travel as a factor in location choice is moderate at best. Multivariate models show that both travel attitude and travel being a reason for location choice influence travel mode use, suggesting that travel attitude is insufficient to fully reflect self-selection processes. In comparison to other travel modes, train travel is most influenced by the fact whether residents deliberately chose to live in an environment conducive to using this mode.     

Residential property valuations near transit stations with transit-oriented development

Access to train stations is highly valued and this is reflected in the premium price of residential property near train stations. Transit-oriented development (TOD) and the amenities provided by mixed-use development may also provide value to consumers. The analysis presented here evaluates the median property valuations surrounding eight transit stations with TOD using residential property valuation data provided by Zillow™, an on-line real estate listing firm. A hedonic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between median block-group-level residential property valuations and the distance to the station with TOD and other stations with direct, non-stop access to New York City, while controlling for demographic and housing variables. Spatial econometric software and techniques are used to control for spatial autocorrelation. Results suggest that while the mixed-use development typically found with TOD is likely valued, proximity to stations with direct access to New York City leads to higher relative property valuations.     

Advance transit oriented development typology: case study in Brisbane,Australia

Internationally, transit oriented development (TOD) is characterised by moderate to high density development with diverse land use patterns and well connected street networks centred around high frequency transit stops (bus and rail). Although different TOD typologies have been developed in different contexts, they are based on subjective evaluation criteria derived from the context in which they are built and typically lack a validation measure. Arguably there exist sets of TOD characteristics that perform better in certain contexts, and being able to optimise TOD effectiveness would facilitate planning and supporting policy development. This research utilises data from census collection districts (CCDs) in Brisbane with different sets of TOD attributes measured across six objectively quantified built environmental indicators: net employment density, net residential density, land use diversity, intersection density, cul-de-sac density, and public transport accessibility. Using these measures, a Two Step Cluster Analysis was conducted to identify natural groupings of the CCDs with similar profiles, resulting in four unique TOD clusters: (a) residential TODs, (b) activity centre TODs, (c) potential TODs, and (d) TOD non-suitability. The typologies are validated by estimating a multinomial logistic regression model in order to understand the mode choice behaviour of 10,013 individuals living in these areas. Results indicate that in comparison to people living in areas classified as residential TODs, people who reside in non-TOD clusters were significantly less likely to use public transport (PT) (1.4 times), and active transport (4 times) compared to the car. People living in areas classified as potential TODs were 1.3 times less likely to use PT, and 2.5 times less likely to use active transport compared to using the car. Only a little difference in mode choice behaviour was evident between people living in areas classified as residential TODs and activity centre TODs. The results suggest that: (a) two types of TODs may be suitable for classification and effect mode choice in Brisbane; (b) TOD typology should be developed based on their TOD profile and performance matrices; (c) both bus stop and train station based TODs are suitable for development in Brisbane.     

A deeper investigation into the effect of the built environment on the use of ridehailing for non-work travel

Ridehailing has become a main-stream mobility option in many cities around the world. Many factors can influence an individual's decision to use ridehailing over other modes, and the growing need of policy makers to make built-environment and regulatory decisions related to ridehailing requires an increased understanding of these. This study develops a model that estimates how the built environment affects the decision to choose ridehailing for making non-work trips, while carefully accounting for a variety of confounding effects that could potentially bias the results (if ignored or improperly incorporated). These include: total number of trips, differences in supply between urban and non-urban areas, residential choice (e.g. urban versus non-urban areas), and household choice of whether to own a vehicle. We use individual-level data from a California travel survey that includes detailed attitude measurements to estimate an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model to properly specify these effects. We include accessibility measures used elsewhere (e.g., Walkscore) plus measures developed for this study. Our analysis estimates the effect of these measures on ridehailing mode share, and how they differ between urban and non-urban areas. This analysis results in several major findings: we confirm that omission of latent preferences for residential location and vehicle ownership from the analysis can lead to biased results; previous studies may have overestimated the complementarity or substitution relationships between public transit and ridehailing by ignoring confounding effects; and even after accounting for other effects, individuals living in vibrant and walkable neighborhoods have a higher mode share for ridehailing (potentially using it instead of active modes).     

Understanding differences in residential location preferences between ownership and renting: A case study of London

This study aims to investigate the similarities and differences between residential location choices of owners and renters. The models are estimated for commuter households living in owned or privately rented dwellings in the Greater London Area. The London Household Survey Data, Ward Atlas Data and the London Transport Studies Model outputs are used in this regard. Model parameters are estimated using an error components specification of the mixed logit model to capture differences in error variance. Willingness to Pay (WTP) and elasticity analyses are also performed for interpretation of the estimated model parameters and quantifying the differences between the two groups. The results indicate that while some common factors are affecting the choices of owners and renters, there are significant differences in response to several factors such as public transport accessibility (for ‘car-owning’ households) and percentage of detached houses in the area. Accounting for preference heterogeneity between the sub-groups is expected to lead to better planning and investment decisions.     

Measuring transit oriented development: a spatial multi criteria assessment approach for the City Region Arnhem and Nijmegen

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a planning approach that can stimulate sustainable development by encouraging better land use and transport integration. Arnhem Nijmegen City Region, a regional planning body, in the Netherlands, aims to promote sustainable development in their region and control the current pattern of increased use of cars vis-à-vis transit for longer commutes. Planning for TOD can help achieve this aim. It is believed that measuring the existing levels of TOD is a prerequisite for TOD planning and that it can be done using a TOD Index proposed in this research. A TOD Index measures multiple spatial indicators and aggregates them under the SMCA framework to arrive at a comprehensive value depicting the existing levels of TOD at a location or an area. Using this TOD Index, TOD levels were measured over the entire City Region covering approx. 1000 km². High levels of TOD imply that the urban development’s characteristics, at that location, are ripe for use of transit and these high levels, as expected, were found in the urban areas of Arnhem and Nijmegen. From the results of TOD Index measurement, using hot-spot analysis, those locations were identified that have high TOD levels but poor transit connectivity. These locations are accordingly recommended for better transit connectivity. As a part of our future work, it is intended to use the TOD Index to elevate TOD levels around existing transit nodes.     

Considering context and dynamics: A classification of transit-orientated development for New York City

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is a widely recognised planning strategy for encouraging the use of mass and active transport over other less sustainable modes. Typological approaches to TOD areas can be utilised to either retrospectively or prospectively assist urban planners with evidence-based information on the delivery or monitoring of TOD. However, existing studies aiming to create TOD typologies overwhelmingly concentrate input measures around three dimensions of: density, diversity and design; which might be argued as not effectively capturing a fuller picture of context. Moreover, such emphasis on static attributes overlooks the importance of human mobility patterns that are signatures of the dynamics of cities.This study proposes a framework to address this research gap by enhancing a conventional TOD typology through the addition of measures detailing the spatiotemporal dynamics of activity at transit stations; implemented for the selected case study area, New York City.     

Affective-symbolic and instrumental-independence psychological motives mediating effects of socio-demographic variables on daily car use

An empirical study investigates the extent to which affective-symbolic and instrumental-independence psychological motives mediate effects of socio-demographic variables on daily car use in Sweden. Questionnaire data from a mail survey to 1134 car users collected in 2007 were used to assess the relationships daily car use as driver or passenger have to sex, household type (single or cohabiting with or without children), and residential area (urban, semi-rural or rural). Reliable measures of affective-symbolic and instrumental-independence motives were constructed. The results show that households with children use the car more than households with no children, that men make more car trips as drivers than women who use the car as passenger more than men, and that households living in rural areas use the car more than households living in semi-rural areas who use the car more than households living in urban areas. An affective-symbolic motive partially mediates the relationship between the number of weekly car trips and sex, the instrumental-independence motive partially mediates the relationships between weekly car use and percent car use as driver and several of the socio-demographic variables (living in urban vs. rural residential area for both measures; sex and living in urban vs. semi-rural residential area for percent car use as driver). Of several other socio-demographic variables (age, employment, and income) affecting car use, only the relationship of the number of cars to percent car use as driver was (partially) mediated by the instrumental-independence motive.     

Endogenous treatment of residential location choices in transport and land use models: Introducing the MetroScan framework

Within a random utility maximisation modelling framework, the paper develops a residential location choice model as part of an integrated transport and land use modelling system, called MetroScan – a quick scanning tool to evaluate transport and land use initiatives, including benefit-cost analysis and economic impact analysis. We describe how the developed model is integrated, as an empirically calibrated module, into the behaviourally richer transport and land use modelling system of MetroScan for practical application. A full application of MetroScan modelling system to Sydney West Metro link recently proposed by the New South Wales government is presented as a case study. The results demonstrate how the residential location choice model works with other inter-connected models, such as work and non-work location choices, dwelling tenure and dwelling type, and vehicle fleet size choice embedded in the modelling system, in simulating the impact of transport and housing development on household choices of residential location.     

Measuring housing and transportation affordability: A case study of Melbourne,Australia

Housing affordability is traditionally measured using the percentage of household income spent on housing. An important cost that is usually overlooked in measuring location affordability is the transportation or accessibility costs. In this paper, we present a modeling approach, driven by urban open data, to measure location affordability that incorporates both housing and transportation costs. We apply the developed model to assess housing affordability in Melbourne, Australia as a case study. Results suggest that neighbourhoods that appear to be affordable when only housing cost is considered are not necessarily affordable when transportation costs are taken into account. A negative correlation between housing affordability and transportation affordability is observed. We also identify the presence of a strong spatial clustering pattern in the affordability measure across the study area. A major methodological contribution of the paper is the inclusion of comprehensive private vehicle costs and public transportation expenses in the model that contributes to a more robust estimation and understanding of location affordability. The model also distinguishes between different trip purposes. Results suggest that plans and policies to improve housing affordability should be made in coordination with transportation infrastructure investment plans to ensure effective and equitable outcomes. Nevertheless, the focus of the paper is more on the measurement of affordability; rather than reviewing and recommending housing related policies.     

Accessibility and Transit-Oriented Development in European metropolitan areas

This study investigates how urban form is related to accessibility. In particular, it explores the relationship between Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and rail-based accessibility in a metropolitan area. The following overarching questions are addressed: Does a TOD-informed urban spatial structure correlate with high rail based accessibility? Which features of TOD are correlated to rail-based accessibility? These questions are answered through a comparative analysis of six metropolitan areas in Europe. The “TOD degree”, operationalized as the extent to which urban development is concentrated along rail corridors and stations, is correlated with a cumulative opportunity measure of rail-based accessibility to jobs and inhabitants.The comparison demonstrates that rail-based accessibility is higher in urban areas where inhabitants and jobs are more concentrated around the railway network and in lesser measure in urban areas with higher values of network connectivity. No correlation is found between rail-based accessibility and average densities of inhabitants and jobs.     

Heterogeneous effects of neighborhood type on commute mode choice: An exploration of residential dissonance in the Twin Cities

Many studies have measured residential and travel preferences to address residential self-selection and they often focused on the average or independent effect of the built environment on travel behavior. However, individuals' behavioral responses to built environment interventions may vary by their different tastes. Using the 2011 data from the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area, this study examines the influences of neighborhood type, travel attitudes, and their interaction terms on commute mode choice. The interactions between neighborhood type and travel attitudes have no significant impact on driving commute frequency whereas the effects of neighborhood type on the propensity for transit commute differ by transit preference. Specifically, urban consonants (including those in LRT neighborhoods) have the highest propensity for transit commute, followed by suburban dissonants, urban dissonants, and then suburban consonants. Therefore, individuals' heterogeneous responses to built environment elements should be taken into account in future research and in the design of land use and transportation policies aiming to shape urban travel.     

Evaluating the impacts of transit-oriented developments (TODs) on household transportation expenditures in California

This study evaluates the impact of transit-oriented development (TOD) on household transportation expenditures in California by comparing TOD households with two groups of control households that are identified by propensity score matching. When controlling for household demographics, TOD households own fewer and more fuel-efficient cars, drive fewer miles, and use transit more. On average, they save $1232 per year on transportation expenditures than non-TOD households with similar demographics, accounting for 18% of their total annual transportation expenditures. When controlling for both demographics and neighborhood environment, TOD households still own slightly fewer and more fuel-efficient cars and use transit more. But they drive similar amount of miles as non-TOD households do. TOD households save $429 per year on transportation expenditures than non-TOD households with similar demographics and neighborhood environment, accounting for about 6% of their total annual transportation expenditures. TOD households save money on transportation costs mainly because they own fewer cars than non-TOD households. About two thirds of the savings can be attributed to transit-friendly neighborhood environment and one third to their access to rail transit, suggesting the importance of integrating a rail transit system with supportive land use planning and neighborhood design.     

Transit-oriented development (TOD) typologies around metro station areas in urban China: A comparative analysis of five typical megacities for planning implications

Transit-oriented development (TOD), which is regarded as an efficient planning strategy for urban sustainability, has surged in use across the globe in the recent past. While the lessons learned from case studies of individual cities can provide valuable references, they also result in a gap between existing theoretical principles and actual planning practices. The comparative analysis of TOD typologies among cities affords unique strengths for addressing such a challenge. By extending the classic ‘node–place’ model with a third dimension, this paper first constructs a ‘node–functionality–place’ model in the form of a magic cube as the theoretical basis for classifying TOD typologies. Then, the model is applied to five typical Chinese megacities, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hangzhou. After establishing an indicator system, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to determine the TOD degree, and a two-step cluster is employed to classify TOD typologies. The results show that the TOD degree, although it varies with cities, presents a similar spatial pattern, with a general tendency to decline from the central core to the outskirts. In total, six TOD types are distinguished and present notable variations within and across the five megacities. The identified TOD typologies thus equip urban planners and policymakers with a useful tool for designing more targeted strategies. The discoveries made in the comparative context differ from those made in the individual context in prior studies. This paper is thus believed to make a new contribution to the existing TOD literature.