The rail transit system and land use change in the Denver metro region

One of the goals of constructing and operating an extensive rail transit system in the Denver metro region since 1994 has been growth and development of land use along the rail transit system. This paper analyzes the trend of land use growth and development around the rail transit system mostly from 2000 to 2010. Primarily land parcel data collected from the assessor's office of several counties in the metro region have been used to determine change in the amount of different types of land use namely commercial, mixed, industrial, multi-family residential and single-family residential near and far from the rail transit system. Change has been analyzed in terms of total square footage of the building areas as well as land use density. Statistical significance tests (Wilcoxon/Kruskal–Wallis test) have been conducted to understand if the amount of change taking place near the rail transit system is greater than away from the system. The growth of commercial land use was significantly higher near the rail transit system. More growth in multi-family residential land use has also occurred near the rail transit system, but was not significantly greater than areas away from the system. Single-family residential land use has noticeably increased in places away from the rail transit system. The other types of land use have not shown any consistent pattern in their growth either near or away from the system. Overall, a noticeable amount of land use change, especially commercial land use, has taken place around the rail transit system from 2000 to 2010. However, this change in land use cannot necessarily be attributed to the construction and operation of the rail transit system. Other factors may have influenced the growth of land use around the rail transit system more than the presence of the rail transit system itself.     

Route choice and residential environment: introducing liveability requirements in navigation systems in Flanders

Vehicle route planning and navigation systems aim to provide the most beneficial routes to their users while disregarding the impact on the liveability of the surrounding residential areas. Therefore, future integration of route choice behaviour by route planners and measures to improve liveability and safety standards should be pursued. The Spatial Plan for Flanders, which is the overarching spatial policy plan in the northern part of Belgium, determines a system of road categories aimed at optimising the liveability of sensitive areas, such as residential neighbourhoods or school precincts, without jeopardizing accessibility. This paper examines to what extent routes proposed by commercial route planners differ from more socially desirable routes that are guided by the policy principles of road categorisation in Flanders as proposed by the plan. Results show that commercial route-planners’ routes choose more often roads of the lowest category than socially acceptable. However, for some of the assessed connections, the socially desired alternative is a feasible route as well, which is not excessively increasing time consumption or distance travelled. It is concluded that the implementation of the prevailing road categorisation system in Flanders in routing algorithms has the potential to promote more sustainable route choices, while infrastructural measures that discourage cut-through traffic may help materialising the categorisation system.     

Land use characteristics of subway catchment areas and their influence on subway ridership in Seoul

This study has dual research objectives: 1) to evaluate the land use characteristics of the pedestrian catchment areas (PCA) of subway stations in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) in terms of transit-oriented development (TOD) principles and 2) to investigate the influence of each PCA's land use characteristics on station-level ridership. The major findings can be summarized as follows. First, the built environments of subway PCAs in Seoul were found to be compatible with TOD principles in terms of density and diversity. They have declining density gradients of population and employment that extend outward from a station and have a high level of mixed-use land.Second, population and employment densities, land use mix diversity, and intermodal connectivity all have a positive impact on subway ridership, but differ in their spatial ranges. In particular, the influence spans of residential and commercial development patterns (population density and the proportion of commercial land) and mixed land use on ridership were limited to only the core and primary PCAs. Consequently, with respect to TOD in a compact city like Seoul, we recommend that a PCA be defined to encompass a radius of 600 m.     

Changes in land use typology of global airports: An empirical investigation with implications for the aerotropolis concept

Aerotropolis is an urban development concept characterised by the concentration of land uses fostering economic activities around airports. However, limited empirical evidence exists about the formation of aerotropolises and their effects on the productivity of airports. This study addresses the gaps by examining changes in land use patterns around 75 major airports globally, using data extracted from Google Earth for two time periods: 2004 and 2014. A Two-Step cluster analysis technique was applied to identify natural groupings of the airports in terms of their land use patterns for both periods. Changes in cluster membership were observed between the periods to examine the process of aerotropolis formation. A multivariate multiple linear regression (MMLR) model is estimated to identify factors contributing to aerotropolis formation process. Finally, the effects of the aerotropolis formation process on airport productivity is estimated in a two-stage least square (2SLS) regression model. Cluster analysis results show that airport land side development can be classified into three groups: Island airports (surrounded by largely vacant land), Waterfront airports (adjacent to a large body of water), and Built form airports (well-developed residential, commercial and industrial land uses). Overall, built-up areas increased by 2.1% between 2004 and 2014, and only three airports transitioned from Island to Built form – suggesting a weak evidence of the aerotropolis formation process. Developable land surrounding the airports and city population growth rate contributed significantly to this process, which consequently contributed to the productivity of airports. In conclusion, aerotropolises are a promising concept, yet unreal. It needs to be integrated with city plans to direct development, and thereby, to make it a reality.     

Determinants of distance traveled with a focus on the elderly: a multilevel analysis in the Hamilton CMA,Canada

The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of mean trip distance traveled by different mode types. The study uses data from the Hamilton CMA in Canada, and multilevel models to investigate the variables that impact distance traveled, with a specific focus on demographic aging factors. The results of the study validate previous findings regarding the decline in distance traveled as age advances. In addition, it is found that: (1) while this effect of age is present for all modes analyzed (car driving, car passenger, and bus) it is considerably more marked for car driving; (2) there are significant effects compounded by the interrelated factors of gender, employment constraints, household contextual factors; and (3) neighbourhoods with high commercial and residential mix showed a negative relation with distance traveled only in the case of car driver.     

Varying influences of the built environment on daily and hourly pedestrian crossing volumes at signalized intersections estimated from traffic signal controller event data

Direct-demand models of pedestrian volumes (identifying relationships with built environment characteristics) require pedestrian data, typically from short-duration manual counts at a limited number of locations. We overcome these limitations using a novel source of pedestrian data: estimated pedestrian crossing volumes based on push-button event data recorded in traffic signal controller logs. These continuous data allow us to study more sites (1494 signalized intersections throughout Utah, US) over a much longer time period (one year) than in previous models, including the ability to detect variations across days-of-week and times-of-day. Specifically, we develop direct demand (log-linear regression) models that represent relationships between built environment variables (calculated at ¼- and ½-mile network buffers) and annual average daily and hourly pedestrian metrics. We control spatial autocorrelation through the use of spatial error models. All results confirm theorized relationships: There is more pedestrian activity at intersections with greater population and employment densities, a larger proportion of commercial and residential land uses, more connected street networks, more nearby services and amenities, and in lower-income neighborhoods with larger households. Notably, we also find relevant day-of-week and time-of-day differences. For example, schools attract pedestrian activity, but only on weekdays during daytime hours, and the coefficient for places of worship is higher in the weekend model. K-fold cross-validation results show the predictive power of our models. Results demonstrate the value of these novel pedestrian signal data for planning purposes and offer support for built environment interventions and land use policies to encourage walkable communities.     

Street centrality and land use intensity in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

This paper examines the relationship between street centrality and land use intensity in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Street centrality is calibrated in terms of a node’s closeness, betweenness and straightness on the road network. Land use intensity is measured by population (residential) and employment (business) densities in census tracts, respectively and combined. Two GIS-based methods are used to transform data sets of centrality (at network nodes) and densities (in census tracts) to one unit for correlation analysis. The kernel density estimation (KDE) converts both measures to raster pixels, and the floating catchment area (FCA) method computes average centrality values around census tracts. Results indicate that population and employment densities are highly correlated with street centrality values. Among the three centrality indices, closeness exhibits the highest correlation with land use densities, straightness the next and betweenness the last. This confirms that street centrality captures location advantage in a city and plays a crucial role in shaping the intraurban variation of land use intensity.     

Built environment,peak hours and route choice efficiency: An investigation of commuting efficiency using GPS data

Commuting efficiency measures the impact of commuting on urban spatial and social environments. Urban policies aim to reduce commuting distances and improve commuting efficiency by supporting mixed land-use and job-housing balance. Many studies have addressed these issues by examining excess commuting at the aggregate level, and most aggregated measurements of excess commuting are based on home-to-work commuting flows between zones. However, residents' travel behaviour does not consist solely of rational attempts at minimizing commuting distances but is instead affected by commuting hours, the complexity of the commuting chain and the built environment. Thus, commuting efficiency must be studied at the individual or disaggregated levels. This paper examined individual commuting efficiency in suburban Beijing using a GPS-facilitated activity-travel survey and investigated the differences in commuting distance and route choice efficiency between morning and evening peaks. Notably, in so doing, we considered non-work stops, and also explored the impact of urban spatial factors – in both residential and working areas – on commuting efficiency using multilevel mixed effects generalized linear models. The findings suggest that there are significant differences in commuting distance and commuting efficiency between morning and evening peaks based on the nature of commutes. Residents working in city centres or with jobs near railway stations, with higher road network densities or with lower facility densities seem to be more adept at selecting optimal routes.     

Effectiveness of high-speed railway on regional economic growth for less developed areas

Whether high-speed railway (HSR) can drive regional economic growth (REG) along the route is controversial, and the effectiveness of HSR connecting less developed and developed regions especially need to be further tested. The Guangdong-Guangxi-Guizhou High-Speed Railway (GGGHSR) has connected the most developed eastern region and the less developed western region in China, and it's a typical object to study the impact of HSR on less developed areas. This paper uses NPP-VIIRS remote sensing data from the period 2012–2017 to represent the level of regional economic growth along the route, and uses the PSM-DID method to analyze the impact of HSR in a quantitative way. The results show the following: Firstly, opening of the GGGHSR has led to an increase in light value along the route, but not produced a significant “corridor effect” along the route, with no significant REG in all counties along the route; Secondly, the effectiveness of the GGGHSR have spatial differences along the route, with a greater effect on less developed areas and areas far away from regional center city; Thirdly, the effectiveness of HSR driving less developed areas is mainly through “investment effect” and “industrial structure effect” these two mechanisms. The contribution of this study lies in the use of objective light data to study the relationship between HSR and REG, and select this typical GGGHSR project proving the driving role of HSR in the economic growth of less developed areas.     

Czechoslovak light rail — Legacy of socialist urbanism or opportunity for the future?

This article focuses on the development of the Czechoslovak ‘rychlá tramvaj’ (‘fast tram’) systems in Prague, Bratislava and Brno. Its aim is to examine whether these systems meet the requirements of light rail and whether it is possible to continue their development as a functional light rail city transport system. A further aim is a detailed analysis of the conditions and contexts affecting the gradual development of ‘rychlá tramvaj’ schemes in three selected metropolises in the former Czechoslovakia.Urban development in Czechoslovakia was affected by the socialist planning system that constructed large housing estates on the edges of metropolises during the 1970s and 1980s. As a result, many commuters had to be moved between them and city centres daily; therefore, the necessity for high-capacity ‘rychlá tramvaj’ connections became apparent. After socio-political changes in 1989, a market economy was introduced and the trends of commercial and residential suburbanization have modified the spatial structure of the cities, and mobility has begun to be increasingly dependent on cars. In response to this, city councils departed from further development of ‘rychlá tramvaj’ schemes. Currently, the emphasis on sustainable mobility is apparent, principally because of smart city solutions, an environmental focus and a common European transport policy; thus, municipalities are rediscovering the virtues of light rail lines again. Because the ‘rychlá tramvaj’ systems from the 1970s and 1980s are still in operation, transforming them into modern light rail systems appears to be a convenient and cheap solution.     

Developing Local Citizenship through Sporting Events: Balancing Community Involvement and Tourism Development

Cities throughout the world have struggled to remain competitive in an era of globalisation and devolution. As a result, many have turned to tourism-related activities, such as hosting sporting events or mega-events, as part of development strategies (Hall, 1992). Within this context, questions of how these short-lived events affect resident and nonresident identities have been raised. In essence, questions of citizenship, community, and identity have become central with the on-going use of itinerant tourism strategies. Lepofsky and Fraser (2003) reasoned that community citizenship can no longer be viewed as a static concept, where rights to local citizenship are guaranteed by virtue of residential status. They propose the notion of flexible citizenship, where residents and nonresidents alike determine their level of citizenship by their ability to negotiate their contributions within the community. This paper uses this conceptualisation of citizenship to explore how community involvement in the hosting of sporting events – by organising, watching, or participating in an event – affects notions of community citizenship, and how these newly articulated citizenships affect tourism development.     

Identifying latent demand for transit-oriented development neighbourhoods: Evidence from a mid-sized urban area in Canada

Many studies have provided strong evidence of residents' support for the characteristics of transit-oriented development (TOD) neighbourhoods, but few have explicitly investigated the question of whether these preferences translate into their actual choices. How many households are experiencing a state of residential mismatch between preferred and actual neighbourhoods? What trade-offs have they made in residential location choices? We draw on data from a 2017 residential location choice survey in Kitchener Waterloo (KW), Canada, and employ latent class analysis (LCA) to address these questions. The light-rail transit (LRT) corridor encompassing the area that is 800 m surrounding LRT stops is defined as the TOD area. This study finds empirical evidence of TOD preferences in mid-sized cities and further uncovers latent demand for TOD neighbourhoods during the LRT construction phase. 37% of respondents hold strong TOD preferences but purchased outside TOD areas. These households are primarily young families (aged 25–34) with children and represent a possible missing target in TOD housing supply in our study area. Our findings provide support for building more “missing middle” intensified family housing in TOD areas of mid-sized cities.     

Assessment of land use compatibility and noise pollution at Imam Khomeini International Airport

This study aimed to investigate land use planning around airports, by employing Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in conjunction with an optimization algorithm using an Integrated Noise Model (INM) software, to establish the potential effects of aircraft noise at Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) in Tehran. We also checked for land use compatibility with the noise levels around IKIA and the residents' reaction to the noise. The research was carried out in three stages: a) the establishment of Strategic Noise Map (SNM) scenarios of the airport operation in the years 2011, 2020 and 2030 using the INM software; b) the assessment of the results with emphasis on the study area land uses and application of RS and GIS and the exposure of residents at different levels of environmental noise; and c) the assessment of the intensity of aircraft noise annoyance at various times of day and night. The results indicated that developing IKIA together with the residential development will increase airport noise. Hence proper management and control of noise at IKIA is essential.     

An analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions profile of airlines flying the Australian international market

International commercial flights (with the exception of flights between countries in European Union including Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) are currently not subject to greenhouse gas emission reduction regulation. To formulate effective and efficiency policy to manage greenhouse gas emissions from air transport, policy makers need to determine the emissions profiles of all airlines currently flying into their country or region. In this paper, we use 2012 data on airlines' aircraft characteristics, passenger load and cargo load (obtained from statistics reported by Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics) to estimate the volume and carbon efficiency on each international route flying to and from Australia. This is the first study to use actual passenger and cargo load data to determine the greenhouse gas (specifically CO₂) efficiency of airlines operating in the Australian international aviation market. Airlines' CO₂ emission profile is dependent on many factors including but not limited to the aircraft used, payload, route taken, weather conditions. Our results reveal that the airlines’ CO₂ emission profile is not only dependent on the aircraft used and the number of passengers but also the amount of cargo on each flight.     

Evaluation of land-use and transport network effects on cyclists' route choices in the Copenhagen Region in value-of-distance space

Growing interest in sustainable transportation systems has driven decision-makers toward policies and investments aimed at promoting cycling, but little to no effort has been made toward incorporating bicycle transport in transport planning models. This study contributes toward this direction by estimating a bicycle route choice model in value-of-distance space from a large sample of 3384 cycling trips that were traced with GPS devices in the Copenhagen Region. The novelty of this study lies in (i) observing cyclists' behavior in a cycling-oriented country, (ii) exploiting rich data about the cycling environment, (iii) estimating the model in value-of-distance rather than preference space, and (iv) not focusing only on preferences for traditional variables (e.g., distance, turns, hilliness, intersections, motorized road characteristics), but also on perceptions and preferences for bicycle facilities (e.g., bicycle lanes, bicycle paths, bicycle traces) and land-use designations (e.g., residential, industrial, sports, scenic areas). The findings from the model show that: (i) cyclists exhibit heterogeneous preferences for avoiding right and left turns, cycling the wrong way, using roundabouts and bridges, and cycling alongside residential and scenic areas; (ii) cyclists dislike cycling on unpaved and hilly surfaces and alongside larger roads; (iii) cyclists have clear perceptions about different types of bicycle facilities, with a preference for bicycle lanes and segregated paths; (iv) cyclists have clear perceptions about land-use designations, with a preference for cycling alongside sports and scenic areas; (v) time-of-day and air temperature contribute to the perceptions of cyclists and their preferences for bicycle facilities and land-use designations.     

Redistributive effects of bus rapid transit (BRT) on development patterns and property values in Seoul, Korea

This study investigates the redistributive effects of Seoul's bus rapid transit (BRT) system on development patterns and property values using an urban simulation model. The Seoul Metropolitan Integrated Urban Model (SMIUM) combines the Seoul metropolitan input-output model with random utility-based location choice models and endogenous real estate markets.The major findings of this study can be highlighted as follows. First, Seoul's BRT contributes to increased development density in urban centers, acting as a centripetal force to attract firms from the suburbs into urban cores and supporting arguments for Smart Growth proponents. Second, unlike its redistributive effects on nonresidential activities, the BRT has a limited effect on the redistribution of residential activities, implying that residential locations are less sensitive to accessibility improvements made by the BRT than are nonresidential locations. Third, reflecting the transferred space demands from the suburbs to the urban cores, the CBD reaps the highest property value gains, while all of the outer ring zones suffer from reduced property values.     

Mapping landscape values and development preferences: a method for tourism and residential development planning

This paper presents a method for measuring and analysing tourism and residential development options using survey research techniques that spatially locate public‐perceived landscape values and development preferences. Using survey data from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, landscape values and preferences for tourism development are analysed to determine the relative strength of landscape values as predictors of place‐specific development preferences. Results indicate that tourism development preferences are most closely associated with recreation, economic and scenic landscape values whereas residential development preferences are most closely associated with recreation, economic and learning values. Preferences for ‘no development’ are most closely associated with wilderness, therapeutic and intrinsic landscape values. A simple development index is generated from the spatial data that ranges from positive (acceptable development) to negative (no development) values. The potential benefits of the method for land‐use planning processes are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Association between the built environment and children's independent mobility: A meta-analytic review

Children's independent mobility (CIM) is considered as a determining criterion of child-friendly built environment (BE). Researchers have made a substantial effort to identify the characteristics of the BE that affect CIM and thereby to inform city policy to promote CIM. Although the findings from these studies are useful to inform context specific CIM policy, together they provide inconclusive results. This study made a first attempt to draw a generalised conclusion through a meta-analysis of existing knowledge base. The analysis was conducted using primary studies reporting 13 BE-CIM links and published between 1980 and 2016. Overall effect size (ES), directions, and consistency of each link were calculated, also stratified by contexts, using the reported results from the primary studies and based on a random effect model. The results show that four BE factors (dead-end street, % of residential land, % of commercial land, and residential location type) have a positive association with CIM; traffic volume has a neutral association; and the remaining eight factors (vehicular street width, road density, intersection density, major road proportion, land use mix, availability of recreational facilities, residential density, and distance to destination) have a negative association. Living in a dead end street was found to have the strongest positive ES (0.352), with moderate level of consistency across the primary studies. In contrast, land use mix has the strongest negative ES (− 0.212) but with the highest level of inconsistency. Both ESs and consistencies, however, vary between developing and developed country contexts. Diversity in contexts, research design, and measurement instruments across the primary studies contributed to the heterogeneous results. The findings of this research serve as a guide for practitioners and researcher alike to make an informed decision about the BE factors that consistently foster or hinder CIM in different contexts.     

Service quality in a mid-sized air terminal: A SEM-MIMIC ordinal probit accounting for travel,sociodemographic, and user-type heterogeneity

Service quality of the airline industry is still unexplored, if compared to the public transport service quality literature. In this paper, we propose an analysis of the services provided by an Italian airport based on an SEM approach. Specifically, we propose a SEM-MIMIC ordinal Probit capturing the heterogeneity in perceptions of air transport passengers and identify groups of passengers with similar assessments of the services. Results suggest the presence of four constructs affecting the overall satisfaction at the terminal, namely information, control, environment, and food service. Results also suggest that there are two different user-types: accessory user (who uses ticket office, luggage trolleys, and escalator lifts), and technology user (who uses charging stations, airport website, and airport wi-fi).