The distances travelled by non-credit evening class participants of two adult education institutions, the University of British Columbia Extension Department and the Vancouver School Board Night Schools, were studied by means of the analytic survey method. The participants in most of the non-credit courses offered on the campus by the Extension Department in one term were included in the study. A much smaller sample population of courses was selected from the three major night school centers operated by the Vancouver School Board. The participants of both institutions were grouped into two categories, Unique or Common. Unique participants were those who could obtain the course they attended at that one location only. Common participants were those who could have chosen alternative course locations. The distances travelled from place of residence to course location by Unique and Common Extension participants were compared as were the distances travelled by Unique and Common night school participants. The chi-square test of independence was used in the comparisons of the distributions of Unique and Common participants while the significance of the differences between the mean distances travelled and between the median distances travelled was determined by the use of critical ratios. The .01 level of confidence was the criterion used to determine the significance of differences. Distances travelled by Extension participants were found not to be influenced by alternative course locations in the same community when these alternatives were public school night school centers. Participants came from the whole of metropolitan Vancouver and distance did not seem to be a barrier within this area. Alternative course location in comparable centers in the community was found to influence the travel patterns of public school night school participants. Courses available at a single location attracted participants from the whole community whereas courses offered at three locations tended to attract participants more from the neighborhood of the center. Although there was some participation from the greater metropolitan area, the night schools tended more to serve the city alone than did the Extension Department. These findings suggest that the usefulness or necessity of additional Extension course locations in the metropolitan area is questionable. However, an increase in the number of public school evening course locations would seem likely to yield increased participation providing care was taken to avoid the competition which may result when new locations are placed too close to existing ones. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study is to analyse the distances travelled to three urban night school centers in order to determine whether each serves separate areas or whether each serves larger, overlapping areas. The sample population consisted of 486 adults enrolled in twenty-two courses offered as part of the 1962-1963 program. Some of these selected courses were in subjects offered at all three centers; some courses were offered at two of the centers and the remainder were offered at only one center. It was thus possible to compare the centers while controlling for the number of centers offering the same subject matter. Distributions of distances travelled to each course and to each group of courses were prepared. The chi-square test of independence was used to compare the various distributions and the significance of the difference between mean distances travelled was used to provide additional comparisons. Maps were prepared illustrating the residences of participants and a correlation was made to determine the relationship between the distances travelled and the percentage of sessions attended by the participant. The results indicated that half of the 486 participants travelled less than 2.8 miles. More lived between one and two miles from the center they attended than in any other mile interval from the center. Only five percent of the participants travelled more than nine miles and less than one percent travelled more than fourteen miles. The statistical tests indicated that there was an association between the distance travelled and the center attended. It was found that when courses were offered at one center only, there was no statistical difference between the patterns of distance travelled to the three centers. Participants seemed to travel from throughout the city of Vancouver to attend, no matter which center offered the course. Women who attend courses designed for women only travel shorter distances than men who attend courses designed for men only. For courses offered at all three centers, adults travelled further to John Oliver Night School and to Technical Night School than to Kitsilano Night School. Travel distance does not inhibit the subsequent attendance of those who enroll. The opening of new night school centers during the past fifteen years was reviewed and it was found that a new center opened within two miles of a large well established center is unlikely to attract sufficient clientele to be economically successful. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Urban commuting patterns can be viewed as the spatial manifestation of the outcome of labour market processes. Recent theoretical and empirical work investigating urban labour markets has emphasized the role of spatial wage differentials in mediating the interrelationship between labour supply and demand distributions and the dynamics of land-use change. This thesis represents an extension of such research. A simulation approach to commuting modelling, based on the explicit characterization of the interrelationship between urban location and interaction in terms of labour market processes, is developed. The solution path logic of the simulation model is designed to provide normative commuting outcomes, given the spatial pattern of labour supply and demand, under a wide range of assumptions concerning labour market processes and choice-making behaviour of market participants. An explicit characterization of the labour market, based on the specification of an endogenous behavioural assumption set, defines a model version. Thus, the model may be used to test the ability of various behavioural constructs to explain empirical commuting patterns. The justification and internal logic underlying the development of a specific model version is presented. This version is based on the assumption that the decision by a worker to apply for a job is objectively rational, given that the market environment does not provide certainty as to the outcome of an application. It is shown that such choice behaviour is analogous to the game-theoretic mixed strategy solution to non-cooperative games under uncertainty. The algorithm of the operational model incorporating this approach is detailed. The model was tested on empirical commuting patterns derived from Vancouver Census data, and model results were compared with those obtained from a positive entropy-based model. Commuting predictions exhibited a level of accuracy comparable to that achieved by the calibrated entropy model. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The study examines the "Living Close to Work" policy within the Greater Vancouver Region. Specifically it investigates the effects this policy would have on work trip lengths within the region. A review of relevant literature and empirical research reveals factors which could influence work trip lengths within the Greater Vancouver Region. Among these factors are city size, location of residences and workplaces, and income. Data for the study were taken from the Vancouver Area Travel Study and the 1971 Canada Census. Data on work trip lengths were obtained from the Vancouver Area Travel Study files and data on labour force:job ratios and average household incomes from the 1971 Census. Regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between work trip lengths and labour force:job ratios and work trip lengths and average household incomes. A descriptive analysis of work trip length characteristics for downtown and non-downtown employment centers was used to study how travel and job location are related. The investigation establishes that: a) people who live in high income subareas of the Lower Mainland travel no less and no more than the population as a whole in going to and from work; b) mean and median travel times to the suburban centers are shorter than the corresponding figures to the downtown workplaces; c) between 1965 and 1972 mean work trip distances to non-downtown locations increased faster than the mean work trip distance to the downtown; d) areas with high labour force:job ratios tend to have long work trip lengths; e) average work trip length in Greater Vancouver and the trip length frequency distribution for Greater Vancouver appear quite typical of those for moderate and large cities. The implications of these conclusions for the "Living Close to Work" policy for the region are worked out. The study suggests that this policy will not result in a substantial reduction in work trip travel distance. However, there are indications that it will result in worthwhile work trip travel time savings as well as other benefits. An area for further research is suggested and observations made on data requirements for such a study. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

My research lies in the general area of functional analysis. I am particularly interested in C*-algebras and related dynamical systems. From the very beginning of the theory of operator algebras, in the works of Murray and von Neumann dating from the mid 1930's, dynamical systems and operator algebras have led a symbiotic existence. Murray and von Neumann's work grew from a few esoteric, but clearly original and prescient papers, to a ma jor river of contemporary mathematics. My work lies at the confluence of two important tributaries to this river. On the one hand, the operator algebras that I study are C*-algebras that are built from graphs. On the other, the dynamical systems on which I focus are symbolic dynamical systems of various types. My goal is to use dynamical systems theory to construct new and interesting C*-algebras and to use the algebraic invariants of these algebras to reveal properties of the dynamics. My work has two fairly distinct strands: One deals with C*-algebras built from irreversible dynamical systems. The other deals with group actions on graph C*-algebras and their generalizations.

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Since the 1950s, myriad forces have expanded America's urban, metropolitan and megaregion development forms. Using a net worker exchange model, the geographic extent of commuter sheds is documented for 22 metropolitan areas within the continental United States. In addition to commuting patterns, county-to-county migration data provide collaborating evidence for the extent of metropolitan commuter sheds. Actual commuter sheds are significantly larger than the boundaries of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, created by the federal government to review and approve transportation investments in metropolitan areas. For contiguous metropolitan areas, criteria are suggested for recognizing Transportation Megaregions based on their role as global gateways and their potential for high-speed rail service. By gaining a better understanding of development patterns at urban, metropolitan and megaregion scales, the dissertation addresses ways to improve transportation governance. The focus of this study is not on the civil engineering aspects of transportation planning. Rather, the dissertation sets forth a new paradigm for transportation governance that includes scale-dependent decision-making and funding strategies. / Ph. D.

This study analyzes the wage and non-wage factors underlying non-metropolitan-to-metropolitan commuting decisions of households in five non-metropolitan counties in Northern Virginia. The potential fiscal and planning implications of these decisions are also discussed. Chapter one contains a description of the study area, problem statement and objectives. Chapter two reviews related literature on commuting, housing and job location, as well as rent and wage gradients. Chapter three provides a theoretical framework for analyzing household commuting decisions. Chapter four presents descriptive statistics, and introduces a switching regression system of equations to simultaneously estimate factors influencing commuting decisions and earnings in non-metropolitan and metropolitan labor markets. Chapter five reports the regression results, and simulates wage gaps and the distance of the metropolitan labor market draw for different groups of workers. Chapter six discusses potential fiscal implications of commuting and potential policies to manage growth in commuting. The empirical result shows that the major incentive for workers to commute is a large age gap between metropolitan and non-metropolitan labor market areas. Household responsibilities, housing preference and ability to find local jobs represent non-wage factors underlying commuting decisions. Two study findings suggest that the local fiscal implications of non-metropolitan-to-metropolitan commuting households may be limited. First, commuting households are found to have fewer school-aged children, and require less local expenditures on education. Second, commuting households are more likely to be homeowners, have more rooms in their homes, and provide a larger tax base. / Master of Science