Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 115 p. : ill., map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Metropolitan transportation is the movement of persons and goods within the metropolitan region. The transportation movement results from a demand for interaction amongst specialized activities carried out of the land, and therefore transportation is a function of land utilization. However, the supply of transportation facilities in turn enables a further specialization of urban functions and helps to determine the future use of land. There is therefore a two directional relationship between transportation systems and land use, which must be considered in the metropolitan transportation planning process. Moreover, there is change in the relationship to land use with a change in the transportation mode. For an effective utilization of metropolitan space, and to allow the land to be exploited to its maximum extent, all systems of transportation must be integrated. Therefore, the transportation planning process must effectively integrate all systems. The integration of land use and transportation networks, and the integration and optimization of transportation systems can only be accomplished efficiently if the proposals can be implemented within a comprehensive development policy. Because the transportation network transcends any fragmented political jurisdictions within the metropolitan area, transportation policy must stem from the coordination of all relevant technical agencies and political jurisdictions within the metropolitan area. An examination of the metropolitan transportation process by an analysis of so-called major transportation studies in nine selected metropolitan regions in the United States and Canada shows a historical trend toward an integration of transportation systems and land use by means of a coordinated approach. The first studies considered only the one directional effect of land use on transportation movement, while the later, more sophisticated studies approach a systems analysis of the inter-relationship of transportation and land use, and incorporate provisions for evaluation of the systems by means of alternative land use, transportation plans. A plan of public transportation has been an inherent part of the later studies, but no attempt has been made of inter-systems analyses of all modes. The hypothesis of the thesis is that "transportation systems have an influence on land use and therefore metropolitan transportation planning should constitute an integral component of a comprehensive metropolitan development policy". An examination of the legal and financial framework and the formal organizational structure of the selected major transportation studies shows that the historical trend supports this hypothesis. The United States government has changed from a "highways-only" policy of federal-aid to a policy of aid for transportation planning conditional upon a comprehensive transportation planning process, and provides funds for land use planning and public transportation planning integrated with a comprehensive plan. The Government of Canada has had only a minor influence on metropolitan transportation planning, but at least two provinces show a willingness to support metropolitan transportation planning on an integrated basis. A major transportation study is administered by an investigative agency consisting of a Policy Committee and a Technical Committee. Changes in the administrative structure over time has reflected the legislative comprehensiveness, the need to incorporate the transportation planning process into the governmental process, and the necessity to become continuous. It is concluded that metropolitan transportation planning must be conducted by a special purpose coordinating agency which is politically representative, comprehensive, and continuous. The major administrative alternative, federated metropolitan government, is not feasible because the areal scope of metropolitan transportation planning exceeds the limit which could logically be governed by a single municipal government. A small Executive Committee consisting of Cabinet Ministers and municipal representation, with a Metropolitan Transportation Policy Committee and a Technical Director is suggested to coordinate the fragmented agencies and political jurisdictions in the metropolitan region. Comprehensiveness is obtained by the integration of the regional planning process into the transportation planning hierarchy. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

BC Transit, a provincial Crown Corporation operates and administers conventional, fixed-route public transit services in British Columbia's major metropolitan centres of Vancouver and Victoria and in 24 smaller communities across the province. BC Transit service is available to 76% of the province's residents. BC Transit has been successful in providing innovative services that respond to community needs. Some of these innovations include the introduction of lift-equipped and low-floor buses to improve accessibility, the use of bike racks and lockers to integrate transit with cycling, the integration of school bus and transit services to build transit ridership and improve efficiency, and the targeting of the post-secondary student market with special services and discounted fares. The introduction of innovative services to the non-metropolitan areas of the province has been facilitated by BC Transit's Municipal Systems Program and the three-way partnerships between BC Transit, local governments, and operating companies that it provides. Much of the planning for this program is done by BC Transit staff in Victoria, allowing for the easy transfer of experience between systems. A key area for future transit innovations in B.C. is in the creation of a provincewide public transportation system with integrated services and information. This would involve the creation of regional transit services in areas where development is coalescing into continuous corridors, rather than in discrete settlements. Although BC Transit has been successful in introducing a range of innovative services around the province, questions remain as to whether BC Transit's general service provision strategy is as cost-effective and accountable as possible. The current funding and governance arrangements in the province have created a situation that is weak on local accountability and which may perpetuate the provision of uneconomic services. Further research is needed to fully address this issue. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

M.Com. (Business Management) / The purpose of the study is to examine the current state of public passenger transport in the area of Ekurhuleni and to make recommendations to improve the situation and in order to fulfil this, the assignment assesses current national, provincial and local government public transport plans. The primary objectives of the study are to illustrate the current scenario of public passenger transport in the area of Ekurhuleni and to make recommendations for the improvement thereof. The secondary objectives are to undertake research in the area to help establish the general sentiment of the public transport users towards public passenger transport. Primary and secondary research methodologies were applied in the research process. The primary research methodology encompassed personal interviews conducted with members of the general public as well as public officials whilst secondary research methodology contributed in the form of published and unpublished data sourced from official reports, the internet and other sources. The study is based on road and rail primary modes of public transport. From the rail mode perspective the study discusses the role that Metrorail and Gautrain fulfil within the research area and from the road transport mode perspective the study reviews the role that is being fulfilled by the taxi and bus operations in the area. The survey investigation undertaken in the study is done for the purposes of gaining an indication of the modal split by usage as well as passenger sentiments on the levels of service the study modes are offering. It must be mentioned though that the researcher is aware of other similar surveys that have been conducted and the intention of conducting this survey is for validation purposes. The survey conducted was done so in areas where due to the proximity of services there was an equal opportunity for a random sample selecting a road and/or rail public transport user for interviews. From the survey conducted as mentioned above the current situation is that there are noteworthy areas of improvement that need to be considered. These areas of improvements stem from both road and rail modes transport. In order to make sizeable improvements from the current state of affairs it is important according to world-renowned public transport expert Vukan R. Vuchic to “understand the inherent characteristics of different modes and that one must free oneself from those real-world...

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This study combined the traditional concepts of cost, demand, and revenue models together with performance indicators to derive a methodology to (1) measure the performance standing of a transit company within its peer-group, and (2) improve this standing with the improvement on the values of parameters and impact factors in the methodology. To enrich the existing pool of indicators, four new basic transit variables -- vehicle hour miles, vehicle revenue hour miles, revenue capacity hour miles, and passenger hour miles have been developed. On the model building side, operating expense, unlinked passenger trip, passenger fare revenue for transit service, and transportation revenue aspects have been selected as the response variables. On the data side, UMTA Section 15 second annual data were used. Many shortcomings existed in this data set have been pointed out and possible solutions were given. With a total of 170 transit variables as the potential causal variables, various techniques were employed to reduce this size. In addition, linear as well as non-linear regression models have been derived. On the performance evaluation side, a new methodology employing the index comparison concept was proposed. An index is defined as the ratio of the difference between actual and expected values over expected value. Four sub-indexes were developed for the four operating aspects, and two overall performance indexes were derived from these sub-indexes. Because the average index value is zero, so a positive index would be better than both the expected and the peer-group values. The opposite is true for the negative case. Hence, transit systems can be ranked by the performance level through the sign and the magnitude of any index. This would form a good basis for public funding based on performance level. Besides the parameters in the models, impact factors were extracted for outliers to the models. From both parameters and impact factors, an individual transit company should be able to locate its weak areas of operation, so a consorted effort can be channelled to improve them. / Ph. D.

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Yang Xin. / Thesis submitted in: December 2005. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-54). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Institutional Background --- p.2 / Chapter 2.1 --- Literature Review --- p.2 / Chapter 2.2 --- Public Transit Industry --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Regulatory Environment --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Market Structure --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- "Demand, Revenue and Profit" --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- Taxi Industry --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Regulatory Environment --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Business Model --- p.19 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Market Structure --- p.21 / Chapter 2.4 --- Defensive Industry --- p.22 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Cash Flow and Dividend --- p.24 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- IPO Underpricing --- p.25 / Chapter 3 --- Explanatory Variables for Stock Returns --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1 --- Literature Review --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2 --- Hypothesis --- p.33 / Chapter 3.3 --- Data --- p.35 / Chapter 3.4 --- Results and Interpretations --- p.42 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Univariate Analysis --- p.42 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Bivariate Analysis --- p.46 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Multiple Regressions --- p.49 / Chapter 4 --- Conclusion --- p.51

Public transit is a key method for increasing sustainability in the transportation sector; transit can decrease emissions harmful to the environment and increase social equity by providing improved mobility. Given the limited resources available to build and operate public transit, it makes sense to meet multiple sustainability goals simultaneously. Transit that is accessible by non-motorized means and serves multiple trip types can potentially reduce vehicle usage and increase mobility for everyone. This research assesses whether transit systems with high non-motorized access rates and non-work trip usage are meeting social and environmental goals and what factors impact non-work and non-motorized access rates. Eight criteria were used to choose 17 metropolitan regions that represent a range of transit conditions in the US. Non-parametric correlations were calculated between non-work usage and non-motorized access and a dataset of 30 continuous and 11 categorical variables that measure regional characteristics, transit efficiency, land use, rider demographics, and transit operations and design. In-depth case studies, including site visits and interviews, were done for Denver, Colorado; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; and Sacramento, California. The correlations and case studies both confirm that transit system with high non-work usage and non-motorized access are not meeting social or environmental sustainability goals. These systems primarily serve low-income riders, are less well funded, and provide limited service. Only systems with higher per capita funding levels meet social goals and higher funding is correlated to higher income riders. However, having higher income riders does not imply that social goals are met. Regional policies regarding operations and design of transit can increase usage for non-work trips and non-motorized access and are necessary to ensure both social and environmental goals are met.