The hypothesis of this study is that commuter journeys to employment in the central business districts of large cities are not representative, in terms of trip length and dispersion, of commuter journeys to employment in the suburbs. It is argued that in some larger cities, journeys to suburban or peripheral employment form an important and growing proportion of all work journeys, and that if these are significantly different from the journey to work to the central business district, this will have important implications in future transportation planning, and indirectly in planning the distribution of residences and employment. A short review of existing journey to work literature is presented. The majority of previous studies of the journey to work have been concerned primarily with the commuter journey to the downtown area, or are in such general terms that, without further analysis, it is not possible to identify the patterns and characteristics of the peripheral journey to work. A random sample of employed residents of the City of Vancouver and the Municipality of Burnaby is used to document the characteristics of peripheral work journeys in the Vancouver Metropolitan area, and to compare them with downtown work trips. Vancouver forms a suitable city for a study of the peripheral journey to work as it shows low development densities, a high degree of dependence on travel by car, and a reasonable proportion of employment located in the suburbs. The sample drawn is not large enough and the information not varied enough to conduct a detailed explanatory investigation of the factors influencing the pattern of peripheral work trips. However the descriptive material indicates that peripheral work trips are significantly shorter in length than commuter trips to the central area of Vancouver, and that they show a much greater variety of trip length and trip direction. The results suggest that peripheral work trips are composed of a large number of very small zone to zone volumes, forming a relatively even multidirectional network of trips throughout the suburban area. The present pattern of trips does not appear to be suited to the provision of high or medium volume transit facilities for suburban journeys, and this in turn is a constraint upon the formation of large concentrations of jobs in suburban areas. The interrelationships of urban structure in terms of the distribution of homes and employment, and the suitabilities of alternative transportation modes are discussed, and the need for explicit policy objectives and coordinated land use and transportation plans is stressed. In addition, the evidence suggests that a large proportion of persons employed in the suburbs appear to prefer a more specialised choice of residential location, rather than attempting to minimise the journey to work. It is suggested that the descriptive evidence is sufficient to indicate the distinctiveness of peripheral work journeys from a transportation point of view, and that they are important enough to merit more detailed explanatory studies and special attention in transportation planning. / 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.

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

This thesis examines spatial patterns of transit travel to the downtown core of Greater Vancouver. The study is placed within the context of earlier case studies of Vancouver's urban structure and also draws on notions of spatial interaction. In this context, the study qualifies the functional relevance of traditional models of urban spatial structure and urban transportation, which provide a basis for understanding movement to the core of the modern city. Cartographic analysis found transit travel patterns to the downtown core to be structured by distance from the core, with friction-free inner zone of 3 to 5 miles generating high per capita trips to the core and a rapid drop-off in trips per capita beyond this zone; and by socioeconomic variation in radially organized residential areas within this inner zone or "core ring". It was also demonstrated that sub zones of the downtown core were directionally oriented to socially defined residential sectors within the "core ring". This confirms findings of earlier case studies of the spatial structure of Greater Vancouver and the functional role and relationships of the downtown urban core. However, the initially identified relationships were only partly supported by subsequent statistical analysis. This suggested problems resulting from the unsuitability of using aggregate data collection unit information (traffic zones) to model functional associations underlying spatial interaction; this indicates a direction for further research. It is also suggested in conclusion that the 'core ring' model of Greater Vancouver deserves more study, particularly in view of its implications to transportation planning in this metropolitan area. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This thesis endeavours to explore the potential ridership and costs of a ferry service primarily oriented to commuters traveling between West Vancouver and the downtown core. Comparison of a Sea Bus type ferry service with an equivalent bus operation indicates that, the ferry would cost somewhat more, but this may be offset by environmental, social and land use externalities. The second conclusion is that transit policies designed to enhance the attractiveness of the ferry mode, to daily commuters can generate substantial ridership in the case study situation. Finally, it becomes clear that a preliminary policy analysis can be made based upon an inexpensive, short and approximate set of calculations. A review of the history of ferry service within Vancouver and other selected North American urban areas provides, insight into the factors affecting patronage and a basis for assessing the claims made by ferry and transit advocates. Five patronage-oriented policy principles derived from this analysis are applied to develop a hypothetical concept of commuter ferry operation in the case study area. This plan is evaluated using available cost, ridership and modal split data to contrast three alternative scenarios, at the same level of patronage in the morning peak journey to work movements across the Burrard Inlet; ferry crossings only, bus crossings only, and a mixed ferry and bus situation. In the case study area it appears that ferry transit is worthy of more detailed and definitive analysis. It is suggested that the same may be true of other North American metropolitan areas in which there are substantial commuting flows across major bodies of water. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Public Transit Information System is an online transportation system providing integrated transit journey planning solutions to the general public. Generally, the system requires users to input their places of departure and arrival as well as some preferences such as the shortest or cheapest path. The system will then generate the results with transit schedule, route, fare and so forth. Since the system is designated for public usage, it is important that the system not only meets the needs of its users, but also is easily operated by the general public with different level of computer skills. Thus, this paper explores the design criteria of public transit information system by reviewing the development of user interface design from previous research and comparing the user interfaces of the public transit information systems of Hong Kong, Singapore and Vancouver. This paper also studies the transit systems of these three places and thereby concludes that the diverse and complex transit network of Hong Kong makes it difficult in developing such a system. This paper concludes that aesthetics, consistency and effective error management are the technical design criteria that can improve the usability of public transport information systems. In addition, technicians should also consider the social aspects, such as computer literacy and the computer systems when designing products for the public. / published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

The purposes of this thesis were: 1. to learn more about neighbourhood stability and 2. to examine the interrelationships between neighbourhood stability, residents' attitudes toward their neighbourhood and their attitudes toward environmental change. Earlier studies revealed that residents frequently resist environmental change in their neighbourhood, therefore, it was hypothesized that as neighbourhood stability increases, residents' attitudes toward environmental change would become less favourable. In contrast, it was hypothesized that residents' attitudes toward their neighbourhood would become more favourable as neighbourhood stability increases. Finally, it was hypothesized that as residents' attitudes toward their neighbourhood become more favourable, their attitudes toward environmental change would become less favourable. The literature and interviews with municipal planners helped clarify the meaning of neighbourhood stability, while the hypotheses were tested using data collected during the 1984 construction of the Advanced Light Rapid Transit(ALRT) system in east Vancouver. The data were collected from over 600 residents located near the Broadway, Nanaimo, 29th Avenue and Joyce ALRT stations. Indices of neighbourhood stability, favourable attitudes toward environmental change and favourable attitudes toward the neighbourhood were created and compared using analysis of variance. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to test the three hypotheses. The findings did not provide conclusive support for the hypotheses. However, the findings suggested that as neighbourhood stability increases, residents' attitudes toward environmental change become slightly less favourable, while their attitudes toward the neighbourhood tend to become more favourable. Furthermore, as residents' attitudes toward their neighbourhood become more favourable, their attitudes toward environmental change also become more favourable. Regardless of the stability of the neighbourhood, residents were neither favourable nor unfavourable toward change in their neighbourhood. The thesis concludes with a discussion of neighbourhood stability, the role of municipal planners and the responsibilities of the three levels of government in maintaining stable neighbourhoods. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The development of the Automated Light Rapid Transit (ALRT) system in Vancouver, first proposed in the 1970's, has been touted as a solution to the contemporary urban problems of increasing traffic congestion, access to the downtown core, and limited affordable housing near the city centre. Recent concerns have been expressed that the development of the ALRT will be accompanied by significant change in the neighbourhoods along the route. This thesis aims to assess the potential for significant change occurring in the suburban Vancouver City neighbourhoods along the ALRT route after the construction is completed. The increased accessibility to the city centre anticipated as an outcome of the development of the ALRT is regarded as the factor most likely to produce significant change in neighbourhoods along the route. This expectation arises from the understanding provided by literature from the fields of urban economics and urban ecology. Discussions of the bid-price curve in the work of Alonso and other urban economic writers attributes much of the market value of land, and by inference the residential density of land, to the effect of accessibility to the city centre. Further discussions in the urban ecology literature, including the work of the factorial ecology school, outline the relationship between accessibility to the city centre and the distribution in urban areas of social rank and of household types. From the relationships indicated in the literature, it is expected that the improved accessibility which will result from the construction of the ALRT could significantly change neighbourhoods along the route. Using Census data, the thesis explores the strength of the existing relationships between accessibility to the city centre and each of the social characteristics identified in the literature. The strength of each relationship was determined using a rank-order correlation between relative accessibility to the city centre and z-scores associated with indicators for each of the social characteristics. The relationship between accessibility to the city centre and social rank was examined using the highest level of education attained by the over 15 year old population as a proxy for social rank. The proportions of the various household types, including family and non-family households, single-person and multiple-person non-family households, were used to provide insights into variations in this aspect of urban life which is affected by accessibility to the city centre. Finally, the relationship between accessibility to the city centre and the distribution of dwelling types was examined by looking at variations in the distributions of single-detached, multiple-dwelling, and apartment units along the ALRT route. Social rank was found to be not strongly correlated with the level of accessibility to the city centre. Instead, the distribution of social rank was seen to have been more strongly influenced by other factors, such as the historic pattern of development. The distribution of dwelling types and of the various household types were demonstrated to be related to accessibility to the city centre. As the level of accessibility to the city centre increased, the proportion of apartment units in an area and the proportion of non-family households were seen to increase. The development of the ALRT was not expected to significantly affect the distribution of social rank along the route. Expectations that significant change would follow the development of the ALRT was supported for both the spatial pattern of the various dwelling types and the spatial pattern of the household types. The spatial distribution of both of these social indicators would be expected to change significantly following the completion of the ALRT. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Although the region has acquired expertise in the physical dimensions of rapid transit implementation, that expertise has not translated into a better understanding of social impacts on communities which host this regional amenity. The Broadway Station area is such a community. Although the City of Vancouver is responsible for planning the Broadway Station area community, many provincial decisions have had far-reaching consequences and do not correspond with municipal policy for the community. The province has introduced region-serving programs and facilities into the community despite municipal policy that the Broadway Station area would not serve a regional role. As a consequence, the community is becoming increasingly unlivable. There is a de facto policy vacuum. Moreover, there is a lack of coordination and an absence of protocols for managing and sharing data. There is little, if any, coordination of senior government actions, and the actions of various levels of government and their agencies have resulted in the Broadway Station Area failing to achieve the goal of community livability, for the resident community. The City of Vancouver, within which the case study station resides, has so far been unable to respond to the challenge that the station poses. The degree to which the station area is becoming dysfunctional is not known to the city. Consequently, the thesis question "Is the Broadway Station Area worse off than before SkyTrain" posed a significant challenge. In addition to a review of the case study planning process, which was conducted by the thesis researcher in the latter half of 1996, this thesis adds interviews with professional planners and a limited empirical study to answer the thesis question. By looking at a limited number of key census indicators, and cross comparing that with other data sources, the thesis found that the community's perception has merit, although a great deal more data must be compiled. To better understand what works in the Canadian context of transit-oriented planning, we need to support ongoing qualitative community planning with the empirical work that would assist in monitoring the effect of policies and program implementation and can address the dynamism of this regional transit node.

This thesis analyzes the impact of wayside noise produced by Automated Light Rail Transit (ALRT) in the Broadway Station and Nanaimo Station Areas of Vancouver. The hypothesis is divided into three sections. First, a semi-logarithmic relationship between ALRT noise and the distance from the guideway is anticipated, yet at the same distance at different points in the study area, noise levels can vary markedly. Second, in the area where ALRT noise levels exceed accepted standards, residents' perceptions are expected to be consistent with the measured impact. Third, at greater distances from the facility where the noise is acceptable, perceptions are anticipated to be inconsistent with the measured noise. The purposes of this thesis are to examine the relationship between noise levels and distance from the ALRT guideway, to define the zones of high and low noise impact, and to analyze residents' perceptions of ALRT noise based upon the measured noise level within each zone of impact. Primary data for this thesis came from three separate sources. ALRT noise levels forecast for 1986 were obtained from a consultant's report prepared for B.C. Transit in 1983. The East Vancouver Neighbourhoods Study surveyed residents in the Broadway and Nanaimo Station Areas, and elsewhere, during construction of the ALRT in 1984. In April 1986, measurements of wayside ALRT noise and a survey of residents were undertaken by the UBC transportation planning students. A 24-hour energy-equivalent level (L eq) was calculated separately for background noise and for wayside ALRT noise. The total 24-hour L eq was calculated by combining these two L eq. The relationship between noise and distance was then computed using regression analysis. Where applicable, an adjustment was made to the L eq based on established criteria for previous community exposure and background noise, in order to define the zones of impact. The zone of high impact was defined as the area in which noise levels are higher than acceptable, a 24-hour L eq of 55 dB or more. Perceptions of ALRT noise and neighbourhood noise were analyzed in relation to the adjusted L eq and socio-economic variables. A pre-ALRT outlook on the ALRT's influence on neighbourhood noise was analyzed in terms of the anticipated zones of impact, and socio-economic variables. The relationship of noise and distance is semi-logarithmic. Given the same distance from the ALRT guideway, noise levels vary noticeably at different points between the two Stations. The zone of high impact ranges from 50 to 200 feet from the ALRT guideway. In the high-impact zone, the perceptions toward ALRT noise and neighbourhood noise are consistent with the measured noise (24-hour L eq). However, perceptions of noise in the zone of low impact do not appear to be consistent with the measured noise levels. In the pre-ALRT study, residents in the high-impact zone tended to have a neutral outlook on anticipated ALRT noise levels. In the low-impact zone, negative perceptions toward ALRT noise appear to be related to a negative perception of traffic noise. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate