The aim of this report is to demonstrate the ways in which inadequate transportation systems and policies create constrains and inequalities in San Antonio. It discusses the important role that equity plays in transportation planning. In addition, it explores various policies and planning reforms that might help achieve equity objectives. The concern for transportation equity is rooted in the desire for just distribution of resources and growing awareness of environmental justice concerns. This report will explore some of the ways that San Antonio's transportation systems and policies can be improved to enhance the quality of life and create opportunities for all residents, specifically for the disadvantaged. / text

New software and technology is making it easier than ever before for public transportation planners to evaluate how quickly residents can reach jobs and other destinations. Because in the past it was difficult to measure access to opportunities, these concepts remained primarily in the theoretical and academic realms of research. This thesis reviews methods that could be used to evaluate routine bus service improvements and performs a comparative analysis of different methods in the context of New Orleans. There are many different variables in how the analysis could be performed, but this thesis focuses on the role that time of day plays in analyzing service changes. The results show that accessibility can be a very useful metric to evaluate the effectiveness of transit service changes. It goes on to explore techniques that could assist transit planners and schedulers to identify service gaps and prioritize service changes.

A growing consensus among planners and policy-makers is that the automobile-oriented city, one that dominates the American landscape, is no longer sustainable. Such concerns demand a search for ways to promote alternative forms of travel. To this end, this study employs a multiple linear regression analysis in order to determine the relationships between the share of public transit and walking/bicycle commuting and variables representing three categories: urban form measures, socio-demographic and household characteristics, and the presence of a transit-oriented development. These relationships were examined in thirteen metropolitan regions.

Thesis advisor: Richard, S.J. McGowan / As urbanized areas have grown across the United States, roads have quickly developed with them. Yet many cities have developed this infrastructure at the cost of failing to adequately fund urban mass transit, in spite of the important services it provides for the poor, commuters, and the environment. Consequently, many urban mass transit systems have struggled with deficits, increased fares, and reduced service. This study examines six major systems in the United States and analyzes data from these systems to provide policy recommendations regarding urban mass transit funding. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

Em razão da existência de problemas que afetam o sistema de transporte público urbano no Brasil, tais como, o aumento da população, o acelerado crescimento das cidades e a falta de planejamento urbano houve uma diminuição na qualidade do serviço de transporte. Diante desse quadro, apresenta-se nesta pesquisa um método para avaliar a acessibilidade do sistema de transporte público por ônibus nas cidades, a fim de auxiliar na tomada de decisões em relação ao planejamento urbano e, consequentemente, melhorias no serviço. Para a realização deste método foi necessário utilizar uma base de dados dos setores censitários do IBGE 2000 (renda), informações da Pesquisa O-D (localização geográfica da residência dos usuários de ônibus), e a base de dados fornecidos pela administração municipal que continha a localização dos pontos de ônibus desta cidade. Com esses dados selecionados, foram gerados os mapas da localização dos usuários de ônibus e dos pontos de ônibus e, posteriormente, para melhor entendimento e análise dos dados, foram criados mapas temáticos da renda dos usuários, da distância mínima de caminhada até o ponto de ônibus mais próximo e o das distâncias entre pontos de ônibus. Foi realizado um estudo de caso do método proposto na cidade de São Carlos-SP, utilizando o SIG TransCAD versão 4.8 para organização, tratamento e análise dos dados, permitiu caracterizar de forma eficaz o comportamento dos dados, pois se apresentavam de forma desagregada. O resultado geral sobre a acessibilidade do sistema de ônibus desta cidade, considerando a distância de caminhada e a renda dos usuários foi que, na maioria das zonas, os usuários de ônibus precisam caminhar no máximo 300m para ter acesso ao sistema de transporte e possuem uma renda média mensal da ordem de três salários mínimos. Outro resultado obtido foi que aproximadamente 90% dos pontos de parada distanciam-se de 200 a 300 metros. Como conclusão geral deste estudo, pode-se dizer que o método desenvolvido poderá contribuir com o poder público municipal no planejamento urbano futuro desta cidade. / Due to problems affecting the urban public transportation system in Brazil, such as population growth, fast expansion of cities and the lack of urban planning, there was a decrease in the quality of transport service. This situation motivated us to introduce a method to evaluate the accessibility of the bus public transportation system in cities as a way to help taking decisions in urban planning and, consequently, improvements in service quality. For the implementation of this method, it was necessary to use the IBGE census database of the year 2000 (income), information of the O-D research (area of residence of bus users), and the database provided by the municipal administration containing the location of bus stops in town. Using these databases, we generated maps of bus user locations and bus stops and, subsequently, to better understanding and analysis of these databases, thematic maps were created from the users income, the minimum distance to walk from home to the nearest bus stop and the distances between bus stops. We conducted a case study of the proposed method in São Carlos-SP city, once the data were in a disaggregated way, it was necessary to use the TransCAD GIS software version 4.8 for organization, processing and analysis of these data. The overall result on the accessibility of this citys bus system, considering walking distance of users and overall income is that, in most areas the bus users have to walk up to 300m to access the bus transportation system and have a monthly basic income the order of three minimum wages. Another result was that almost 90% the stop points distance themselves from 200 to 300 meters. So, it can be concluded that this method could help municipal authorities to take decisions regarding future urban planning.

Uma das marcas da passagem de uma sociedade tradicional, pessoalista, para uma sociedade moderna é o desenvolvimento da impessoalidade nas relações de sociabilidade. A cidade moderna se caracterizou por ampliar essas relações, que deixam de ser restritas aos espaços privados e passam a ocorrer também nos espaços públicos. Um dos lugares nos quais se desenvolvia a sociabilidade era nos bondes. Por terem existido no Brasil desde final do século XIX até a década de 1970, os bondes marcaram, do ponto de vista do transporte coletivo, um momento significativo do desenvolvimento do país, uma vez que estiveram presentes durante o processo de crescimento de muitas cidades, constituindo-se como um dos principais elementos indutores do crescimento urbano e de integração de diferentes espaços, como, por exemplo, entre os arrabaldes, mais adiante bairros, e o centro das cidades. A tese desenvolvida neste estudo é a de que os bondes, além de terem contribuído para o desenvolvimento urbano, integrando espaços físicos e expandindo a cidade, contribuíram também para a inserção do indivíduo na cidade moderna pelo exercício cotidiano de sociabilidade que as viagens propiciavam. Essa sociabilidade não acontecia apenas no interior dos bondes, na relação indivíduo e espaço, as aberturas laterais, que permitiam subir e descer praticamente em qualquer lugar, depois as janelas grandes e abertas, também possibilitavam que o indivíduo estivesse mais próximo do espaço físico da cidade e das pessoas que caminhavam ou se assomavam nas janelas para ver o bonde passar rente às suas calçadas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar as representações sociais e o imaginário coletivo construído sobre as viagens de bonde e sobre a cidade durante as viagens. A partir dessas representações, buscou-se, primeiro, compreender qual o papel dos bondes como elementos estruturadores da cidade para depois analisar as interações sociais que ocorriam em seu interior e discutir a relação indivíduo-espaço. O recorte urbano temporal foi a cidade de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, entre 1890 e 1945, no alcance físico das suas linhas de bonde. A escolha por este recorte temporal deu-se pela importância que teve este período para o desenvolvimento e modernização da cidade, especialmente na área de transporte, como a construção da Av. Borges de Medeiros, Av. Farrapos e a canalização do Arroio Ipiranga, entre outras obras relevantes para a cidade. / One of the marks of the passage from a traditional society, personalistic, to a modern society is the development of impersonality in sociability relationships. The modern city is characterized by expanding these relations, which are no longer restricted to private spaces but also begin to occur in public ones. One of the places in which sociability where developed was the cable cars. According to the commom point of view, the cable cars marked a significant moment in the development of the country for having existed in Brazil since the late 19th century until the 1970s, once they were present in the growth process of many cities, establishing itself as one of the driving elements of urban growth and integration of different areas, such as, between the suburbs, further neighborhoods, and the city centers. The thesis developed in this study is that the cable cars, not only having contributed to the urban development, by integrating physical spaces and expanding the city, but also contributed to the insertion of the individual in the modern city by the daily sociability exercise which the trips provided. This sociability did not just happened inside the cable cars, the individual and space relationship, the side openings, which allowed passengers to get on and off almost anywhere, and the big and open windows also made it possible for the individual to be close to the physical space of the city and the people who walked or loomed by the window to see the cable car pass close to its sidewalks. The research aimed to investigate the social representations and the collective imaginary built on the cable car rides and the city during these trips. From these representations, it was sought to first understand which role the cable cars had, as structural elements of the city, and then analyse the social interactions that took place inside it and the relationship between individual and space. The temporal urban range was Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, between 1890 e 1945, in its cable car extension lines. The choice for this time range was given by the importance this period had for the city development and modernization, especially in the transport area, such as the construction of Borges de Medeiros Ave., Farrapos Ave. and the canalization of Arroio Ipiranga, among other relevant works for the city.

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Historically, public transportation has served several key purposes. Among them is the need to provide accessible transportation for all persons in an area to increase commercial and social connectivity. However, the effectiveness of public transit in accomplishing this goal is relatively unstudied. I use U.S. Census data and a proprietary dataset matching each neighborhood of Los Angeles County with its nearest public transportation option to estimate median household incomes based on proximity to rails-based public transportation in 2000, 2010, and 2017. Using a fixed effects regression, I find that, in Los Angeles County neighborhoods more than 5 miles from the city’s central business district (CBD), being closer to a rails-based public transportation station is linked with higher median income levels. The magnitude of this effect is more pronounced as a neighborhood gets further from the CBD.

ABSTRACT During the last decades, environmental impacts have increased significantly, much due to the great traffic flows within cities. Therefore, to reduce these impacts and encourage a healthy way of living, it has in recent years become vital to generate safer and more sustainable and flexible modes of transportation. In order to do so, authorities and physical planners must work together to find viable solutions to incorporate in the infrastructure and offer alternative transport modes – such as walking, cycling and public transportation.  The purpose of this thesis is to examine the development of the cycling infrastructure in the city of Västerås and whether it is possible to expand bicycle commuting alongside public transportation. The thesis consequently aims to study how different physical planners within Västerås municipality work with traffic related questions. The thesis is based on interviews with relevant physical planners, data from scientific literature and different strategy documents intended for Västerås municipality.  The results are based on a thematic coding system to analyse specific categories frequently mentioned during the interviews. These results have later been put into context with related literature regarding sustainable cycling infrastructure.  The results show that there is a common goal for traffic planning within the municipality, even if the authorities express different actions concerning its development.

In this study, a comprehensive set of transit, intermodal and multimodal assignment models (FAST-TrIPs) is developed for transportation planning and operations purposes. The core part of the models is a schedule-based transit assignment with capacity constraint and boarding priority. The problem is defined to model the system performance dynamically by taking into account the scheduled transit service and to model user behavior more realistically by taking into account capacity of transit vehicles and boarding priority for passengers arriving early to a stop or a transfer point. An optimization model is proposed for both deterministic and stochastic models, which includes a penalty term in the objective function to model the boarding priority constraint. The stochastic model is proposed based on logit route choice with flexibility on the level of stochasticity in route choice. Optimality conditions show that the models are consistent with network equilibrium and user behavior. An extension of the optimization models is proposed for multimodal assignment problem, in which the transit and auto networks interact dynamically. To solve the proposed models, since the penalty term is non-linear and makes the model an asymmetric nonlinear optimization model with side constraints, a simulation-based approach is developed. The solution method incorporates the path assignment models and a mesoscopic transit passenger simulation in conjunction with Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) models. The simulation model can capture detailed activities of transit passengers and determines the nonlinear penalty explicitly by reporting passengers' failure to board experience. Therefore, the main problem can be solved iteratively, by solving a relaxed problem and simulating the transit network in each iteration, until the convergence criterion is met. The relaxed problem is a path generation model and can be either a shortest/least-cost path or a logit-based hyperpath in the schedule-based transit network. An efficient set of path models are developed using Google's General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) files, taking into account the transit network hierarchy for computational efficiency of the model. A multimodal assignment model is also developed by integration of the proposed transit assignment model with DTA models. The model is based on simulation and is able to capture the effect of transit and auto mode on each other through an iterative solution method and feedback loop from the transit assignment model to the DTA models. In the multimodal assignment model, more realistic transit vehicle trajectories are generated in the DTA models and are used for assigning transit passengers to transit vehicles. In an application of the multimodal assignment, intermodal tours are modeled considering the timing of auto trips and transit connections, the schedule-based transit network, and the constraint on park-n-ride choice in a tour. The model can simulate the transit, auto, and intermodal tours together with high resolution and realistic user behavior.