This thesis explores the cross-price elasticity of rail and bus usage with gasoline prices. This is done to see how the short-run cross price elasticity has changed and to see if the same long-run relationship can be seen in the long run as previous pooled models. It is done in order to investigate whether policies such as higher gasoline taxes may make consumers move from car usage towards public transportation. Historically the cross-price elasticity has been around 0.2 with a higher elasticity for rail than for buses. The relationship also seemed to be greater in the long run than short run. Investigating this long run cross price elasticity for modes of public transportation separately would give greater insight into how consumers behave when gasoline prices shift. An ARDL model was therefore used to investigate the long run coefficients of gasoline prices with rail usage and bus usage separately as well as the short run coefficients. No cointegration could be found in this model for the two different modes. The results of the short-run cross-price elasticity seemed to be greater for buses as a direct effect, while it was greater at first lag for rail usage. The cross-price elasticity was lower for the period than previous studies, indicating that the cross-price elasticity may have decreased. The reasons for this cannot be concluded, but theory may explain these differences by the availability in substitutes for the periods, or lower levels of gasoline prices in recent years. This thesis therefore suggests further studies that investigate how usage of rail affects the usage of buses in metropolitan areas, and how the attributes of a modes of public transportation may change the usage of another form of public transportation.

The less glamorous aspects of a transportation system'­s infrastructure, such as signage, ticketing systems, and wayfinding elements, typically get little or no attention from creative professionals. Instead they are purchased directly from manufacturers as minimally customized off-the-shelf components. Paradoxically, these parts that go unconsidered and undesigned are what transit riders most directly interact with, and what most affects their experience of the transit system/product. This thesis focuses specifically on the Washington DC Metro Area Transportation Authority's (WMATA) Metrorail, aiming to reshape the entrance segment of this public transportation experience by increasing both appeal and accessibility. The design process began with primary and secondary design research, using observational and interactive methods to produce an informed picture of Metrorail users'­ current perspectives. A design strategy was then developed from the collective research findings, which led to a period of blue-sky ideation and finally the design of elegant and accessible mass transit entrance system components. / Master of Science

Abstract 1 – The Importance of Transportation Policies in Local Elections Building and maintaining transportation systems is one of the most important functions of local government. It is a subject that concerns local residents, jurisdictions spend a lot of money on, and local politicians use to their political advantage. This study helps us understand how transportation issues feature in local elections. Through evaluating a dataset of 542 candidates from 219 local election races from 2022, this study explores which candidates for local office are more likely to have transportation policies, what kind of content is included in these policies, and what are the factors that make including different transportation content more or less likely. The analysis primarily uses website campaign content and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to answer these questions. I find a variety of factors affect the inclusion of transportation issues at the local level such as variations in governance, partisanship, and regional characteristics like a jurisdiction's size and transportation behavior. It was also evident that defining transportation issues was more common than proposing transportation policy solutions. Overall, this research provides more insight into how transportation policies are included in local elections. Abstract 2 – Saliency of Transportation Policies in State Legislative Elections: The Case of Virginia Transportation systems are expensive and directly impact important issues like climate change, equity, and quality of life. However, it is not clear how important transportation policies are in state-level elections. Using the Virginia 2021 state legislative election, this research uses candidate website data, Twitter data, and data about Virginia House of Delegates districts to answer three questions: which candidates are more likely to have transportation polices, what issues or transportation modes are included, and what factors make candidates more or less likely to focus on certain issues. Using descriptive statistics, and regression methods, this research found transportation issues varied by political party with top overall issues including transportation funding as well as expanding or improving transportation systems. Public transportation was the top non-car mode. Candidates were more likely to include transportation issues if district households had higher car ownership or a lower percentage of single occupancy vehicle commuters. Finally, differences in transportation issues could be partly explained by political party, incumbency, population density, and transportation habits. These results will be helpful for understanding how state government transportation agendas change, can better inform transportation advocacy efforts, and could help transportation professionals better understand the impact of their work. Abstract 3 – Does Voting Affect the Provision of Bus Service? Inequalities in the distribution of bus services are important to understand. This chapter adds to previous literature by exploring why inequalities exist. Specifically, does voting for elected officials affect inequalities in the delivery of bus services? This study explores this question using a quantitative approach as part of a quasi-experimental research design focusing on GoRaleigh in North Carolina and the Milwaukee County Transit System in Wisconsin. The analysis provides evidence of a relationship between voting behavior and bus service. This finding is observed across cities and elections with the relationships holding even when controlling for factors associated with a bureaucratic explanation for changing bus service, like changes to population or jobs. However, the strength of the relationship can change between elections, the type of elected official, and cities. Overall, this work provides more evidence of the politics behind transit service planning, especially the political influences of voting behavior in representative democracies. / Doctor of Philosophy / Abstract 1 – The Importance of Transportation Policies in Local Elections This study helps us understand how transportation issues feature in local elections. Specifically, this study explores which candidates for local office are more likely to have transportation policies, what kind of content is included in these policies, and what are the factors that make including different transportation content more or less likely. I find a variety of factors affect the inclusion of transportation issues at the local level such as variations in local control, partisanship, and regional characteristics like a jurisdiction's size and transportation behavior. Overall, this research provides more insight into how transportation policies are included in local elections. Abstract 2 – Saliency of Transportation Policies in State Legislative Elections: The Case of Virginia While transportation systems affect many important issues, it is not clear how important transportation policies are in state-level elections. Using 2021 Virginia state elections, this research answers three questions: which candidates are more likely to have transportation polices, what issues or transportation modes are included, and what factors make candidates more or less likely to focus on certain issues. This study found top issues included transportation funding as well as expanding or improving transportation systems while public transportation was found to be the top non-car mode. Candidates were more likely to have transportation policies if their districts had higher car ownership rates or a lower percentage of people commuting using a car. Finally, differences in transportation issues could be partly explained by political party, incumbency, population density, and transportation habits. These results could be helpful for understanding state government transportation agendas, can better inform transportation advocacy efforts, and could help transportation professionals better understand the impact of their work. Abstract 3 – Does Voting Affect the Provision of Bus Service? Does voting for elected officials affect the delivery of bus services? This study explores this question by focusing on two transit systems: GoRaleigh in North Carolina and the Milwaukee County Transit System in Wisconsin. The study demonstrates voting behavior has a relationship to changes in bus service. This finding is seen in both cities and multiple elections with the impacts still observable even when considering other factors like changes to population or jobs. However, the size of the voting impact can be different between elections, the type of elected official, and cities. Overall, this work provides more evidence of the politics behind transit service planning.

This thesis investigates an understudied question in the economics literature: how does sexual harassment experienced in and around public transportation affect labor market outcomes for women? Previous research suggests that access to public transport can improve labor market outcomes and that women's use of public transportation is sometimes limited by their experience of sexual harassment. It follows that when harassment is particularly widespread or severe – as is the case in much of South Asia – it may lead women who depend on public transportation for travel to make different labor market choices or not to work at all. If this effect exists, then it holds important implications for policymakers who aim to boost economic development and social equality by increasing women's labor force participation. I analyze the case of Lahore, Pakistan using data from the Lahore Urban Transport Master Plan Household Interview Survey. I present a descriptive analysis of women's transportation usage, safety onboard transport, and employment in Lahore. I then use ordinary least squares and logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between proxy variables for harassment and women's odds of employment, use of public transportation, and price and time of day of commute. Results do not support the hypothesis that sexual harassment on transportation affects labor market outcomes for women. Important limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

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This thesis looks at the study of accessibility and the role that attitudes and perceptions, based on place and socioeconomic standing, play in determining individual accessibility. The link between accessibility through public transportation systems and sustainable cities and the problems of designing these systems with equity in mind are presented. A framework based on current theory related to accessibility and the effect of perceptions on individual accessibility is developed to investigate if there is a relationship between place of residence, socioeconomics and attitudes towards bus travel and perceptions of accessibility. Surveying through a self-administered questionnaire is used as a method to test if relationships do, in fact, exist. Rosengård and Limhamn, two disparate areas of Malmö, Sweden are chosen as study areas. Relationships between place and attitudes towards bus travel are found to be weak or non-existent, with only concerns of bus wait times and timeliness in reaching one’s destination testing as having a significant relationship to place of residence. Bus users’ perceptions of accessibility are also found to be independent of place of residence. This suggests that the bus provides for satisfactory accessibility in Malmö regardless of place of residence and socioeconomic background.

25 airports have a connection with the local rail transit system, but each is unique. Variables such as network size, train frequency, type of airport station, time, and cost vary by airport. Both airport passengers and planners should have a technical basis of selecting which system is the most useful, efficient, and reliable. To date, there have been no scoring procedures created to rank the airports in order of quality of connection. This thesis analyzes rail transit accessibility for all 25 airports (3 of which have 2 separate transit systems) by investigating 8 characteristics, 3 of which are market factors and 5 of which are system factors. The 5 system factors are travel time difference between car and train, transit cost difference between car and train, airport/transit connection type, network size, and train frequency. The 3 market factors are rail transit mode share, business traveler percentage, and low-cost carrier percentage. A scoring system was then developed and each airport's characteristics were inputted. The airports were scored using three different methods and were subsequently evaluated to understand why airports received the scores they did. This evaluation led to a better understanding of airport transit best practices. The scoring system was used again to evaluate an airport (Washington-Dulles) undergoing radical changes to understand by what factor a score can improve. A "top 10" list of airport transit connections was produced with JFK coming in first. This method is a starting point for developing a robust system to evaluate transit connections to airports. / Master of Science

Public transportation ticketing has evolved from traditional paper tickets to advanced digital systems. This study combines GPS data from users’ smartphones with General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data from the bus network in Hamilton, Ontario, to analyze trajectory similarities using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and Longest Common Subsequence (LCSS) algorithms. By matching user trajectories with GTFS data, the system accurately identifies the bus services used, enabling frictionless fare calculation and integration of payment systems. Our results show that DTW is more effective than LCSS, particularly for longer trips due to the large quantity of data points. This research demonstrates the practicality of this approach, providing a promising solution for improving fare collection and the efficiency of public transportation. These findings make a significant contribution to the development of smart, user-friendly transportation infrastructure. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

ABSRACT The diploma thesis deals with analysis the public transportation planning environment with focus in planning of public transport network service. In the introductory chapter there are shown and described different methods of public transport network planning and analysed influencing factors. Consequently the thesis examines the institutional framework as the principal factor and analyses contemporary Slovak public transportation legislative. Following the analyses are the first results and the suggestions of modifications presented. In the next part authors alternate method of public transport network rationalisation is shown. Despite traditional planning attitudes the thesis integrates into the issue also question of time geography. In the author methodology there are vast qualitative parameters defined. The parameters dealt with the system and also with the number of operated station and tracks. The methodology is consequently presented at the case study of Slovak long-distance public transport service. KEY WORDS Public transportation, Public transportation service, transportation planning, institutional influences, transport integration, Slovakia.

Um dos objetivos dos projetos e estudos na área de transporte público é atrair o maior número possível de viagens. Um primeiro passo para estimular uma maior utilização do transporte público pode ser a captação de pessoas que já têm predisposição para utilizá-lo, mas que não o fazem por alguma deficiência específica no serviço. Este é o contexto no qual mapas que representam o potencial de utilização dos transportes públicos podem desempenhar um papel importante, como discutido neste estudo. A pesquisa tem como objetivo principal a aplicação e avaliação de duas técnicas destinadas a identificar potenciais usuários de transporte público e como estes se distribuem geograficamente em uma cidade brasileira selecionada para o estudo. Nas técnicas aqui exploradas, o município em análise é dividido em áreas em função do código de endereçamento postal. Estas áreas são caracterizadas pelos atributos socioeconômicos da sua população e do sistema de transporte. Diante da hipótese de melhoria na qualidade do transporte público, dois segmentos de usuários de automóvel foram determinados: usuários que trocariam para ônibus e usuários que ainda preferem o carro. Com isso, foi construído um modelo capaz de representar o comportamento de escolha dos usuários de cada área. A metodologia proposta envolve quatro passos: i) comparação de modelos Logit elaborados com dados de São Carlos (Brasil) e Wageningen (Holanda), ii) ajustes no modelo de São Carlos, iii) elaboração de um modelo de escolha modal por redes neurais artificiais e iv) elaboração dos mapas potenciais. As duas últimas etapas foram concebidas tanto para análises independentes, como também para comparação com o modelo Logit. Assim, a construção de cenários futuros permitiu identificar e localizar espacialmente os potenciais usuários de transporte público. Foi possível verificar também qual a influência de alguns atributos sobre a escolha do modo de transporte urbano. Por exemplo, usuários de domicílios com três ou quatro pessoas têm menor probabilidade de vir a utilizar o ônibus regularmente. Por fim, um cenário futuro tornou possível destacar áreas onde é esperado um aumento do potencial de uso do transporte público devido a mudanças nos valores de densidade populacional. / One of the objectives of projects and studies on public transport is to attract the largest possible number of trips. A first step for increasing transit ridership may be the attraction of those individuals who already have a predisposition to use the service, but do not use it because of any specific inadequacies. This is the context in which maps displaying the potential use of public transport may play an important role, as discussed in this study. The research aims at the application and evaluation of two techniques used to identify potential users of public transport and to show how they are geographically distributed in a Brazilian city selected for the study. In the techniques discussed here, the municipality under analysis is divided into areas according to the postal codes of the streets. These areas are characterized by socioeconomic attributes of the population and of the transport system. Two segments of automobile users were determined, under the assumption that the quality of public transport would be improved: users who would switch to buses and users who still prefer the car. Based on that, a model designed to represent the choice behavior of users in each urban area was built. The proposed methodology involved four steps: i) the comparison of Logit models built with data of São Carlos (Brazil) and Wageningen (The Netherlands), ii) adjustments in the model of São Carlos, iii) the development of a mode choice model based on artificial neural networks, and iv) construction of potential maps. The third and fourth steps were meant for both independent analysis, and also for comparison with the Logit model. Thus, the construction of future scenarios allowed the identification and spatial location of potential users of public transport. It was also possible to learn about the influence of some attributes on urban transportation choice. For example, users living in households with three or four persons are less likely to become bus riders. Finally, a future scenario was able to highlight the areas where the potential for public transport could be increased due to changes in population density values.