With the uncertainty of future energy supplies and the impacts of global warming, rapid transit is becoming increasingly important as part of the transportation mix in North American cities. The conventional choice for rapid transit alignments are off-street corridors such as rail and highway right-of-ways. More recently, cities are locating rapid transit projects along arterial street right-of-ways, to influence more transit-supportive development rather than low-density, single use environments common throughout North America. Promoting transit alignments that provide the best opportunity for this type of development, known as development-oriented transit, is essential for influencing a change in urban transportation habits and building more resilient cities. This research analyzes the benefits of these alignments by studying the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project and Red Line in Cleveland, and the Central Corridor and Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Visiting these cities and interviewing professionals associated with the projects revealed the benefits of on-street rapid transit by comparing ridership, development potential, placemaking, travel time and safety of both on-street and off-street rapid transit. On-street rapid transit provides the best opportunity for a long-term vision for city building through the creation of dense, mixed-use transit-oriented corridors where people can live, work, recreate, access services and shop. Results and potential implications were presented to professionals in Winnipeg associated with the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor (SWRTC). The goal was to understand the implications of the findings for the SWRTC and if on-street rapid transit would work along Pembina Highway. Respondents disagreed that an on-street solution was appropriate, which revealed contradictions between the findings from key informant interviews and literature reviewed versus focus group responses. The SWRTC is designed as a flexible route network system that will allow mixed traffic buses to pick up riders in their neighbourhoods and use the dedicated busway to bypass north-south traffic congestion. This plan is focused on minimizing travel time for a suburban to downtown commute, rather than development potential. This research has found that rapid transit alignments should be focused on transit supportive development and providing direct access to places people need to go on a daily basis. On-street rapid transit provides the best opportunity to do so.

As the transportation sector fully integrates information technology, transit agencies face decisions that expose them to new technologies, relationships and risks. Accompanying a rise in transit-related web and mobile applications, a set of competing real-time transit data standards from both public and private organizations have emerged. The purpose of this research is to understand the standard-setting processes for these data standards and the forces that move the transit industry towards the widespread adoption of a data standard. This project will analyze through case studies and interviews with members of standard-setting organizations the development of three real-time transit data standards: (1) the development of the General Transit Feed Specification Realtime (GTFS-realtime), (2) the Service Interface for Real Time Information (SIRI), and (3) Transit Communications Interface Profiles (TCIP). The expected outcome of this research is an assessment of federal policy on standards development as well as an analysis of current and future trends in this sector—both technical and institutional. The results will inform federal transit policy and future action in standards-setting and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) requirements, identifying the potential catalysts that will increase the effectiveness of federal- and agency-level programs.

With the uncertainty of future energy supplies and the impacts of global warming, rapid transit is becoming increasingly important as part of the transportation mix in North American cities. The conventional choice for rapid transit alignments are off-street corridors such as rail and highway right-of-ways. More recently, cities are locating rapid transit projects along arterial street right-of-ways, to influence more transit-supportive development rather than low-density, single use environments common throughout North America. Promoting transit alignments that provide the best opportunity for this type of development, known as development-oriented transit, is essential for influencing a change in urban transportation habits and building more resilient cities. This research analyzes the benefits of these alignments by studying the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project and Red Line in Cleveland, and the Central Corridor and Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Visiting these cities and interviewing professionals associated with the projects revealed the benefits of on-street rapid transit by comparing ridership, development potential, placemaking, travel time and safety of both on-street and off-street rapid transit. On-street rapid transit provides the best opportunity for a long-term vision for city building through the creation of dense, mixed-use transit-oriented corridors where people can live, work, recreate, access services and shop. Results and potential implications were presented to professionals in Winnipeg associated with the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor (SWRTC). The goal was to understand the implications of the findings for the SWRTC and if on-street rapid transit would work along Pembina Highway. Respondents disagreed that an on-street solution was appropriate, which revealed contradictions between the findings from key informant interviews and literature reviewed versus focus group responses. The SWRTC is designed as a flexible route network system that will allow mixed traffic buses to pick up riders in their neighbourhoods and use the dedicated busway to bypass north-south traffic congestion. This plan is focused on minimizing travel time for a suburban to downtown commute, rather than development potential. This research has found that rapid transit alignments should be focused on transit supportive development and providing direct access to places people need to go on a daily basis. On-street rapid transit provides the best opportunity to do so.

Planning for transportation within northern Canadian communities presents unique challenges, but new research tools offer opportunities for testing potentially innovative solutions that might help improve mobility within these communities. In particular, problem solving has been enriched in recent years by using the spatial modeling methods offered by Geographical Information Systems (GIS). This thesis first reviews various GIS methods before applying one method – the ‘Route Utility Theory’ – to a newly-developed set of metrics for determining the cost of alternate modes of intracommunity transportation. This set of metrics is applied to a data set that represents the trips or journeys made by non-car users in Iqaluit, the capital city of Nunavut Territory. GIS data on roads, walking trails, land contours, and public and residential neighbourhoods are analyzed. The results facilitate comparisons between road options and trail options for improving the movement of people within Iqaluit. Five bus routes were then custom designed and compared using the study’s metrics. The study found that increasing bus and trail options within Iqaluit would provide more efficient options for non-car users. It is argued that the study’s metrics can be adapted for application in other northern communities, and possibly in other isolated and rural communities in different world situations. / Graduate

The primary goal of the research project was to organize a community needs assessment, which culminated in a report attached in the appendix. Data from sixteen interviews with community leaders involved in mental health promotion throughout Dallas County, Texas was used as the foundation of the professional report. This data revealed several key barriers faced by those with mental illness in their ability to access mental health services in Dallas County. The information gathered prompted further exploration into the intersection between public transit and mental health. Transit became the focus of this work when it came up as simultaneously a barrier to care and mode of prevention in the majority of the interviews. Interestingly, Dallas County has public plans to address transit related disparities; however, their intervention pulls from strategies determined to be ineffectual among the poor and disenfranchised. In this work we explore community needs and the civic culture of Dallas with a specific focus on transportation.

Satisfactory public transportation (PT) should enable people to reach attractive destinations and desired activities fast, comfortably, safely, and affordably. When PT fails to do so it will have negative effects on the overall accessibility in a society. Evaluating a PT system essentially means measuring to what extent the demand from the users is met, and for such an analysis understanding the concept of accessibility is paramount. Whether an individual will experience a high or a low level of accessibility will likely depend on their personal capabilities, as well as on the surrounding environment. Barriers obstructing an individual from using PT could for example be of physical of phycological nature or come in the shape of public space management disproportionally favoring certain groups of society. Low accessibility can thus be linked to social exclusion, since when a person cannot reach important destinations, their chances to participate in society will be subdued. To measure the accessibility of a PT system, and how a PT system affects the overall accessibility of a destination, it is common practice to use indicators that can represent different categories of social exclusion. This approach was the basis for constructing the performance measurement tool called Bus Stop Ranking Algorithm (BSRA) which was created in the QGIS application Graphical Modeler. BSRA calculates the usefulness of bus stops by counting the number of vulnerable groups, the number of workplaces, and the total population within comfortable walking distance from bus stops, as well as comparing travel times by car and bicycle from residential areas to important locations. The tool was ordered by a private PT company which will use it to make decisions regarding e.g., creating new bus stops, or for relocating, removing, or redesigning existing bus stops or bus routes. The Swedish municipality Lidingö was used as the study area to demonstrate how to use BSRA and how to interpret its output. Using equal weights for all indicators, it was discovered that 9 bus stops in the southern part of Lidingö could be regarded as particularly useful compared to the other 207 bus stops in the municipality. Variables such as the space-temporal component, i.e., changes during the day were not used. Socio economic factors such as segregation were also not highlighted, since all indicators had the same effect on the total scores. Adjusting the weights for some indicators could expose underlying dynamics affecting the total scores for the bus stops and help the PT company make design changes where they will be needed the most.

Intro: Public transit offers various advantages for both communities and individuals in terms of mobility and has the potential to serve as a practical alternative to private motorized transportation. Timely and convenient public transit becomes a lifeline for people who cannot access other types of transportation, especially when it comes to emergency care. Method: We built a private network analysis within ArcGIS Pro using coordinate data from hospitals and stand-alone emergency rooms as designated by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) and public transit data from Orlando, FL. Establishing the accessible time as 30 minutes, we computed and visualized the accessible areas where individuals can get to a care facility within the time limit and via public transit. Then, we overlaid the map with demographic distribution and determined the relationship between populations' characteristics and access to care. Result: A total of 4178 active bus stops; among these, there are 1265 within a 5 to 10-minute walk to a care facility, and 68 bus routes, 249 actual care facilities, and 413 census tracts were found in the study area. Sixty-five census tracts showed less than 1% coverage, while 34 displayed complete 100% coverages, with the median service coverage across all tracts around 40%. The t-test series indicated a denser population and higher mobile homeownership in areas without level access. Conclusion: The investigation identified distinct spatial patterns in the distribution of care facilities, concentrated in the Central Business District, and created isolated areas between routes, potentially leaving unwell individuals in residential zones with limited access to timely care.

My creative project explores design for transit advocacy; aimed at shifting a car-dependent society into one where transit helps meet climate change, energy, and land-use challenges. It incorporates my research into aspects of designing for transit, an understanding of urbanism in Richmond and New York, and an appreciation of planning.

This professional report examines the degree to which the perception of safety shapes travel behavior in Austin, Texas, using Huston Tillotson University (HT) students as our case study. Focus groups are used to explore and identify what elements of the public transit experience are considered safe and unsafe. The report explores what “frightens” HT participants away from using the bus. A quantitative study is then used to measure environmental variables and their relation to bus stops and perceptions of safety. Austin crime data are used to locate bus stop crimes and develop a real context for bus riders’ perceptions of crime. After describing the conditions of bus stops based on physical, environmental, and criminal attributes, the study develops scenarios for the study areas. This report closes by summarizing the empirical findings and gives design and policy recommendations for transportation planners, agencies, and policy makers. / text

Afin de comprendre pourquoi tous les nouveaux projets de tramways en cours de développement au Canada sont réalisés en mode partenariat public-privé (PPP) plutôt que grâce au mode traditionnel (gestion publique) utilisé par le passé, cette recherche porte sur trois projets de tramways présentement en cours de réalisation (Edmonton, Ottawa et Toronto). À l’aide de trois études de cas, nous explorons l’argumentaire entourant chacune des décisions menant au choix du mode de gouvernance PPP ainsi que la forme prise par ce PPP. Nous démontrons que dans tous les cas, il est possible d’observer les mécanismes du transfert de politique, tant volontaire que coercitif. Nous croyons que le transfert de politique peut donc fournir un élément de réponse à notre question. De plus, l’argumentaire utilisé par les acteurs locaux pour justifier le choix du mode PPP, bien que semblable sur plusieurs points, comporte tout de même une combinaison de justifications unique à chacun des cas, ce qui nous laisse croire que le PPP est un instrument de politique polyvalent. Ces constats démontrent l’intérêt de prendre en considération les transferts de politique au niveau municipal et non seulement les transferts qui prennent place entre les États nationaux. To understand why all new light rail projects under development in Canada are carried out in public-private partnership (P3) rather than through the traditional mode (public administration) that prevailed in the past, this research explores three light rail projects currently underway in Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto. We study the arguments surrounding each decision leading to the choice of P3 governance. We show that in all cases, it is possible to observe the mechanisms of policy transfer, whether voluntary or coercive. Moreover, the argument used by local actors to justify the choice of P3, although similar in several respects, still forms a unique combination of justifications for each case, which leads us to believe that P3s are a versatile policy instrument. These findings demonstrate the importance of taking into account policy transfer at the municipal level and not only transfers that take place between national states.