Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Rapid urbanization is one of the major problems facing the more developed nations' of the world today. With technology making great advances and the needs and values of the people changing rapidly, elements of the cities are becoming obsolete and there is need to expand and build anew; bigger, better, and more beautiful cities. To do this, new and better planning tools need to be developed to understand urban structure and intelligently guide public investment decisions. One of the important aspects is transportation and the impact that changes in land use or the transportation system have on the total travel requirements of the city. Prof. George C. Hemmens, Associate Professor of Planning, University of North Carolina, in a paper "Experiments in Urban Form and Structure" proposed a linear programming model to determine the minimum travel requirements of alternate landuse patterns. He takes as given alternate distributions among sub-regions of an hypothetical urban area of the following urban elements: work place, residence, alternate transportation systems, and an allocation rule which minimizes the total travel time between each residence and work place and a shopping place. One of his main conclusions was that alternate transportation systems do not effect the relative efficiency of alternate landuse patterns. The hypothesis of this thesis is that alternate transportation systems do effect the relative efficiency of alternate landuse patterns. Two sets of experiments were conducted, with some modifications to Prof. Hemmens model, the results of which substantiate the proposed hypothesis. The first set of experiments, using a geometrically non-symmetric road network and a one mode transport system, indicate the relative efficiency of alternate landuse patterns remains constant regardless of the level of service or the geometric pattern of the transportation network. For the second set of experiments two modes of transport and modal split factors for the sub-regions were introduced. It is found that the relative efficiency of the alternate landuse patterns now varies with the level of service, the type, and the pattern of the transportation system. Thus there is just one transportation system most suitable for a given landuse pattern. In general, the concentric ring with dispersed work and shopping (R2C2W2) pattern was found to be most efficient i.e. for a weak commercial and work core the travel requirements were smaller in magnitude than for a stronger core and that changes in the commercial pattern had a greater impact on travel time than similar changes in the work pattern. Also, there exists a trade off between landuse and transportation i.e. landuse changes can be substituted for improvements in the transportation system, or visa versa, to achieve the same desired end result. Because of the simplistic assumptions made, the hypothetical data used, and certain other limitations of the model, the validity of some of the conclusions may be questionable. But, if the results can be taken as conclusive, they are of great significance for planning. Time and locational priorities for all major renewal and new construction activity could be guided by the requirements of the R2C2W2 pattern. The highest priority being given to the restructuring of the commercial pattern and the lowest to the restructuring of the residential pattern. The model could also be used to determine changes in the travel requirements due to the construction of a new shopping center or a new freeway. This thesis is part of a group study dealing with a concept of urban growth and development; the "Nodular Metropolitan Concept." The results of the study substantiate that the "Nodular" pattern of urban structure (which by definition is analogous to the R2C2W2 pattern) has the highest efficiency i.e. the least travel requirements. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Public transportation is a critical component of urban communities and plays an important role in facilitating mobility which is integral to economic development and the quality of life of urban residents. In recent years, urban transportation has evolved rapidly with the emergence of transportation network companies (TNCs) and e-commerce that drastically transformed urban living. The availability of TNCs has given consumers more transportation options. However, the implications of TNCs on public transit ridership are unknown. In addition, the rising online shopping trend has drastically reduced the businesses of brick-and-mortar retailers, but does the shift in consumer shopping behavior reduce the demand for public transit? The objective of this dissertation is to address the following three research questions: (1) How is U.S. public transit ridership impacted by the rise of TNCs? (2) How have transit subcontracting (or purchased transportation) and TNC partnership affected transit productivity in recent years? (3) Has increased online shopping reduced the demand for public transit service? The key findings of my study are: (1) transit effectiveness of both bus and rail transits declined over the study period; (2) TNC availability increased rail transit ridership in 2015; (3) transit effectiveness was highly significant for public transit, and when examining its effect year-by-year, rail transit effectiveness trumped TNC availability; (4) TNCs are neither a complement nor a substitute of bus transit; (5) for bus transit agencies, outsourcing or purchased transportation is associated with negative efficiency and productivity changes; (6) although purchased transportation has a positive effect on technological change for bus transit, the effect is not significant; (7) TNC partnerships also have a negative effect on efficiency and productivity changes in bus transit; (8) there is a positive significant relationship between shopping mall visits and public transit use; (9) however, the effect of mall visits on transit use is small relative to the effects of car ownership; (10) taken together, the marginal effect of car ownership is 9 times larger than the effect of mall visits on transit use.

Thesis (M.U.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-56).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 15, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2010. / "30 April 2010". Includes bibliographical references (p. 108).

Transit joint development (TJD) is a specific component of transit-oriented development (TOD) characterized most commonly by a collaborative development relationship between transit agencies and private developers. A spatial evaluation of public and private properties within TOD station areas offers a valuable and unique point of view to examine the association between transit agencies, local government and private developers. The link between transit space including entrances, exits, lobbies, direct connections, multi-modal integration and immediately adjacent private property is essential to the success of TOD. This report offers insight and analysis concerning the spatial interface and access between public and private properties within the station area from a multimodal standpoint in an effort to evaluate the conditions that promote optimal pedestrian connectivity in harmony with the presence of the automobile and other motorized forms of transportation. Within this report a station area spatial interface - access typology is introduced, which captures the various interfaces between public and private properties at transit station areas from a multimodal perspective. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) rail system was the model for this typology To better understand the spatial relationship between these principal TOD players, an evaluation of the factors that affect the physical composition of TOD - TJD station areas is also conducted. These factors include site limitations and opportunities, financial arrangements, and land use regulatory policy. / text

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is currently in the stages of implementing Austin’s first bus rapid transit line along one of the city’s principal urban corridors. The line will run approximately 20 miles, along North Lamar, Guadalupe and South Congress Avenue. Considering the key role that land use patterns play in determining ridership for mass transit systems, transit agencies are increasingly pursuing strategies to encourage transit-oriented development as a means of securing the success of their transit investments. Considering the relatively intense uses already existing along this corridor, the location of some of the city’s primary institutions along it, and its general importance in defining the “image” of the city, this corridor seems ideally situated to absorb significant density increases. The focus of this study, therefore, is to evaluate the general need for increased densities and transit-supportive development along Austin’s BRT starter route, to examine the overall ability of bus-based transit to generate development pressures, to outline some of the land use policies necessary for encouraging TOD, and finally, to suggest an ideal planning approach for encouraging transit-supportive development along Austin’s BRT corridor. / text

Influence of built environment on travel behavior has been recognized by several studies in last decade (Cervero 2003, 2004, Ewing at al 2003 and etc.). Easy access to the transit station and mixed land use has been largely emphasized by New Urbanist because of its influence on transit ridership and reduction of vehicle mile travel. However, empirical evidence that proximity of residential location to the transit station or mixed land use reduces auto dependency and encourages transit ridership has been lack for Chicago metropolitan region in spite of its long history of transit development. This study uses 2007 Chicago metropolitan region travel tracking study data and travel characteristics of residents living within walkable distance from the CAT or METRA rail station in Chicago Metropolitan region was analyzed in comparison with those of residents living beyond walkable distance from the rail station in order to find any difference in socio-demographic characteristics and travel characteristics. In general, households located within walkable distance (a quarter mile for this study) from the rail station are more likely to be low income households, to reside in a multifamily rental housing. Residents living within walkable distance show higher portion of African American or Asian proportion, of smaller-sized households (a single member household or childless household). They are likely to own fewer cars than residents living far from the rail station. With this observation of some difference in sociodemographic and travel characteristics between two groups, probability of transit use and rail use in a relationship with home location and job location were tested using binary logistic model. The result indicates that the number of household vehicles per person in the household influences negatively on residential location. The more available household cars per person, the less likely it is that a household is located within walkable distance from the rail station. Work location was also an important factor for transit or rail use. This provides evidence that providing mixed land use where jobs and housing are all provided within walkable distance from the transit station can increase transit use and reduces auto-dependency that current American society is facing severely. / text