The research segment of this thesis creates the first comprehensive repository of the current and proposed elements of public transit that will potentially operate in Atlanta. Beginning with a base GIS map of Atlanta Regional Commissions [ARC] Regional Transit Plan Mobility 2030, other GIS shapefiles from MARTA and Georgia Regional Transit Authority [GRTA] were added to complete the map of what Atlantas public transit might soon become. Working within this framework, the analysis provides the potential locations for ten nodes of transference located within Atlanta and its outlying areas - all classified by their relative locations within the city. This thesis analyzes methods of connectivity within these nodes and attempts to arrive at successful conditions of transference between various transit modes; resulting in a series of conceptual design proposals that create both modular efficiency and a standardized aesthetic language.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-51).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.

Public transit agencies often struggle with service reliability issues; when a bus or train does not arrive on time, passengers become frustrated and may be less likely to choose transit for future trips. To address reliability problems, transit authorities increasingly provide real-time vehicle location and arrival information to riders via web-enabled and mobile devices. Although prior studies have found several benefits of offering this information to passengers, researchers have had difficulty determining if real-time information affects ridership levels. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation is to quantify the impact of real-time information on public transit ridership. Statistical and econometric methods were used to analyze passenger behavior in three American cities that share a common real-time information platform: New York City, Tampa, and Atlanta. New York City was the setting for a natural experiment in which real-time bus information was gradually launched on a borough-by-borough basis over a three year period. Panel regression techniques were used to evaluate route-level bus ridership while controlling for changes in transit service, fares, local socioeconomic conditions, weather, and other factors. In Tampa, a behavioral experiment was performed with a before-after control group design in which access to real-time bus information was the treatment variable and web-based surveys measured behavior changes over a three month period. In Atlanta, a methodology to combine smart card fare collection data with web-based survey responses was developed to quantify changes in transit travel of individual riders in a before-after study. In summary, each study utilized different data sources and quantitative methods to assess changes in transit ridership. The results varied between cities and suggest that the impact of real-time information on transit travel is greatest in locations that have high levels of transit service. These findings have immediate implications for decision-makers at transit agencies, who often face pressure to increase ridership with limited resources.

No description available.

No description available.

Public transit provides an important community service by reducing pollution, traffic congestion, and by providing transportation for those who do not or cannot drive. Yet since the 1950s, real investment levels in transit have declined in many North American cities which has resulted in diminished service levels and ridership. In order for transit agencies to attract more riders, transit service must be competitive with alternative modes of transport, particularly private automobiles. However, since funding is limited, planning staff must ensure that the service changes that are implemented result in the greatest benefits to the system. This thesis presents an iterative approach to evaluating service changes in a transit network that combines the output from sophisticated transportation models, demographic data, and software analysis with local knowledge and expertise. The thesis focuses specifically on three common challenges in transit planning: quantifying costs of transfers between destinations within a system, examining access distances to transit as a measure of transit supportiveness, and estimating ridership changes resulting from small route adjustments. Three GIS-based tools, referred to as the Transfer, Access and Route Planning Tools, were developed to address these challenges and were demonstrated using transit system data from the Region of Waterloo in Southwestern Ontario. The Transfer Tool was used to highlight trips with high transfer costs to determine which changes in the route structure would result in the greatest reduction of the generalized cost of a trip attributed to transfers. Results from the Access Tool and Route Planning Tools demonstrated how changes to the streets along which transit routes operate influence access distances to transit, and further, transit ridership. The Access Tool also demonstrated how the design of the street network and the presence of pedestrian paths may affect access distances. Finally, this thesis concludes by recommending areas of future research.

There are many cities in North America planning to upgrade or implement public transportation infrastructure with the goals of increasing transit ridership and promoting transit-oriented development. The most commonly considered transit systems in mid-sized cities are bus rapid transit (BRT) and light rail transit (LRT). Planners and engineers in these cities often debate on which of these modes offer the more appropriate technology to meet the cities’ transit requirements. From a transportation engineering perspective, the goal of technology selection should be to choose the mode that has the best set of attributes – investment cost, operating cost, environmental and land use impacts – for the city and / or region. This thesis presents the development of an easy-to-use and accessible model (available via website) that assists in the technology selection process, considering investment costs, operating costs and environmental impacts. The objectives of this model include: finding annual costs for the transit modes being evaluated, finding the most appropriate transit mode for a specific scenario, finding the demand at which both transit modes have the same annual costs, testing the sensitivity that outputs have to inputs, finding annual emissions produced for both modes, and showing results that are visual and easy to understand. The model developed in this thesis is applicable mainly in mid-sized cities, which are interested in implementing new, or to improve existing transit systems into, rapid transit systems, like LRT and BRT, but the methods could be easily extended to apply it to other technologies as well. The model was applied to four cases to determine which mode would be more appropriate in these scenarios. The cases that will be studied include: Region of Waterloo in Ontario; Victoria, British Columbia; Cleveland, Ohio; and Mexico City. The results of the analysis made to these four case studies showed how the model can be used in the technology selection process. For these cases it was found that, for the Region of Waterloo and Victoria, LRT would be the less expensive mode in an annual basis, while, for Cleveland and Mexico City, BRT would be the less expensive mode. The break-even point analysis concluded with three main outcomes: for the Region of Waterloo this point would be 1200 passengers/hour and for Victoria it would be 1500 passengers/hour, which is less than the projected ridership for both cases; and for the other two cases (Cleveland and Mexico City) this point was not found for the stated scenario. The findings in the emissions module were the following: for the Region of Waterloo and Victoria: LRT would be the cleaner mode for all emissions; and for Cleveland: LRT would be the cleaner mode when considering NOx, but BRT would be the cleaner mode for SO2 and CO2. Future research can be conducted in adding more technologies into the comparison made in the model making the model functional for smaller and/or larger cities. Further investigation can also be applied in the emissions module creating a larger database to make this module capable of obtaining results in a global scale.

Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh and the centre of administrative, political, economic and social life for the country. An efficient transit system is needed in this city to provide services in every corner and to the people of all socio economic standing. This city is characterized by both motorized and non-motorized transport services, though there is a huge demand on the bus transit system. Dhaka is also one of the fastest growing global cities, which is contributing to even higher transit demand. There is a need, therefore, to investigate the present transit system with a view to understand the opportunities and potential of the current public transport system given available policy support and resources. This research is an initiative to identify the current efficiency status of transit services and explore the opportunities to increase the efficiency of this system for the people of this mega city. To carry out this research, along with literature and policy review, interviews with stakeholders and a survey of transit operators was undertaken. From the analysis of the operator’s survey and literature review, the current underperforming status of transit services was identified. From the discussion of interviews and policy frameworks, strategies to improve the current status and guidelines for future initiatives are outlined. This includes a separate and powerful institutional authority solely for transit services and taking regulatory measures by this authority to speed up STP implementation. For bus transit only, the recommendations are: consolidating bus industry and exclusive bus lanes to improve current status of bus transit service. Finally by achieving and fulfilling the recommendations of this study, it is hoped that a more efficient transit system in Dhaka city would result.