Chow, Ka Ying. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-133). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i-ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv-vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii-ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.X / Chapter CHAPTER ONE: --- INTRODUCTION OF THIS STUDY --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- General concept of the mobility --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- The role of job-housing relations and socio-economic factors in mobility --- p.2 / Chapter 1.4 --- Time use allocation and mobility --- p.3 / Chapter 1.5 --- Economic restructuring and mobility --- p.3 / Chapter 1.6 --- Focuses of the study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.7 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO: --- "MOBILITY, TIME ALLOCATION AND ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING" --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- What is mobility? --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Socio-economic and demographic factor and mobility --- p.9 / Chapter a) --- The impacts on commuting time/distance --- p.9 / Chapter b) --- The impacts on daily trips --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Time allocation and mobility --- p.12 / Chapter a) --- Commuting hours --- p.12 / Chapter b) --- Working hours (Work at job) --- p.13 / Chapter c) --- Non-working hours (Necessities. Housework and Leisure) --- p.14 / Chapter d) --- Literature on time use theory and daily trips --- p.14 / Chapter 2.4 --- Post-industrial restructuring and mobility --- p.16 / Chapter a) --- Post-industrialization --- p.16 / Chapter b) --- Spatial and social impacts --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5 --- Framework for mobility pattern --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE : --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1 --- Data collection --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2 --- Data process and manipulation --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3 --- Data variables --- p.33 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR: --- MOBILITY PATTERN IN HONG KONG --- p.35 / Chapter 4.1 --- Case Background in Hong Kong --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2 --- The changes of employment sector by regions/districts --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3 --- Temporal Change of mobility pattern --- p.40 / Chapter 4.4 --- Spatial Change --- p.41 / Chapter a) --- Three Macro regions --- p.41 / Chapter b) --- 18 Districts --- p.43 / Chapter 4.5 --- Mobility pattern change associated with personal characteristics --- p.46 / Chapter a) --- Economic sectors --- p.47 / Chapter b) --- Job Types --- p.48 / Chapter c) --- Income --- p.51 / Chapter d) --- Ages and car ownership --- p.54 / Chapter 4.6 --- Mobility pattern change associated with allocation of time --- p.56 / Chapter a) --- Total working hours --- p.56 / Chapter b) --- Total Traveling Minutes --- p.57 / Chapter c) --- Non-Working Hour --- p.58 / Chapter d) --- The variation of time use and mobility pattern by income --- p.59 / Chapter e) --- The variation of time use and mobility pattern by position --- p.60 / Chapter f) --- The variation of time use and mobility pattern by industry --- p.61 / Chapter g) --- The Correlations analysis between socio-economic factors and mobility pattern --- p.65 / Chapter 1. --- Pearson Correlation --- p.65 / Chapter 2. --- Spearman Correlation --- p.66 / Chapter 4.7 --- Job-housing spatial mismatch and relations --- p.72 / Chapter a) --- Three Macro Regions --- p.72 / Chapter b) --- 18 Districts --- p.74 / Chapter 4.8 --- The combination of Spatial Mismatch and Mobility Level --- p.82 / Chapter 4.9 --- Chapter Summary --- p.83 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE: --- ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING AND MOBILITY --- p.86 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2 --- Two stages of post-industrial restructuring --- p.86 / Chapter 5.3 --- Three geographical shifts of economic activities and population --- p.90 / Chapter 5.4 --- Impact on mobility pattern --- p.96 / Chapter 5.5 --- Impacts of restructurings: spatial mismatch and qualification mismatch --- p.98 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX: --- THE TREND OF MOBILITY --- p.105 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.105 / Chapter 6.2 --- The trend of mobility gap --- p.105 / Chapter 6.3 --- Shopping Malls and mobility pattern --- p.115 / Chapter 6.4 --- Findings and implication --- p.117 / Chapter 6.5 --- Recommendations for further studies --- p.121 / BIBLOGRAPHY --- p.123

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

The minibus taxi industry serves approximately 68% of the South Africans using public transport. It is credited with supporting black South African communities by providing a more accessible alternative to the public transportation. It has also been a primary activity for black entrepreneurship since the early 1970s up to the present. It also provides a strong example of enterprise serving as a platform for creating employment and for fighting poverty. However, its growth and prosperity is hindered by a number of challenges, some of which emanated from the past apartheid laws that restricted black economic policies. Some are related to the industry, such as continuing problems of persistent violence, at times resulting in death and safety concerns. In an effort to address these challenges, the National Department of Transport published a Taxi Recapitalisation Strategy (TRS). The TRS is not only about the replacement of old vehicles with new and safe vehicles, but presents the government with an opportunity to transform, empower and regulate the industry. The key pillars of the TRS are the scrapping of old taxi vehicles, the introduction of new and safe vehicles, effective regulations, empowerment of the taxi industry and law enforcement. This study measures the impact of the TRS on poverty levels and expenditure patterns of the taxi-mode commuters of the Vaal, situated south of Gauteng. It focuses mainly on the few townships identified; where the taxis are the most frequently used mode of transport. It has been shown that regulation of the taxi industry through the implementation of the TRS would lead to a rise in taxi fares and other consequences for the owners and users (passengers). Subsequently, this would result in increased levels of poverty and a change in expenditure patterns of most of the Vaal households. Although the levels of poverty have decreased in the townships of the Vaal as compared to 2003, the severity of poverty still remains in some households. Using the Household Subsistence Level (HSL) as the household's respective poverty line, 45.4% of the households have an income that is less than 50% of their HSL amount, indicating severe poverty. The headcount index was determined at 0.59 in 2006, indicating that 59% of households live below their poverty lines. The poverty gap index was determined at 0.45, reflecting that households lack on average 45% of income to attain a level equal to their poverty line. The impact of increases in taxi fares would then directly have a negative effect on the average standard of living of the Vaal households. To measure the impact of the TRS on expenditure patterns, affordability levels of the households of the Vaal were considered. The three scenarios used (taxi fares increase by 10%, 15%, and 20%) showed that the average monthly transport costs would rise by 9.9%, 10.3% and 10.6% respectively, following the implementation of the TRS. If user-targeted subsidies could be offered that would result in the taxi fare reduction, it could have an impact on expenditure patterns and poverty levels of the Vaal households. Applying the impact assessment model to households living below their poverty lines in the Vaal, increased government subsidy would supplement the existing incomes of these households. For instance, if a subsidy of 20% on taxi fares is offered, that is to make the taxi fare lower than the current fare, the poverty gap would decrease from 0.45 to 0.31 and the headcount index would be reduced from 0.59 to 0.48. This would reflect that households lacking income to attain a level equal to their poverty line is reduced by 14%.This suggests that the recapitalisation of the taxi fleet which is supported by a taxi fare subsidy is critical to ensure the provision of safe, affordable and efficient minibus taxis. In the case of even higher government subsidies, reduction in the cost of transport through government subsidies may supplement the existing income of households to such an extent that the headcount indexes for the population decreases even more. The study therefore concludes that poverty alleviation and improved standards of living among the Vaal households can only be achieved if appropriate subsidies which may lead to the reduction in the taxi fares can be provided. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

Efficient public transportation provides economic and social opportunities that increase accessibility to markets and employment as well as providing investment benefits. Key challenges to the U.S. public transportation industry include developing modes and increasing the availability of public transportation in a manner that meets the needs of individual users in a cost effective manner. A problem facing public transportation officials is the need to understand the factors that influence consumer decision-making and consumer attitudes toward public transportation. Feedback regarding experiences as well as expectations from commuters provides information for developing and improving public transportation. Thus, decision-making factors of end-users are keys to improving supply, growth, and understanding utilization of public transportation. Public transportation officials seek to improve the public transportation experience for commuters by increasing modes and benefits of the systems. The decision-making factors of the end-users require identification and examination in order to provide a high quality and efficient experience for commuters. The research questions of interest in the current dissertation are: (1) What are the decision-making factors affecting commuters’ attitudes toward public transportation? and (2) How do the end-user decision-making factors affect the supply of public transportation? The purpose of this research is to extend the current body of knowledge about decision-making factors by developing and testing a new theoretical model to measure the attitudes of public transportation end-users. This study has its theoretical foundation in the theory of planned behavior, theory of reasoned action, and rational choice theory. To understand how public transportation is affected by decision-making factors, it is necessary to analyze the relationships among the decision factors and attitudes. The findings of this study contribute by building theory and having implications for practice. This study employs a mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative research. More specifically, the development of a framework and testing of that framework via collection of data using a survey instrument, semi-structured interviews, and data scraping of customer comments underpin the methodology employed in this study. To this end, Essay 1 develops a conceptual framework of decision-making factors that affect the supply of public transportation based on the extant literature. The integrated framework developed is operationalized using a survey to test a model that depicts the framework within the context to which the study was situated. The results of the structural model using PLS provide insights for the development of public transportation. Essay 2 involves two phases in the methodology. First, the study develops a causal loop that depicts the operationalized conceptual framework from Essay 1. Second, discussion panels were conducted to confirm the system dynamic causal loop visualization that was developed to fit the model. Finally, Essay 3 examines the conceptual framework developed and tested in the prior essays by analyzing electronic word of mouth (eWOM) of online comments. The third essay examines eWOM of current public transportation users that is available online. This eWOM data was examined using text mining and the resulting quantitative output was compared to the operationalized theoretical framework from the prior works. The results also illustrate the functionality of text analytics for confirmatory model assessment.

Although the Bible was brought to Africa by missionaries as part of the Western European colonial package deat Africans have claimed the book as their ownand have appropriated it from the perspective of their culture, world-view and life experience. It is as though Africans are asking, with the attendants in Jerusalem on Pentecost, "How is it that each of us hears [the wonders of God] in his own native language?" (Acts 2:8ff). In the midst of the stresses caused by poor working conditions, low wages and high cost of living, the African commuter-train worshipper has found the Bible to be an indispensable source of hope, and a source of life itself. In the morning, on the way to work, and in the evening on the way back home, the African commuter can still afford a smile as the Bible promises him/her solutions to all problems. When the problems seem insurmountable, the commuter finds solace in the Biblical beatitude "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20b). The commuter hears blessings pronounced on the hungry and the weeping in the Bible, and he is convinced that these blessings are pronounced on him too. The Bible is an indispensable tool in the hands of the African commuter-train worshipper, who interprets it and appropriates its message in a liberating manner, which the western mind sometimes cannot make sense of. The Bible remains the one book that gives dignity to all the commuter-train worshippers who live in squatter camps and sprawling townships, as it banishes all social inequalities. This study is about the way in which the African commuter-train worshippers read and interpret the Bible. The commuter's use of the Bible is placed within the context of the conventional African Biblical hermeneutical field. The commuter is recognized as an ordinary (untrained) reader whose contribution is highly valued by this author. This piece of work is a modest attempt at bringing to light the emerging phenomenon of commuter reading of the Bible, with the hope that Biblical scholars will take note of this rising phenomenon and give it the attention it deserves. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

The minibus taxi industry serves approximately 68% of the South Africans using public transport. It is credited with supporting black South African communities by providing a more accessible alternative to the public transportation. It has also been a primary activity for black entrepreneurship since the early 1970s up to the present. It also provides a strong example of enterprise serving as a platform for creating employment and for fighting poverty. However, its growth and prosperity is hindered by a number of challenges, some of which emanated from the past apartheid laws that restricted black economic policies. Some are related to the industry, such as continuing problems of persistent violence, at times resulting in death and safety concerns. In an effort to address these challenges, the National Department of Transport published a Taxi Recapitalisation Strategy (TRS). The TRS is not only about the replacement of old vehicles with new and safe vehicles, but presents the government with an opportunity to transform, empower and regulate the industry. The key pillars of the TRS are the scrapping of old taxi vehicles, the introduction of new and safe vehicles, effective regulations, empowerment of the taxi industry and law enforcement. This study measures the impact of the TRS on poverty levels and expenditure patterns of the taxi-mode commuters of the Vaal, situated south of Gauteng. It focuses mainly on the few townships identified; where the taxis are the most frequently used mode of transport. It has been shown that regulation of the taxi industry through the implementation of the TRS would lead to a rise in taxi fares and other consequences for the owners and users (passengers). Subsequently, this would result in increased levels of poverty and a change in expenditure patterns of most of the Vaal households. Although the levels of poverty have decreased in the townships of the Vaal as compared to 2003, the severity of poverty still remains in some households. Using the Household Subsistence Level (HSL) as the household's respective poverty line, 45.4% of the households have an income that is less than 50% of their HSL amount, indicating severe poverty. The headcount index was determined at 0.59 in 2006, indicating that 59% of households live below their poverty lines. The poverty gap index was determined at 0.45, reflecting that households lack on average 45% of income to attain a level equal to their poverty line. The impact of increases in taxi fares would then directly have a negative effect on the average standard of living of the Vaal households. To measure the impact of the TRS on expenditure patterns, affordability levels of the households of the Vaal were considered. The three scenarios used (taxi fares increase by 10%, 15%, and 20%) showed that the average monthly transport costs would rise by 9.9%, 10.3% and 10.6% respectively, following the implementation of the TRS. If user-targeted subsidies could be offered that would result in the taxi fare reduction, it could have an impact on expenditure patterns and poverty levels of the Vaal households. Applying the impact assessment model to households living below their poverty lines in the Vaal, increased government subsidy would supplement the existing incomes of these households. For instance, if a subsidy of 20% on taxi fares is offered, that is to make the taxi fare lower than the current fare, the poverty gap would decrease from 0.45 to 0.31 and the headcount index would be reduced from 0.59 to 0.48. This would reflect that households lacking income to attain a level equal to their poverty line is reduced by 14%.This suggests that the recapitalisation of the taxi fleet which is supported by a taxi fare subsidy is critical to ensure the provision of safe, affordable and efficient minibus taxis. In the case of even higher government subsidies, reduction in the cost of transport through government subsidies may supplement the existing income of households to such an extent that the headcount indexes for the population decreases even more. The study therefore concludes that poverty alleviation and improved standards of living among the Vaal households can only be achieved if appropriate subsidies which may lead to the reduction in the taxi fares can be provided. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

This thesis contributes to the literature on the choice of transport mode for commuting trips, with special focus on the difference between urban and rural commuting in Scotland. The thesis begins by giving an overview of discrete choice theory and some empirical models consistent with this theory, before reviewing the literature on empirical applications of mode choice models for commuting trips. In the following, multinomial, nested and mixed logit models using data from a survey of commuters in the University of St Andrews are developed. The models are used to estimate aggregate mode-choice elasticities that can assist the development of efficient car reduction policies in St Andrews and other small towns in rural areas. The direct elasticities of the car mode are found to be comparable to estimates reported in studies of urban commuting, while the demand for public transport is found to be considerably more elastic. The value of in-vehicle travel time is found to be lower than in most studies of urban commuting, reflecting that the roads in the St Andrews area are relatively uncongested. Subsequently, current car drivers' willingness to use a Park and Ride service prior to the implementation of such a service are examined. The results show that the modal shift away from parking on-site will be small unless the new service is accompanied by measures aimed at making parking on-site less attractive such as introducing parking charges. Finally, the effect of the 'compact city' on modal split and congestion are examined. As well as making urban transport more sustainable as a result of an increase in the use of public transport, making cities more compact is found to contribute to lower levels of congestion in urban areas through a reduction in complex trip chains.

Orientador: Jose Marcos Pinto da Cunha / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T01:25:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Miglioranza_Eliana_M.pdf: 1638111 bytes, checksum: f0ddd998521b6127b4126c845618092a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Este trabalho procura mostrar a importância da migração para o crescimento do município de Valinhos - SP e como a migração seletiva, a partir da década de 90, foi responsável pelo aumento da população pendular. Para isso, investiga moradores de condomínios e loteamentos fechados de Valinhos que trabalham em outro município objetivando relacionar a população de alta renda com o aumento da pendularidade do município, e desta forma verificar se os moradores desses condomínios estão contribuindo para a produção de uma nova categoria de cidade-dormitório. O trabalho de campo foi desenvolvido em condomínios fechados, com famílias em que uma ou mais pessoas da família realizavam deslocamento pendular, procurando apreender os motivos que levaram a escolha do município para moradia, e o vínculo mantido com a cidade. Além desse trabalho de campo, foram utilizados dados do Censo Demográfico 2000 da área urbana de Valinhos, realizando-se uma comparação entre as cinco áreas de ponderação (AP ), considerando o perfil sociodemográfico dos migrantes , dos naturais do município (população nascida no município) e dos moradores que realizam movimentos pendulares / Abstract: This work demonstrates the importance of migration for the growth of Valinhos city, inland of São Paulo State, and how the selective migration, which started in the 1990s, has been responsible for the increase of commuters. To conduct this analysis, the inhabitants of gated community of Valinhos, who works in other towns have been interviewed. The objective of this work is to relate the high-income population with the increase of commuting as well as to verify if these inhabitants of gated communities are contributing to the establishment of a new category of dormitory town. The fieldwork was done within gated communities with families in which at least one family member was regularly commuting. The aim was to understand the reasons underlying the choice of these families for living in Valinhos and other relationships they keep with such city. Beyond the fieldwork, data from the Demographic Census held in the urban area of Valinhos in 2000 was used to compare with five ¿weighting areas (WA ). This comparison considers the migrants' social demographic profile, the natural inhabitants of the city (those who were born in the city) and the commuting population / Mestrado / Demografia / Mestre em Demografia