This manuscript reports on an exploration of whether shade provision is valued by urban users of cycling infrastructure. A description of the elicitation process has been outlined in order to build a general but detailed analysis of the different stages included in the exercise of attribute elicitation. As a departure point, a thorough literature review was conducted in order to establish a state of the art’s scenario. Different kinds of attributes that have been evaluated previously within discrete choice experiments and other relatable methods linked to bicycle commuting and bike route choices were compiled, however, shade appeared as an overlooked attribute. From this, a theoretical and methodological approach based on welfare economics and, the concept of willingness to pay as an indicator of shade provision’s value is proposed for the context of Neiva, Colombia, a medium size city in a developing country. Preliminary focus groups were conducted to build a surveying tool for eliciting the proposed attribute and gathered more contextual information. Finally, a pilot survey was launched in order to test the perceived value of shade and its importance for commuters. Special attention is devoted to the description of how the tools and methods were used in order to help future efforts. Several sets of data and information were reviewed and contrasted in order to build an accurate image of the current status of shade within the local commuters’ minds, what barriers were found while executing the research plan, and what can be some important implications for future urban planning studies and sustainable mobility research. Several different commuting conditions and individual realities were found, nonetheless, the existence of valuing shade provision was pervasive across all the surveyed university students and graduated staff. Furthermore, the benefits were perceived as socially broad, even by motorized, non-walking, and cycling commuters. Other valuable insights were found, like the effect of corruption when asking for policy implementation, further research needs to be conducted due to sampling limitations, the scarcity of previous research aimed at the subject, and for gathering more information about how acknowledging the attribute might be potentially critical for the future.

Transportation is a function that affects nearly all life decisions, but is often not given much thought by the average individual throughout their daily routines. Most of this complacency streams from the mainstream development patterns in the United States that have changed little from the end of World War II. During the immediate post-war years a perfect mix for suburban living came together: the mass production of automobiles, guaranteed mortgages from the federal government through the G.I. Bill, and in 1956 the passage of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act. These factors, along with the dominate social paradigm that the "American Dream" was to have a personal front and back yard, helped profoundly transform development in the country. Over half a century later, the United States is now experiencing the consequences of this sprawled, auto-dependent development pattern. Energy prices have increased substantially over the past decade, which were only contained momentarily by a worldwide recession that was arguably caused by the same development patterns. Environmental consequences are becoming increasingly evident, ranging from contaminated storm-water runoff, to global climate change. Similarly, mental and physical health has degraded rapidly, with a soaring depression and obesity rates. The United States can, and should do better than this. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) offers a solution to help alleviate many of the complex issues that many communities must address. While there is no perfect template, TOD is an important step forward for the overall quality of life for individuals throughout the nation. This report will look at the steps that have been taken in the Portland Oregon Metropolitan Area to discourage sprawl development, measuring the effects of their actions on environmental, economic and health factors.

The increasing length of the daily commute is a major issue for many commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). In order to alleviate this problem through policy, the policy makers require more in-depth understanding of this issue. This study explores different travel behaviour, socioeconomic and labour market determinants of commuting distance for resident workers in the GTHA, especially those having normal commutes and those having extreme commutes. This study also explores which areas of the GTHA are most self-contained, and what are the average commuting distances of each sub-region of the GTHA. The primary data source for this study was Transportation Tomorrow Survey (TTS) for the year 2011. Supplementary data were obtained from InfoCanada and Statistics Canada. Descriptive analysis in this study, focused at the Census Sub-Division (CSD), examined self-containment, outbound commutes, inbound commutes, resident employees and jobs densities, and average commute distances for place of residence and place of work. Study results showed that Toronto and Hamilton CSDs are the most self-contained areas in the GTHA, whereas areas located in the north and northwest of Toronto are major sources of outgoing commutes. Toronto and its adjacent CSDs have the lowest average commuting distance, whereas residents of Georgina and Brock commute exceptionally long distances. Multivariate regression analyses were applied to a disaggregate dataset (TTS). Workers older than 15 years of age living in the GTHA were divided into two major categories based on the length of their commute: (i) normal commuters (those having a mean commuting distance of 10.8 km) and (ii) extreme commuters (those having a mean commuting distance of 40.9 km). Factors affecting commuting distance for these two groups were examined. Similarly, residents living and working in the GTHA were divided into two categories: Resident workers living in (i) Jobs-rich areas or (ii) Resident-rich areas. Factors affecting commuting distance of these resident workers were also examined. The key controlling factors of commuting distance include gender, age, mode of transportation, employment status, ratio of jobs to employed residents, age of youngest child, auto availability in household, multi-worker household, median income, jobs and population density, and distance from CBD. Significant socioeconomic, travel behaviour and land use determinants for normal commute distances were also applicable to extreme commute distance. Transit was the preferred mode of transportation for long distance commuters in the GTHA, except for those living in job-rich areas. Workers associated with Sales and Service occupation and living in jobs-rich areas exhibited shorter commute than those in General/Clerical occupation. These findings are important to understand the changing travel patterns and behaviours of commuters in the GTHA. These results will be of interest to transportation planners, engineers, and policy makers as it highlights the inclination of long distance commuters to use transit. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This thesis explores the intersection of shared micro-mobility services and genderwith a focus on the nighttime in Stockholm, Sweden. Research has found agender gap in user characteristics, with safety, affordability, and vehicle qualityaffection adoption. This study explores the differences in motivations and barriersto usage, contributing to sustainable and inclusive transportation. This wasachieved through a quantitative-qualitative approach that combined responsesfrom 164 people, 60 open comments, and 15 interviews. The research found PublicTransport and socializing as the primary mode and purpose of night trips amongmen and women, with women having a slightly higher preference. Time-saving,convenience and reliability, ease of access and use, and the complementarity ofother modes of transport are relevant for users regardless of gender. Womenseem to be more regular users than men. Women also seem to be more sensitiveto pricing and safety issues, both positive and negative aspects of the services.Among users who avoid the service at night, parking restrictions, unusefulnessand impracticality, expensiveness, owning a bike, consuming alcohol, andsocio-political aspects are the main motivations for doing so. The last three alsoapply to non-users. Men seem to be more sensitive to parking restrictions andwomen to unusefulness and impracticality and carrying bags and travelling withchildren. Finally, this document suggests strategies to increase overall, nighttime,and female usage of this service, focused on the shared micro-mobility operatorsand municipalities.

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This research evaluated the existing forms of transportation to the University of Central Florida (UCF) and analyzed the feasibility of a mass transportation alternative for the commuting students. During the past twenty years at UCF, the automobile has been the only major means of transportation used by the students and employees. Opinion surveys conducted during 1983 and 1984 indicated that the University commuters are confronted with a number of transportation problems including the high cost of using private automobiles, lack of parking spaces, congestion on roads leading to the University, and the walking time between the parking lots and the classes. The research evaluated the existing forms of transportation including an inventory of travel cost, travel time to UCF, walking time, parking problems and the level of service of the existing intersections and access roads leading to the University. the methodology includes the Urban Transportation Planning Process (UTPP) in its four sub-models, as follows: (1) trip generation, (2) trip distribution, (3) modal split and (4) traffic assignment. Though different mass transportation alternatives were examined, it was concluded that the express bus would be the most efficient means to meet the need of the commuting students at UCF.

<p>The increased focus on the importance of active travel within a community to improved social, economic and environmental sustainability has facilitated discussion and questions about how to best encourage those who take a personal automobile to switch to an active mode of travel. In attempting to answer this question, it is first important to understand that there are a variety of factors that impact an individual’s decision to take a certain mode of transportation. This study attempts to determine which factors have the largest impact on students’ decisions to take an active mode of transportation within a university setting.</p> <p>Through investigation of socio-demographic and attitudinal variables of university students, a comparison of ideal versus actual commute time was modeled. Regression analysis was applied to test the relationship between the ratio of ideal to actual commute time and the individual’s socio-demographic variables and attitudinal scores. Research using discrete choice analysis further provided more detailed evidence of specific factors affecting student’s decision to choose an active mode of travel based on the level of utility they obtained by each mode as a function of attitudes, the built environment and socio-demographic variables.</p> <p>The results obtained from this study contribute insight and support for initiatives aimed to increasing active modes of travel by students in university settings. Recommendations are provided that can be adopted at the institutional and municipal level of both policy and planning to increase uptake of active modes of travel.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)