Climate change is a pressing issue caused by the systematic increase of greenhouse gasses (GHG). One way to avoid higher GHG emissions is through an increased use of public transportation, transitioning society away from the personal automobile. Public transportation is more sustainable than the personal automobile as its emissions per person are less and it takes up significantly less space. Sustainability is defined through the principle-based definition of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). This research studied barriers and best practices to the use of public transportation in the South Baltic Sea Region (SBSR), in cooperation with the EU funded InterConnect Project. The research team was able to use the resources of the InterConnect Project for their methods in order to discover perceived barriers and potential best practices and ideas to overcome these barriers through the stakeholder perspective. The research team concludes that by addressing the perceived barriers, a first step towards transitioning society within the SBSR towards more sustainable transportation can be done. As transportation is complex and connected to other systems, the need for a systems perspective and a strategic and collaborative approach was identified. This could be achieved through using the FSSD in the SBSR.

Uma das marcas da passagem de uma sociedade tradicional, pessoalista, para uma sociedade moderna é o desenvolvimento da impessoalidade nas relações de sociabilidade. A cidade moderna se caracterizou por ampliar essas relações, que deixam de ser restritas aos espaços privados e passam a ocorrer também nos espaços públicos. Um dos lugares nos quais se desenvolvia a sociabilidade era nos bondes. Por terem existido no Brasil desde final do século XIX até a década de 1970, os bondes marcaram, do ponto de vista do transporte coletivo, um momento significativo do desenvolvimento do país, uma vez que estiveram presentes durante o processo de crescimento de muitas cidades, constituindo-se como um dos principais elementos indutores do crescimento urbano e de integração de diferentes espaços, como, por exemplo, entre os arrabaldes, mais adiante bairros, e o centro das cidades. A tese desenvolvida neste estudo é a de que os bondes, além de terem contribuído para o desenvolvimento urbano, integrando espaços físicos e expandindo a cidade, contribuíram também para a inserção do indivíduo na cidade moderna pelo exercício cotidiano de sociabilidade que as viagens propiciavam. Essa sociabilidade não acontecia apenas no interior dos bondes, na relação indivíduo e espaço, as aberturas laterais, que permitiam subir e descer praticamente em qualquer lugar, depois as janelas grandes e abertas, também possibilitavam que o indivíduo estivesse mais próximo do espaço físico da cidade e das pessoas que caminhavam ou se assomavam nas janelas para ver o bonde passar rente às suas calçadas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar as representações sociais e o imaginário coletivo construído sobre as viagens de bonde e sobre a cidade durante as viagens. A partir dessas representações, buscou-se, primeiro, compreender qual o papel dos bondes como elementos estruturadores da cidade para depois analisar as interações sociais que ocorriam em seu interior e discutir a relação indivíduo-espaço. O recorte urbano temporal foi a cidade de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, entre 1890 e 1945, no alcance físico das suas linhas de bonde. A escolha por este recorte temporal deu-se pela importância que teve este período para o desenvolvimento e modernização da cidade, especialmente na área de transporte, como a construção da Av. Borges de Medeiros, Av. Farrapos e a canalização do Arroio Ipiranga, entre outras obras relevantes para a cidade. / One of the marks of the passage from a traditional society, personalistic, to a modern society is the development of impersonality in sociability relationships. The modern city is characterized by expanding these relations, which are no longer restricted to private spaces but also begin to occur in public ones. One of the places in which sociability where developed was the cable cars. According to the commom point of view, the cable cars marked a significant moment in the development of the country for having existed in Brazil since the late 19th century until the 1970s, once they were present in the growth process of many cities, establishing itself as one of the driving elements of urban growth and integration of different areas, such as, between the suburbs, further neighborhoods, and the city centers. The thesis developed in this study is that the cable cars, not only having contributed to the urban development, by integrating physical spaces and expanding the city, but also contributed to the insertion of the individual in the modern city by the daily sociability exercise which the trips provided. This sociability did not just happened inside the cable cars, the individual and space relationship, the side openings, which allowed passengers to get on and off almost anywhere, and the big and open windows also made it possible for the individual to be close to the physical space of the city and the people who walked or loomed by the window to see the cable car pass close to its sidewalks. The research aimed to investigate the social representations and the collective imaginary built on the cable car rides and the city during these trips. From these representations, it was sought to first understand which role the cable cars had, as structural elements of the city, and then analyse the social interactions that took place inside it and the relationship between individual and space. The temporal urban range was Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, between 1890 e 1945, in its cable car extension lines. The choice for this time range was given by the importance this period had for the city development and modernization, especially in the transport area, such as the construction of Borges de Medeiros Ave., Farrapos Ave. and the canalization of Arroio Ipiranga, among other relevant works for the city.

Uma das marcas da passagem de uma sociedade tradicional, pessoalista, para uma sociedade moderna é o desenvolvimento da impessoalidade nas relações de sociabilidade. A cidade moderna se caracterizou por ampliar essas relações, que deixam de ser restritas aos espaços privados e passam a ocorrer também nos espaços públicos. Um dos lugares nos quais se desenvolvia a sociabilidade era nos bondes. Por terem existido no Brasil desde final do século XIX até a década de 1970, os bondes marcaram, do ponto de vista do transporte coletivo, um momento significativo do desenvolvimento do país, uma vez que estiveram presentes durante o processo de crescimento de muitas cidades, constituindo-se como um dos principais elementos indutores do crescimento urbano e de integração de diferentes espaços, como, por exemplo, entre os arrabaldes, mais adiante bairros, e o centro das cidades. A tese desenvolvida neste estudo é a de que os bondes, além de terem contribuído para o desenvolvimento urbano, integrando espaços físicos e expandindo a cidade, contribuíram também para a inserção do indivíduo na cidade moderna pelo exercício cotidiano de sociabilidade que as viagens propiciavam. Essa sociabilidade não acontecia apenas no interior dos bondes, na relação indivíduo e espaço, as aberturas laterais, que permitiam subir e descer praticamente em qualquer lugar, depois as janelas grandes e abertas, também possibilitavam que o indivíduo estivesse mais próximo do espaço físico da cidade e das pessoas que caminhavam ou se assomavam nas janelas para ver o bonde passar rente às suas calçadas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar as representações sociais e o imaginário coletivo construído sobre as viagens de bonde e sobre a cidade durante as viagens. A partir dessas representações, buscou-se, primeiro, compreender qual o papel dos bondes como elementos estruturadores da cidade para depois analisar as interações sociais que ocorriam em seu interior e discutir a relação indivíduo-espaço. O recorte urbano temporal foi a cidade de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, entre 1890 e 1945, no alcance físico das suas linhas de bonde. A escolha por este recorte temporal deu-se pela importância que teve este período para o desenvolvimento e modernização da cidade, especialmente na área de transporte, como a construção da Av. Borges de Medeiros, Av. Farrapos e a canalização do Arroio Ipiranga, entre outras obras relevantes para a cidade. / One of the marks of the passage from a traditional society, personalistic, to a modern society is the development of impersonality in sociability relationships. The modern city is characterized by expanding these relations, which are no longer restricted to private spaces but also begin to occur in public ones. One of the places in which sociability where developed was the cable cars. According to the commom point of view, the cable cars marked a significant moment in the development of the country for having existed in Brazil since the late 19th century until the 1970s, once they were present in the growth process of many cities, establishing itself as one of the driving elements of urban growth and integration of different areas, such as, between the suburbs, further neighborhoods, and the city centers. The thesis developed in this study is that the cable cars, not only having contributed to the urban development, by integrating physical spaces and expanding the city, but also contributed to the insertion of the individual in the modern city by the daily sociability exercise which the trips provided. This sociability did not just happened inside the cable cars, the individual and space relationship, the side openings, which allowed passengers to get on and off almost anywhere, and the big and open windows also made it possible for the individual to be close to the physical space of the city and the people who walked or loomed by the window to see the cable car pass close to its sidewalks. The research aimed to investigate the social representations and the collective imaginary built on the cable car rides and the city during these trips. From these representations, it was sought to first understand which role the cable cars had, as structural elements of the city, and then analyse the social interactions that took place inside it and the relationship between individual and space. The temporal urban range was Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, between 1890 e 1945, in its cable car extension lines. The choice for this time range was given by the importance this period had for the city development and modernization, especially in the transport area, such as the construction of Borges de Medeiros Ave., Farrapos Ave. and the canalization of Arroio Ipiranga, among other relevant works for the city.

Em razão da existência de problemas que afetam o sistema de transporte público urbano no Brasil, tais como, o aumento da população, o acelerado crescimento das cidades e a falta de planejamento urbano houve uma diminuição na qualidade do serviço de transporte. Diante desse quadro, apresenta-se nesta pesquisa um método para avaliar a acessibilidade do sistema de transporte público por ônibus nas cidades, a fim de auxiliar na tomada de decisões em relação ao planejamento urbano e, consequentemente, melhorias no serviço. Para a realização deste método foi necessário utilizar uma base de dados dos setores censitários do IBGE 2000 (renda), informações da Pesquisa O-D (localização geográfica da residência dos usuários de ônibus), e a base de dados fornecidos pela administração municipal que continha a localização dos pontos de ônibus desta cidade. Com esses dados selecionados, foram gerados os mapas da localização dos usuários de ônibus e dos pontos de ônibus e, posteriormente, para melhor entendimento e análise dos dados, foram criados mapas temáticos da renda dos usuários, da distância mínima de caminhada até o ponto de ônibus mais próximo e o das distâncias entre pontos de ônibus. Foi realizado um estudo de caso do método proposto na cidade de São Carlos-SP, utilizando o SIG TransCAD versão 4.8 para organização, tratamento e análise dos dados, permitiu caracterizar de forma eficaz o comportamento dos dados, pois se apresentavam de forma desagregada. O resultado geral sobre a acessibilidade do sistema de ônibus desta cidade, considerando a distância de caminhada e a renda dos usuários foi que, na maioria das zonas, os usuários de ônibus precisam caminhar no máximo 300m para ter acesso ao sistema de transporte e possuem uma renda média mensal da ordem de três salários mínimos. Outro resultado obtido foi que aproximadamente 90% dos pontos de parada distanciam-se de 200 a 300 metros. Como conclusão geral deste estudo, pode-se dizer que o método desenvolvido poderá contribuir com o poder público municipal no planejamento urbano futuro desta cidade. / Due to problems affecting the urban public transportation system in Brazil, such as population growth, fast expansion of cities and the lack of urban planning, there was a decrease in the quality of transport service. This situation motivated us to introduce a method to evaluate the accessibility of the bus public transportation system in cities as a way to help taking decisions in urban planning and, consequently, improvements in service quality. For the implementation of this method, it was necessary to use the IBGE census database of the year 2000 (income), information of the O-D research (area of residence of bus users), and the database provided by the municipal administration containing the location of bus stops in town. Using these databases, we generated maps of bus user locations and bus stops and, subsequently, to better understanding and analysis of these databases, thematic maps were created from the users income, the minimum distance to walk from home to the nearest bus stop and the distances between bus stops. We conducted a case study of the proposed method in São Carlos-SP city, once the data were in a disaggregated way, it was necessary to use the TransCAD GIS software version 4.8 for organization, processing and analysis of these data. The overall result on the accessibility of this citys bus system, considering walking distance of users and overall income is that, in most areas the bus users have to walk up to 300m to access the bus transportation system and have a monthly basic income the order of three minimum wages. Another result was that almost 90% the stop points distance themselves from 200 to 300 meters. So, it can be concluded that this method could help municipal authorities to take decisions regarding future urban planning.

Development of heavy rail intra-urban public transportation systems is an economically expensive policy tool for State and Local Governments that is often justified with the promise of economic development and neighborhood revitalization around station areas. However, the literature on the effects of rail intra-urban transit stations on neighborhoods is relatively thin, particularly on the socioeconomic effects. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the effect of heavy rail intra-urban transit stations on surrounding neighborhoods, using Atlanta, Georgia and its transit authority, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), as a case study. Atlanta is an expansive American city, with a large public transportation system, but low population density and no large-scale policies promoting growth around MARTA rail stations. The study period, 1970 to 2014, covers the entire period of MARTA’s existence – stations opened between 1979 and 2000. Neighborhood change was operationalized with a neighborhood change index (NCI), built on the Neighborhood Life-Cycle framework, with an adaptation that incorporates both the filtering (negative NCI) and gentrification (positive NCI) models of neighborhood change. The study differentiates between an initial effect of new MARTA rail stations, and a long-term effect. Control groups were formed using one and three mile buffers, as well as a matching strategy. Difference-in-difference (DID) models find very little evidence of a positive relationship of NCI with the opening of new MARTA rail stations. The economic recovery that began in 2010 is of special interest for housing research. To address this time-period this study utilized two models, with mixed results. The DID model suggested a negative effect of stations on the NCI. To control for selection bias in the 2010 to 2014 economic time-period, this study utilized propensity score matching to balance the treatment and control group on observed characteristics. A time and tract fixed effects model using the matched treatment and control groups found a significant positive effect of stations on neighborhood change. To test the long-term effect, a time and tract fixed effects model (1970-2014) with the NCI as the dependent variable found a positive NCI effect of MARTA stations on neighborhoods. Therefore, overall, positive neighborhood change (on the NCI scale) can be attributed to MARTA transit stations. Since 2002 MARTA ridership has slightly declined; therefore, the study concludes that given stagnant ridership, lack of supporting policy, and the finding of a positive relationship between MARTA transit stations and gentrification, the stations are a positive amenity, and are a significant contributor to neighborhood change. However, neighborhoods are heterogeneous on many dimensions, and the effect of rail intra-urban transit stations on neighborhoods may depend on the tract’s location, service characteristics, accessibility, and many other unobserved characteristics. Future research will supplement this methodology with additional data and compare the effect of intra-urban transit stations on neighborhood change in other cities to better address potential neighborhood heterogeneity.

This thesis deals with public transport in two very different cities -- Prague and Rome. Compares the mass transit systems in terms of changes (already implemented or planned). In the theoretical part introduces the basic concepts and their definitions. The practical part is devoted to specific changes in the first stop in Prague public transport and then Rome. Total final comparison shows differences and appreciates the efforts of innovation.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Gregory Newmark / Investment, research, and development of autonomous vehicles grows each year. As the years pass, more and more transit agencies are interested in incorporating autonomous vehicles as a public transit service. However, there are still unknowns and uncertainties as to the safety and viability of autonomous vehicles. For transit agencies to incorporate autonomous vehicles in public transit, agencies need to validate the application of autonomous vehicles in real-world scenarios and environments. One option for testing the vehicles is for transit agencies to implement an autonomous shuttle pilot program. A pilot program will give agencies an opportunity to learn if and how autonomous vehicles can enhance or improve transit services. Even though autonomous shuttle pilot programs have been deployed worldwide, there has been little comparative analysis. This report addresses the need for knowledge by providing practical considerations of essential pilot program elements. To assist transit agencies, this report illustrates previously executed autonomous shuttle pilot programs, identifies the core elements of a pilot program, and discusses the relationship between elements. To accomplish these tasks, this report reviews nine European autonomous shuttle pilot programs, literature surrounding the topic, and interviews key personnel associated with the pilot programs. The results of this research help transit agencies make informed decisions about approaching autonomous shuttle pilot programs in public transportation.

It is well-known that, when it comes to crime, some neighborhoods are safer than others. Researchers who make maps of crime have observed that some areas of cities have more crime than others. These areas of high crime are often called hot spots. Crime pattern theory explained why some neighborhoods have more crime than others by looking at criminal events as a meeting between a motivated criminal and a target. Social scientists, geographers, and city planners have shown that criminals generally choose targets from places they see every day, for example on their ride to work or the grocery store. This means that when the daily routine of a criminal changes, the location of that person's criminal behavior could change too. When trends in the daily routine of a whole city change, the location of crimes in that city could change because criminals, in general, will choose targets from different places in the city. In fact, some researchers have suggested that crimes will become clustered around transportation nodes, such as street car stations, after new lines are opened. But so far only a few studies have tried to demonstrate the pattern hot spots follow in the years following major transportation changes. The answer to this question is important to urban designers and police because it would allow them to respond to changes in the location of hot spots when new public transportation projects occur.

No description available.

Public transportation ridership levels have decreased since the end of World War II. Transit systems in small cities struggle to maintain ridership levels high enough to continue receiving local subsidies. Individuals with refugee status, and those with limited English proficiency (LEP), represent an opportunity to increase ridership. The bus system increases mobility for people without a car or driver’s license, including many refugees and LEP people, thereby increasing their accessibility to work and education. This thesis places the local bus system in Manchester, New Hampshire in a historical context and identifies some barriers and potentials for increasing refugee and LEP ridership. In addition to increasing headways and hours of operation, recommendations point to improved publicity, including distributing route maps and schedules more widely, using clearer bus stop signs, and providing bus passes for refugees in the first few months after arrival. It should be noted that language did not arise as a barrier to transit ridership in this study.