published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

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

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Melanie F. Klein / In a nation of speedy and convenient technologies, the default pace of life has become “fast.” For many American cities, the primary mode of transportation is the private automobile. Daily life is conveniently seen through the car window: we drive to, drive-thru, and drive home. Auto-dependent growth patterns have evolved into sprawling networks of streets and low density, single land-use development. With few pedestrian amenities or destinations, long travel distances, and dominating automobile infrastructure, this development pattern decreases pedestrian and bicycle circulation as a viable and enjoyable mode of transportation. Transportation growth centered around the private automobile compromises compact development, physical activity, safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, interaction with nature, social exchange, and social equity in street corridors. Automobile circulation dominates the transportation system of Manhattan, Kansas. The result is low-density development, sprawling into the surrounding tall-grass prairie and flint hills of the region. Despite several City documents stating goals for multi-modal transportation and accommodation of all users, the existing built environment remains heavily dominated by automobile circulation. The current transportation system inhibits safe and enjoyable pedestrian and bicyclist transit. Inspired by Allan Jacobs’s Greet Streets vision and structured around the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Context Sensitive Solutions, street networks can be public places for community: “people acting and interacting to achieve in concert what they might not achieve alone” (Jacobs 1993). Movement corridors should be public spaces that encourage physical activity and time to experience a healthier body, mind, and spirit. With priority for bicycle and pedestrian circulation, movement corridors support a more sustainable development pattern and foster meaningful time in transit through more natural speeds of engagement and active presence. Great streets for all users, and a means to integrate improvements in the planning and design of movement corridors will activate progressive growth. The action framework presented here emphasizes important elements concerning the vision for Manhattan’s movement corridors, shows how district development reinforces attributes for walkable communities, and demonstrates guidelines for integrating improvements in Manhattan’s transportation planning and design.

The intent of this thesis is to increase local government and bicycle advocacy awareness of the importance of end of trip facilities in a transportation network, primarily bicycle parking. The research was motivated by a debate about the worthiness of bicycle parking as an advocacy objective. The thesis begins by reviewing existing end of trip facility research and projects at a national scope. Two surveys were conducted, the first identifies how advocates prioritize bicycle parking as an advocacy objective and the second determines how cyclists in New Orleans perceive bicycle parking. At the most narrow geographic scope an observation of bicycle parking patterns is completed on Magazine Street in New Orleans. The thesis finds that bicyclists desire bicycle parking and that bicycle parking facilities can mitigate chaotic bicycle parking patterns that may interfere with pedestrians. Recommendations are offered for bicycle advocates, local governments, and the City of New Orleans.

This research examines the feasibility of a gasoline and diesel consumer subsidy phase-out in Venezuela from a transportation planning perspective. It surveys the literature and discusses case studies from Iran, Brazil, and Bolivia in order to identify the lessons that Venezuela can learn from these countries’ successes and mistakes. It examines how strengthening and investing in the public transportation system can be used as a means to gain public support for the reform. I discuss the current political, social, and economic conditions that make a fossil-fuel subsidy reform difficult, and offer suggestions from a transportation planner’s perspective on how the transition can be made as smoothly as possible. Finally, I explore the opportunities that present themselves to transportation planners in shaping the country’s future approach toward transportation.

Ports and container terminals have very complex and dynamic operations. Effective and efficient berth schedules are essential for profitable and sustainable operations. This research studies berth scheduling under uncertainties in arrival and handling times. Port operators usually face challenges in the development of berth schedules. This thesis presents a model formulation of discrete berth space that accounts for uncertainty in arrival and handling times. The problem is reformulated as a biobjective bi-level optimization berth scheduling problem. A solution approach is presented using evolutionary algorithms and heuristics. The objective of the formulation is to provide a robust berth schedule by minimizing the average and the range of the total service times for all vessels served at the terminal. Simulation is utilized to evaluate the proposed berth scheduling policy and compare it to two first-come-first-served policies. Results showed that the proposed berth schedules outperform under high congestion. / by Maria Isabel Portal Palomo. / Vita. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Em condições acentuadas de restrições de recursos para a construção e manutenção de infra-estruturas urbanas, torna-se importante caracterizar e localizar espacialmente sua demanda para auxiliar os planejadores no processo decisório que envolve sua implementação, ampliação e manutenção, de forma que os usuários sejam atendidos da melhor maneira possível e dentro das possibilidades financeiras das prefeituras. Este foi o ponto de partida para este trabalho, cujos objetivos são modelar a dinâmica populacional intra-urbana de uma cidade de médio porte brasileira através da combinação de modelos com cellular automata e avaliação multicritério e, a partir daí, a distribuição de viagens para uma infra-estrutura pontual específica, as Escolas Municipais de Educação Infantil (EMEIs). Na aplicação prática da pesquisa inicialmente modela-se a dinâmica populacional intra-urbana na cidade de São Carlos como um todo com um modelo de cellular automata e um modelo demográfico de extrapolação de tendências. Baseando-se em valores de densidade populacional obtidos com dados dos censos do IBGE referentes aos anos de 1980, 1991 e 2000, obteve-se o cenário referente ao ano de 2010. O modelo urbano de cellular automata utilizado foi construído em três fases: quantificação da dispersão (cálculo da área total que deveria ser incorporada à mancha urbana), localização da dispersão (definição da localização das áreas que deveriam ser incorporadas à mancha urbana) e diferenciação da dispersão (cálculo das densidades demográficas na mancha urbana prevista). O modelo conseguiu apresentar bons resultados tanto na localização quanto na diferenciação da dispersão. Para caracterizar a demanda por EMEIs neste caso estabeleceu-se uma relação matemática entre a população total e a população na faixa etária que utiliza o serviço das EMEIs (4 a 6 anos). No caso do modelo demográfico, no qual a densidade populacional foi calculada a partir de uma curva de tendência linear, notou-se que devido à restrição da mancha urbana à área previamente ocupada, surgem valores de densidade populacional acima da faixa observada na série histórica. A demanda por EMEIs neste modelo também foi obtida através de uma curva de tendência linear, utilizando dados específicos da faixa etária de 4 a 6 anos. Após a caracterização da demanda por EMEIs foram criados cenários de distribuição de viagens para as mesmas nos anos de 2000 e 2010. Observou-se que os modelos apresentaram comportamentos distintos na caracterização da demanda, que foi expressivamente maior no modelo de cellular automata mas quando tiveram a demanda adaptada à oferta existente, através da multiplicação por uma taxa de atendimento, apresentaram resultados bastante semelhantes. No entanto, considerando um cenário muito provável de aumento da oferta, seja em escolas novas ou nas já existentes, o impacto sobre os transportes seria muito melhor caracterizado no caso dos modelos de CA, não só porque as estimativas de demanda foram significativamente maiores, mas também porque incorporaram a possibilidade de ocupação de novas áreas urbanas / In conditions of extreme restrictions of resources for construction and maintainance of public facilities, the correct demand alocation is essential not only for the decision-making process, which involves their implementation and rational use, but also for reaching a significant share of the demand with a reasonable level of service and within the budget limits. That was the starting point for the definition of the objectives of this work, which are to model the population dynamics in a medium-sized city by using a cellular automata approach and multicriteria evaluation techniques and to simulate trip distribution patterns to a particular public facility, the EMEIs, i.e., schools for children between 4 and 6 years-old. The study starts with an application of two urban dynamics models in the city of São Carlos: a cellular automata model and a demographic model based on linear regression. A scenario of the year 2010 was built based on 1980, 1991, and 2000 census data. The cellular automata model was constructed in three fases: quantification of sprawl (definition of the total area added to the existing urban area), location of sprawl (alocation of areas of expansion), and differentiation of sprawl (definition of the population density in each cell of the new urban area). The model captured reasonably well the urban dynamics process in both location and differentiation of sprawl. The demand for EMEIs was then defined through the definition of a mathematical relationship between the total population and the target population. The population density predicted by the demographic model was calculated through a linear trend applied to historical data. It was significant in this case the occurrence of estimated values higher than the actual values mainly due to the restrictions of the urban area to its previous boundaries. The demand for EMEIs was also obtained using a linear trend, this time using specific data of the target population. Scenarios of trip distribution in the years 2000 and 2010 were created after the demand was modeled. The predictions of the models were very different, and the total demand estimation of the cellular automata model was higher than that obtained with the demographic model. When adjusting the demand to the existing supply in the year 2000, the trip distribution results were quite similar, although resulting in extremely different service rates. However, in a very likely scenario of supply growth, either through new or existing schools, the impacts on transportation would be better identified in the case of CA models, not only because they have produced higher demand estimates, but also because they have considered the inclusion of new areas into the modeled space

Os shopping centers, inicialmente dirigidos às classes alta e média-alta, adaptaram-se a um público diversificado, incluindo o de baixa renda. Diversos fatores explicam tal fenômeno, dentre eles o desejo do consumidor de fugir da violência nas ruas, do trânsito congestionado, das dificuldades para estacionar e para caminhar nas calçadas mal mantidas. Esta tese pretende investigar se, pelo fato de possibilitar aos indivíduos executar um maior número de tarefas em um mesmo local, os shopping centers podem funcionar como agentes redutores de viagens. Ou, ao contrário, por representar alternativa a áreas públicas de lazer e socialização, apresentam-se como provocadores de mais deslocamentos pela cidade. O estudo investiga também se o shopping center substitui a frequência ao estabelecimento de rua ou se estes são complementares. A principal fonte de dados para análise é uma survey realizada com mil respondentes, cuja elaboração foi subsidiada por análise dos dados da Pesquisa OD 2007 e a realização de entrevistas em profundidade. Os indivíduos foram descritos pelo seu perfil socioeconômico, características de viagens e atividades realizadas em shopping e em estabelecimentos de rua, e atitudes manifestas. O estudo revelou que os diversos estabelecimentos comerciais e de serviços são utilizados pelos indivíduos de forma semelhante, estando eles dentro ou fora do shopping, e reafirma a capacidade de atração dos shopping centers nas atividades de lazer. Há o reconhecimento da economia de tempo e, em menor escala, da redução do número de deslocamentos que o shopping potencialmente proporciona. Os resultados mostram que o conjunto de clientes de shopping center pode ser agrupado e descrito em uma quantidade limitada de conglomerados. A amostra foi segmentada em quatro conglomerados distintos segundo o modo de transporte utilizado transporte coletivo ou automóvel e o dia da visita aos estabelecimentos durante a semana ou fim de semana, permitindo caracterizar os grupos de indivíduos segundo comportamentos de visita ao shopping que podem ser classificados segundo seus impactos mais ou menos favoráveis ao desempenho do sistema de transportes. / The development of shopping centers in Brazil aimed initially at a higher income public, but have gradually adapted to catering to a diversity of clients, including segments of lower income. This trend can be explained by many factors, such as the need to avoid violent streets, congested traffic, parking scarcity and walking on poorly maintained sidewalks. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate if, due to the possibility of performing many activities in the same place, shopping centers can lead to a reduction in the number of trips taken by individuals. Or, else, as an alternative to public spaces for leisure and socialization, they can stimulate more trips. The study also investigates if shopping centers are replacing visits to street shops or if these alternatives are complementing each other. The main data source for analysis is an internet survey of 1000 individuals; preparation of the questionnaire was based on information provided by the analysis of the 2007 household origin-destination survey for the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo and a number of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Individuals were characterized by their socioeconomic profile, travel and activity patterns related to shopping and other activities, and responses to a set of attitudinal questions. The results indicate that shopping and services are conducted in equal proportion in shopping centers and in street locations; they also reinforce the hypothesis that shopping centers function as an important alternative for leisure activities. Individuals acknowledge the potential of shopping centers in saving time spent on conducting a set of activities and, to a lesser degree, reducing the number of trips taken for this purpose. Respondents to the survey could be grouped and described by a limited number of clusters. The sample was segmented into four clusters, according to the transport mode used car or public transport and the day of the week in which shopping activities are conducted weekday or weekend. Each cluster of individuals could be characterized according to their behavior (when visiting shopping centers) having a less or more favorable impact on the performance of the transportation system.