With this dissertation, it is intended to improve our understanding of the effects of urban rail systems on the mobility of women, their accessibility and their extent of experiencing the city they live in, that is their urban geography. The main aim is to understand whether women who live nearby an urban rail system and who use this system have higher levels of mobility and wider urban geography when compared with those who live in places without an urban rail access and those who do not use urban rail systems. In search for the effects of metro usage on mobility, as well as the factors affecting metro usage, the study is built on four main fields in transportation studies: mode choice theory, activity based travel theory, time-geography theory and women studies. Women living on Ankara metro line and in Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren constitute the main case study in this thesis. With the help of a comprehensive questionnaire, applied on captive public transport women riders, it is assessed whether the Ankara metro has positive effects on the mobility of women living nearby the metro stations, whether women who use the metro have higher mobility and wider urban geography, and whether the metro can be effective in enhancing the mobility and urban geography of women who are identified as particularly vulnerable in the literature. Understanding the factors, in cases where expected positive impacts on mobility have not been realized, is also important to contribute to the theoretical discussions that the study is built on.

This thesis proposes a framework to design and analyze sustainability within complex urban transportation systems. Urban transit systems have large variability in temporal and spatial resolution, and are common in lifecycle analyses and sustainability studies. Unlike analyses with smaller scope or broader resolution, these systems are composed of numerous interacting layers, each intricate enough to be a complete system on its own. In addition, detailed interaction with the system environment is often not accounted for in lifecycle studies, despite its strong potential effects on the problem domain. To manage such complexity, this thesis suggests a methodology that focuses on integrating existing modeling constructs in a transparent manner, and capturing structural and functional relationships for efficient model reuse. The Systems Modeling Language (OMG SysML ) is used to formally implement the modeling framework. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to a large scale multi-modal transportation network. Analysis of key network parameters such as emissions output, well-to-wheel energy use, and system capacity are presented in a case study of the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area. Results of the case study highlight several areas that differ from more traditional lifecycle analysis research. External influences such as regional electricity generation are found to have extremely large effects on environmental impact of a regional mobility system. The model is used to evaluate various future scenarios and finds that existing policy measures for curbing energy use and emissions are insufficient for reducing impact in a growing urban region.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

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

A great deal of planning literature in the last decade has been devoted to growth management and the concept of land use and transportation interactions. "New" approaches to planning, such as Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Neo-Traditional Neighbourhood Design, are products of this evaluation of current development practices. The influence of housing affordability and accessibility, although intuitively related to the growth management problems of urban sprawl and automobile dependence, has often been overlooked. The purpose of this research is to bridge important gaps in our understanding of how residential land use and transportation infrastructure investments are shaping unsustainable growth and travel patterns in the GVRD, which is the main problem being addressed. The research objectives related to this problem are the correlation of observed trends in growth, housing and travel indicators, the determination of the importance of price and accessibility factors in household location decisions, and the analysis of the role that land use and transportation decisions have played in influencing housing costs and accessibility. To provide a context for understanding the scope of the problem and the relationships between the research results and proposed recommendations, the applicable literature, theory, and policies in the areas of growth management, land use, transportation and housing are given. Supporting research results include: a survey of senior stakeholders in the region on land use, transportation and housing issues; a synthesis of significant socioeconomic, growth, transportation and housing data; a summary of surveys outlining preferences for residential location and housing type; and an analysis of Place of Work data crosstabulated against Place of Residence and socioeconomic variables. The results show a strong dependency between location decisions and the cost and accessibility of housing, particularly for the critical group of younger households with children. Policy recommendations, based on the research and covering land use, transportation, housing, governance and education, are proposed to address the main sustainability problems studied. The recommendations focus on promoting affordable, higher density communities, with a choice of transportation modes, as an attractive alternative to lower density, automobile-dependent suburbs.

The economy of Oman, was traditional in character before the development of the oil sector which set in motion the present structural transformation. Economic prosperity gave the opportunity to the public to possess their own private means of transport, thus resulting in a rapid increase in the number of vehicles in the country, particularly in the Muscat Area the capital city of the country. Free essential services such as health and education, and no taxes and duties have led to high disposable household income. Therefore, Muscat is witnessing rapid and successive land-use changes, expansion of the urban area and multi-car owning households. In the last two decades the population of Muscat increased considerably. This population growth was accompanied by a substantial expansion of Muscat's boundaries to provide homes, work places and other facilities. The topographical nature of the area limited the flat land available for housing, shops, schools, and other elements of the infrastructure. The resulting competition for space had as one of its consequences that insufficient land was allocated for car parking in the major activity centres, and the result was an acute shortage of parking spaces in these areas. The expansion of the Muscat Area was accompanied by changes in the employment and residential pattern. This resulted in a significant increase in number of vehicles, trips and commuting, and so the need for effective transport services and facilities became greater than ever before. The topographical features made it more difficult to provide sufficient transportation facilities. Development planning neglected the importance of arranging urban activities in such a way that the need for vehicle movements would be greatly reduced. It also resulted in low density population areas with street patterns mostly not designed for public transport services. This study sets out to discuss the problems of urban transportation in the Muscat Area and seeks to answer the following questions: What are the trip characteristics? How far do the natural topographical features inhibit the development of the Muscat road network? How does the existing network serve the needs of the area? How far can it cope with the traffic movement? Will the proposed major roads solve the present problems of traffic congestion and alleviate future ones? What are the main causes for traffic accidents? To what extent are car parking facilities adequate at the major activity centres? What is the role of Oman National Transport Company buses within the public transport system? The Muscat Area faces problems of traffic congestion and accidents, high demand on parking facilities and inadequate public transport. The situation is liable to deteriorate sharply in the next few years, unless effective action is taken. There is a need for a study that can provide immediate practical solutions and propose guidelines for future policy to ensure that the transport system is expanded and improved to cope with the needs arising from future growth. This study identifies factors contributing to the existing traffic problems with the intention of providing useful information which can help traffic planners and decision makers in understanding the nature of the problems, and finding solutions and guidelines for future policy. As far as methodology is concerned, a literature review is supported by fieldwork involving questionnaires and contacts with relevant authorities. Four types of surveys were conducted in order to collect information that can identify some of the factors that are contributory to the present problems. On the basis of the analysis of the data collected, urban transport problems are identified and discussed together with some possible solutions and recommendations.

Thesis (M. App. Sc.)--Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-210). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Arch.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.