A spatiotemporal disparity of transit and automobile access gap and its impact on transit use

Abstract

This research empirically evaluates the access gap between transit and automobile to examine the extent of auto-access-orientation within and between the 50 American Metropolitan Areas. The Modal Access Gap (MAG) index is calculated over space and travel time to test three hypotheses: (1) MAG is a function of space and travel time, (2) MAG is CBD-centric, and (3) MAG is associated with transit use. Results indicate that (1) MAG merely possesses negative values ranging between −0.98 and −0.79, regardless of the travel-time thresholds or metropolitan areas, and the travel time lag between transit and automobile ranges from 35 minutes in New York to 51 minutes in Riverside for a 60-minute commute, (2) MAG decreases as one moves away from the central area, and (3) a 1% increase in MAG increases transit use by 1.37% on average.

Spatial Inequity of Transit and Automobile Access Gap across America for Underserved Population

“…To fully engage equity in transport goals, more exploratory rather than mere formal processes are needed. This might be achieved by pushing forward the idea of equitable access to opportunities in research in parallel with governmental efforts (59,60). This study is a step toward achieving this goal.…”

Equity of bike infrastructure access in the United States: a risky commute for socially vulnerable populations

“…Here, we introduce the BARG index, a similar index to the modal access gap (Maharjan et al 2023, Janatabadi et al 2022, to measure the standardized difference between high-stress bike access (A LTS 4 ) and low-stress bike access (A LTS 1 ) to employment opportunities. Mathematically represented in equation ( 1), BARG is:…”

Public Transport Use on Trip Chains: Exploring Various Mode Choice Determinants

“…From previous research we know that factors concerning PT attractiveness, restrictions on car use and the competitiveness of PT versus car, as well as other built environment characteristics are important in explaining transport mode choice. Important PT characteristics include service quality, frequency and proximity to stops (Kwan 1998;Balcombe et al 2004;Paulley et al 2006;Ewing and Cervero 2010;Redman et al 2013;Levinson and King 2020;El-Geneidy and Levinson 2021), as well as the modal travel time disparity between PT and car (Janatabadi, Maharjan, and Ermagun 2022;Kwok and Yeh 2004;Lunke, Fearnley, and Aarhaug 2021). Other important factors in explaining mode choice are parking availability, not least at the workplace location (Christiansen 2014;Christiansen et al 2017;Willson and Shoup 1990), as well as built environment characteristics such as the concentration (density) of services and centrality (Cervero and Kockelman 1997;Ewing and Cervero 2010).…”