Measuring the Added Effectiveness of Using Detailed Spatial and Temporal Data in Generating Accessibility Measures

Cui, Boer; Grisé, Emily; Stewart, Anson; El-Geneidy, Ahmed

doi:10.32866/9736

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Though the use of census tract geography as the unit of analysis can impose some biases in the calculations of accessibility (Wessel & Farber, 2019) due to the location of the centroid in census tracts with large areas, such bias has shown to be minimal because census tracts are relatively small and the walking-transit network dense enough. Evidence indicates that the differences between using finer spatial fidelity generate only marginal improvements in the estimations (Cui et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whose express access? Assessing the equity implications of bus express routes in Montreal, Canada

DeWeese¹,

Palacios²,

Belikow³

et al. 2022

JTLU

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Express buses—characterized by limited stops and sometimes higher frequencies or priority traffic measures—offer a cost-effective and efficient way to boost service convenience and reliability for riders. This paper assesses how the accessibility benefits of express bus route policy are distributed in Montreal, Canada, while providing a pathway for public transportation agencies to assess their policies and plans. To isolate the impact of bus express routes, we use General Transit Speed Specification (GTFS) data, the Open Trip Planner multimodal routing engine, and the 2013 edition of Montreal’s origin-destination survey to contrast travel time and accessibility at the trip and census-tract levels under two scenarios: one with the existing, complete network and the second a counterfactual scenario with no express bus routes. Our results indicate that bus express routes enable an overall increase in accessibility for the overall population. However, the accessibility benefits do not accrue evenly, as expected, but also tend to benefit a more significant number of higher incomes. This occurs despite the location of low-income populations in some outlying areas of the city, which express bus routes are supposed to serve. This paper closes with policy recommendations that help planners balance economic, environmental, and equity goals, perhaps one of the most complex challenges they face nowadays.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whose express access? Assessing the equity implications of bus express routes in Montreal, Canada

DeWeese¹,

Palacios²,

Belikow³

et al. 2022

JTLU

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To address this issue, various sampling methods have been used, such as averaging accessibility across all minutes within a time window or evenly spaced sampling times (e.g., 54 – 56 ). Other studies have calculated accessibility given a median travel time across many possible departure times within a period (e.g., 57 ).…”

Section: Calculating Transit Travel Times For Accessibility Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transit Accessibility Measurement Considering Behavioral Adaptations to Reliability

Bills

Carrel

2021

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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Accessibility measures are necessary for evaluating the benefits of proposed transportation improvements. However, they often do not account for travel time unreliability, but instead incorporate deterministic and time-invariant travel times. This approach risks mischaracterizing the accessibility experienced by travelers. In this paper, we review recent literature on accessibility and travel time reliability with a focus on transit and introduce an approach to joint accessibility-reliability measurement that relies on a behavioral perspective. Using this behavioral perspective, we propose that existing accessibility measures be implemented using travelers’ total travel time budget as a measure of travel time, and that varying departure time strategies depending on service characteristics be considered. The total travel time budget can reasonably be quantified with a high percentile of the total travel time distribution. However, we note that different percentiles may be more appropriate for different traveler types, as these percentiles correspond to varying tolerances for late arrivals. This behavioral perspective can be operationalized with commonly used accessibility measures, such as the cumulative opportunity measure, and with real-time vehicle location data. We include a demonstration of the potential changes in accessibility estimates when accounting for travel time unreliability, with a simplified case study of a transit route in San Francisco. The results show a considerable reduction of the number of opportunities available to travelers when the calculation is based on the latter—between 5.9% and 37.9% less, depending on various factors. Such differences have the potential to significantly affect the accessibility benefits of transit capital investments.

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“…Recent research has attempted to improve the measure of accessibility to incorporate variability in both the availability of opportunities at different times of the day ( 14) as well as availability of the transport system (15). However, Cui et al have shown that the use of more detailed data, which is time and resourceconsuming to gather, does not always improve the evaluation of the impact of accessibility on various travel outcomes, such as commute duration and mode choice (16).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Access by Public Transport and Likelihood of Healthcare Consultations at Hospitals

Cui

Boisjoly

Wasfi

et al. 2020

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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As healthcare is a right in Canada, analyzing the distribution of spatial access to medical consultations, which are crucial for the prevention, diagnosis, and early treatment of illnesses, is fundamental to understanding health equity. Spatial accessibility can influence whether individuals can reasonably reach the services they seek. However, as an indicator of potential access, it does not guarantee realized access because of predisposing and need factors. This study examines the relationship between spatial accessibility to hospitals and the likelihood of consulting with a healthcare professional at a hospital in eight Canadian metropolitan regions while controlling for individual characteristics through multilevel regression modeling. Spatial accessibility was computed using the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method. Self-reported consultations and socio-demographic characteristics were obtained from the Canadian Community Health Survey. We found that the likelihood of consultations differed between genders (female OR: 1.133, CI: 1.023–1.255; compared with male) and followed a positive household income gradient (high-income OR: 1.236, CI: 1.094–1.397; middle-income OR: 1.039, CI: 0.922–1.172; compared with low-income), but is not influenced by age. Living in areas with higher spatial accessibility was positively linked to consultations (OR: 1.014, CI: 1.000–1.028), even after controlling for perceived health (OR: 0.540, CI: 0.471–0.621), chronic conditions (OR: 1.738, CI: 1.587–1.904), and having a regular doctor (OR: 1.313, CI: 1.187–1.452). Policies that may improve spatial accessibility to healthcare services through increasing supply, managing demand, and enhancing level of public transport service should be considered to improve individuals’ ability to consult healthcare professionals, potentially leading to better health outcomes.

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Measuring the Added Effectiveness of Using Detailed Spatial and Temporal Data in Generating Accessibility Measures

Cited by 5 publications

References 11 publications

Whose express access? Assessing the equity implications of bus express routes in Montreal, Canada

Whose express access? Assessing the equity implications of bus express routes in Montreal, Canada

Transit Accessibility Measurement Considering Behavioral Adaptations to Reliability

Spatial Access by Public Transport and Likelihood of Healthcare Consultations at Hospitals

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