Andrew Guthrie

Winners or Losers: Resident Perceptions of Transit-Induced Neighborhood Change

Existing research rarely goes beyond individual dimensions of neighborhood change to explore the broader neighborhood impacts of transit investments as perceived by neighborhood residents. To fill gaps in this knowledge, the residents of selected neighborhoods along four transit corridors in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota were surveyed. Survey results show that residents of the study neighborhoods had generally positive perceptions of transit-induced neighborhood change. However, significant differences existed between urban and suburban areas and between individual neighborhoods. In addition, African-Americans, immigrants, frequent transit users, carless residents, and new residents in general had more positive perceptions of transit-induced neighborhood change than did whites, nonimmigrants, infrequent or nontransit users, residents with access to a motor vehicle, and longtime residents. Asian urbanites had more negative perceptions. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Streetcars and recovery: An analysis of post-Katrina building permits around New Orleans streetcar lines

Researching traditional streetcars’ development impacts is challenging: most U.S. lines operate in downtown areas with many development stimuli. This article addresses that challenge through analysis of New Orleans building permits after Hurricane Katrina. We estimate how post-Katrina permit frequency changes with distance from streetcar stops, controlling for damage, proximity to commercial areas, and pre-Katrina demographics. We find that distance to stops strongly predicts building permits. Residential permits increase with distance to stops; commercial permits decrease. Findings confirm streetcars support commercial development, yet suggest potential displacement of residential uses. Implications for future streetcar projects in New Orleans and elsewhere are discussed.

Transit Stop Environments and Waiting Time Perception: Impacts of Trees, Traffic Exposure, and Polluted Air

Reducing the burden of waiting in transit travel is critical to increase the attractiveness of public transportation and encourage people’s shift from automobile mode. Research shows that wait time perception is highly subjective and varies according to various factors such as mode, availability of schedule information or stops amenities. In addition, high-quality environments are known to reduce stress and to encourage walking and biking. Nevertheless, little research exists on the influence of the stops and stations surrounding environment on transit users’ wait time perception. This study aims to respond to this knowledge gap in order to optimize stop localization and micro urban design around stops. The study compares transit users’ actual and estimated wait time at 36 stops and stations offering a mix of environmental situations in the Twin Cities region. A regression analysis is used to explain the variation in riders’ waiting time estimates as a function of their objectively observed waiting times, as well as stop and station surrounding environment characteristics. The results show that, for waits longer than five minutes, the more the environment is polluted and exposed to traffic, the more transit users tend to overestimate their wait time and that, on the contrary, the more mature trees are present the shorter the wait time is perceived. The combination of the three variables indicates that after 5 minutes wait, the presence of trees achieves to compensate the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness. Policy implications and further research needs are discussed.Reducing the burden of waiting in transit travel is critical to increasing the attractiveness of public transportation. Waiting time perceptions are highly subjective and vary according to mode, availability of schedule information, and stop amenities. The research on pedestrian design finds that high-quality and natural environments reduce stress and encourage walking and bicycling. It seems reasonable that similar effects would apply for transit users on the basis of the environments around transit stops, but little research directly explores the issue. This paper responds to this knowledge gap by examining how perceptions of waiting time vary in relation to stop environments. The research compared transit users’ actual and estimated wait time at 36 stops and stations in a mix of environmental situations in the region of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Regression analysis explained the variation in riders’ self-reported waiting time as a function of their externally observed waiting times as well as characteristics of the environment surrounding the stop and station. For waits longer than 5 min, perceptible pollution and exposure to traffic led to significant overestimates of waiting time. Riders waiting at stops with dense, mature tree cover, however, significantly underestimated their waiting times. The effect of dense, mature tree cover is strong enough to compensate for the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness. Policy implications and further research needs are discussed.

Weakening Obstacles to Transit Use: Changes in Relationships with Child Rearing and Automobile Access from 2000 to 2010

Early indications of a significant generational change in travel behavior have raised hopes of robust growth in transit use in the immediate future, especially as the millennial generation comes of age. The eventual transition to family life and child rearing, however, has led to significant declines in the transit use rates of older-age cohorts. For high transit-use rates of millennials to be durable, the relationship between the presence of children and travel behavior must change. Despite lower rates of automobile ownership by millennials than by previous cohorts, automobile ownership is still widespread: increased attraction of choice riders is important for growth in transit use as well. This study looks for changes in the basic relationship between the presence of young children or automobile access and the probability of transit use from 2000 to 2010 on the basis of data from the decennial Travel Behavior Inventory by the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Pooled logistic regression models at both the trip and person level find that automobile access was a weaker negative predictor of transit use in 2010 and that the presence of young children in participants’ households negatively predicted transit use in 2000 but not in 2010. Chow tests establish that these observed changes represent significant changes in the mode choice relationships in question. The results call for research on similar potential changes in other regions and underscore the importance of family-oriented housing and community features in transit-served areas.

Doing Business Around Transit Corridors: Survey Research on Business Perceptions of Fixed-Guideway Transit Projects

Major transit projects can have profound effects on nearby businesses. Although much research has investigated physical neighborhood changes and neighborhood demographic changes driven by transit projects, little is known about the perceived effects of transit projects in business communities. In a direct response to this knowledge gap, a random-sampled survey of 160 businesses was conducted along four existing and planned transit corridors in the Twin Cities region in Minnesota. With the survey responses, ordered logistic regression models of business perceptions of transit corridor projects were estimated. It was found that responding businesses generally expect positive effects from transit corridors in the future, but the likelihood of positive perceptions differs significantly according to business location, size, and sector, as well as employees’ and customers’ demographics and customers’ travel behavior. These findings provide insights into the types of businesses to target for special outreach efforts as well as strategies for mitigating negative effects and maximizing positive effects perceived by station area businesses.

Accessibility Scenario Analysis of a Hypothetical Future Transit Network: Social Equity Implications of a General Transit Feed Specification–Based Sketch Planning Tool

Accessibility analysis can have important implications for understanding social equity in transit planning. The emergence and the increasingly broad acceptance of the general transit feed specification (GTFS) format for transit route, stop, and schedule data have revolutionized transit accessibility research by providing researchers with a convenient, publicly available source of data interoperable with common geographic information system (GIS) software. Existing approaches to GTFS-based transit analysis, however, focus on currently operating transit systems. With major transit expansions across the nation and around the world increasing in number and ambition, understanding the accessibility impacts of proposed projects in their early planning stages is crucial to achieving the greatest possible social benefit from these massive public investments. This paper describes the development of a hypothetical transit network based on current GTFS data and proposed 2040 transit improvements for the Twin Cities region of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as its use as a sketch planning tool in exploring the proposed system’s impacts on access to job vacancies from historically disadvantaged areas. This research demonstrates the importance of accessibility analysis in planning a transit system that increases opportunity for marginalized workers and concludes by calling for broader, easier access to accessibility analysis for practitioners and community groups to refine the early stages of the transit planning process and democratize an increasingly crucial transit planning tool.

Transit Stop Environments and Waiting Time Perception

Reducing the burden of waiting in transit travel is critical to increase the attractiveness of public transportation and encourage people’s shift from automobile mode. Research shows that wait time perception is highly subjective and varies according to various factors such as mode, availability of schedule information or stops amenities. In addition, high-quality environments are known to reduce stress and to encourage walking and biking. Nevertheless, little research exists on the influence of the stops and stations surrounding environment on transit users’ wait time perception. This study aims to respond to this knowledge gap in order to optimize stop localization and micro urban design around stops. The study compares transit users’ actual and estimated wait time at 36 stops and stations offering a mix of environmental situations in the Twin Cities region. A regression analysis is used to explain the variation in riders’ waiting time estimates as a function of their objectively observed waiting times, as well as stop and station surrounding environment characteristics. The results show that, for waits longer than five minutes, the more the environment is polluted and exposed to traffic, the more transit users tend to overestimate their wait time and that, on the contrary, the more mature trees are present the shorter the wait time is perceived. The combination of the three variables indicates that after 5 minutes wait, the presence of trees achieves to compensate the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness. Policy implications and further research needs are discussed.Reducing the burden of waiting in transit travel is critical to increasing the attractiveness of public transportation. Waiting time perceptions are highly subjective and vary according to mode, availability of schedule information, and stop amenities. The research on pedestrian design finds that high-quality and natural environments reduce stress and encourage walking and bicycling. It seems reasonable that similar effects would apply for transit users on the basis of the environments around transit stops, but little research directly explores the issue. This paper responds to this knowledge gap by examining how perceptions of waiting time vary in relation to stop environments. The research compared transit users’ actual and estimated wait time at 36 stops and stations in a mix of environmental situations in the region of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Regression analysis explained the variation in riders’ self-reported waiting time as a function of their externally observed waiting times as well as characteristics of the environment surrounding the stop and station. For waits longer than 5 min, perceptible pollution and exposure to traffic led to significant overestimates of waiting time. Riders waiting at stops with dense, mature tree cover, however, significantly underestimated their waiting times. The effect of dense, mature tree cover is strong enough to compensate for the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness. Policy implications and further research needs are discussed.

Transit Riders’ Perception of Waiting Time and Stops’ Surrounding Environments.

Reducing the burden of waiting in transit travel is critical to increase the attractiveness of public transportation and encourage people’s shift from automobile mode. Research shows that wait time perception is highly subjective and varies according to various factors such as mode, availability of schedule information or stops amenities. In addition, high-quality environments are known to reduce stress and to encourage walking and biking. Nevertheless, little research exists on the influence of the stops and stations surrounding environment on transit users’ wait time perception. This study aims to respond to this knowledge gap in order to optimize stop localization and micro urban design around stops. The study compares transit users’ actual and estimated wait time at 36 stops and stations offering a mix of environmental situations in the Twin Cities region. A regression analysis is used to explain the variation in riders’ waiting time estimates as a function of their objectively observed waiting times, as well as stop and station surrounding environment characteristics. The results show that, for waits longer than five minutes, the more the environment is polluted and exposed to traffic, the more transit users tend to overestimate their wait time and that, on the contrary, the more mature trees are present the shorter the wait time is perceived. The combination of the three variables indicates that after 5 minutes wait, the presence of trees achieves to compensate the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness. Policy implications and further research needs are discussed.Reducing the burden of waiting in transit travel is critical to increasing the attractiveness of public transportation. Waiting time perceptions are highly subjective and vary according to mode, availability of schedule information, and stop amenities. The research on pedestrian design finds that high-quality and natural environments reduce stress and encourage walking and bicycling. It seems reasonable that similar effects would apply for transit users on the basis of the environments around transit stops, but little research directly explores the issue. This paper responds to this knowledge gap by examining how perceptions of waiting time vary in relation to stop environments. The research compared transit users’ actual and estimated wait time at 36 stops and stations in a mix of environmental situations in the region of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Regression analysis explained the variation in riders’ self-reported waiting time as a function of their externally observed waiting times as well as characteristics of the environment surrounding the stop and station. For waits longer than 5 min, perceptible pollution and exposure to traffic led to significant overestimates of waiting time. Riders waiting at stops with dense, mature tree cover, however, significantly underestimated their waiting times. The effect of dense, mature tree cover is strong enough to compensate for the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness. Policy implications and further research needs are discussed.