Christopher Ferrell

HOME-BASED TELESHOPPERS AND SHOPPING TRAVEL: DO TELESHOPPERS TRAVEL LESS?

Some have assumed that teleshopping will become a functional substitute for traditional retail shopping and thereby reduce physical shopping trips and vehicle miles traveled. More recent studies have painted a far more complex picture, in which a combination of lifestyle, shopping opportunities, and the costs of travel all play a role in a persons choice of shopping modes. In this study, data from an activity-diary survey collected by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, California, were analyzed to gain insights into the degree to which teleshopping substitutes for traditional out-of-home shopping trips, person miles traveled for shopping, and shopping-trip chains. A two-step linear regression model was used to estimate the effects of home-based teleshopping. Results indicate that teleshopping households engage in more shopping trips and chain more of their shopping trips. It is hypothesized that teleshopping has a complementary effect on out-of-home shopping and leads to more shopping trip making and that the time for these additional trips and home teleshopping activities is enabled through efficiencies gained from increased trip chaining. Time saved through increased trip chaining and teleshopping may provide the additional time needed to shop more—both from within the home and outside the home.

Home-Based Teleshopping and Shopping Travel: Where Do People Find the Time?

Structural equation modeling techniques were used to explore the tradeoffs that people make when teleshopping from home. Early in the development and growth of online shopping, many assumed that it would become a direct substitute for traditional retail (out-of-home) shopping and thereby reduce shopping trips and vehicle miles traveled. A growing body of research on the interplay between the use of information and communications technologies suggests that people shop and travel for a multitude of reasons that depend on the interplay between lifestyle, availability and convenience of shopping opportunities and the demands of other activities during the day. Using the San Francisco Bay Area Travel Survey 2000 from California, this paper performs an activities analysis to investigate these relationships. Time use variables predict the amount of time each individual spends during the day on work, maintenance, discretionary, and shopping activities both inside and outside the home. These activities are used to...

Policies and Practices For Cost-Effective Transit Investments: Recent Experiences in the United States

A structured survey of transit agency staff and interviews with agency executives and other local leaders were conducted in areas that have undertaken a major transit investment project in the past 5 years. The purpose was to identify methods and procedures used to evaluate and select projects and, in particular, to document how land use considerations are being incorporated into project decisions. Staff members responsible for 41 projects were contacted, and 28 completed the survey, discussing projects in 23 regions of the United States. Supplementary interviews were conducted for 10 of the regions. The study found that most agencies use federal guidance and regulations on the evaluation of transit investment as a starting point, but give equal weight in project design and selection to state and local policy objectives such as social equity, economic development, and fair-share distribution of projects among local communities. A number of transit agencies give priority to projects in jurisdictions with transit-supportive land use patterns or plans. The availability of public or private funding contributions is increasingly important in prioritizing projects. Increasingly, transit agencies are hiring staff to work with local governments on land use planning and on funding partnerships and are working with them to develop a shared understanding of the area’s transit needs and related development objectives. Staff and political leaders deem these efforts at least as important as technical evaluations of cost-effectiveness.

Influences of neighborhood crime on mode choice

It is understood that the threats posed by possible criminal activity in a neighborhood can play a major role in the decision to drive, take transit, walk, or ride a bicycle, but little empirical evidence has yet been gathered to support this notion, let alone guide public infrastructure investments, land use planning, or the allocation of police services. This study found that high-crime neighborhoods tend to discourage residents from walking or riding a bicycle. When a high-crime neighborhood is compared with a lower-crime neighborhood, the odds of choosing walking over driving decrease by 17% for work trips and 61% for nonwork trips. However, transit trips appear to respond to neighborhood crime in a way similar to auto trips; that is, high-crime neighborhoods appear to encourage transit use. The odds of choosing transit over the auto increase by 17% for work trips and 164% for nonwork trips. The study found that transit access trips (walking, bicycling, or driving to a transit station) are sensitive to neighborhood crimes in keeping with theoretical expectations: high-crime neighborhoods discourage walking and bicycling and encourage driving to transit stations. Specifically, for transit access to work trips, the odds of choosing to walk or bike to a transit station instead of driving decrease by 48%.

Reinventing the Urban Interstate: A New Paradigm for Multimodal Corridors

This report presents strategies for planning, designing, building, and operating multimodal corridors—freeways and high-capacity transit lines running parallel in the same travel corridors. This report will be of interest to urban and transportation planners and policymakers in large urban areas. The objectives of this research were to (1) evaluate the potential for rehabilitating and reconstructing portions of interstate freeways and similar freeways in urbanized areas of the United States as multimodal transportation facilities and (2) develop strategies to plan and implement these facilities. The multimodal corridor would take one of three forms: transit-oriented multimodal corridors; park-and-ride access multimodal corridors; or transit-optimized/freeway-constrained multimodal corridors.

Toward Livability Ethics: A Framework to Guide Planning, Design, and Engineering Decisions

“Livability” has become a popular term in planning, design, and engineering circles, yet there continues to be a lack of clear consensus about what livability actually means, let alone how to measure it and how to achieve it. In response, this article draws deeply on the literature to develop a comprehensive understanding of this complex concept. The presented analysis suggests that livability is best understood as an individuals ability to access opportunities to improve his or her quality of life. However, one persons pursuit of quality of life can actually detract from the livability of another. This concept is particularly true in transportation, as one persons travel inherently touches the lives of others along the pathway. As wealth and social status often play a key role in determining whose pursuit of quality of life wins, a moral and ethical framework must be at the heart of the achievement of livability. Therefore, livability in a just society requires that all individuals be ensured equal access to such opportunities. Rather than one monolithic definition of livability, a need exists for a theoretical moral basis to measure, understand, and judge activities toward livability achievement through a set of clear, concise, and easily applicable livability ethics. Toward this goal, this paper first presents a comprehensive examination of the literature and then provides guidance to professionals on the application of livability concepts in practice by articulating (a) an overarching definition of livability and a set of supporting metaprinciples, (b) a set of ethical livability principles, and (c) a set of livability process principles.

Transit Corridor Livability

In recent years, strategies to promote transportation and land use integration have gained prominence in planning-related fields, believed to yield many potential benefits toward travel, health, welfare, and sustainability goals. Although livability has been identified as an important outcome of this approach as well, little guidance exists on what livability actually is, how to measure it, or how transportation and land use integration strategies can promote it. The findings of a multiyear study of the livability literature, theory, and practice are followed by an extensive quantitative and qualitative study of more than 350 transit corridors including thousands of stations throughout the United States. Although often dismissed as subjective, this research shows that livability can be understood in well-defined and measurable ways, which are validated through an innovative geospatial approach using detailed national data on travel, health, safety, and other quality-of-life outcomes. The findings in this paper show how more integrated and livable transit corridors can yield multiple benefits regarding travel, health, welfare, and sustainability. The findings show how livability goals and their measures can inform planning decisions to promote equitable access to opportunities locally and regionally and yield multiple benefits. Therefore, livability can be seen as an organizing principle for determining when and how to deploy integrated transportation and land use planning strategies. A practical handbook and a calculator for building livable transit corridors are introduced; both were designed to empower practitioners and members of the public to equitably achieve higher levels of livability at local and regional scales.

Toward a Typology of Transit Corridor Livability

“Livability” has become a popular term for planners, engineers, and urban designers, yet there is still little consensus on what livability means, how to measure it, and ultimately how to achieve it. In response, this research built on a multiyear analysis of the livability literature, theory, and practice, followed by an extensive quantitative and qualitative study of more than 350 transit corridors throughout the United States, in one of the largest federally funded studies on livability related to transportation. Although livability is often associated with the best planning and engineering practices, this is the first study to establish its empirical link to quality-of-life outcomes at the transit corridor level. Toward that end, this paper identifies important characteristics of one type of livability—referred to here as transit corridor livability (TCL)—based on the literature, theory, and practice; presents a comprehensive set of livability metrics built on this foundation; and then applies the metrics toward the development of a typological framework for promoting TCL. This effort links higher levels of transportation and land use integration, access to livability opportunities, and the potential for individuals to realize key quality-of-life outcomes such as higher non-automobile travel, shorter trip distances, and even lower levels of obesity and unemployment. This paper also introduces a practical handbook and TCL calculator, both designed to empower practitioners and members of the public to reliably assess transit corridor livability strengths and needs and then identify key policy strategies to achieve higher levels of transit corridor livability for their constituents.