Manish Shirgaokar

Study of Park-and-Ride Facilities and Their Use in the San Francisco Bay Area of California

Park-and-ride lots are important support facilities for transit and ridesharing in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The authors designed and carried out the regions first large-scale, detailed study of park-and-ride facilities and users. Three Bay Area Rapid Transit (rail) station parking lots were also surveyed. The user survey results showed that almost all the parking users were commuters; at the freeway lots, half were transit users and the remainder were organized and casual carpoolers. Most drove alone to the park-and-ride lot and made long trips to work, many more than 30 mi one way. Users had concerns about lot security, the lack of lighting, and the quality of transit services offered. Analysis of focus group data determined that schedule adherence rather than frequency was the cause of most concerns. Participants expressed a willingness to pay for parking that was fenced, security patrolled, and lighted, with shelters for waiting. Together, the surveys and focus groups have provided in...

Predictors of household exposure to monsoon rain hazards in informal settlements

Informal settlements are an important source of affordable housing and economic activity in developing cities. Research shows that informal settlements are at high risk from natural hazards and the effects of global climate change. Conditions within such settlements are diverse, however, and it is important that we understand the variation in risk across households. In this paper, we study the uneven terrain of risk to localized hazards in informal settlements in Kolkata, India. Our research question is, which factors predict household exposure to monsoon rain hazards? We surveyed 414 households living in low-lying informal settlements on the city’s periphery. Using a variety of predictors, we estimate binary logistic models for two outcome variables tied to monsoon rain: home flooding and home leaking. We find that household exposure varies significantly across our study population and follows predictable patterns based on socio-economic and infrastructure variables. The home flooding model results show that households with higher incomes are less likely to flood, but in situ births increase exposure. Households living in structures made of more permanent materials are less likely to flood, as are households living near infrastructure. The home leaking model shows that households with relative financial stability are less likely to leak, as are those that have been living in the settlement for longer periods of time and whose houses are made of better quality materials. These findings indicate that extensive risk in informal settlements is unevenly experienced and that policies intended to reduce disaster and climate risk should focus on the lowest-income households, the provision of infrastructure, and security of tenure.

Expanding cities and vehicle use in India: Differing impacts of built environment factors on scooter and car use in Mumbai

Expanding urban populations are inducing development at the edges of Indian cities, given the constraints on land use intensification within municipal boundaries. Existing peripheral towns are becoming anchors for this new growth, creating urban agglomerations. Such areas have become preferred home locations for the working poor and emergent middle class, groups that are often priced out of the urban housing market. However, many such exurban locations lack infrastructure such as durable paved roads and transit, because investments are largely clustered within municipal boundaries. This paper focuses on the Greater Mumbai Region and relies on a cross-sectional household travel survey data set. The objective is to understand how vehicle use is linked to the built environment and socio-economics. Spatial analysis shows that cars are used in urban centres while scooters and motorcycles are used in the exurbs. Estimated censored regression models show that greater household distance from the main employment centre Nariman Point, better job accessibility and improved socio-economic factors increase vehicle use, while land use diversity and density bring down vehicle use. A key econometric result is that after controlling for location, land use, infrastructure supply and socio-economics, the expectation of a motorised two-wheeler or car in a household does not translate to its use. Overall, the findings suggest that policies encouraging higher land use diversity, density and transit supply have the potential to marginally decrease vehicle use in the Indian metropolis. However, future research needs to focus on residential location to better understand how the choices of where to live and how to travel are interconnected.

System Plan for California's Bay Area Regional Express Bus Service

Express buses operating on freeways and arterials are an important part of many metropolitan area transit services. A regional express bus system plan for the San Francisco, California, Bay Area is presented; network, station and stop, operations, and user issues are addressed. Previous work had focused on high-occupancy vehicles on freeways; the current work expands the vision of the system to address the door-to-door trip and service on arterials. Gaps in the high-occupancy-vehicle network, priority treatment strategies, access modes and connections, station and stop design, park-and-ride lots, and public and private access services were analyzed, and other user and operator concerns were addressed. The plan was developed through a partnership that included the state transportation agency, the metropolitan planning organization, local transportation sales tax and congestion management agencies, and transit operators, with university researchers providing technical support and facilitation of meetings. On-board surveys and consumer focus groups were conducted along with stakeholder interviews, field studies, design evaluations, and simulation modeling. The plan not only produced valuable information for future improvements but also helped develop a high level of cooperation and consensus among the participating agencies. Both methods used and lessons learned from the Bay Area experience should be useful to other metropolitan areas and transit operators.

Expanding Seniors’ Mobility through Phone Apps: Potential Responses from the Private and Public Sectors:

Seniors (over 64 years) are a growing demographic. Some seniors risk social exclusion given the lack of transportation options. Using qualitative methods, I investigate how transportation network company (TNC) services such as Lyft and Uber present an alternative for seniors’ mobility in comparison to taxis. I use technology acceptance models as a lens and explore the challenges that TNC services present for seniors. This analysis suggests that emerging transportation services—including self-driving cars—may present a boon for seniors if stakeholders from the private and public sectors can increase the ease of use of these new forms of mobility.

How does the inclination to bicycle sway the decision to ride in warm and winter seasons

ABSTRACT Many cities are creating policies and programs aimed at expanding bicycling mode shares. Attitudes towards bicycling in combination with weather conditions, however, can strongly influence the decision to ride. In locations with wide annual seasonal variation, attitudes can radically alter demand on bicycle networks across the year. Though researchers have looked at weather impacts on bicycling, the link between attitudinal factors that might impact riding decisions and seasonal variation remains understudied. This paper investigates heterogeneous taste preferences about the inclination to bicycle for riders who ride only in the warm weather and those who ride all year long (including during severe winters). This research relies on survey data from Edmonton, Canada and presents results from a hybrid discrete choice model. After controlling for age, sex, education, income, the supply of bike lanes, and the latent variable “bicycling inclination,” the results indicate that attitudes have a significantly positive impact on the decision to ride across seasons. The findings suggest that public education and season-specific training programs—particularly aimed at adults and women—have the potential to increase bicycling all year around.

Investigating housing tenures beyond homeownership: a study of informal settlements in Kolkata, India

Abstract Improving the lives of households in informal settlements is a major development challenge. Though ownership is the predominant housing tenure arrangement pursued in national and international housing policies, there is a growing consensus that forms of tenure beyond homeownership may provide greater benefits to some households. In Kolkata, informal settlements (bastis) are the primary source of affordable housing for the urban poor. Relying on detailed household survey data, we investigate the utility gained from the diversity of housing tenure arrangements in bastis and the factors that increase the length of time a household lives in a settlement, using multinomial logit and ordinary least squares regression specifications. Our analyses show that in comparison to ownership, leasing or renting benefits large households and new migrants. Our findings suggest that policies targeted at households who rent and lease, along with improving housing and supporting infrastructure, can be effective mechanisms for improving household well-being.