Sandip Chakrabarti

Using Regional Archived Multimodal Transportation System Data for Policy Analysis A Case Study of the LA Metro Expo Line

Development of a comprehensive historical archive of regional real-time multimodal multiagency transportation system data makes possible more detailed study of impacts of major transport investments on travel and system performance. We illustrate with a case study of a new light rail transit line. We use transit, freeway, and arterial data of high spatial and temporal resolution to examine transportation system performance impacts of the Exposition (Expo) light rail line (Phase 1) in Los Angeles. Using a quasi-experimental research design, we explore the impact of the Expo Line on transit ridership, freeway traffic, and arterial traffic within the corridor it serves. Our results suggest a net increase in transit ridership, but few effects on roadway traffic system performance. Given the latent travel demand in this heavily congested corridor, results are consistent with expectations. The benefits of rail transit investments are in increasing transit accessibility and person throughput within high-demand corridors; effects on roadway traffic are small and localized.

A Review of “An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions”

Amartya Sen, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, has long challenged the contemporary notion of development. For him, economic growth and technological advancements are meaningl...