The application of the Park & Ride and TOD concepts to develop a new framework that can maximise public transport patronage

With growing concern over the use of the car in our urbanized society, there have emerged a number of lobby groups and professional bodies promoting a return to public transport, walking and cycling, with the urban village as the key driving land use, as a means of making our cities’ transportation systems more sustainable. This research has aimed at developing a framework applicable to the Australian setting that can facilitate increased passenger patronage of rail based urban transport systems from adjacent or associated land uses. The framework specifically tested the application of the Park & Ride and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) concepts and their applicability within the cultural, institutional, political and transit operational characteristics of Australian society. The researcher found that, although the application of the TOD concept had been limited to small pockets of town houses and mixed use developments around stations, the development industry and emerging groups within the community are posed to embrace the concept and bring with it increased rail patronage. The lack of a clear commitment to infrastructure and supporting land uses is a major barrier to the implementation of TODs. The research findings demonstrated significant scope for the size of a TOD to expand to a much greater radius of activity from the public transport interchange, than the commonly quoted 400 to 600 meters, thus incorporating many more residents and potential patrons. The provision of Park & Rides, and associated support facilities like Kiss & Rides, have followed worldwide trends of high patronage demands from the middle and outer car dependent suburbs of our cities. The data collection and analysis gathered by the researcher demonstrated that in many cases Park & Rides should form part of a TOD to ensure ease of access to rail stations by all modes and patron types. The question, however, remains how best to plan the incorporation of a Park & Ride within a TOD and still maintain those features that attract and promote TODs as a living entity.

Land Use & Public Transport Accessibility Index (LUPTAI) tool : the development and pilot application of LUPTAI for the Gold Coast

LUPTAI is a decision-aiding tool to enable local and state governments to optimise land use and transport integration. In contrast to mobility between land uses (typically via road), accessibility represents opportunity and choice to reach common land use destinations by public transport and/or walking. LUPTAI uses a GIS-based methodology to quantify and map accessibility to common land use destinations by walking and/or public transport. The tool can be applied to small or large study areas. It can be applied to the current situation in a study area or to future scenarios (such as scenarios involving changes to public transport services, public transport corridors or stations, population density or land use). The tool has been piloted on the Gold Coast and the results are encouraging. This paper outlines the GIS-based methodology and the findings related to this pilot study. The paper demonstrates benefits and possible application of LUPTAI to other urbanised local government areas in Queensland. It also discusses how this accessibility indexing approach could be developed into a decision-support tool to assist local and state government agencies in a range of transport and land-use planning activities.

Non-motorized public transport : a global review and analysis of trends and issues

Over recent decades there has been growing interest in the role of non-motorized modes in the overall transport system (especially walking and cycling for private purposes) and many government initiatives have been taken to encourage these active modes. However there has been relatively little research attention given to the paid form of non-motorized travel which can be called non-motorized public transport (NMPT). This involves cycle-powered vehicles which can carry several passengers (plus the driver) and a small amount of goods; and which provide flexible hail-and-ride services. Effectively they are non-motorized taxis. Common forms include cycle-rickshaw (Bangladesh, India), becak (Indonesia), cyclos (Vietnam, Cambodia), bicitaxi (Columbia, Cuba), velo-taxi (Germany, Netherland), and pedicabs (UK, Japan, USA). --------- The popularity of NMPT is widespread in developing countries, where it caters for a wide range of mobility needs. For instance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, rickshaws are the preferred mode for non-walk trips and have a higher mode share than cars or buses. Factors that underlie the continued existence and popularity of NMPT in many developing countries include positive contribution to social equity, micro-macro economic significance, employment creation, and suitability for narrow and crowded streets. Although top speeds are lower than motorized modes, NMPT is competitive and cost-effective for short distance door-to-door trips that make up the bulk of travel in many developing cities. In addition, NMPT is often the preferred mode for vulnerable groups such as females, children and elderly people. NMPT is more prominent in developing countries but its popularity and significance is also gradually increasing in several developed countries of Asia, Europe and parts of North America, where there is a trend for the NMPT usage pattern to broaden from tourism to public transport. This shift is due to a number of factors including the eco-sustainable nature of NMPT; its operating flexibility (such as in areas where motorized vehicle access is restricted or discouraged through pricing); and the dynamics that it adds to the urban fabric. Whereas NMPT may have been seen as a “dying” mode, in many cities it is maintaining or increasing its significance and with potential for further growth. --------- This paper will examine and analyze global trends in NMPT incorporating both developing and developed country contexts and issues such as usage patterns; NMPT policy and management practices; technological development; and operational integration of NMPT into the overall transport system. It will look at how NMPT policies, practices and usage have changed over time and the differing trends in developing and developed countries. In particular, it will use Dhaka, Bangladesh as a case study in recognition of its standing as the major NMPT city in the world. The aim is to highlight NMPT issues and trends and their significance for shaping future policy towards NMPT in developing and developed countries. The paper will be of interest to transport planners, traffic engineers, urban and regional planners, environmentalists, economists and policy makers.

The land use and public transport accessibility index : phase two final report

The Urban Research Program (URP) was established in 2003 as strategic research and community engagement initiative of Griffith University. The strategic foci of the Urban Research Program are research and advocacy in an urban regional context. The Urban Research Program seeks to improve understanding of, and develop innovative responses to Australia's urban challenges and opportunities by providing training assistance. The authors aim to make the results of their research and advocacy work available as freely and widely as possible.

Non-motorised public transport : the past, the present, the future

Non-motorized public transport (NMPT) involves cycle-powered vehicles that carry several passengers and a small amount of goods; and provide flexible hail-and-ride services. Effectively they are non-motorized taxis. NMPT is widespread in developing countries, where it caters for a wide range of mobility needs. Common forms include cycle-rickshaw (Bangladesh, India), becak (Indonesia), cyclos (Vietnam, Cambodia), bicitaxi (Columbia, Cuba). Over the last 10-15 years there has also been a re-emergence of NMPT in the form of pedicabs in many developed countries because of the operating flexibility of NMPT, its eco-sustainability, and its ability to operate where use of motorized vehicles is restricted. In particular, in cities such as Berlin, London, New York and Vancouver, pedicabs are making the transition from ‘novelty’ to ‘serious’ transport mode. This is creating new transport policy/planning questions about pedicab operation and integration. This paper examines the phenomenon of NMPT and where it is heading. It uses case studies from Asia/Latin America and Europe/North America to examine emerging NMPT issues and possible responses, and how this may affect NMPT in Australia and New Zealand where it is still somewhat a ‘novelty’ but has potential as both an opportunity and a challenge.

Enhancing the experience of public transport users with urban screens and mobile applications

Public transportation is an environment with great potential for applying location-based services through mobile devices. This paper provides the underpinning rationale for research that will be looking at how the real-time passenger information system deployed by the Translink Transit Authority across all of South East Queensland in Australia can provide a core platform to improve commuters’ user experiences. This system relies on mobile computing and GPS technology to provide accurate information on transport vehicle locations. The proposal builds on this platform to inform the design and development of innovative social media, mobile computing and geospatial information applications. The core aim is to digitally augment the public transport environment to enhance the user experience of commuters for a more enjoyable journey.

Evaluating the transport impacts of transit oriented developments (TODS)

Sustainable transport has become a necessity instead of an option, to address the problems of congestion and urban sprawl, whose effects include increased trip lengths and travel time. A more sustainable form of development, known as Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is presumed to offer sustainable travel choices with reduced need to travel to access daily destinations, by providing a mixture of land uses together with good quality of public transport service, infrastructure for walking and cycling. However, performance assessment of these developments with respect to travel characteristics of their inhabitants is required. This research proposes a five step methodology for evaluating the transport impacts of TODs. The steps for TOD evaluation include pre–TOD assessment, traffic and travel data collection, determination of traffic impacts, determination of travel impacts, and drawing outcomes. Typically, TODs are comprised of various land uses; hence have various types of users. Assessment of characteristics of all user groups is essential for obtaining an accurate picture of transport impacts. A case study TOD, Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV), located 2km of north west of the Brisbane central business district in Australia was selected for implementing the proposed methodology and to evaluate the transport impacts of a TOD from an Australian perspective. The outcomes of this analysis indicated that KGUV generated 27 to 48 percent less traffic compared to standard published rates specified for homogeneous uses. Further, all user groups of KGUV used more sustainable modes of transport compared to regional and similarly located suburban users, with higher trip length for shopping and education trips. Although the results from this case study development support the transport claims of reduced traffic generation and sustainable travel choices by way of TODs, further investigation is required, considering different styles, scales and locations of TODs. The proposed methodology may be further refined by using results from new TODs and a framework for TOD evaluation may be developed.

Opportunities of public transport experience enhancements with mobile services and urban screens

Public transportation is an environment with great potential for applying innovative ubiquitous computing services to enhance user experiences. This paper provides the underpinning rationale for research that will be looking at how real-time passenger information system deployed by transit authorities can provide a core platform to improve commuters’ user experiences during all stages of their journey. The proposal builds on this platform to inform the design and development of innovative social media, mobile computing and geospatial information applications, with the hope to create fun and meaningful experiences for passengers during their everyday travel. Furthermore, we present the findings of our pilot study that aims to offer a better understanding of passengers’ activities and social interactions during their daily commute.

Enhancing public transport passenger experience via mobile-mediated applications and services

Despite the rapidly urbanising population, public transport usage in metropolitan areas is not growing at a level that corresponds to the trend. Many people are reluctant to travel using public transport, as it is commonly associated with unpleasant experiences such as limited services, long wait time, and crowded spaces. This study aims to explore the use of mobile spatial interactions and services, and investigate their potential to increase the enjoyment of our everyday commuting experience. The main goal is to develop and evaluate mobile-mediated design interventions to foster interactions for and among passengers, as well as between passengers and public transport infrastructures, with the aim to positively influence the experience of commuting. Ultimately, this study hopes to generate findings and knowledge towards creating a more enjoyable public transport experience, as well as to explore innovative uses of mobile technologies and context-aware services for the urban lifestyle.

Towards proximity-based passenger sensing on public transport buses

While substantial research on intelligent transportation systems has focused on the development of novel wireless communication technologies and protocols, relatively little work has sought to fully exploit proximity-based wireless technologies that passengers actually carry with them today. This paper presents the real-world deployment of a system that exploits public transit bus passengers’ Bluetooth-capable devices to capture and reconstruct micro- and macro-passenger behavior. We present supporting evidence that approximately 12% of passengers already carry Bluetooth-enabled devices and that the data collected on these passengers captures with almost 80 % accuracy the daily fluctuation of actual passengers flows. The paper makes three contributions in terms of understanding passenger behavior: We verify that the length of passenger trips is exponentially bounded, the frequency of passenger trips follows a power law distribution, and the microstructure of the network of passenger movements is polycentric.

Planning for sustainability of non motorised public transport in a developing city

Most large cities around the world are undergoing rapid transport sector development to cater for increased urbanization. Subsequently the issues of mobility, access equity, congestion, operational safety and above all environmental sustainability are becoming increasingly crucial in transport planning and policy making. The popular response in addressing these issues has been demand management, through improvement of motorised public transport (MPT) modes (bus, train, tram) and non-motorized transport (NMT) modes (walk, bicycle); improved fuel technology. Relatively little attention has however been given to another readily available and highly sustainable component of the urban transport system, non-motorized public transport (NMPT) such as the pedicab that operates on a commercial basis and serves as an NMT taxi; and has long standing history in many Asian cities; relatively stable in existence in Latin America; and reemerging and expanding in Europe, North America and Australia. Consensus at policy level on the apparent benefits, costs and management approach for NMPT integration has often been a major transport planning problem. Within this context, this research attempts to provide a more complete analysis of the current existence rationale and possible future, or otherwise, of NMPT as a regular public transport system. The analytical process is divided into three major stages. Stage 1 reviews the status and role condition of NMPT as regular public transport on a global scale- in developing cities and developed cities. The review establishes the strong ongoing and future potential role of NMPT in major developing cities. Stage 2 narrows down the status review to a case study city of a developing country in order to facilitate deeper role review and status analysis of the mode. Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh, has been chosen due to its magnitude of NMPT presence. The review and analysis reveals the multisectoral and dominant role of NMPT in catering for the travel need of Dhaka transport users. The review also indicates ad-hoc, disintegrated policy planning in management of NMPT and the need for a planning framework to facilitate balanced integration between NMPT and MT in future. Stage 3 develops an integrated, multimodal planning framework (IMPF), based on a four-step planning process. This includes defining the purpose and scope of the planning exercise, determining current deficiencies and preferred characteristics for the proposed IMPF, selection of suitable techniques to address the deficiencies and needs of the transport network while laying out the IMPF and finally, development of a delivery plan for the IMPF based on a selected layout technique and integration approach. The output of the exercise is a planning instrument (decision tool) that can be used to assign a road hierarchy in order to allocate appropriate traffic to appropriate network type, particularly to facilitate the operational balance between MT and NMT. The instrument is based on a partial restriction approach of motorised transport (MT) and NMT, structured on the notion of functional hierarchy approach, and distributes/prioritises MT and NMT such that functional needs of the network category is best complemented. The planning instrument based on these processes and principles offers a six-level road hierarchy with a different composition of network-governing attributes and modal priority, for the current Dhaka transport network, in order to facilitate efficient integration of NMT with MT. A case study application of the instrument on a small transport network of Dhaka also demonstrates the utility, flexibility and adoptability of the instrument in logically allocating corridors with particular positions in the road hierarchy paradigm. Although the tool is useful in enabling balanced distribution of NMPT with MT at different network levels, further investigation is required with reference to detailed modal variations, scales and locations of a network to further generalise the framework application.

A design approach to the study of people's experiences with technologies in the context of public transport

Relevant to the study of people’s attitudes towards public transport use is the consideration to the role of technology as part of the travel experience. Technologies aim to enhance daily tasks but tend to change the way people interact with products and can be perceived as difficult to use. This is critical in the context of “public use” where products and services are to be used by the population at large: adults, children, elderly, people with disabilities, and tourists. From different perspectives, the topic of users and the use of technologies have been studied in the social sciences and human computer interaction fields; however, earlier approaches fail to address the ways in which experiential knowledge informs people’s interactions with products and technologies, and how such information could guide the design of future technologies. This paper describes a pilot study, part of a larger ongoing exploratory research that investigates people’s experiences with infrastructure, systems, and technologies in the context of public transport. The methodological approach included focus groups, field observations, and retrospective verbal reports. At this stage, the study found that four context led factors were the primary source of reference informing participants’ actions and interactions; they are: (i) context >> experience, (ii) context >> interface, (iii) context >> knowledge, (iv) context >> emotion.