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School of City and Regional Planning

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search.filters.applied.f.advisor: Watkins, Kari E. × End date: 2022 × Start date: 2020 × Has files: Yes × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: College of Engineering × search.filters.applied.f.resourcesubtype: Thesis ×

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Evaluating Long–Term MARTA Ridership Effects of the 2017 I–85 Bridge Collapse

2022-05-25 , Brandel-Tanis, Freyja Alice

In March 2017, an overpass on I–85 in Atlanta caught fire and collapsed, disrupting traffic for 43 days while the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) rebuilt the bridge. During this time, transit ridership increased as commuters reacted to the changes in travel time, thanks in part to concerted efforts to expand service by the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Ridership declined after GDOT restored service but remained higher than pre-disaster levels, requiring further research to understand how long the effect lasted. Multiple linear regression models are used to investigate the relationship between 2019 ridership and origins and destinations affected by the bridge collapse. Travel time matrices from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) Activity Based Model (ABM) are used to identify Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) with notable service impacts and choose comparable regions. The weighted trip counts from the ARC’s 2010 and 2019 onboard transit surveys map transit trips to origin and destination TAZs. When controlling for MARTA’s service quantity, residential and employment population, and the percent of households without access to a vehicle (choice riders), the models found a significant relationship between the region impacted by the bridge collapse and an increase in MARTA rail trips and MARTA trips by patrons who could have used a vehicle. A significant increase in choice rail ridership from the impacted TAZs, those most likely to have switched during the network disruption of 2017, suggests that the bridge collapse’s impact on MARTA riders lasted until at least the fall of 2019, over two years after the inciting network disruption.

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AN ATLANTA-BASED ANALYSIS ON THE FEASIBILITY OF EMPLOYEE COMMUTE OPTIONS PROGRAMS AND SWITCHING FROM DRIVING ALONE TO ALTERNATIVE COMMUTE MODES

2021-08-02 , Ling, Sharon

Employee commute options programs – also known as employer-based transportation demand management (TDM) programs – are rooted in the philosophy of TDM and trip reduction. There is a long history of TDM policies and efforts undertaken by both the public and private sectors in the United States, although the name and shape of such efforts has varied over time. However, a common goal has persisted throughout, which is to reduce employees’ reliance on gasoline-powered single-occupant vehicles (i.e. traditional cars) for traveling to and from work. To this end, employee commute options programs today often focus on incentivizing employees to switch from driving alone to using an alternative commute mode. These alternative modes range from public transit (e.g. rail or bus), ridesharing (e.g. carpooling or vanpooling), “active commuting” (e.g. biking or walking), to even alternative work hour arrangements (e.g. telecommuting) where possible (Griffin 2020). Carrot-and-stick approaches are often used to motivate employees to make the switch – such as rewarding alternative mode users with financial incentives and/or workplace perks, or even imposing charges for driving and parking. In addition, the benefits of adopting alternative modes are often extolled to the employee audience to make these options appear more attractive to potential users. Commonly cited benefits of alternatives to driving alone include reducing travel times and commute-related stress, saving commute costs, improving commuter satisfaction, creating a more sustainable environment, and so on. Employer-based TDM proponents and enthusiasts tend to emphasize, perhaps overtly so, that employee commute options programs can and will help create lasting behavioral changes. All parties involved in this enterprise – namely employers, employees, and society at large – are assumed to reap rewards from adopting TDM approaches and goals.

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