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School of City and Regional Planning

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search.filters.applied.f.advisor: Watkins, Kari E. × Has files: Yes × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: College of Engineering ×

Publication Search Results

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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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It takes green to go green: An Atlanta-based evaluation of employer-provided commuting incentives as a method to overcome work site car-dependency

2019-07-30 , Greenwald, Jeremy Adams

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is the concept of applying travel options and incentives to mitigate the effects of congestion through human travel behavior change. While traditionally applied in a municipal context, TDM has recently penetrated the corporate landscape, where employers utilize financial incentives and work place perks to achieve a commuter mode shift in their employee population that often results in financial benefits and increased employee well-being and productivity. A limitation in current employer-based TDM and within existing relevant literature is the arbitrary nature in which transportation alternatives and incentives are applied. This thesis, and the incorporated Atlanta, GA employer case study, aims to further define the influence of travel-related behaviors within employee populations and the targeted methods of incentivization that could be applied to overcome alternative mode barriers. This research specifically evaluates the viability of carpooling and transit as alternative modes within the corporate commuting landscape, distinguishing between carpool driver and carpool passenger. A mixed-method survey approach is utilized to inform a multinomial logistic regression analysis that produces utility measures for socio-demographic and TDM-related variables. This work offers value to the field of corporate TDM by providing a contemporary reference point for TDM practitioners that can help them effectively target incentives to achieve their workplace commuting-related objectives.

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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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Innovations in multi-modal, schematic transit mapping: an exploratory survey

2013-04-09 , Carragher, Margaret Finch

Cities like New York and Chicago have comprehensive heavy rail networks that provide not only high frequency service, but also reach popular destinations and employment centers. Although many other cities strive for similar transit infrastructure, acquiring the financial backing and/or right-of-way to develop these transit systems can take years. To develop transit systems in a more timely and cost-effective manner, cities are using alternative transportation modes such as light rail, streetcars, bus rapid transit (BRT), and frequent local buses. As cities become more multi-modal, their system maps become more confusing. Historically, systems have provided separate transit maps for each transit mode they provide. However, integration of these new modes requires integration of system maps. Experts in the field of transit mapping have been calling for frequent transit maps, which highlight routes that provide frequent service or reach important destinations, regardless of mode. Some cities have implemented these multi-modal maps successfully, but to date, there is no documented guidance to assist agencies in creating these maps. Using Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority (MARTA) in Atlanta as a case study, the research team created multiple maps that include three transit modes throughout the city and tested them through surveys on transit riders and non-riders. Each map adds BRT and local bus routes that meet specific frequency and/or location criteria to the existing rail map. This project examines reactions of transit riders and non-riders to these new multi-modal, schematic maps. Through surveys targeting individuals with different transit ridership habits, this project explores the potential to affect ridership on these alternative modes and enhance system understanding beyond the rail map. The results of these surveys demonstrate the need to simplify system maps, the public desire for frequency mapping, and the potential to increase ridership on alternative modes. These results build on previous work that schematic maps affect rider spatial understanding of the system and route or mode decisions. Including more modes on the map in an efficient and visually pleasing way, results of this project found that both riders and non-riders would take transit more and better understand how all of the modes interact together to form a comprehensive transit network.

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Analyzing the difference between bike share trips made on regular and electric bicycles

2019-09-11 , Borsch, Adam

In 2017, JUMP Bicycle Company introduced dockless electric bicycles in several cities in the United States. Two of these cities were Austin, TX, and Atlanta, GA, both of which already had bikeshare companies operating with traditional non-electric bicycle fleets. This makeup of two unique sources of data for non-electric and electric bikeshare in these two cities presents a unique opportunity to study the difference between trips made on a pedal-assist bicycle and a standard bicycle that are a part of an urban bikeshare network. To conduct this work, the researchers collected three months of data in each of the cities and analyzed the data by comparing trip counts, mapping the origins and destinations and the routes of the trips, and finally analyzing the distance and other characteristics of the trips. The results of the study found an increase in the number of bikeshare trips taken in both cities, however, many of these new electric bicycle trips come at the expense of existing bikeshare trips. The geographic area covered by the trips increase greatly when electric bicycles trips are compared to regular bike trips in both cities, however, the average trip lengths stayed constant. Results suggest the introduction of electric bikeshares is a promising prospect to increase mobility and will need to be incorporated into transportation plans for cities moving forward.

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