Week 11 Flashcards
What is accessibility in transportation?
Accessibility in transportation refers to the ease with which individuals can reach desired goods, services, activities, and destinations (opportunities) using a particular transport system.
Front: Why is accessibility significant in transportation?
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It is the ultimate goal of transportation, not mobility.
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It enables individual participation in activities and boosts societies by providing access to education, work, healthcare, and other essential services.
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It drives economic growth as places with higher accessibility tend to be more productive, leading to higher wages for workers.
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It influences urban and residential development, with locations that have better accessibility to urban opportunities often having higher development density and more expensive real estate.
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It promotes social inclusion and equity by ensuring access for carless individuals, the elderly, and the mobility-impaired.
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It contributes to the quality of life and livability of cities.
What are the different types of accessibility?
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Active Accessibility: Focuses on the accessibility of origins, like residential zones, to opportunities in the transportation network. It is a key concept in transport and land-use planning and influences residential location choices and population distribution.
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Passive Accessibility: Focuses on the accessibility of destinations, such as businesses and services. It plays a crucial role in business productivity and success and drives firm/business location choices.
What are the four components of accessibility?
1.Land-use component: This component considers the amount, quality, and spatial distribution of opportunities (jobs, shops, healthcare, social and recreational facilities, etc.) at each destination. It also considers the demand for these opportunities and how the interaction between supply and demand impacts accessibility (e.g., competition for jobs, school vacancies, or hospital beds).
2.
Transportation component: This component describes the transportation system and the disutility of travel between an origin and a destination. It factors in travel time (including travel, waiting, and parking time), costs (both fixed and variable), and effort (including reliability, comfort, accident risk, etc.). This disutility is also influenced by the interaction of supply (infrastructure and its characteristics) and demand (passenger and freight travel) in the transportation system.
3.
Temporal component: This component reflects the temporal constraints related to accessibility. It considers the availability of opportunities at different times of the day and the time individuals have available to participate in certain activities (e.g., work, recreation). It also considers time-dependent variations in travel disutility, like morning congestion or reduced transit service at night.
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Individual component: This component focuses on the individual’s needs (influenced by factors like age, income, education, household characteristics), abilities (physical condition, availability of travel modes), and opportunities (income, travel budget, education level) and how they affect their accessibility.
What are the three methods to measure accessibility?
1.
Cumulative Opportunity Measures: These measures calculate accessibility for a given origin by counting the number of opportunities that can be reached within a fixed travel time budget, typically 30 minutes.
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Gravity-Based Measures: These measures take into account both the attraction of opportunities and the impedance (difficulty) of reaching them. They assign weights to opportunities based on their attractiveness (e.g., the total number of trips attracted to them) and use an impedance function to reflect their distance from the origin.
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Utility-Based Measures: These measures, often employing the log sum from choice models, quantify accessibility by considering the utility associated with different opportunities and the disutility of travel to reach them. They capture the attractiveness of opportunities and the various factors (time, cost, comfort, etc.) that influence travel choices, providing a more comprehensive assessment of accessibility.
What is transport efficiency?
Transport efficiency measures evaluate the balance between the resources used and the service (access) provided in a transportation system.
What are examples of resources considered in transport efficiency?
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Individual Resources: Time, money, vehicle assets, parking space.
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Government Resources: Subsidies, capital for projects, infrastructure.
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Common Resources: Infrastructure, space, clean air, city landscape, and the environment.
What are some ways to improve transport efficiency?
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Prioritize sustainable modes: Encourage walking, cycling, and public transport, especially in urban areas, as they are more space-efficient and have a lower environmental impact.
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Optimize traffic management: Employ effective traffic signal timing, roadway management strategies, and sensor technologies to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow.
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Improve public transport planning and operations: Design efficient public transport routes and schedules and consider options like autonomous bus services, especially in lower-density suburbs, to enhance service efficiency and reduce costs.
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Implement road user pricing: Use pricing mechanisms to manage demand and encourage more efficient use of road space, particularly during peak hours.
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Reduce speed limits: Lowering speed limits, particularly in urban areas, can improve safety, reduce congestion, and create a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly environment.
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Promote compact urban development: Discourage urban sprawl and promote compact, mixed-use development to reduce travel distances and encourage the use of sustainable modes.
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Consider the accessibility paradox: Recognize that increasing accessibility to certain areas, particularly suburbs, might unintentionally encourage longer travel distances and car dependency.
What are the two principles of transport sustainability?
Carbon emissions from transportation operations and infrastructure construction should be reduced to a level consistent with limiting global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
2.
Per capita carbon emissions from transportation should be approximately equal in all cities worldwide to ensure fairness and equity in addressing climate change.
What makes Australia’s transport system unsustainable?
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High-emitting vehicles: Australia has a relatively old vehicle fleet with a high proportion of high-emitting cars and a lack of stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards.
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Long travel distances: Australians travel relatively long distances by car compared to residents of other developed countries.
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Low public transport usage: Public transport accounts for only a small proportion of trips in Australia (12%), indicating a high reliance on private vehicles.
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Inadequate public transport funding: Investment in public transport infrastructure and services is low compared to spending on roads, further discouraging the shift to more sustainable modes.
What are key climate solutions for transport?
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Expand access to public transport: Provide viable alternatives to driving by expanding and improving the reliability, comfort, and accessibility of public transport networks.
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Electrify transport fleets: Transition to electric cars, buses, trains, and trams, and power them with renewable energy sources to decarbonize the transport sector.
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Implement emissions standards: Adopt and enforce stringent, mandatory greenhouse gas emissions standards for new vehicles to accelerate the shift to cleaner and more fuel-efficient models.
How does accessibility influence environmental footprint?
Higher accessibility generally correlates with a lower environmental footprint for households. When people have convenient access to jobs, services, and amenities within a reasonable distance and through sustainable modes (walking, cycling, public transport), they tend to travel shorter distances and rely less on private vehicles, resulting in reduced carbon emissions.
What are some examples of cities with sustainable and efficient transport systems?
Cities like Amsterdam, London, Shenzhen, and cities in the Netherlands have made significant progress in creating more sustainable and efficient transportation systems. They prioritize:
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Walking and Cycling: Amsterdam’s central station is a prime example, with extensive bicycle infrastructure and parking catering to a large number of cyclists.
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Public Transport: London has a comprehensive transport strategy aiming to increase the mode share of sustainable modes (public transport, walking, cycling) to 80% by 2040.
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Electrification: Shenzhen boasts a massive fleet of 15,000 electric buses, demonstrating a strong commitment to electrifying public transport.
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Renewable Energy: The intercity rail system in the Netherlands is powered by 100% wind energy, showcasing the potential of renewable energy sources for transportation.
