The Transportation Crossroads: Influence of Urban Area Form And Composition on Mass Transit

摘要

In the wake of economic restructuring and decentralization of cities America has come to rely onautomobiles, contributing to high levels of traffic congestion, carbon emissions, poor qualityplaces, and a declining public infrastructure. Policymakers and planners recognize that masstransit, an alternative mode of travel, can alleviate America’s strained transportation system.However, public transportation is an infrequently used service for commuters’ work and nonworkrelated trips. The purpose of this study is to examine the significance and magnitude oflarge scale forces on travel behavior gauging the influence of demographics, urban areacharacteristics, and certain dollar values on mass transit travel particularly bus, light/heavy railsystems. In regressing per capita transit trips and per capita miles from the National TransitDatabase on U.S. Census data across urban areas and over time (2000-2007), significantvariables include higher share of young and old age populations, larger household size, carownership, higher commute times, denser central places, higher government funding, and highergas prices. These findings illustrate how responsive the use of public transit is to urban areaenvironments and demographic composition. Policy should acknowledge these relationships forenvironment sustainability, economic competitiveness, and social vibrancy.