Measuring Walk Access to Transit in Terms of Sidewalk Availability, Quality, and Connectivity
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 142, Issue 2
Abstract
Walking as the major transit access mode confers health benefits to the public while presenting planners with the challenge of overcoming walk-accessibility costs which deter mass-transit use. The literature indicates sidewalk quality, availability, and street network connectedness are crucial access factors in walking to transit stations. However, the literature has not yielded a pragmatic tool for planners to assess walk access to transit stations in these terms. This paper offers a sidewalk availability and quality index (SAQI) and a connectivity index (CI) which grant insight into the pedestrian-rider’s ability to access mass transit through the built environment. The methods are presented through an analysis of the Orange Line bus rapid transit (BRT) in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. The analysis of the Orange Line using the SAQI and CI method determines which stops are least accessible to riders and indicates access solutions by identifying the overriding problem along the axes of quantity, quality, and design. Regression analysis concludes that there is a significant positive relationship between sidewalk connectedness and the use of public transportation, indicating the indices are useful as measures of walk-access costs and predictors of ridership.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, California State University, Northridge for funding this project.
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Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 142 • Issue 2 • June 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 20, 2014
Accepted: Jun 8, 2015
Published online: Oct 12, 2015
Discussion open until: Mar 12, 2016
Published in print: Jun 1, 2016
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