Analysis of Urban Transportation Criteria

The criteria should accurately account for the quality of the transportation service, accessibility to various land-use opportunities, economic efficiency, system and traffic characteristics, community disruption, pollution of the environment, adaptability to changes in technology and travel behavior, and esthetic quality of transportation facilities. The results of an attitudinal survey conducted by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) indicate that individuals can adequately rank well-defined criteria. The examination of the criteria ranks by population groups of different socioeconomic characteristics shows no large variations from the ranking by the total population in the sample. The DVRPC survey indicates that safety and security is the most important criterion in transportation, followed by reliability, air pollution, travel time, preservation of community facilities, travel costs, preservation of neighborhood, comfort, noise pollution, esthetics, job opportunities, transfers, duration of service, construction cost, and shopping opportunities.