Bus stop amenities and their relationship with ridership: a transportation equity approach
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Matthew R. Talbott (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Selima Sultana
Abstract: This thesis examines the spatial distributions of bus stop amenities from the perspectives of transportation equity to determine whether they are being located in areas where they are needed the most as well as to analyze their amenities or lack thereof and the effect they might have on ridership. While much of the prior literature regarding bus ridership examined how the location of transit stops, scheduling, pollution and the urban built environment affect ridership, there is little to no research on how bus stop amenities can affect ridership. It can be expected that a bus stop with poor amenities will have less ridership than that of one with proper amenities. Bus stop amenities can consist of benches, shelter, proper signage, garbage cans, appropriate sidewalks and ramps, and proper lighting. However, bus stop amenities are not consistent throughout the service area, as some bus stops may have a shelter with a bench while others may have only a simple pole with sign. Greensboro, Kansas City and Seattle are used as case studies for this research. Data was collected from each city's regional transit authority, encompassing the amount of riders at each bus stop and their amenities over a one-year period. In addition, the socioeconomic characteristics of residents by block group are taken from census block group data. After the thorough examination of the spatial as well as the statistical analyses, this thesis suggest a fair distribution of bus stops and their associated amenities in areas of the transportation disadvantaged with few exceptions. This research concludes that better amenities increases ridership and the most important amenity that factors in with higher ridership is shelter.
Bus stop amenities and their relationship with ridership: a transportation equity approach
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Created on 5/1/2011
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2011
- Keywords
- Bus stop, Amenities, Transportation, Socioeconomic, Locations
- Subjects
- Bus stops $z United States $x Evaluation
- Bus lines $x Ridership $z United States