Posts categorized under "Research"
SURTC to Participate in Transportation Coordination Summit
David Ripplinger, associate research fellow at the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center, will be speaking on the relationship between demographics and transit at the Dakota Transit Association's 2nd Annual Transportation Coordination Summit on April 21st. The presentation will cover recent demographic changes in North and South Dakota, the dynamics of population change and its impact on transit, as well as transit's impact on livability.
Ride or Relocate
The American population continues to mature with an impending ‘aging tsunami’ just a few years away. Public transportation provides freedom to much of the aging population who would otherwise be forced to give up their lifestyles.
The objective of this research was to quantify the cost of living at home and riding transit in North Dakota versus relocating to an assisted living facility. Special attention was paid to three different living situations including homeowners with and without mortgages as well as apartment dwellers.
Overall, simulation results indicated that the cost of assisted living was almost always higher than the other three alternatives. Homeowners without mortgages had the lowest costs followed by apartment dwellers and homeowners with mortgages. Finally, every senior’s situation is unique and other factors such as amenities and safety may be more important than cost in considering quality of life and peace of mind for them and their families.
APTA Releases 2009 Ridership Data: Ridership Down Overall but Mostly Unchanged in Rural Areas
Total U.S. transit ridership decreased by 3.8% from 2008 levels according to the Fourth Quarter Public Transportation Ridership Report recently released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). APTA attributes the decline in ridership to high unemployment, economic recession, and lower gas prices, as well as bus and rail service cutbacks resulting from lower state and local funding.
Despite the decline, ridership has still been growing faster than population over the past decade. The 2008 ridership level was the highest in 52 years, and some decrease would be expected given the higher rates of unemployment and lower gas prices. Higher rates of unemployment mean that fewer people are traveling to work, and lower gas prices make automobile travel less expensive. The national unemployment rate increased from 5.8% in 2008 to 9.3% in 2009. Meanwhile, the U.S. average gasoline price decreased from $3.25 per gallon in 2008 to $2.35 per gallon in 2009. Research has shown that these factors do affect transit ridership. According to estimates obtained from a previous SURTC study, changes in unemployment rates and gas prices of these magnitudes could be expected to decrease ridership by as much as 10%, so a 3.8% drop is fairly modest. Ridership was down by less than 1% in 2009 compared to 2007 levels.
Further, while there was an overall decrease, the number of riders in rural and small urban areas was fairly constant, and ridership increased for demand response service. Bus ridership declined by just a half percent in 2009 in areas with a population below 100,000 (and was actually up 1.5% in the fourth quarter), and demand response ridership rose 2.7%.
SURTC at the Transportation Research Forum
Two SURTC researchers will be participating in the 51st Annual Transportation Research Forum (TRF) being held March 11-13 in Arlington, VA.
Jeremy Mattson and David Ripplinger will be presenting papers in a session on transit and paratransit services on March 13 at 8:45 am. Mattson will present a paper titled "An Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment." The paper, which is co-authored by Del Peterson, David Ripplinger, William Thomas, and Jill Hough, investigates the impacts of individual, mode, and trip characteristics on mode choice for rural intercity travel, with some attention given to the impacts of changing gasoline prices and changing demographics on mode choices.
Ripplinger will present a paper titled "Modeling Transit Technology Adoption," which identifies and examines the use of transit technologies by rural transit agencies and investigates the relationship between firm and environmental factors that impact the adoption of these technologies.
Ripplinger is also chairing a session titled "Urban Highway, Transit, and Pedestrian Design" on March 12 at 3:15 pm and a session titled "Highways: Regional Economic Impacts" on March 13 at 10:30 am.
Transportation Seminar Series: Ride or Relocate
Del Peterson, Associate Research Fellow with the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC), will present the results of his investigation into the relative costs of different housing and transportation alternatives. The presentation, part of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute's Transportation Seminar Series, will be held Thursday, March 4, at 1 pm in IACC 422.
Transportation Seminar: Regionalizing Public Transportation
A seminar on regionalizing public transportation will be held Thursday, February 4th, at 1 pm in IACC Room 422. In this seminar, considerations for regionalizing public transportation are presented. Regional public transportation is framed as a complex system. Models of regionalization and an evaluation framework for identifying preferred regionalization alternatives are presented. Also described is the role of the economic characteristics of transit agencies on regionalization alternatives.
Information on future seminars can be at the Transportation Seminar Series homepage.
Transportation Seminar: An Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment
A Transportation Seminar titled “An Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment” will be held Jan. 28, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 422 of the IACC building on the North Dakota State University campus.
With higher fuel costs and changing demographics and economic conditions, travel behavior, and the level and allocation of resources in highways, rail, air, and transit service in rural areas, may be changing. SURTC researcher Jeremy Mattson will discuss the results of a study that examined the attitudes of would-be passengers in their choice of mode and the factors determining their choice in rural and small urban areas. A stated preference survey was developed and administered to residents of North Dakota and northwest and west central Minnesota, and a logit model was used to estimate the likelihood that an individual would choose a given mode based on the characteristics of the mode, the characteristics of the individual, and the characteristics of the trip. The results can be used to show how demand for different modes will change with changes in demographics and economic conditions.
SURTC at TRB
Three members of the Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) will be participating in the Transportation Research Board's 89th Annual Meeting January 10-14 in Washington, D.C.
Jeremy Mattson will present the paper Assessment of Demand for Rural Intercity Transportation Services in a Changing Environment as part of the Rural Transportation Research paper session hosted by the Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Committee at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, January 12. The paper, which is co-authored by Del Peterson, David Ripplinger, William Thomas, and Jill Hough, investigates the impact of individual and trip characteristics on mode choice for rural intercity travel.
David Ripplinger will be presenting Classifying Rural and Small Urban Transit Agencies in the Rural Transportation Policy paper session at 3:45 pm on Tuesday, January 12. The paper presents the motivation behind, methodology, and results of classifying transit agencies that serve rural and small urban areas.
Jill Hough will be presiding over TRB's Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Conference Planning Subcommittee at 7:30 pm Tuesday, January 12. The Conference is being held on October 24-27, 2010, in Burlington, Vermont.
David Ripplinger will be chairing TRB's Paratransit Research Subcommittee which is meeting at 3:45 pm Tuesday, January 12.
SURTC Releases Findings from University Transit Study
The Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) recently released the final report from a study on the changing attitudes and travel behaviors of university students. The study tracked a cohort of North Dakota State University students during their undergraduate careers. Over two-thirds of students used transit, roughly the same amount that expect to use transit at least occasionally in the future. Among students in the cohort, 64% stated that they would at least consider voting for increased funding of transit in the future.
The report, The Changing Attitudes and Behaviors of University Students Toward Public Transportation, also investigates the impacts of individual and mode attributes on mode choice. The analysis finds that students prefer walking and transit to travel by automobile. However, over long distances, the short travel times provided by travel by automobile result in it being the dominant mode. This finding supports continuing the redevelop of near-campus areas as well as investigation into express service between campus and off-campus locations with high student residency rates.
SURTC Publishes Report on Aging and Mobility
Mobility is fundamentally important for people to live full and satisfying lives. As people age, however, their mobility may decline. To investigate issues of aging and mobility and other concerns of older adults, the AARP conducted a survey of its North Dakota members. The SURTC report analyzes the results from the transportation section of the AARP survey. Specific objectives were to determine how informed and satisfied older adults are with their transportation options, how often they make different types of trips, if they desire more trips, if lack of transportation limits the trips they make, what improvements they would like to see made for them to stay in their neighborhood as they age, and what problems they encounter with using public transportation.
The report, titled North Dakota Transportation Survey: Aging and Mobility, shows that most AARP members in North Dakota continue to drive, and they are more satisfied than dissatisfied with their transportation options. Although many still drive, transit is found to be very valuable for certain segments of the population and for certain trips, and an analysis of the data using logit modeling shows that for all types of trips, transportation is more likely to be a limiting factor as age increases. Also significant is the impact that disabilities have on the ability to make trips.
Questions related to the research should be directed to Jeremy Mattson, who can be reached by email at jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu.