Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings

As transport planners increasingly frame project impacts in accessibility terms, it is worth considering how this foundational land-use transport interaction concept can shape stakeholder attitudes. In this paper, we test whether framing the benefits of public transit projects in terms of increased...

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Main Authors: Stewart, Anson, Zegras, P Christopher
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Center for Transportation Studies 2024
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/156403
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author Stewart, Anson
Zegras, P Christopher
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Stewart, Anson
Zegras, P Christopher
author_sort Stewart, Anson
collection MIT
description As transport planners increasingly frame project impacts in accessibility terms, it is worth considering how this foundational land-use transport interaction concept can shape stakeholder attitudes. In this paper, we test whether framing the benefits of public transit projects in terms of increased accessibility better fosters enthusiasm among advocates, as compared to framing benefits in terms of travel-time savings. We test two versions of an interactive mapping tool in small workshops examining upgraded bus services. One version shows isochrones and accessibility indicators, and the other shows paths and travel time indicators. Results from pre- and post-surveys suggest that framing impacts in accessibility terms may encourage broader thinking and stronger dialog than framing impacts in time-savings terms. In particular, the accessibility version seems to mitigate skepticism and car users’ predispositions against upgrading bus service. An unexpected result is that many workshop participants report decreased overall enthusiasm for the bus upgrades after using either version of the tool. This disappointment may stem from an unrealistic baseline, which assumes perfect schedule adherence not aligned with lived experiences. Future research should consider tools that help stakeholders understand and deliberate about actual service and network-level reliability, and testing such tools with wider audiences.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1564032025-01-10T04:53:20Z Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings Stewart, Anson Zegras, P Christopher Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning As transport planners increasingly frame project impacts in accessibility terms, it is worth considering how this foundational land-use transport interaction concept can shape stakeholder attitudes. In this paper, we test whether framing the benefits of public transit projects in terms of increased accessibility better fosters enthusiasm among advocates, as compared to framing benefits in terms of travel-time savings. We test two versions of an interactive mapping tool in small workshops examining upgraded bus services. One version shows isochrones and accessibility indicators, and the other shows paths and travel time indicators. Results from pre- and post-surveys suggest that framing impacts in accessibility terms may encourage broader thinking and stronger dialog than framing impacts in time-savings terms. In particular, the accessibility version seems to mitigate skepticism and car users’ predispositions against upgrading bus service. An unexpected result is that many workshop participants report decreased overall enthusiasm for the bus upgrades after using either version of the tool. This disappointment may stem from an unrealistic baseline, which assumes perfect schedule adherence not aligned with lived experiences. Future research should consider tools that help stakeholders understand and deliberate about actual service and network-level reliability, and testing such tools with wider audiences. 2024-08-27T19:33:11Z 2024-08-27T19:33:11Z 2022 2024-08-27T19:26:59Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/156403 Stewart, A., & Zegras, P. C. (2022). Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings. Journal of Transport and Land Use, 15(1), 635–650. en 10.5198/jtlu.2022.1760 Journal of Transport and Land Use Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ application/pdf Center for Transportation Studies Center for Transportation Studies
spellingShingle Stewart, Anson
Zegras, P Christopher
Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings
title Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings
title_full Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings
title_fullStr Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings
title_full_unstemmed Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings
title_short Interactive mapping for public transit planning: Comparing accessibility and travel-time framings
title_sort interactive mapping for public transit planning comparing accessibility and travel time framings
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/156403
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