IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v42y2008i2p279-295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Significant characteristics of the urban rail renaissance in the United States: A discriminant analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Lane, Bradley W.

Abstract

In the rebirth of light-rail in the US, there has been little quantitative work detailing the differences between cities that have built rail transit and those that have not. In this study, 18 independent variables measuring a variety of characteristics that might promote or hinder rail transit construction are examined for 13 cities that built rail and 22 that did not, but considered it. After isolating the most significant variables, a two-group discriminant analysis generates a function from a randomly chosen set of 25 cities, and then cross-validates it on a separate set of 10. That model attempts to classify the cities into their respective groups. A model with three significant independent variables is generated that correctly classifies 33 of the 35 cities. The results indicate that cities which chose to build rail already had relatively well-used bus systems. There also appears to be an image and economic development aspect associated with rail construction.

Suggested Citation

  • Lane, Bradley W., 2008. "Significant characteristics of the urban rail renaissance in the United States: A discriminant analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 279-295, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:42:y:2008:i:2:p:279-295
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965-8564(07)00086-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Richmond, 2001. "A whole-system approach to evaluating urban transit investments," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 141-179.
    2. Ela Babalik-Sutcliffe, 2002. "Urban rail systems: Analysis of the factors behind success," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 415-447, January.
    3. Kuby, Michael & Barranda, Anthony & Upchurch, Christopher, 2004. "Factors influencing light-rail station boardings in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 223-247, March.
    4. Edwards, Marion & Mackett, Roger L, 1996. "Developing new urban public transport systems : An irrational decision-making process," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 225-239, October.
    5. Ben-Akiva, Moshe & Morikawa, Takayuki, 2002. "Comparing ridership attraction of rail and bus," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 107-116, April.
    6. Bent Flyvbjerg & Mette K. Skamris holm & Søren L. Buhl, 2003. "How common and how large are cost overruns in transport infrastructure projects?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 71-88, January.
    7. Mackett, Roger L. & Edwards, Marion, 1998. "The impact of new urban public transport systems: will the expectations be met?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 231-245, May.
    8. Kain, John F. & Liu, Zvi, 1999. "Secrets of success: assessing the large increases in transit ridership achieved by Houston and San Diego transit providers," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 601-624.
    9. Rubin, Thomas A. & Moore II, James E. & Lee, Shin, 1999. "Ten myths about US urban rail systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 57-73, January.
    10. FitzRoy, Felix & Smith, Ian, 1998. "Public transport demand in Freiburg: why did patronage double in a decade?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 163-173, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lori Zeller, 2015. "Potential changes in transportation patterns of New York Islanders fans due to stadium relocation," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 951-966, November.
    2. Bradley Lane, 2011. "TAZ-level variation in work trip mode choice between 1990 and 2000 and the presence of rail transit," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 147-171, June.
    3. Bhattacharjee, Sutapa & Goetz, Andrew R., 2012. "Impact of light rail on traffic congestion in Denver," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 262-270.
    4. Galit Cohen-Blankshtain & Eran Feitelson, 2011. "Light rail routing: do goals matter?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 343-361, March.
    5. Lane, Bradley W., 2019. "Revisiting ‘An unpopular essay on transportation:’ The outcomes of old myths and the implications of new technologies for the sustainability of transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Kołoś, Arkadiusz & Taczanowski, Jakub, 2016. "The feasibility of introducing light rail systems in medium-sized towns in Central Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 400-413.
    7. Bardaka, Eleni & Delgado, Michael S. & Florax, Raymond J.G.M., 2019. "A spatial multiple treatment/multiple outcome difference-in-differences model with an application to urban rail infrastructure and gentrification," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 325-345.
    8. Gadziński, Jędrzej & Radzimski, Adam, 2016. "The first rapid tram line in Poland: How has it affected travel behaviours, housing choices and satisfaction, and apartment prices?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 451-463.
    9. Gürbüz, Feyza & Turna, Fatma, 2018. "Rule extraction for tram faults via data mining for safe transportation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 568-579.
    10. Lindsey, Marshall & Schofer, Joseph L. & Durango-Cohen, Pablo & Gray, Kimberly A., 2010. "Relationship between proximity to transit and ridership for journey-to-work trips in Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 697-709, November.
    11. Dorsey, Bryan & Mulder, Alice, 2013. "Planning, place-making and building consensus for transit-oriented development: Ogden, Utah case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 65-76.
    12. Tim Schwanen, 2015. "The Bumpy Road toward Low-Energy Urban Mobility: Case Studies from Two UK Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-26, June.
    13. De Bruijn, Hans & Veeneman, Wijnand, 2009. "Decision-making for light rail," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 349-359, May.
    14. D. Knowles, Richard & Ferbrache, Fiona, 2016. "Evaluation of wider economic impacts of light rail investment on cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 430-439.
    15. Sonu Mathew & Srinivas S. Pulugurtha, 2020. "Assessing the effect of a light rail transit system on road traffic travel time reliability," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 313-333, June.
    16. Alpkokin, Pelin & Topuz Kiremitci, Sabahat & Black, John Andrew & Cetinavci, Sukru, 2016. "LRT and street tram policies and implementation in turkish cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 476-487.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bradley Lane, 2011. "TAZ-level variation in work trip mode choice between 1990 and 2000 and the presence of rail transit," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 147-171, June.
    2. G. Currie & A. Ahern & A. Delbosc, 2011. "Exploring the drivers of light rail ridership: an empirical route level analysis of selected Australian, North American and European systems," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 545-560, May.
    3. De Bruijn, Hans & Veeneman, Wijnand, 2009. "Decision-making for light rail," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 349-359, May.
    4. Sivakumaran, Karthik & Li, Yuwei & Cassidy, Michael & Madanat, Samer, 2014. "Access and the choice of transit technology," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 204-221.
    5. Brinkman, Anthony P., 2003. "The Ethical Challenges and Professional Responses of Travel Demand Forecasters," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt9c3330tt, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    6. Brinkman, P. Anthony, 2003. "The Ethical Challenges and Professional Responses of Travel Demand Forecasters," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7vb2d17h, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Currie, Graham & Delbosc, Alexa, 2011. "Understanding bus rapid transit route ridership drivers: An empirical study of Australian BRT systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 755-764, September.
    8. Brinkman, P. Anthony, 2003. "The Ethical Challenges and Professional Responses of Travel Demand Forecasters," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt6dv0z95g, University of California Transportation Center.
    9. Andisheh Ranjbari & Yi-Chang Chiu & Mark Hickman, 2017. "Exploring factors affecting demand for possible future intercity transit options," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 463-481, July.
    10. Brian Taylor & Eric Morris, 2015. "Public transportation objectives and rider demographics: are transit’s priorities poor public policy?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 347-367, March.
    11. Rahman, Moshiur & Yasmin, Shamsunnahar & Eluru, Naveen, 2019. "Controlling for endogeneity between bus headway and bus ridership: A case study of the Orlando region," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 208-219.
    12. Wasserman, Jacob L. & Taylor, Brian D., 2023. "State of the BART: Analyzing the Determinants of Bay Area Rapid Transit Use in the 2010s," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    13. Casello, Jeffrey M., 2007. "Transit competitiveness in polycentric metropolitan regions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 19-40, January.
    14. Poudenx, Pascal, 2008. "The effect of transportation policies on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission from urban passenger transportation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 901-909, July.
    15. Chen, Cynthia & Chen, Jason & Barry, James, 2009. "Diurnal pattern of transit ridership: a case study of the New York City subway system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 176-186.
    16. Diab, Ehab & Kasraian, Dena & Miller, Eric J. & Shalaby, Amer, 2020. "The rise and fall of transit ridership across Canada: Understanding the determinants," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 101-112.
    17. Rodier, Caroline & Shaheen, Susan A. & Blake, Tagan, 2010. "Smart Parking Pilot on the Coaster Commuter Rail Line in San Diego, California," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt06s723rw, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    18. Kołoś, Arkadiusz & Taczanowski, Jakub, 2016. "The feasibility of introducing light rail systems in medium-sized towns in Central Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 400-413.
    19. Hensher, David A., 2007. "Bus transport: Economics, policy and planning," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 1-507, January.
    20. Zhang, Dapeng & Wang, Xiaokun (Cara), 2014. "Transit ridership estimation with network Kriging: a case study of Second Avenue Subway, NYC," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 107-115.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:42:y:2008:i:2:p:279-295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.