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Accessibility and the choice of network investments in the London Underground

Author

Listed:
  • David Levinson
  • David Giacomin
  • Antony Badsey-Ellis

    (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota)

Abstract

In 1863, the Metropolitan Railway of what came to be known as the London Underground successfully opened as the world’s first subway. Its high ridership spawned interest in additional links. Entrepreneurs secured funding and then proposed new lines to Parliament for approval, though only a portion were actually approved. While putative rail barons may have conducted some economic analysis, the final decision lay with Parliament, which did not have available modern transportation economic or geographic analysis tools. How good were the decisions that Parliament made in approving Underground Lines? This paper explores the role accessibility played on the decision to approve or reject proposed early London Tube Schemes. It finds that maximizing accessibility to population (highly correlated with revenue and ridership) largely explains Parliamentary approvals and rejections.

Suggested Citation

  • David Levinson & David Giacomin & Antony Badsey-Ellis, 2014. "Accessibility and the choice of network investments in the London Underground," Working Papers 000124, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:nex:wpaper:londonaccessibility
    as

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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/180065
    File Function: Second version, 2015
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Levinson, 2012. "Network Structure and City Size," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, January.
    2. David Levinson, 1998. "Accessibility and the Journey to Work," Working Papers 199802, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    3. Luis Bettencourt & Geoffrey West, 2010. "A unified theory of urban living," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7318), pages 912-913, October.
    4. Jonathan Levine & Joe Grengs & Qingyun Shen & Qing Shen, 2012. "Does Accessibility Require Density or Speed?," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(2), pages 157-172.
    5. David Levinson & Feng Xie & Norah Oca, 2012. "Forecasting and Evaluating Network Growth," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 239-262, June.
    6. G H Pirie, 1979. "Measuring Accessibility: A Review and Proposal," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 11(3), pages 299-312, March.
    7. Roger Vickerman & Klaus Spiekermann & Michael Wegener, 1999. "Accessibility and Economic Development in Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 1-15.
    8. Alexander Erath & Michael Löchl & Kay Axhausen, 2009. "Graph-Theoretical Analysis of the Swiss Road and Railway Networks Over Time," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 379-400, September.
    9. Andrew Owen & Paul Anderson & David Levinson, 2012. "Relative Accessibility and the Choice of Modes," Working Papers 000109, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    10. Iacono, Michael & Krizek, Kevin J. & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2010. "Measuring non-motorized accessibility: issues, alternatives, and execution," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 133-140.
    11. Mei-Po Kwan, 2000. "Human Extensibility and Individual Hybrid-accessibility in Space-time: A Multi-scale Representation Using GIS," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Donald G. Janelle & David C. Hodge (ed.), Information, Place, and Cyberspace, chapter 14, pages 241-256, Springer.
    12. Feng Xie & David M. Levinson, 2011. "Evolving Transportation Networks," Transportation Research, Economics and Policy, Springer, number 978-1-4419-9804-0, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accessibility; Network Growth; Subways; Public Transport; Travel Behavior; Networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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