Identifying and Illustrating Urban Traffic Congestion, Mobility, and Accessibility Using a Gis
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1996 Identifying and illustrating urban traffic congestion, mobility, and accessibility using a Gis Jeffrey James Jensen University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Jensen, Jeffrey James, "Identifying and illustrating urban traffic congestion, mobility, and accessibility using a Gis" (1996). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 3280. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/hc06-8cm1 processed, response: 201 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Identifying and Illustrating Urban Traffic Congestion, Mobility, and Accessibility Using a GIS by Jeffery J. Jensen A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science m Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1385178 UMI Microform 1385178 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©1997 Jeffery J. Jensen All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Thesis of Jeffery J. Jensen for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering is approved. Chairperson, Shashi K. Sathisan, Ph.D. Examining Committee Member, Edward S. Neumann, Ph.D. Examining Committee Member, Mohamed Kaseko, Ph.D. \ Graduate Facul^r-R^resentative, Chih-Hsiang Ho, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate College, Ronald W. Smith, Ph D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Urban congestion, accessibility, and mobility are important concerns affecting the quality of life in metropolitan areas. It is important that accessibility and mobility should not be compromised while developing strategies to alleviate congestion. The effects of traffic congestion include not only increase travel delays, which result in the increase of travel times, but also impacts energy consumption and air quality. All of these have detrimental effects on the quality of life. In order to develop strategies to alleviate urban congestion, it is necessary to first identify where and when congestion occurs - i.e., the spatial and temporal distribution of congestion. The objective of this research is to demonstrate the application of a geographic information system (GIS) to help identify and illustrate urban congestion, accessibility, and mobility. Definitions of mobility, accessibility, and congestion are presented as well as the advantages of using a GIS. A list of performance measures which are typically used to quantify these transportation functions are discussed. Data required to quantify the performance measures, their sources and integration within a GIS are discussed. Lastly GIS analyses used to quantify the performance measure are discussed. The performance measures used are: I) non-recurring delay, 2) average vehicle occupancy, 3) business and employee accessibility to transit routes, 4) residential accessibility to transit routes, 5) Transit accessibility to areas of low automobile ownership, and finally 6) travel time. Specific example are presented to illustrate the application of GIS to evaluate the performance measures identified. In turn, these can be used to develop policies and operational strategies to address congestion (and potential congestion), mobility, and accessibility issues in urban areas. Conclusions are the GIS is a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. viable tool to assist planners and engineers to identify problem areas using already existing data sources. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................ii TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................ iv LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................vii LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................1 Thesis Research Objective.....................................................................................................2 Definitions ................................................................................................................................3 Congestion ........................................................................................................................... 3 Mobility ................................................................................................................................4 Accessibility .........................................................................................................................6 Comparison o f Mobility, Accessibility, and Congestion ...................................................... 7 Why GIS? ................................................................................................................................8 Data Management ...............................................................................................................8 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................9 Display of Data ................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES................. 10 Performance Measures .........................................................................................................10 Data Requirements for Performance Measures ..................................................................11 Delay ......................................................................................................................................11 Recurring Delay ................................................................................................................ 11 Non-Recurring Delay ....................................................................................................... 12 Accident Locations ....................................................................................................... 12 Identification of Accident Locations .............................................................................13