RMIT Integrated Transport Planning

Guest Lecture: Transit Accessibility focused

GIS tools and their potential role in planning

a more transit-focused metropolis Patrick Sunter: PhD Candidate in Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne 17 September, 2013

A quick intro to my PhD   View for public transport to be an effective option,

we need a new ‘paradigm’ (Curtis & Low, 2012) of running the system as an integrated, multimodal network (Nielsen et al, 2005, Mees, 2010).

  Computer Models and GIS have important role in transport futures – as a “knowledge technology” (Gudmundsson, 2011)

  Interpretive Action Research (Info Systems): Undertake a GIS-T System Design, Development & Evaluation with 2 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Melbourne

Network image from HiTrans Best Practice Guide (Nielsen et al, 2005). Photo credits: www.pt4me2.org.au, Wikimedia commons user "voland b", Flickr user "avlxyz”. Travel time map from www.mapumental.com.

How TOD relates to transit accessibility?

  While TODs involves a lot of aspects, including street-level design, governance, planning policy to get a good mix of activities …

  One fundamental aspect is the access by public transport provided by a particular transport network setup, interchanges, and frequency.

  Arguably a focus on TODs means a re-focusing of integrated transport and land-use practice towards such measures – see Curtis & Scheurer’s work in Perth on SNAMUTS (Curtis & Schuerer, 2009)

  Particularly to avoid the 'pseudo-TOD' phenomenon of Melbourne 2030 (e.g. Chadstone)

  Fortunately, a new generation of GIS tools has made this more and more feasible …

Public Transport Network Analysis: Travel-Time Maps

  “Travel Time Maps” (IsoChrone maps)

  Display either:-   Locations reachable from a

given origin in a given time;   ‘Catchment’ to reach a given

destination

  Generally involve A* network calculation but can be optimised.

  Good because they indicate overall network quality, including interchanges

Travel time map from www.mapumental.com.

Data for PT Schedules: GTFS   GTFS = “General Transit Feed

Specification’

  developers.google.com/transit/

  Emerged in mid 2000s from Portland TriMet and Google’s ‘20% time’

  Plaintext format: Entire GTFS feed of Portland is ~169 Mb

  Live feeds available from 376+ agencies, see:- www.gtfs-data-exchange.com/

  Includes Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra: not yet Melbourne

A good set of tools for examining/updating is http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/TransitFeedDistribution

OpenStreetMap is other key data source

  A very impressive collaboratively-developed street database

  Hint: segments for major city-regions, inc. Melbourne, downloadable from http://metro.teczno.com/#melbourne

Image from http://www.ideasintransit.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap : showing global edits to OSM in 2008

OpenTripPlanner (Analysis)   One of a range of new FOSS transit network-analysis tools including

GraphServer, but has most mature interface and web-capabilities

  Java, designed to work with standard popular FOSS building-blocks (Tomcat web server, PostgreSQL, OpenLayers (though working on new Leaflet client)

Demo URL1

Demo URL2

Melb Example: RMIT (close)

Melb Example: RMIT (train+tram+walk)

Melb Example: RMIT (all, inc bus)

Melb Example: Monash

Melb Example: Chadstone (train+tram)

Melb Example: Chadstone (all)

Melb Example: Dandenong (all)

Augmenting Accessibility More advanced

analysis using OTP, including evaluation of network’s support for existing travel Journey-to-Work data, modal-difference to car, and job-based access.

McGurrin, M. F. & Greczner, D. 2011, 'Performance Metrics: Calculating Accessibility Using Open Source Software and Open Data', 11-0230.

Visualising Network Change   Differential impact to New York Transit network after

Hurricane Sandy (http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/01/best-maps-weve-seen-sandys-transit-outage-new-york/4488/)

Other Melbourne Projects UniMelb McCaughey Ctr for Pop Health starting a project on active

transport in reln to urban form: slide courtesy Dr Russell Thompson, based on VISTA portal data

Relationship between Information Technology & Democracy?

Local:-

  www.communityindicators.net.au

  www.aius.org.au/transport/

International:-

  metrobostondatacommon.org/

  www.bostonscenarios.org/

  (LUTRAQ project)

  www.friends.org/resources/reports

“Modelers should ensure that legitimate policy positions in debates that do not have modeling support obtain necessary support, either as an entitlement of participation in the policy process, or via third-party arrangements involving philanthropic or other organisations.”

-- King, J & Kraemer, K, 1993, “Models, Facts, and the Policy Process: The Political Ecology of Estimated Truth’, University of California working papers.

Contacts & References

  P.sunter@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au , T: @PatSunter

  http://www.appropedia.org/OSSTIP

References:

  Curtis, C. & Low, N. 2012, 'Sustainable Transport and Institutional Barriers', in Institutional Barriers to Sustainable Transport, Ashgate, .

  Curtis, C. & Schuerer, J. 2009, 'Network City Activity Centres: Developing an analysis, conception and communication tool for integrated land use and transport planning in the Perth metropolitan area', Curtin University, Research Report.

  Gudmundsson, H. 2011, 'Analysing models as a knowledge technology in transport planning', Transport Reviews, 31, 2, 145--159.

  Mees, P. 2010, Transport for Suburbia: Beyond the Automobile Age, Earthscan, London, UK .

  Nielsen, G., Nelson, J., Mulley, C., Tegnér, G., Lind, G., & Lange, T. 2005, Public transport - Planning the networks. HiTrans Best practice guide No. 2., , .