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Conventional corridor management has focused on travel speed and efficiency while ignoring interactions between highway corridors and surrounding areas. This study investigates the interaction between the corridor highway system and the built environment around highways by estimating sustainable mode choices with respect to the land use characteristics of surrounding corridor highways throughout 29 regions in the U.S. The results indicate that the D variables at the corridor level matter. D variables at the corridor level, such as activity density, job-population balance, percentage of accessible jobs within 10 min by car, intersection density, percentage of 4-way intersections, and transit stop density, were highly associated with internal capture, walking trips, and transit use. The neighborhoods with higher activity density, job-population balance, intersection density, and better employment accessibility by transit experienced reduced VMT. The likelihood of internal trips, walking trips, and transit use decreased with household size and income; the opposite signs were found with VMT. The regional gasoline price had significant effects on all trips. In conclusion, this study provides planning and transportation researchers and practitioners with new evidence on the importance of built environmental characteristics (D variables) to encourage sustainable mode choices in the proximate neighborhoods of corridor highways. • The D variables at the highway corridor level matter for sustainable travel. • Neighborhoods around highway corridors with richer D variables generate less VMT. • Neighborhoods with richer D variables captured more trips internally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The subjects of this comparative case study are Orenco Station, a transit-oriented development (TOD) in the Portland region, and Station Park, a transit-adjacent development (TAD) in Salt Lake City region. The peak parking demand at Orenco Station is less than one half the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) suburban parking supply guideline. Also, vehicle trip generation rates are about half what is suggested in the ITE guidelines. Vehicle trip generation rates at Station Park show a smaller reduction but still substantial due to the mixed-use nature of Station Park. Parking generation rates are also lower than the ITE guidelines. In terms of metrics often associated with transportation performance, the large-scale TOD dramatically outperforms the large-scale TAD. The adjacent rail station appears to have little effect on the performance of the TAD, but a substantial effect on the performance of the TOD. Highlights • The peak parking demand at Orenco Station TOD is less than one half the ITE suburban parking supply guideline. • Also, vehicle trip generation rates at Orenco Station are about half what is suggested in the ITE guidelines. • Vehicle trip generation rates at the Station Park TAD are lower than the suburban average due to a mix of land uses. • Parking generation rates at Station Park are also lower than the ITE supply guideline. • Regarding metrics associated with transportation performance, the large-scale TOD outperforms the large-scale TAD. • The adjacent rail station may have a substantial effect on the performance of the TOD but little effect on that of the TAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From years of research, we know that compact development that is dense, diverse, well-designed, etc. produces fewer vehicle miles traveled (VMT) than sprawling development. But compact development also concentrates origins and destinations. No one has yet determined, using credible urban form metrics and credible congestion data, the net effect of these countervailing forces on area-wide congestion. Using compactness/sprawl metrics developed for the National Institutes of Health, and congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute's (TTI's) Urban Mobility Scorecard Annual Report database, this study seeks to determine which opposing point of view of sprawl and congestion is correct. It does so by (1) measuring compactness, congestion, and control variables using the best national data available for U.S. urbanized areas and (2) relating these variables to one another using multivariate methods to determine whether compactness is positively or negatively related to congestion. Our model (and earlier studies by the same authors) suggests that an increase in compactness reduces the amount of driving people do, but also concentrates the driving in smaller areas. The former effect is slightly larger than the latter. The relationship between compactness and congestion falls short of statistical significance at the conventional 0.05 level. This analysis does not support the idea that sprawl acts as a “traffic safety valve,” as some have claimed. However, it also does not support the reverse idea that compact development offers a one-stop solution to congestion, as others have claimed. Developing in a more compact manner may help at the margin, but the greatest reduction in congestion appears to be achievable through expansion of surface streets and higher highway user fees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skyrocketing housing prices in China's megacities have generated broad concerns. By integrating open data from Lianjia.com , Dianping.com , Mobike.com , and Baidu Map POI, we analyze spatial patterns of apartment prices and their association with local attributes in Shanghai. We find that Shanghai's residential market still has a monocentric structure because of the centralized distribution of public transport facilities and amenities. Hedonic models further confirm that structural attributes, accessibility, as well as public and private service amenities significantly shape the real estate market. These factors also are differentiated so as to form a pattern of concentric rings. In the inner-city and expanded inner-city areas, public service amenities such as parks, schools, hospitals, and banks, as well as private service amenities such as entertainment, shopping, and residential service facilities, boost housing prices. In the suburbs, better access to bike sharing, bus stops, and metro stations are the top preferences for apartment buyers. Our study also indicates that the Chinese government needs to make public and private services more accessible, not only spatially in urban peripheries and villages, but also institutionally to lower income families who cannot afford apartments in expensive neighborhoods. • The complexity of local factors of housing prices in Shanghai remains under-studied. • Shanghai's residential market is characterized by a monocentric structure. • Housing prices in Shanghai are heavily influenced by accessibility and amenity. • Public amenities such as metro stations, schools, and hospitals have an additional capitalization premium. • Better accessibility is the top preference for apartment buyers in the suburbs. • Residents in the inner-city area are willing to pay for better service amenities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit-oriented development (TOD) has gained popularity worldwide as a sustainable form of urbanism by concentrating developments near a transit station so as to minimize auto-dependency and maximize ridership. Existing TOD studies, however, have limits in terms of small sample size and aggregate-level analysis. This study examines various travel outcomes – VMT, auto trips, transit trips, and walk trips – in rail-based station areas in eight U.S. metropolitan areas in order to understand the role of neighborhood built environment characteristics. Two-stage hurdle models handle excess zero values in trip count variables and multi-level models deal with three-level data structure – household within station areas within regions. The final models show that automobile use is associated with land-use diversity and street network design of a station area; transit use is strongly related to transit availability and land-use diversity; and walking is related to transit availability, land-use diversity, and street network design. The weakest influence among station-area environment factors is density. In sum, a TOD, a station area having a dense, mixed-use, walkable, and transit-friendly environment, motivates residents to walk more and take transit more while driving less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative amenities, such as air pollutions, have plagued many rapidly growing cities. However, researchers have not comprehensively examined their effects on housing values and on the local economy. These effects may be spatially auto-correlated with accessibility factors, differ in how they are dispersed over space and time, and have sizable localized effects. In this study, we use the assessed property value data and hedonic pricing models to examine consumers' underlying preferences for various amenities and accessibility factors in Salt Lake County, with a particular focus on air pollutions and forest coverage. Three models are used to address the problem of special and temporal heterogeneity. Results from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression show that single-family home values are affected not only by structural attributes, but also by urban amenities and accessibility factors such as air pollution, forest coverage, quality of public schools, and commuting cost. After controlling the covariates in spatial lag regression (SLR), we find that air pollutions and the lack of forest coverage have a significant and detrimental effect on housing values over time. Finally, results from geographically weighted regression (GWR) indicate that spatial heterogeneity is evident and that the forest coverage has more positive influences in the east side of Salt Lake County, while the negative effect of air pollutions is less pronounced on housing values in the southeast. However, air pollutions and forest cover matter irrespective of the method used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]