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An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses the various articles published within the issue on such topics as accessibility of public transport, resilience of design, and vulnerability of transport systems.

Traffic safety policies are still conventionally ranked on financial and environmental criteria in developing countries, yet the equity concept can be advantageously used as an integral part of the process of traffic safety policy making. Equity in transportation is defined as how appropriately and equally the impacts of transportation are distributed among different types of users. The main contribution of this research is to introduce traffic safety equity in transportation policy making. The authors advocate for a modeling framework that considers traffic safety equity as a focal point. The analytical network process overcomes the drawbacks of data intensive models that are so difficult to implement reliably in developing countries and recognizes the existence of complex interdependencies among traffic safety factors. The approach is demonstrated on the case of Tehran, Iran. In this study, seventeen transportation elements are grouped into four clusters (driver characteristics, roadway characteristics, vehicle characteristics, and traffic control) to evaluate six policies. Public education and information is found to be the most effective policy to increase traffic safety, considering equity. The best equity-conscious policies are independent from physical infrastructures, household income level, and household location. The proposed framework is a sound approach to introduce traffic safety equity in the traffic safety policy making process of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Indoor environments are increasingly important spaces in contemporary three-dimensional cities. Handling these micro-scale spaces within the broader context of outdoor – urban environments is a significant challenge in transportation analysis and geographic information science. This complexity stems from the greater computational requirements, the specificity of indoor network data structures, as well as the inherent perceptual intricacies of 3D visualization. As built environments grow in size and in complexity, two-dimensional urban geography research reveals its limits. This paper advocates for 3D network-based urban research and showcases the feasibility of this approach for three specific types of urban analytical functionalities, namely route planning, spatial accessibility assessment, and facility location planning. The latter modeling functionality can be viewed as foundational elements for comprehensive network-based three-dimensional analytics of urban environments. The effectiveness of the data modeling scheme and of the integrated software application 3DCityNet is discussed through the three coupled geospatial modeling functionalities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The authors investigate how the intermodal freight-transportation network affects the ability of regions to position themselves more effectively in the national space economy. The case of domestic containerized freight traffic is examined because it is closely associated with contemporary forms of integration between rail shipping and trucking. With the help of a geographic information system, the potential impact of intermodalism in the United States is analyzed by mapping integral place accessibility measures of five-digit zip-code areas. The performance of the intermodal freight network is evaluated by comparing accessibility measures based on the highway network and on the intermodal network, respectively. Geographically weighted regressions are also performed to identify the variables that contribute to the improvement of accessibility due to intermodalism, while accounting for the spatial nonstationarity of relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of clustering in a spatial phenomenon of interest is an important issue in spatial pattern analysis. While traditional methods mostly rely on the planar space assumption, many spatial phenomena defy the logic of this assumption. For instance, certain spatial phenomena related to human activities are inherently constrained by a transportation network because of our strong dependence on the transportation system. This article thus introduces an exploratory spatial data analysis method named local indicators of network-constrained cluster s (LINCS), for detecting local-scale clustering in a spatial phenomenon that is constrained by a network space. The LINCS method presented here applies to a set of point events distributed over the network space. It is based on the network K-function, which is designed to determine whether an event distribution has a significant clustering tendency with respect to the network space. First, an incremental K-function is developed so as to identify cluster size more explicitly than the original K-function does. Second, to enable identification of cluster locations, a local K-function is derived by decomposing and modifying the original network K-function. The local K-function LINCS, which is referred to as KLINCS, is tested on the distribution of 1997 highway vehicle crashes in the Buffalo, NY area. Also discussed is an adjustment of the KLINCS method for the nonuniformity of the population at risk over the network. As traffic volume can be seen as a surrogate of the population exposed to a risk of vehicle crashes, the spatial distribution of vehicle crashes is examined in relation to that of traffic volumes on the network. The results of the KLINCS analysis are validated through a comparison with priority investigation locations (PILs) designated by the New York State Department of Transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional transportation planning practice rests on the premise that the demand for transportation is derived. On the other hand, economic theory advances that enhancement to the transportation system leads to lower travel cost and hence to “induced demand.” Such an argument lends support to the view that the rate at which trips are generated is linked to the ease of making trips to potential destinations. Rather conflicting evidence has so far come out of aggregate trip generation modeling applications. This paper revisits this issue with proper characterization of integral accessibility. Poisson regression models of automobile trip generation by trip purpose are estimated on travel survey data in Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN. Alternative measures of accessibility are tested for statistical significance. Conclusions are drawn on the role of accessibility in trip making and on the comparison of integral accessibility measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that visualization, data management and computational capabilities of geographic information systems (GIS) can assist transportation stated preference research in capturing the contextual complexity of many transportation decision environments by providing respondents with maps and other spatial and non-spatial information in graphical form that enhance respondents' understanding of decision scenarios. We explore the multiple inherent contributions of GIS to transportation stated preference data collection and propose a framework for a GIS-based stated preference survey instrument. We also present the design concepts of two survey prototypes and their GIS implementation for a sample travel mode choice problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the interaction amongst land use, transport, and the environment has a long history and can fill volumes of publications. Such research has contributed to urban and transportation planning and substantially reduced problems in transport, land use, and the environment. However, solving traditional problems caused by the spatial disorder of land use and transportation facilities still remains an elusive goal. For instance, we can easily find that severe traffic jams and high car dependencies cause various problems in many developed cities, while extensive suburbanization driven by high mobility has led to increased energy consumption and environmental impact. Similar problems have emerged in developing countries with a greater magnitude than in developed nations. Additionally, new problems related to sustainability, including social exclusion and climate change, are in effect around the world. The progress and emergence of new technologies in transportation, the potential of travel behavior monitoring, and the sensing of the earth surface are motivating the expansion of research topics and methodologies. The World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS) is one of the oldest research communities studying land use/transport interactions. This virtual special issue consists of selected and fully reviewed papers presented at the 2016 World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) in Shanghai. In this editorial, we place these published contributions and others made during the conference in the context of the broader literature, present an assessment of the progress of research in this domain, and finally propose an agenda for future research directions in the field of transport, land use, and environmental interactions. • Overview of contributions to special issue on land use, transport and environment interactions. • Assessment of state of research in land use, transport, and environment interactions. • Future research directions in land use, transport, and environment interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]