The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	A framework for guiding transportation improvements to support desired land use
Author:	Leoviriyakit, Jiruttichut
View Online:	njit-etd2013-102 (xxiv, 189 pages ~ 7.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Degree:	Doctor of Philosophy
Program:	Transportation
Document Type:	Dissertation
Advisory Committee:	Spasovic, Lazar (Committee chair) Bladikas, Athanassios K. (Committee member) Daniel, Janice Rhoda (Committee member) Chien, I-Jy Steven (Committee member) Mouskos, Kyriacos (Committee member)
Date:	2013-08
Keywords:	Transportation enginnering Urban planning Land use planning Transportation policy Transportation / land use models
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	There is a growing recognition that transportation and land use policies cannot succeed independently of one another. The interactions between them must be understood, analyzed, and accounted for in order for land use and transportation plans and policies to be effective and successful. A methodological framework is presented that can help urban planners determine what outcomes can be expected in terms of change in land use patterns within the targeted communities and within the county should a transportation project be undertaken. The framework is based on an interaction between travel demand model TRANSIMS and land use model TELUM that enables complete regional transportation and land use analysis. The framework is applied on a real world case study in New Jersey. The study evaluates the value and impact of the transportation improvement project and ascertains if it brings a desired impact on land use and transportation infrastructure. This integrated model provides an understanding of the future network conditions which will consequently lead to a better assessment of transportation improvement alternatives and land use planning. The framework provides answers to research questions in terms of what changes in land use patterns within the targeted communities and within the county can be expected if an improvement project of a transportation facility is undertaken. The framework also identifies changes in roadway network performance (travel time, speed, volume, delay) as well. The framework fully captures and incorporates induced travel demand into a regional transportation and land use analysis. This dissertation describes in detail how MPOs, state DOTs, and other planning agencies can create an integrated transportation-land use model from the ground up or create it as an extension to their existing analytical tools to bridge the gap between the two models. The dissertation identifies shortcomings of current methodology used by MPO in analyzing the impacts of a reconstruction project. It provides guidelines which enable MPOs to achieve compliance with federal mandates. It also provides step-by-step guidance of how to develop a framework which integrates transportation system and land use. The results show that the interactions between the transportation system and land use are complex and highlight the fact that the interrelationship between the two systems changes constantly and continues to evolve over time. The dissertation also explains how the integration between the two systems can be achieved through the use of multiple regression models which are built upon regional socioeconomic factors. The contributions of this dissertation to the field of transportation policy and planning are as follows: A framework allows planning agencies to utilize transportation improvement projects to guide future development patterns, densities and intensities of land use as well as encourage infill developments in an area of particular interest. A framework allows planning agencies to trace anomalies in land use patterns and identify crucial factors influencing such developments. It provides guidelines which enable planning agencies to achieve compliance with federal mandates. This dissertation discusses in detail how to create an integrated transportation-land use model from data that is readily available to planning agencies. It provides technical information in regards to TRANSIMS model development, the feedback process, and the convergence statistics. The developed model can assist urban planners to identify which transportation improvement projects should be undertaken, and at what location, in order to bring about desired outcomes. The dissertation concludes with a methodology used to calculate the economic viability of a transportation improvement project. The methodology compares the costs of construction to the estimated benefits (or savings) in various user cost categories, including travel time, fuel consumption, and vehicle emissions.