Meeting Multiple Sustainability Goals: Non-Motorized Access and Non-Work Trip Usage on Public Transit

ABSTRACT

Transit designed to serve multiple trip types accessed without vehicles can meet social and environmental sustainability goals simultaneously. Seventeen representative U.S. cities are used to examine transit systems with high non-motorized access and use for non-work trips. Non-parametric tests are used to determine correlations with indicators of social and environmental sustainability. The median income of riders is significant and negative for both variables. Higher non-work usage and non-motorized access does not imply that social and environmental goals are met. Higher-income riders are needed to meet both goals, but having high-income riders does not ensure social goals are met.

Key Words:

• non-motorized access
• non-work trips
• public transit
• sustainability

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author benefited from the helpful advice of Dr. Michael Meyer, Dr. Laurie Garrow, Dr. Catherine Ross, and Dr. Adjo Amekudzi at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The author of this research was funded as a Ph.D. student on a Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship administered by the Federal Highway Administration. The Federal Highway Administration has no role in the design, interpretation, or publication of this research.

Notes

Notes. **Significant at 95% confidence levels.

*Significant at 90% confidence level.

Notes. **Significant at 95% confidence levels.

*Significant at 90% confidence level.

Notes. **Significant at 95% confidence levels.

*Significant at 90% confidence level.

**Significant at 95% confidence level.

*Significant at 90% confidence level.

**Significant at 95% confidence level.

*Significant at 90% confidence level.