Multi-Criteria Sustainability Assessment in Transport Planning for Recreational Travel

• Published in: International journal of sustainable transportation Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 151 - 175
• Main Authors: Chow, Joseph Y. J., Hernandez, Sarah V., Bhagat, Ankoor, McNally, Michael G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 04-03-2014
• Subjects: composite sustainability index; multi-criteria decision-making; outdoor recreation; transport planning; USA, California
• ISSN: 1556-8318; 1556-8334
• DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2011.654177

A transport planning framework is considered that incorporates a multi-criteria, composite sustainability index (CSI) with elastic decision-maker preferences, and applied to a case study of an outdoor recreational destination. A stated preference survey is conducted on transit alternatives to access the United States. Mojave National Preserve from Barstow, California, located 160 kilometers away. A binary logit model is developed to relate policy variables to sustainability dimensions. A revised CSI is applied to evaluate eight alternatives under three decision-making schemes. Findings suggest that a zero-emissions train service with two round trips per day is preferred over the other alternatives under all three schemes.