Public transport versus private car GIS-based estimation of accessibility applied to the Tel Aviv metropolitan area

• Published in: The Annals of regional science Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 499 - 515
• Main Authors: Benenson, Itzhak, Martens, Karel, Rofé, Yodan, Kwartler, Ariela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-12-2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business metrics; Economic development; Economics; Economics and Finance; Employment; Environmental Economics; Environmental quality; Equality; Equity; Externality; Geographic information systems; Geography; Investments; Israel; Land use; Land utilization; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Metropolitan areas; Microeconomics; Motor vehicles; Public policy; Public services; Public transport; Public transportation; Regional development; Regional/Spatial Science; Road transport; Special Issue Paper; Studies; Sustainable development; Tel Aviv; Transport infrastructure; Transportation; Travel; Urban areas; Urban development; Urban planning; Urban policy; Israel; Israel, Tel Aviv; Major R41; Additional R48
• ISSN: 0570-1864; 1432-0592
• DOI: 10.1007/s00168-010-0392-6

The increasing interest in sustainable development has underlined the importance of accessibility as a key indicator to assess transport investments, urban policy, and urban form. From both the environmental and the equity component of sustainability, a comparison of accessibility by car versus public transport is of utmost importance. However, most studies in this direction have used rather rough estimates of travel time, especially by public transport. In this paper, we present Urban.Access, an ArcGIS extension for estimating car-based and transit-based accessibility to employment and other land uses. Urban.Access enables a detailed representation of travel times by transit and car and thus makes it possible to adequately compare accessibility levels by transport mode. The application of Urban.Access to the Tel Aviv metropolitan area shows that the gaps between car-based and transit-based accessibility are larger than those found in other studies. We argue that this is not the result of a poorer transit system, but rather of a more detailed description of travel by transit in the Urban.Access application. The larger gaps point to a greater need for adequate policy responses, both for reducing car dependence as well as for creating a more equitable transport system. Hence, we uphold that an adequate representation of transit travel times is more than a scientific matter—it is a matter of great social importance.