Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Accurately predicting the true demand of transit is one of the most challenging and crucial matters that various\ndepartments of transportation are attempting to solve. One of the tools for predicting the demand and creating the proper\ninfrastructures and facilities, is using a social vulnerability index (SVI). This index is developed using the vulnerability\ndemographics of old age, poverty, vehicle ownership, crowded housing, and disability. The value of estimating demand using\nsocial vulnerability is to attempt to focus on individuals who are more likely to rely on transit for their means of transportation,\nas such, socially vulnerable demographics which limit an individual’s ability to traverse the network may be used by a\ndecision-maker when attempting to allocate resources or investment towards underrepresented areas. The index is then used\nto identify potential transit deserts or areas in which demand exists but has no transit service. In this study, the index uses U.S.\nCensus data to identify the most vulnerable counties for the state of Alabama. The areas designated as most vulnerable are\nareas with historic economic deficiency and tend to be more rural counties. Future research is required however to relate\ntransit ridership to the vulnerability attributes selected. To this end, cooperation with state transit agencies is required to have\na more in-depth understanding of the results.
Author: Mehrnaz Doustmohammadi
Institution: University of Alabama in Huntsville
Language: English
Subfield: Transportation
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4377192582