Circuity in Urban Transit Networks

Jie Huang and David Levinson

No 201501, Working Papers from University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group

Abstract: This paper investigates the circuity of transit networks and examines auto mode share as a function of circuity and accessibility to better understand the performance of urban transit systems. We first survey transit circuity in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, region in detail, comparing auto and transit trips. This paper finds that circuity can help to explain mode choices of commuters. We then investigate thirty-five additional metropolitan areas in the United States. The results from these areas show that transit circuity exponentially declines as travel time increases. Moreover, we find that the circuity of transit networks is higher than that of road networks, illustrating how transit systems choose to expand their spatial coverage at the expense of directness and efficiency in public transportation networks. This paper performs a regression analysis that suggests the circuity of transportation networks can estimate transit accessibility, which helps to explain mode share.

Keywords: Circuity; Accessibility; Transit networks; Network efficiency; Mode share; Public transportation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R14 R41 R42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre and nep-ure
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Published in Journal of Transport Geography 48 (2015) 145–153

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http://hdl.handle.net/11299/180057 Second version, 2015 (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Circuity in urban transit networks (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nex:wpaper:transitcircuity

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