Transit Connectivity Evaluation

in Southeast Seattle

Tianle Cheng, Julie Coronado, & Neela Vahora

URBDP 422 - Group ProjectMarch 13, 2014

Background

• Transit-Dependent Communities o Low-income o Minorities o Auto-oriented development

McKenzie 2013, Tomer 2011

• Metro aims to “promote fair and equal access to Metro’s services and activities for all people in our service area, including minority populations and people who have limited English proficiency, disabilities, or low incomes.”

King County Metro Transit Report 2013

Why Southeast Seattle?

Question

How does transit connectivity, that is the linkage between residential areas and points of interests (land use parcels of services and amenities) as provided by bus routes, vary in Southeast Seattle?

Access

Connectivity

Increased Ridership

Safety & Comfort

Frequency & Reliability

Origin: neighborhood (Block Group)

Transit Network

Spatial

Temporal

Destinations:Points of Interest

Supporting Infrastructure

Bus Stop Facilities

Fare Cost

Outreach & Public Knowledge

Spatial Extent

Routes

Stops

Areas of transit dependency

Scale

Median HH Income

Auto-oriented development

Pop. Density

Land Use:● Gov. Services● Retail/Services● School/ daycare● Park/playground● Public Facilities● Recreation/entertainment

Data Dictionary

File Type

Function

Seattle Block Groups .shp defining city boundary

Seattle Neighborhoods

.shp defining study boundary (Southeast Seattle)

K.C. Metro Bus Stops Spring 2012

.shp creating buffer areas around selected bus stops

K.C. Metro Bus Routes Spring 2012

.shp used for performing intersection with selected block groups

Seattle Land Use Parcels

.shp used for making selection to get parcels for points of interest

Procedure

Select by Attribute

Select by Location

Procedure

Select by LocationBuffer

Select by Location

Frequency Table

Procedure

• Total number of Points of Interestso 7 categories

Government Service Office Park/Playground Public Facility Recreation/Entertainment Retail/Service School/Daycare

Procedure

• (Shannon) Diversity Indexo It accounts for both abundance and evennesso Equation

Number of Category

Distribution

Diversity Index Value

1 Evenly 0

2 Evenly 0.693

4 Evenly 1.386

H = 1.258

Findings & Analysis

Findings & Analysis

● I-90 Junction● Rainier Beach area● Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. corridor

Diversity Index Number of Accessible POIs

Findings & Analysis

Number of Accessible POIs

• Downtown

• U District

• I-5 Corridor North of Canal

Limitations

• Frequency of service

• Transfer

• POIs within block groups are also included

• POI data mainly for Seattle

• Euclidian vs. Network Distance

• Other modes of transit excluded (Light Rail, Sound Transit buses)

Implications & Next Steps

• Diversity index of census block groups reveals connectivity to services and amenities

• King County Metro can use the diversity index to improve services

• Apply similar methods to entire city

Thank you!

Questions?