In FY24, CBE researchers have been awarded a number of grants and contracts for projects that include a community engagement component, defined as “collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial creation and exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity,” by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In FY24 (July 2023 – June 2024), CBE researchers were awarded 17 grant and contract awards,…
Person: Qing Shen
Post-pandemic transit commute: Lessons from focus group discussions on the experience of essential workers during COVID-19
Ashour, L. A., Shen, Q., Moudon, A., Cai, M., Wang, Y., & Brown, M. (2024). Post-pandemic transit commute: Lessons from focus group discussions on the experience of essential workers during COVID-19. Journal of Transport Geography, 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103832
Abstract
Public transit services, which provide a critical lifeline for many essential workers, were severely interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. As institutions gradually return to normal in-person operations, it is critical to understand how the pandemic affected essential workers' commute and what it will take to ensure the effective recovery of transit ridership and enhance the long-term resiliency and equity of public transportation systems for those who need it the most. This study used focus group discussions with essential workers who were pre-pandemic transit riders to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their commute perceptions, experiences, motives, and challenges and explore the potential changes in their travel behavior post-pandemic. We used NVivo 12 Pro to conduct a thematic analysis of the transcripted discussion data and examined patterns of commute mode change with respect to participants' attributes, including job type, home location, and gender. The results show that public transit had multiple reliability and frequency challenges during the pandemic, which resulted in most participants switching away from public transportation. With the increased availability of hybrid remote work and pandemic-related parking policies, driving emerged as a safer and more affordable commute mode for many pre-pandemic transit riders, rendering transit services less efficient for those who continued to rely on it. Planning for post-COVID resilient and reliable mobility requires a major rethinking of providing an efficient and effective transport system and a more fundamental approach to long-term public transport policy. To recover transit ridership, transit agencies need to ensure transit service availability and provide reliable transit information through smartphone apps. Similarly, transit agencies need to coordinate with other employers to provide free or heavily subsidized transit passes, to facilitate the recovery of transit demand effectively.
Keywords
Essential workers; Commute; Public transit; Focus group discussions; COVID-19 pandemic; Post-pandemic
Examining commute mode choice of essential workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic – A case study of the University of Washington
Cai, M., Shen, Q., Wang, Y., Brown, M., Ban, X., & Ashour, L. A. (2024). Examining commute mode choice of essential workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic – A case study of the University of Washington. Case Studies on Transport Policy, 15, 101129-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2023.101129
Abstract
During disruptive events and major crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers, defined in this study as employees who must continue to make frequent commute trips, play a critical role in maintaining the basic function of society. It is therefore vital for transportation planners and policymakers to ensure that adequate mobility services are provided to meet the travel needs of this group of workers. To better understand essential workers' mobility barriers and inform future transportation policy, this research examines their pre-and during-pandemic commutes, as well as prospects on future commuting, using data from the Transportation Needs Assessment Survey conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle. The results show that, first, over 60% of pre-pandemic public transit riders switched to other modes, especially driving alone. In contrast, almost all the essential workers who drove alone, biked, or walked before the pandemic continued to do so during the pandemic. Second, the shift to driving alone was most pronounced among essential workers with high incomes, whereas public transit remained as a primary mode choice of lower-income groups. As travel distance increased, the probability of driving alone over public transit also went up, although the relationship was not linear. We did not find consistently significant associations between mode choice and other sociodemographic variables. Finally, our analysis indicated that most essential workers anticipated to return to their pre-pandemic commute frequency and mode choice when the pandemic is under control. Transportation planners and policymakers can facilitate mobility for essential workers through planning and policy innovations, especially during disruptive events and major crises.
Keywords
Essential workers; Transportation equity; Mode choice; Commuting; COVID-19
Economic resilience during COVID-19: the case of food retail businesses in Seattle, Washington
Sun, F., Whittington, J., Ning, S., Proksch, G., Shen, Q., & Dermisi, S. (2023). Economic resilience during COVID-19: the case of food retail businesses in Seattle, Washington. Frontiers in Built Environment, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2023.1212244
Abstract
The first year of COVID-19 tested the economic resilience of cities, calling into question the viability of density and the essential nature of certain types of services. This study examines built environment and socio-economic factors associated with the closure of customer-facing food businesses across urban areas of Seattle, Washington. The study covers 16 neighborhoods (44 census block groups), with two field audits of businesses included in cross-sectional studies conducted during the peak periods of the pandemic in 2020. Variables describing businesses and their built environments were selected and classified using regression tree methods, with relationships to business continuity estimated in a binomial regression model, using business type and neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics as controlled covariates. Results show that the economic impact of the pandemic was not evenly distributed across the built environment. Compared to grocery stores, the odds of a restaurant staying open during May and June were 24%, only improving 10% by the end of 2020. Density played a role in business closure, though this role differed over time. In May and June, food retail businesses were 82% less likely to remain open if located within a quarter-mile radius of the office-rich areas of the city, where pre-pandemic job density was greater than 95 per acre. In November and December, food retail businesses were 66% less likely to remain open if located in areas of residential density greater than 23.6 persons per acre. In contrast, median household income and percentage of non-Asian persons of color were positively and significantly associated with business continuity. Altogether, these findings provide more detailed and accurate profiles of food retail businesses and a more complete impression of the spatial heterogeneity of urban economic resilience during the pandemic, with implications for future urban planning and real estate development in the post-pandemic era.
Developing a multi-criteria prioritization tool to catalyze TOD on publicly owned land areas
Cai, M., Acolin, A., Moudon, A. V., & Shen, Q. (2023). Developing a multi-criteria prioritization tool to catalyze TOD on publicly owned land areas. Cities, 143, 104606-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104606
Abstract
Public agencies can take a leading role in catalyzing TOD by making land available to developers (selling or leasing land, potentially below market prices). In particular, park-and-ride areas that are publicly owned can be leveraged to support TOD uses, such as affordable housing, office space, small businesses, and mixed-use buildings given their convenient access to transit systems and often large land areas. However, few previous studies have discussed the use of publicly owned park-and-rides, which are an important component of publicly owned land, as a catalyst for TOD. To fill the gap in the literature and effectively support TOD planning, this research developed a multi-criteria prioritization tool to identify the most promising locations for TOD and tested it at three park-and-ride sites owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The tool was developed through the Delphi process, which is an effective and inexpensive approach to evaluate relevant indicators by synthesizing the opinions of experts from various backgrounds. Five categories with a total of 14 TOD indicators, including transit supportive land-use zoning, job accessibility, land price, land-use mix, and household income, were selected as measures of TOD suitability. The importance of these indicators varied with three different TOD scenarios: (1) emphasis on affordable housing, (2) emphasis on market-rate housing, and (3) emphasis on mixed-use development. Using the calculated suitability scores, this tool can prioritize potential TOD sites for further review.
Keywords
TOD; Delphi method; Multi-criteria planning tool; Multi-sources geospatial data; Publicly owned land
Does high-speed rail mitigate peak vacation car traffic to tourist city? Evidence from China
Pan, H., Gao, Y., Shen, Q., Moudon, A. V., Tuo, J., & Habib, K. N. (2023). Does high-speed rail mitigate peak vacation car traffic to tourist city? Evidence from China. Transport Policy, 143, 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.09.011
Abstract
Tourist travel contributes greatly to transport problems in attractive tourist cities. To take full advantage of high-speed rail (HSR) for alleviating massive car traffic during the peak vacation period, this paper analyses the travel modes of domestic visitors to Shaoxing before and after the operation of HSR. Scenario-based comparison and a random-coefficients structure Mixed Logit (MXL) model with error components were adopted to analyze the travel mode change and the factors explaining tourists’ travel mode choices. Our findings show that the HSR modal share increased substantially at the expense of express buses, more than cars. Also, HSR was found to be less competitive than cars on toll-free days for medium short travel distances. The MXL model results indicate that HSR was more likely to be used over automobiles by young people, females, and one-destination travellers, for longer travel distances, and with high service frequency to Shaoxing. Besides, online booking services were highly associated with HSR use. Driving was favoured over HSR by higher income level groups, when travelling with family or friends, on toll-free national holidays. Current government policy to waive road tolls during the peak holiday period further induced car traffic to tourist cities. When individual taste was considered, tourists showed a similar preference in their valuation of the travel time variable, while were heterogenous in their preference for low per-distance cost. Our findings suggest that the adjustment of the road-toll policy, pre-booking design for targeted tourists, and measures to reduce the total travel time of HSR should be considered to promote HSR as well as impede the use of cars during peak periods. This study offers empirical evidence of achieving effective travel demand management and reducing car dependence through HSR and complementary measures.
Keywords
High-speed rail; Tourist mode choice; Tourist travel package; Travel demand management
An Economic Analysis of Incorporating New Shared Mobility into Public Transportation Provision
Wang, Y., & Shen, Q. (2023). An economic analysis of incorporating new shared mobility into public transportation provision. Transport Policy, 141, 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.07.025
Abstract
Transit agencies in the US have shown great interests in the possibility of incorporating on-demand shared mobility modes into their fixed-route transit services. However, the cost-effectiveness of on-demand modes has not been clearly demonstrated, and there lacks an effective method for transit agencies to compare the costs of different service provision options. This study develops an economic-theory-based framework that appropriately conceptualizes the total economic cost of incorporating on-demand modes into transit. Based on the theoretical framework, a simulation model is built to operationalize an approach for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of transit-supplementing, on-demand mobility services. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach using Via to Transit program in the Seattle region. By accounting for both the service provider's cost and the users' cost, we obtain a more complete and accurate measure for the cost advantages of the on-demand modes in this case in comparison to expanding fixed-route transit, where the total economic cost for the on-demand mode is 22% lower than the fixed route transit. The theoretical framework and the simulation model can support the decision-making of public transit agencies as they explore incorporating mobility on demand to supplement traditional transit.
Keywords
Public transit; On-demand shared mobility; Marginal cost; Generalized travel cost; Transportation simulation
Urban Infrastructure Lab Report on High-Speed Rail
The Urban Infrastructure Lab researchers have released a report on a Cascadia region high-speed rail project. College of Built Environments faculty Jan Whittington and Qing Shen were authors on the report, along with 3 Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Urban Design and Planning students (Siman Ning, Haoyu Yue, and Chin-Wei Chen), and a Master of Urban Planning candidate (Richard McMichael). This report examines the successes and lessons learned from existing high-speed rail projects in Europe and Asia, including 50 hours of interviews…
UW Urban Design and Planning lead study on post-pandemic commuting in downtown Seattle
The COVID-19 pandemic changed how people connected to work. Some were able to telework, others had to be at a jobsite. While remote and hybrid work have emerged as common practice, it’s unclear what these trends mean for downtown Seattle commuting. To help businesses and transportation agencies understand the “new normal,” academic expertise from Urban Design and Planning were tapped to develop and lead a study that gains better insights. Launched by the Mobility Innovation Center, in partnership with Commute…
Handbook on Transport and Urban Transformation in China
Handbook on Transport and Urban Transformation in China. Edited by Chia Lin Chen et al., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020.