| Description |
The First Mile Last Mile (FMLM) challenge garners significant attention as a means to assess the accessibility of the first leg to public transit and the last leg from transit. As a critical barrier to public transit accessibility, the challenge provides many opportunities to closely analyze conditions from the level of the transit station upwards to the level of the system-wide network. Its usefulness in contributing to the body of knowledge on barriers to transit access provides planners and researchers important information with implications towards increasing ridership, transit efficiency, multimodal travel options, and mobility. Salt Lake City area is experiencing a rapid growth in transit infrastructure. The ambitious program of transit construction spans across light rail, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), streetcars and commuter rail simultaneously. This transit expansion program, led by Utah Transit Authority (UTA), strives to provide a multimodal system that can meet the daily transportation needs of the residents. FMLM strategy evaluations find strategy appropriateness and relevancy in many different contexts, but may still retain unique challenges imposed by such things as weather conditions, population characteristics, and cultural norms. This study proposes a methodological framework for analyzing the FMLM problems in the State of Utah. It utilizes microscopic and macroscopic data collection and analysis techniques, as well as network modeling, in an effort to quantify and understand the FMLM challenges facing each fixed transit station. The research aims to construct a set of station categories based on access mode characteristics investigated via discrete choice modeling and accessibility analysis to facilitate planning and to accommodate characteristics of potential and existing riders at rail stations in the UTA network. |
