Driving and Marta Transit Accessibility Study
This study summarized the driving and transit accessibility of the neighborhood of Chastain Park (Zone 307) and Lakewood neighborhood (Zone 879). The area traveled, number of zones reached, number of population, number of retail jobs were summarized for each neighborhood at 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of travel time.
In this study, traveling time to other zones is calculated using the existing road network; transit network was created from MARTA General Transit Feed Specification. MARTA network was combined with the existing road network to simulate real-world scenario.
Accessibility to retail jobs (both employment and shopping opportunities) and population (opportunities for social interaction) was evaluated by a function of the traveling time:
For Driving Accessibility:
Driving Range for Chastain Park (left) and Lakewood Neighborhood (right):
Summary of Driving Accessibility:
Retail Opportunities for Chastain Park (left) and Lakewood Neighborhood (right):
For Transit Accessibility:
Summary of Transit Accessibility:
Findings
For Transit Accessibility:
• Overall, the two neighborhoods can access approximately the same area of space.
• Lakewood neighborhood (Zone 879) has access to more zones than Chastain Park neighborhood (Zone 307) in any time incremental.
• Chastain Park neighborhood has access to more population and retail jobs within 30 minutes of travel, but for all other time periods, Lakewood neighborhood has better Accessibility.
Comparing transit and driving accessibility:
• It is obvious that one can travel much longer distance by driving than transit.
• Driving for 10 minutes can travel approximately the same distance as taking transit for 60 Minutes.
• Similarly, driving between 5 and 10 minutes, the amount of opportunities of households and retail jobs one can access is roughly the same as the amount by taking transit for 60 Minutes.
• Lakewood neighborhood has better transit and driving accessibility than Chastain Park neighborhood.