Reliability of streetscape audits comparing on‐street and online observations: MAPS-Global in 5 countries

Background Microscale environmental features are usually evaluated using direct on-street observations. This study assessed inter-rater reliability of the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes, Global version (MAPS-Global), in an international context, comparing on-street with more efficient online observation methods in five countries with varying levels of walkability. Methods Data were collected along likely walking routes of study participants, from residential starting points toward commercial clusters in Melbourne (Australia), Ghent (Belgium), Curitiba (Brazil), Hong Kong (China), and Valencia (Spain). In-person on the street and online using Google Street View audits were carried out by two independent trained raters in each city. The final sample included 349 routes, 1228 street segments, 799 crossings, and 16 cul-de-sacs. Inter-rater reliability analyses were performed using Kappa statistics or Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC). Results Overall mean assessment times were the same for on-street and online evaluations (22 ± 12 min). Only a few subscales had Kappa or ICC values < 0.70, with aesthetic and social environment variables having the lowest overall reliability values, though still in the “good to excellent” category. Overall scores for each section (route, segment, crossing) showed good to excellent reliability (ICCs: 0.813, 0.929 and 0.885, respectively), and the MAPS-Global grand score had excellent reliability (ICC: 0.861) between the two methods. Conclusions MAPS-Global is a feasible and reliable instrument that can be used both on-street and online to analyze microscale environmental characteristics in diverse international urban settings.

Decision Support for Tactical Rerouting of Airborne Flights to Improve the Utilization of Airspace Capacity

NASA has developed a suite of tools that provide recommendations for rerouting aircraft while in enroute airspace when weather constraints do not develop as forecast. One of these tools, the Multi-Flight Common Routes tool (MFCR), has been designed to support traffic managers through the identification of a shared shorter route segment that can be assigned to a cluster of aircraft instead of assigning a unique reroute to each flight. A study using cognitive walkthroughs with 13 traffic managers and controllers was conducted to evaluate the functionality and use of MFCR. The results indicate that, if traffic managers take into consideration the weather and ensure that reroutes are ”well behaved” and work for sequencing and spacing, controllers view any extra workload as minor and acceptable, considering both the required rerouting and sequencing to be simply a part of their normal responsibilities. The results further provide a number of specific recommendations to extend the functions embedded in MFCR.

Truck Use on Texas Toll Roads

Metropolitan toll roads are a popular source of non-traditional funded highway investment, targeting automobile users. Toll rates have been traditionally derived from traffic and revenue (T&R) studies, which appear unable to accurately estimate truck demand even when a toll road offers an alternative route segment to interstate trucking. This paper examines the current failure of Texas toll road SH-130 to attract truckers from IH-35 in Austin, one of the most congested Texas corridors. CT-VCOST, a comprehensive vehicle operating cost toolkit, was used to calculate truck operating costs on both highways to investigate why few truckers are using the toll facility and whether the decision is based on toll rates or other factors.

Judging Perceived and Traversed Distance in Virtual Environments

The ability to accurately estimate distance is an essential component of navigating large-scale spaces. Although the factors that influence distance estimation have been a topic of research in real-world environments for decades and are well known, research on distance estimation in virtual environments (VEs) has only just begun. Initial investigations of distance estimation in VEs suggest that observers are less accurate in estimating distance in VEs than in the real world (Lampton et al., 1995). Factors influencing distance estimates may be divided into those affecting perceived distance (visual cues only) and those affecting traversed distance to include visual, cognitive, and proprioceptive cues. To assess the contribution of the various distance cues in VEs, two experiments were conducted. The first required a static observer to estimate the distance to a cylinder placed at various points along a 130-foot hallway. This experiment examined the effects of floor texture, floor pattern, and object size on distance estimates in a VE. The second experiment required a moving observer to estimate route segment distances and total route distances along four routes, each totaling 1210 feet. This experiment assessed the effects of movement method, movement speed, compensatory cues, and wall texture density. Results indicate that observers underestimate distances both in VEs and in the real world, but the underestimates are more extreme in VEs. Texture did not reliably affect the distance estimates, providing no compensation for the gross underestimates of distance in VE. Traversing a distance improves the ability to estimate that distance, but more natural means of moving via a treadmill do not necessarily improve distance estimates over traditional methods of moving in VE (e.g., using a joystick). The addition of compensatory cues (tone every 10 feet traversed on alternate route segments) improves VE distance estimation to almost perfect performance.

Productivity Frequency Index

The frequency of bus service on a specific route is directly related to the number of passengers using the route. Routes that exhibit high ridership should be provided frequent service, whereas routes with low ridership should be provided less frequent service. The productivity frequency index used by the Milwaukee County Transit System quantitatively measures the relationships between ridership demand and the frequency of service for each bus route both by route segment and by time of day. Use of this measure assists the transit system in equitably allocating the supply of transit service between individual routes, thereby resulting in more effective and efficient operations.