ABSTRACT
Transportation planning and design in Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans, as in most American cities, is reactive and responds to demand or, in transportation terms, "demand forecasting". For decades these urban planning strategies have not been designed to be proactive or catalytic. The population shifts and increased need calls for new methods to calculate demand, in essence determine routes, frequencies, and stop locations. In Transit Deserts there is hidden demand, filled with needs, wants, and desires, which often remains unnoticed with traditional transportation demand forecasting methods. Traditional transportation demand forecasting models include four major components that shape a major portion of the demand argument, yet place a limitation on a holistic approach to transportation: trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice and trip assignment. Potential riders reside in the Transit Desert, but lack access, and find alternative ways or often suffer the impacts of low or no public support for mobility.
