MOVING VIOLATIONS: DATA PRIVACY IN PUBLIC TRANSIT

ABSTRACT. This article draws from the foundation provided by the ongoing debate about geosurveillance to frame a discussion of the use of tracking technologies in public transit. Specifically, it uses the case of public transit to illustrate the uncomfortable debate about compromises that come with increased surveillance to enhance public safety and security. The article begins with a discussion of the evolution of the debate about geosurveillance, casting the use of surveillance technologies in public transit within this framework. Next, it describes and discusses the implementation of automatic vehicle locators and closed‐circuit television in public transit. The following sections focus on the risks to individual privacy that accompany implementation of these technologies, then describe an unusual effort to draw attention to the prevalence of increased surveillance in public spaces in an effort to expose the risks. The article concludes by making the case that public transit is a place where surveillance provides clear benefits but where the humans who review the surveillance data must interpret and use them responsibly to minimize the risks to individual privacy.     

Constructing the News: The Role of Local Newspapers in Environmental Risk Communication*

Effective risk communication is central to good environmental risk management. While studies have shown that newspapers are the primary source of information to the public regarding environmental issues, little is known about how environmental news is used as a risk‐communication tool. This article explores the role of local information systems in risk communication, using newspaper content analysis as well as in‐depth interviews with journalists and community residents to develop a case study of an environmental assessment process for a nonhazardous industrial‐waste landfill. Results indicate that risk messages were chosen and shaped by journalists on the basis of their own exigencies. In addition, while newspapers were a major source of risk information, their impact was mitigated by resident distrust and access to other information sources, most notably their own personal information networks. These results have implications for environmental policy, as decision makers often use—either passively or actively—print media as a risk‐communication tool.     

Identifying primary public transit corridors using multi-source big transit data

ABSTRACT

Effective public transit planning needs to address realistic travel demands, which can be illustrated by corridors across major residential areas and activity centers. It is vital to identify public transit corridors that contain the most significant transit travel demand patterns. We propose a two-stage approach to discover primary public transit corridors at high spatio-temporal resolutions using massive real-world smart card and bus trajectory data, which manifest rich transit demand patterns over space and time. The first stage was to reconstruct chained trips for individual passengers using multi-source massive public transit data. In the second stage, a shared-flow clustering algorithm was developed to identify public transit corridors based on reconstructed individual transit trips. The proposed approach was evaluated using transit data collected in Shenzhen, China. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed approach is a practical tool for extracting time-varying corridors for many potential applications, such as transit planning and management.     

Community Forest Owners Evaluate a Decade of Payments for Ecosystem Services in the Mexican Cloud Forest: The Importance of Attention to Indigenous Sovereignty in Conservation

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs have taken a variety of forms that depend on many mediating factors, such as national and local politics, land tenure, regional collective action, the capacity of intermediaries, and socio-ecological context. This diversity has produced unsurprisingly mixed experiences, with many falling short of achieving the twin goals of environmental and social benefits and some causing adverse consequences. This study examines one rare PES case that has contributed both to forest conservation and to community livelihoods. In this study, community forest owners from four indigenous communities in the Mexican cloud forest evaluate their participation in ten years of a public PES program to support watershed stewardship. We argue that attention to indigenous sovereignty and self-determination in program implementation contributed to widely appreciated socio-environmental benefits. Though many PES programs are implemented in indigenous communities, scholarly debates have rarely dealt directly with these issues.     

Getting Charlie off the MTA: a multiobjective optimization method to account for cost constraints in public transit accessibility metrics

Most analyses of accessibility by public transit have focused on travel time and not considered the cost of transit fares. It is difficult to include fares in shortest-path algorithms because fares are often path-dependent. When fare policies allow discounted transfers, for example, the fare for a given journey segment depends on characteristics of previous journey segments. Existing methods to characterize tradeoffs between travel time and monetary cost objectives do not scale well to complex networks, or they rely on approximations. Additionally, they often require assumed values of time, which may be problematic for evaluating the equity of service provision. We propose a new method that allows us to find Pareto sets of paths, jointly minimizing fare and travel time. Using a case study in greater Boston, Massachusetts, USA, we test the algorithm’s performance as part of an interactive web application for computing accessibility metrics. Potential extensions for journey planning and route choice models are also discussed.     

Network Reliability and Resilience of Rapid Transit Systems

The recent increase in demand and transportation security highlights the importance of the public transit system in the United States. This study explores how potential failures on nodal disruptions affect transit system flows and examines the change in the reliability of transit systems with a case study of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Washington, DC. For methodology, we employ network reliability and system flow loss and assess the criticality of stations under a variety of simulated nodal disruptions. We evaluate network resilience by identifying the best and worst geographical impact scenarios on networks.     

The benefits of a high-resolution analysis of transit accessibility

Accessibility is an important consideration in sustainable mobility policies, particularly for transit users. Measures suggested in the literature are based on coarse aggregate spatial resolution of traffic analysis zones that is sufficient for managing car travels only. To reflect a human door-to-door travel, transit accessibility demands an explicit view of the location of origin, transit stops and destination, as well as of the temporal fit between transit lines timetable and traveler’s needs. We thus estimate transit accessibility based on mode-specific travel times and corresponding paths, including walking and waiting, at the resolution of individual buildings and stops. Car accessibility is estimated at a high resolution too. A novel representation of transit network as a graph is proposed. This representation includes all modal components of a transit travel – walking, waiting at a stop, transit ride, transfers between lines, thus enabling unified view of a travel, regardless of mode. The use of modern high-performance graph database allows construction of high-resolution accessibility maps for an entire metropolitan area with its 100–200 K buildings. The application is tested and applied in a case study involving the evaluation of the 2011 bus line reform in the city of Tel Aviv. Specifically, we demonstrate that while the reform increased the average accessibility for the entire city the increase was not uniform with different areas of the city experiencing different absolute accessibility by transit and relative accessibility in comparison to car travel. The bus reform did in fact benefit travelers that experienced low relative accessibility, but the benefits are mainly accruing to longer trips. Our approach and computational methods can be employed for directly investigating the impacts of transportation infrastructure investments.     

Evaluating the Relationships of Bus Transit with Street and Off-Street Robberies

The relationship between public transit and crime has been extensively investigated for decades. Compared to rail systems, limited research has been conducted on bus transit and its surrounding robbery influence. In particular, most of the studies have focused on either all types of robbery as a whole or street robbery only. Street and off-street robberies have distinct spatial characteristics, however: The former occurs on the street, whereas the latter occurs not on the street but at indoor places or in (semi)public areas. Therefore, they might have different proximity to bus transit. Furthermore, as bus transit is not operated twenty-four hours a day, it is questionable to connect bus transit with robbery when bus transit is not in service. This study uses exploratory spatial data analysis and statistical modeling to compare and contrast street and off-street robberies to discover how their relations with bus transit vary in space and time. Results reveal that both street and off-street robberies decrease as the distance from bus stops increases. Compared to off-street robbery, street robbery is inclined to occur on the street without bus routes and during nonservice hours, respectively. These findings suggest that the preference of street robbery is related to the excess of suitable targets over capable guardians away from bus routes and when bus transit is not in operation, whereas off-street robbery is connected with the residential and commercial attractions along bus routes and people's frequent activities at these places during transit service hours.     

Transit,Employment and Women on Welfare1

Inadequate transportation has emerged as a major barrier to employment for welfare recipients required to transition from public assistance to employment under welfare reform. Transportation is a particularly daunting barrier for single women without access to a household car. This study uses multivariate techniques to examine whether nearby transit access impacts the employment outcomes of this population in Los Angeles County. Results show that the level of transit service near a recipient's home makes a moderate, yet statistically significant, contribution to increasing the probability of employment and transit use for work-related trips. However, recipients who use public transit face multiple problems, including overcrowding and infrequent service.     

THE IMPACT OF FEDERAL LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE UPON TRAVEL BEHAVIOR

Despite substantial amounts of federal assistance to local public transportation, ridership has declined considerably in the country as a whole since 1964, suggesting an ineffective government program. A city-by-city comparison of assistance received with changes in transit ridership shows that declines in transit usage were least in cities receiving the most federal aid, and greatest in cities receiving the least aid. This demonstrates that federal aid has had an impact upon travel behavior. Indeed, it is the single most important factor explaining differences between cities in travel behavior changes in the 1970's.     

FROM EXCLUSIONARY COVENANT TO ETHNIC HYPERDIVERSITY IN JACKSON HEIGHTS,QUEENS*

ABSTRACT. When Edward MacDougall of the Queensboro Realty Company originally envisioned and developed Jackson Heights in Queens, New York in the early twentieth century, he intended it to be an exclusive suburban community for white, nonimmigrant Protestants within a close commute of Midtown Manhattan. He could not have anticipated the 1929 stock market crash, the subsequent real estate market collapse, or the change in immigration policies and patterns after the 19505. This case study examines how housing and public transportation infrastructure intended to prevent ethnic diversity laid the foundation for one of the most diverse middle‐class immigrant neighborhoods in the United States.     

人类命运共同体理念的理论分析及其在抗疫实践中的应用

中国是人类命运共同体理念的倡导者和建设者,其话语的国际传播需要坚实的理论支撑。新冠肺炎疫情给全球公共卫生安全带来了严峻挑战,也严重威胁着全球的政治、经济、社会等领域的安全。在全球抗击新冠肺炎疫情的关键时期,全社会亟需以人类命运共同体理念凝聚国际战疫共识,维护全球公共卫生安全。基于地缘政治学与共同体的视角,笔者从科学内涵、历史演进和时代价值方面,对人类命运共同体理念进行理论解析;采用案例分析法从国内抗疫实践、中国抗疫方案、西方抗疫实践方面,诠释人类命运共同体理念在抗疫中的应用,并论证其在传播与实践中的双重价值及困境问题;最后基于人类命运共同体理念的后疫情时代治理与担当,提出世界各国应当在诸如促进全球合作、维护世界公共卫生安全、防止全球衰退、消除疫情次生衍生灾害、变革全球治理以及重构国际关系等方面发挥巨大作用。     

A GeoAgent‐based framework for knowledge‐oriented representation: Embracing social rules in GIS

While current Geographic Information Systems (GISs) can represent observational spatial data well, they have limited capabilities in representing some non‐observational social elements and goal‐driven behaviours that can be important factors in a wide range of geographic issues. Such social components may include laws, regulations, polices, plans, culture, and customs, as well as their relations and interactions with the geographic environment at different scales. Getting beyond traditional data‐centred approaches, this research presents a knowledge‐oriented strategy in order to address these issues within a GIS context. We incorporate two major conceptual elements. First, extending from conventional agent notions and their geographic applications, geographic agents (GeoAgents) are considered as a basic representation component to specifically address social rules and goal‐driven behaviours that impact the Earth and environmental systems. Second, in order to incorporate GeoAgents with current space–time representation, a new conceptual representation framework, called ‘fields, objects, time, GeoAgents, and relations’ (FOTAR), is introduced to address the cross‐scale processes of both social and natural interactions. A Java‐based prototype, GeoAgent‐based Knowledge System (GeoAgentKS), is described to implement this framework by integrating agent technologies with multiple data and knowledge representation techniques, such as expert systems, concept maps, mathematical models, and geospatial databases. The application of this prototype in a case study is also presented, investigating scale‐dependent human–environment interactions under different emergency situations for community water systems in Central Pennsylvania, USA. In this case study, a systematic set of methodologies of knowledge acquisition, representation, and confirmation for constructing GeoAgents' knowledge bases by using expert systems were explored to formalize high‐level knowledge and social behaviours in the FOTAR‐based representations. The results show that the proposed conceptual representation framework is achievable at both implementation and application levels, and the prototype tool is demonstrated to be valuable in facilitating knowledge sharing, policymaking, municipal management, and decision‐making, especially for real‐world emergency management.     

城市常规公交空间演化过程研究——以广州市为例

以广州市为例,从公交覆盖度、线网密度和覆盖效益3个方面考察广州市常规公交的空间演变特征,结合趋势外推法,预测广州市未来公交发展态势,总结常规公交空间演变规律。研究发现：① 建国以来,广州市内的常规公交经历了由“低效公平”的低级均衡向出行效率变高、公平性变低的转变,随后又出现了非均衡状况缓解、公平性上升的状态;② 结合对未来发展的预测,发现它有由低级均衡向高级均衡状态演变的趋势。比较广州在城市发展中所处的阶段,可以推论中国类似于广州这样发达的超大城市,市内公交状况大多处于上述演变过程的后半期,而大多数城市则处在这一演变过程的前半期。     

THE IMPACT OF FEDERAL LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE UPON TRAVEL BEHAVIOR

Despite substantial amounts of federal assistance to local public transportation, ridership has declined considerably in the country as a whole since 1964, suggesting an ineffective government program. A city-by-city comparison of assistance received with changes in transit ridership shows that declines in transit usage were least in cities receiving the most federal aid, and greatest in cities receiving the least aid. This demonstrates that federal aid has had an impact upon travel behavior. Indeed, it is the single most important factor explaining differences between cities in travel behavior changes in the 1970's.     

Uber,Public Transit,and Urban Transportation Equity: A Case Study in New York City

With the explosive growth of Uber and other mobility service providers, their influences on urban mobility have attracted attention from both researchers and policy circles alike, yet few quantitative studies have been conducted on the topic. Using Uber pickup data in New York City in 2014, this article investigates the spatiotemporal relationship between Uber and public transit using buffer analysis and spatial cross-correlation analysis and assesses Uber’s impact on urban transportation equity with the Gini coefficient and correlation analysis. Our results confirm previous arguments that Uber both complements and competes with public transit, but competition is more prevalent in New York City. Specifically, Uber competes with public transit during most hours of the day and in areas with good public transit coverage, whereas it complements public transit at midnight and in places with insufficient public transit services. The distribution of Uber services is highly unequal, and Uber’s role in improving transport equity is insignificant. Correlation analysis shows that there tend to be fewer Uber pickups in low-income areas, which diverges from previous studies suggesting that Uber serves low-income areas well. In addition, a weak negative correlation is detected between the number of Uber pickups and the percentage of minorities.     

MANAGING PLACE AND IDENTITY: THE MARIN COAST MIWOK EXPERIENCE

ABSTRACT. Group identity serves as a mechanism for claiming rights of control and access to land in the United States. Public land managers face myriad identity‐based claims to land in their care. Identity shapes claims that must appear valid within the strictures of a legal system created by a dominant culture to serve its interests. The very form of those systems—of which public lands are a large part—makes possible the expression of particular forms of identity. The story of the Coast Miwok community and the Point Reyes National Seashore suggests that geographical links among identity, landscape, and history are actively constructed through political work and rarely are as obvious as they first appear. Both the formal legal process of federal tribal recognition and restoration and the far less formal Coast Miwok claims to land at Point Reyes National Seashore teach important lessons about neotraditional identity‐based claims to public land.     

基于POI的土地利用与轨道交通客流的空间特征

城市轨道交通及其沿线土地一体化发展是城市可持续发展的关键问题.提高城市轨道交通可持续性和土地资源配置合理性的关键需掌握轨道交通客流与土地功能之间的依赖关系,而回归分析是研究二者关系的主要方法.既有研究对于土地利用的描述多基于用地面积等概略数据,难以揭示各类属性的用地对客流的影响机理及其空间效应.采用百度地图POI数据以...     

The resilience and sustainability of local wetland management institutions in Illubabor and Western Wellega,Ethiopia

Local community based institutions that coordinate the management of natural resources have been linked to socioecological resilience, adaptation and sustainability within rural livelihood systems throughout the developing world. The resilience and sustainability of related local institutions, however, is influenced by their relationship with external actors and institutions, particularly in facilitating, supporting or hindering local institutional arrangements. From this standpoint, this paper examines the case of local community based institutions involved in wetland management in western Ethiopia. Drawing upon the findings of participatory fieldwork undertaken in eight wetland‐using communities of Illubabor and Western Wellega zones in Oromia Region it is argued that although local institutions do play a key role in coordinating wetland management and sustaining the benefits from wetlands, the sustainability and resilience of the institutions themselves is threatened by a range of factors. Despite their grassroots nature, their effectiveness is influenced by their reliance on local government backstopping that appears to have diminished in recent years, as well as a perceived lack of local government support for collective action over individual rights.     

Containment and counter-containment: planner/community relations in conservation planning

Critical analyses of public involvement in conservation projects in developing countries commonly point toward imbalances of power between project agencies and communities and the persistence of top-down patterns of decision-making. Taking an actor-oriented research approach, this paper probes beneath the surface patterns to analyse the complex socio-political mechanisms at work in the negotiating arena represented by public participation in project planning. The discussion is based on a case study of community involvement in the planning of protected areas in Belize. Detailed analysis of the power relations and tactical interactions between different actors in the negotiating arenas revealed that planner/community relations in the case study were dominated by a process identified as 'containment'. Containment refers to a strategic management of public involvement by the planning agencies, and it hinged on three fundamental social actions: avoidance of conflict; exclusion of dissent; and control over knowledge and procedure. Actions by local stakeholders that served to undermine containment constitute 'counter-containment'. The paper discusses these mechanisms in depth, before developing a comparative analytical framework of containment and counter-containment to help explain disparities in planning progress between different sites.