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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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      <link>https://trid.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>The value of green and blue space: Walkability and house prices</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2500652</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Urban green and blue spaces are important amenities within highly urbanised areas which offer social, economic and ecological benefits and provide a number of valuable direct and indirect ecosystem of services to surrounding land uses, urban households integral to sustainable urban development. Existing research has revealed that green and blue spaces are not uniform environmental amenities, but rather a set of distinct goods comprising aesthetic and hydro-morphological characteristics therefore which can influence property values. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the heterogeneity of green and blue spaces using 4985 sales transactions applying quantile regression to investigate the proximity effects of these urban amenities on property prices within the Belfast Metropolitan area, Northern Ireland. The findings show premiums for green features range between 3.0 % and 3.6 %, with blue space proximity to the coastline and lakes commanding premiums of 7.3 % and 5.3 %. Conversely, walking distance to large rivers shows a negative pricing effect of 3.8 %. The results further reveal some evidence of distance decay effects with proximity for green and blue space amenities. The quantile findings show empirical evidence of a U-shape relationship for a number of the green space amenities, indicating that lower and higher priced houses value proximity to these urban amenities differently. For urban blue spaces, the findings reveal that living near to a lake or the coastline observes larger premiums for higher priced properties. Moreover, the highest priced dwellings exhibit a higher negative pricing effect with walkability to urban rivers than those in the lowest priced properties. Overall, the findings provide empirical evidence to inform urban design and planning in line with sustainable development goals and biodiversity strategies for inclusive, and accessible public spaces within cities.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2025 16:57:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2500652</guid>
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      <title>Achieving Convergence in Land Use, Regeneration and Transport Policy, Belfast, Northern Ireland</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2264135</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This paper explores progress being made in the integration of land-use planning and transport policy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of the United Kingdom's most car dependent cities. A major study was intended to inform an understanding of the likely behavioral response to sustainable development policy initiatives, particularly increased densification of housing, using a multi-disciplinary framework. There were signs of some willingness to accept moderately higher densities on the basis that residents would be compensated by a lower than otherwise purchase price. The paper also offers insights into the appropriateness of existing analytical tools drawn from across disciplinary boundaries.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Feb 2025 08:45:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2264135</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Group model building for developing systems-oriented solutions to reduce car dependency in Belfast, United Kingdom</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2398614</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The continued prevalence of car dependency is a concern worldwide due to known negative health, social, economic, and environmental impacts. Belfast is a city in the United Kingdom with high levels of car dependency and car use. The most successful interventions to reduce the complex problem of car dependency combine a range of approaches, but how the influencing factors work together and interact to successfully achieve a change in car dependency is poorly understood. This study aimed to better understand the factors that influence the high levels of car dependency in the Belfast Metropolitan Area. We worked with 17 stakeholders to co-design a causal loop diagram to understand the complex system of car dependency in the city. The causal loop diagram reflects a shared understanding of car dependency and highlights the various mechanisms that are important for reducing car dependency. Twenty-three factors under the four themes of policy, infrastructure, economics, and social norms were identified and four key feedback loops between these themes are discussed. It is shown how individual behaviour in relation to travel mode choice is influenced by system-wide factors that, in the Belfast context, make car use the easiest and most convenient choice for the majority.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jul 2024 16:27:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2398614</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Can 20mph speed limit interventions influence liveability? A natural experiment using the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes Liveability (MAPS-Liveability) and Google Street View</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2349881</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A recent meta-narrative review investigating 20mph speed limits on public health outcomes reported inconclusive findings and the limited scope of livability investigations. Consequently, the authors investigated the impact of 20mph speed limit interventions on livability using the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes Livability (MAPS-Livability) via Google Street View (GSV). MAPS-Livability provides a quantitative assessment of livability and its constructs (i.e., safety, health, sustainability, inclusivity, places, education, traffic/transport, roads, and pavements) at the micro-level (i.e., street). Google Street View enabled pre- and post-implementation data collection for Belfast (n = 68 streets) and Edinburgh (n = 76 streets) by two independent raters, with scores calculated for total livability and nine livability constructs. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests (changes pre-to post-implementation), cluster analysis (identification of discrete street clusters), analysis of variance (differences within clusters) and analysis of covariance (differences between clusters) were undertaken. Clusters were mapped, street types identified, and clusters named by determining the predominant street type. In Belfast and Edinburgh, there were significant increases post-intervention for total livability, with 57.4% (n = 39) of streets in Belfast and 75% (n = 57) in Edinburgh seeing positive changes. Both cities also saw significant positive increases in the livability constructs of traffic/transport (e.g., speed signage) and places (e.g., presence of shops); with Edinburgh also seeing a significant positive increase post-intervention for pavements (e.g., quality). Cluster analysis identified three clusters “Mixed land use”, “Central Business District” and “Residential” with each showing positive changes for total livability and the construct of traffic/transport.20mph speed limit interventions were found to positively contribute to total livability and the specific livability construct of traffic/transport. This was particularly the case when 20mph speed limits were implemented on streets with dense mixed land use.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2024 16:58:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2349881</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>COVID-19, city centre streetscapes, and public health signage</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2222617</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In this paper, the authors reflect on the changes to cityscapes during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors focus specifically on the relationships between COVID-19 communication, which took place via advertisements and messages located in urban spaces, and contemporary neoliberal politics. Particular attention is given to on-street official government public health communications and their visual impacts and wider socio-economic implications, exemplified through the lens of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The authors reflect on, first the transitions from pre-pandemic to pandemic streetscape signage and messages, secondly ephemerality in streetscapes under COVID-19 conditions, thirdly the rapidity of change in COVID-19 related public health signage and messages and finally structural constraints of COVID-19 related public health signage. This messaging has also made visible government responses to the pandemic and revealed official (re)emergent concerns (or lack of) for people’s health and well-being.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Aug 2023 09:08:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2222617</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Investigating the impact of a 20 miles per hour speed limit intervention on road traffic collisions, casualties, speed and volume in Belfast, UK: 3 year follow-up outcomes of a natural experiment</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2078062</link>
      <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 06 Dec 2022 14:34:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2078062</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Connectivity and physical activity: using footpath networks to measure the walkability of built environments</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1907534</link>
      <description><![CDATA[There is now a strong body of research that suggests that the form of the built environment can influence levels of physical activity, leading to an increasing interest in incorporating health objectives into spatial planning and regeneration. There have been a number of strands to this research, one of which has sought to develop objective measurements of the built environment using geographic information systems involving measures of connectivity and proximity to compare the relative ‘walkability’of different neighbourhoods. The development of the ‘walkability index’ has become a popular indicator of the spatial distribution of those built environment features that are considered to have the greatest positive influence on levels of physical activity. The success of this measure is built on its ability to capture succinctly correlates of physical activity using routinely available spatial data, which includes using road centre lines to measure connectivity. In this paper the authors discuss two key aspects of the walkability index. First, as suggested by others, that the use of a footpath network, rather than road centre lines, may be far more effective in evaluating walkability. This may be particularly important for assessing changes in walkability arising from pedestrian-focused infrastructure projects, such as greenways. Second, the authors explore the implications of this for how connectivity can be measured. The authors take six different measures of connectivity and first analyse the relationships between them and then test their correlation with actual levels of physical activity of local residents in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The authors find that the best measurements appear to be intersection density and metric reach and use this finding to discuss the implications for developing tools that may better support decision-making in spatial planning.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2022 16:54:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1907534</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The processes of transport and public health policy change: 20mph speed limits in Edinburgh and Belfast</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2001958</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In 2016, large scale 20mph speed limits were implemented in the cities of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Belfast (Northern Ireland). The fact that both cities succeeded in implementing 20mph speed limit interventions is important. They illustrate the processes of transport and public health policy change. This paper describes how 20mph speed limit interventions became a reality in the two cities. 	 	The authors adopted a qualitative case study method. Data were collected from available documents and interviews with stakeholders involved in the pre-implementation processes. Documents and interviews were analysed inductively using thematic analysis, and separately for each city. 	 	Five main themes were generated through the analysis: the national policy context of the two cities; political leadership; support for 20mph; opposition; and the key actions involved prior to implementation. In both cities the process took place over at least a ten year period and was piecemeal. However, the gradualist approach proved successful in gaining support for the schemes and minimising political and public backlash. These examples of policy success in Edinburgh and Belfast provide useful learning for other jurisdictions planning or thinking about similar transport and public health policy changes.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2022 09:18:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2001958</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A qualitative exploration of the mechanisms, pathways and public health outcomes of a city centre 20mph speed limit intervention: The case of Belfast, United Kingdom</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1912861</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Twenty miles per hour (mph) speed limits can impact the health of the public (e.g., road safety, active travel). However, a better understanding of how individuals experience 20mph limits is required, to ensure interventions are cognizant of perceptions and potential un/intended outcomes. Focus groups (n = 9, 60 participants) to explore the Belfast 20mph intervention highlighted divergent perspectives and experiences including: 12 mechanisms (e.g., limited awareness), 15 pathways (e.g., reduced driving speed to improved livability) and 10 public health outcomes (e.g., increased cyclist safety). Future interventions should consider un/intended outcomes and implement strategies to enhance effectiveness and mitigate harms (e.g., through training, enforcement).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2022 17:16:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1912861</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Use of natural experimental studies to evaluate 20mph speed limits in two major UK cities</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1868180</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Reductions in traffic speed can potentially offer multiple health and public health benefits. In 2016, implementation of 20mph (30kph) speed limit interventions began in Edinburgh (city-wide) and Belfast (city center). The aims of this paper are to describe 1) the broad theoretical approach and design of two natural experimental studies to evaluate the 20mph speed limits in Edinburgh and Belfast and 2) how these studies allowed us to test and explore theoretical mechanisms of 20mph speed limit interventions. The evaluation consisted of several work packages, each with different research foci, including the political decision-making processes that led to the schemes, their implementation processes, outcomes (including traffic speed, perceptions of safety, and casualties) and cost effectiveness. The authors used a combination of routinely and locally collected quantitative data and primary quantitative and qualitative data. The evaluation identified many contextual factors influencing the likelihood of 20mph speed limits reaching the political agenda. There were substantial differences between the two sites in several aspects related to implementation. Reductions in speed resulted in significant reductions in collisions and casualties, particularly in Edinburgh, which had higher average speed at baseline. The monetary value of collisions and casualties prevented are likely to exceed the costs of the intervention and thus the overall balance of costs and benefits is likely to be favorable. Innovative study designs, including natural experiments, are important for assessing the impact of ‘real world’ public health interventions. Using multiple methods, this project enabled a deeper understanding of not only the effects of the intervention but the factors that explain how and why the intervention and the effects did or did not occur. Importantly it has shown that 20mph speed limits can lead to reductions in speed, collisions and casualties, and are therefore an effective public health intervention.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Aug 2021 10:37:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1868180</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Aircraft Noise and Self-Assessed Mental Health Around a Regional Urban Airport: a Population Based Record Linkage Study</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1583883</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Limited evidence suggests that residential exposure to aircraft noise negatively influences population mental health around large airports, but it is not known whether the same is true for smaller airports. We investigated whether residential exposure to aircraft noise near a regional urban airport was associated with risk of chronic self-assessed mental ill health. This is a cross-sectional study of 198,532 people aged 18 years and over living in Belfast, United Kingdom, enumerated at the 2011 Census. Residential exposure to aircraft noise (LAeq,16h) was assessed by linking Census records with modelled noise contours surrounding George Best Belfast City Airport (c.42,000 annual aircraft movements). Associations between noise and mental ill health were estimated using multiple logistic regression adjusting for demographic characteristics, socio-economic status and comorbidity. Prevalence of self-assessed mental ill health was greater in high noise (>=57 dB) compared to low noise (< 54 dB) areas (12.4% vs. 9.7%). We found no association between aircraft noise and risk of mental ill health after adjustment for socio-economic status (high vs. low noise odds ratio: 1.03 CI: 0.93, 1.14). Associations between aircraft noise and mental health have been reported near large airports at similar average noise levels to those observed here. Our findings indicate that the noise environment around this smaller airport (with fewer flights and no night flights) has little influence on population mental health.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:20:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1583883</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Developing and Refining a Programme Theory for Understanding How Twenty Mile Per Hour Speed Limits Impact Health</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1563368</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Traffic speed is an important determinant of health, affecting both the frequency and severity of road traffic collisions and casualties. Reduced traffic speed may also improve conditions for walking and cycling. Twenty mile per hour (30km per hour) speed restriction schemes are one policy option for reducing traffic speeds. The aim of this study was to develop and refine a program theory for understanding how such schemes may impact on health outcomes. The program theory was developed through an iterative process. Firstly, a logic model (diagrammatic version of the program theory) was created through discussions with 20 mph program delivery staff from the local authority and through reviewing literature. The second stage consisted of interviews with key stakeholders, and focus groups with the public to further develop and refine the logic model. Data were analyzed using Framework Method. This study first presents an early stage logic model (phase 1) of how the 20 mph speed limit is proposed to work. Qualitative data are then presented (phase 2), describing potential mechanisms as to how the scheme could influence health outcomes through changing i) driver behavior; ii) casualties and casualty severity; iii) walking and cycling behavior; iv) air quality; and v) street pleasantness. Participants identified a need for driver education and enforcement in order to reduce speeds, and the importance of improving perceptions of safety for achieving increased walking and cycling. A refined version of the logic model is presented. The program theory will be used as a framework to evaluate the implementation of 20 mph speed limit schemes in Edinburgh and Belfast, aiding in study design decisions such as outcome data to be collected and in the generation of specific testable hypotheses.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Oct 2018 09:35:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1563368</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>EU Rail Reforms and Cross Border Passenger Rail Services - A Paradox? Developments Affecting and Potential Wider Insights from the UK’s First Cross Border Route</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1442648</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Notwithstanding the increasingly liberalisation of railways in the EU, in particular reforms under the Third and Fourth Railway Package, the countries of Europe from the Baltic and Atlantic to the Adriatic and the Aegean have experienced many instances of declining cross border rail services and in some cases  complete cessation of cross border passenger trains. These have occurred for a variety of reasons, prompted by economic developments, changes in the market and competitive pressures, regulatory reforms as well as political factors. The UK’s HS1 (and associated train services) that have benefitted from the EU railway reforms in linking London to Paris and Brussels is widely acknowledged to have had a significant beneficial impact on the economy of South East England. However, HS1 was not the UK’s first cross border rail route. Since 1921 the rail service between Belfast in Northern Ireland and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland provided the UK’ s first cross border rail service. The intervening decades have witnessed several periods of improvement to the service up to the early 1950’s and more recently in the late 90’s but since 2000 the route has been in long term decline in competitiveness as an intercity route.  In late 2015 this came to a head with Irish Rail, the state owned carrier in the Republic of Ireland, which jointly operates the route with its Northern Ireland counterpart announcing potential timetable proposals for all services operating south of the border which would have the effect of further downgrading the cross border service to the point where journey times would extend to those offered in the 1940’s. Currently this proposal has stalled in response to the issues addressed in the Third and Fourth Rail Packages. The proposal from the Republic of Ireland’s carrier has also prompted concern being expressed locally and at an intergovernmental level by Northern Ireland’s devolved administration’s Executive and Assembly. This paper considers the challenges faced by the route in terms of competitive pressures, public funding for state owned carriers in both jurisdictions, the suppression of travel arising from a political border with the prospect of Brexit (The UK leaving the EU) further dampening the market and the legacy of political unrest which had a major impact through to 2000. Against the backdrop of the EU reform packages attention is given to the impact of domestic political pressures on either side of the border for a focus on short haul services operating at either ends of a route that currently has important capacity constraints and other infrastructure challenges. The paper also attempts to identify the potential of the route and the role EU market reforms and liberalisation could play in realising that potential and how Brexit could impact on this.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2017 10:50:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1442648</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Measuring the influence of bus service quality on the perception of users</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1401431</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Encouraging the use of public transport is a key policy goal in many countries. Therefore, public transport should offer the level of quality that accommodates the demands of current users, and importantly, the desires of potential users. This study investigates the influence of the perceived quality of bus service on the perception of both current and potential users. The study draws upon data from 512 questionnaires distributed across Belfast City in the UK. The study utilises a binary logistic regression model to quantify the relationships between the perceived quality of 29 bus indicators (independent) and the perceptions of users towards the overall bus service (dependent). Eleven significant indicators are reported to have significant influence on the perception of users. These indicators are utilised to propose scenarios for optimising the quality of bus service with the perceptions of current and potential users.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 May 2016 17:11:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1401431</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Occupied by Design: Evaluating Performative Tactics For More Sustainable Shared City Space in Private-led Regeneration Projects</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1377601</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This paper investigates alternative approaches to statutory consultations in privateled regeneration projects. It explores decision-making processes for more locally relevant, place-based investments in shared urban space. It presents practice-led research about performative tactics, open-ended investigative action, to influence traditional processes of development and statutory consultation toward greater social sustainability. It focuses on the example of a temporary legal street-occupation, an activention, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The occupation responded to proposals to create a new public square as an “iconic meeting place” to spur regeneration in an existing marginalized neighbourhood. The paper argues that the formal proposals were based on top-down strategies that set-out limiting detailed designs based on the input of “key stakeholders” and consultants. Using anonymous surveys from event participants and public-private stakeholders, the paper compares and contrasts perspectives about more experimental visioning and consultation tactics, drawn from global thinkers and practitioners. It aims to foster deeper public-private-government conversations about existing public space qualities and place-driven potential. Through a reflective discussion, the author’s actions as an architect are also considered. An evidence-based argument, contextualized within the United Kingdom (UK) and wider global discourse on sustainable communities, sets out how open-ended and performative strategies are perceived as a positive foil to more closed development decision-making, and can contribute to more proactive engagement with the public. Findings also support a greater focus on performative skills as means for architects to (re)frame their creative knowledge as tools for more transformative practices in complex city contexts.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Dec 2015 08:08:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1377601</guid>
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