First and Last Mile Assessment for Transit Systems

The First Mile Last Mile (FMLM) challenge garners significant attention as a means to assess the accessibility of the first leg to transit and the last leg from public transit. As a critical barrier to public transit accessibility, the challenge provides many opportunities to closely analyze conditions from the level of the transit station upwards to the level of the system-wide network. Its usefulness in contributing to the body of knowledge on barriers to transit access provides planners and researchers important information with implications in increasing ridership, transit efficiency, multimodal travel options, and accessible mobility. In this project, the authors propose a methodological framework for analyzing the FMLM problems by determining varying causes of poor public transit accessibility and identifying areas with immediate needs for improvements. The authors showcase the analytical framework using a transit network in the state of Utah operated by the Utah Transit Authority. The authors also conducted analysis on the impacts of reduced automobile use on personal and environmental health. As a companion product, a spreadsheet-based sketch planning tool is developed to estimate health cost savings as a result of mode shifts from private automobiles to active transportation options.

  • Record URL:
  • Summary URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
  • Corporate Authors:

    University of Utah, Salt Lake City

    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
    110 South Central Campus Drive, Room 2115
    Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84112

    Mountain-Plains Consortium

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, ND  United States  58108

    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

    University Transportation Centers Program
    Department of Transportation
    Washington, DC  United States  20590

    Utah Transit Authority

    200 South 669 West
    Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84101
  • Authors:
    • Liu, Xiaoyue Cathy
    • Porter, Richard J
    • Zlatkovic, Milan
    • Fayyaz, Kiavash
    • Taylor, Jeffrey
  • Publication Date: 2018-5

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 45p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01675111
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 18-347
  • Contract Numbers: Project 466
  • Files: UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
  • Created Date: Jul 18 2018 9:51AM