Using Isochrone Maps to Assess and Visualize the Impact of California's High Speed Rail on Regional Accessibility

Undergraduate #97
Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Civil/Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering

Juan Alejandre - California State University, Fresno
Co-Author(s): Aly Tawfik, PhD , California State University, Fresno

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Travel time is undoubtedly one of the most -if not the most- significant factor(s) affecting travelers’ mode choices and destination accessibility. With the development and continual progress of California’s (CA’s) high speed rail (HSR) as the first in the nation, and the existence of plans for many additional HSR lines in different regions around the US, it is crucial to develop methods capable of assessing and visualizing the impact of this novel mode on travel times and accessibility. Accordingly, this work showcases the suitability of using isochrone time travel maps as a tool for assessing and visualizing the impacts of CA’s HSR on regional accessibility in the state. Impact of the HSR on regional accessibility was captured via comparisons between current travel times using the existing regional transportation system, and future travel times when the HSR is added to the existing system. In addition, regional accessibility was analyzed at different years to reflect HSR construction and operation stages. An isochrone map presents travel times to numerous destinations from a specific origin. Therefore, to capture regional impact of the HSR across the entire state, isochrone maps were created for 8 preselected locations: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Redding, Sacramento, Fresno, Yosemite and Sequoia. These locations were selected to represent major cities and attractions that are geographically distributed across the state. Regional multimodal transportation systems were created and coded using ESRI’s ArcGIS 10.5, and its Network Analysist Extension and Model Builder programming language. The multimodal transportation systems were developed to compute travel times across the state using five primary modes: automobile, passenger rail, interstate bus, air transportation and the HSR. Main findings of this work demonstrate significant positive impacts of CA’s HSR on regional travel: 1) significant reductions in travel times and improvements in accessibility, and 2) continual significant improvements in travel times and accessibility with the construction and operation of further HSR stages. Outcomes of this work would be valuable in providing transportation researchers and professionals with additional tools for assessing and visualizing impacts of regional transportation system developments.
References: Bonotti, Riccardo, Silvia Rossetti, Michela Tiboni, and Maurizio Tira. ‘Analysing Space-Time Accessibility Towards the Implementation of the Light Rail System: The Case Study of Brescia.’ Planning Practice & Research 30.4 (2015): 424-42.
Leboeuf, Michel. High Speed Rail. Paris: Le Cherche Midi, 2014. Print.
Ravazzoli, Elisa, Thomas Streifeneder, and Federico Cavallaro. ‘The Effects of the Planned High-Speed Rail System on Travel Times and Spatial Development in the European Alps.’ Mountain Research and Development 37.1 (2017): 131-40.
Wang, Lvhua, Yongxue Liu, Yahui Liu, Chao Sun, and Qiuhao Huang. ‘Use of Isochrone Maps to Assess the Impact of High-speed Rail Network Development on Journey Times: A Case Study of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China.’ Journal of Maps 12.Sup1 (2016): 514-19.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): Funding was provided by a California State University, Fresno undergraduate student research grant awarded to Juan Alejandre.

Faculty Advisor: Aly Tawfik, PhD, tawfik@csufresno.edu

Role: The primary author worked under the mentorship of his advisor and co-author, Aly Tawfik, PhD. The primary author submitted bi-weekly status reports and met in person on a weekly basis to discuss any issues. He learned the fundamental and advanced functions of ArcGIS, which included its Network and Model Builder extensions, and its application to transportation engineering. He collected relevant information on the high-speed rail from the California High-Speed Rail Authority and gathered data from other transit modes in the state of California. Most of my time was spent processing and engineering the data to develop simulations using ArcGIS and Model Builder. The time-based travel maps and models in this project were documented and summarized in a research paper revised by the co-author.