4. Origin and Destination AnalysisInformation about the origin and destination of SMART’s paratransit riders was also drawn form the questionnaire. We divided this information according to the three service areas: Groesback, Northland and Fairlane. The Groesback area was divided into three small areas; north, center and south on which we mapped travel patterns to and from each area. In the Northland area we identified a few travel patterns. The main pattern was of riders traveling between Southfield and adjacent cities such as Oak Park, Royal Oak and Beverly Hills. To illustrate this pattern, we mapped the origin and destination of trips to and from these different cities in the Northland area. Trips in the Fairlane area were mapped according to travel to and from the Fairlane mall.
The second step, after mapping the origin and destination points, was to draw a boundary around these points and create three distinct areas of paratransit ridership. The final step, before analyzing the data, was to cross-reference the information from the questionnaire with demographic census track data such as age, race, rent value and median property.
Results
Map 1: Distribution of Bus Riders in the Three Counties
The distribution of riders in the three areas varies. In Fairlane and Northland, riders travel mainly within their county, while in Groesback traveler destinations are scattered across a large area which extends from Wayne to Macomb County.
The travel pattern of riders in Groesback is between downtown Detroit and the suburbs. Since we know from our previous work that the majority of the riders use the service to travel between home and work, we see that the overall pattern presents the general notion in which the jobs are in the suburb and the workers live in the city of Detroit.
On a smaller scale, we can see that some of the workers in the Fairlane area come from downtown Detroit.
On the other hand, users of the Northland service travel mainly within Oakland County, very few riders enter the limits of Detroit city (8 mile road ).Map 2: Bus Riders and the Distribution of the Elderly Population
The distribution of the 65 and over population in each block group is divided into three categories: 0-7%, 7-9% and more than 10%. An area which 10% of its population is over 65 is considered to be a “mature” population.
A few clusters of elderly population are scattered over the Northland area, while in the Fairlane area this population is concentrated in the east part of Dearborn (Dearborn Hights). Few block groups in Groesback have a high concentration of elderly citizens.
Comparing the Northland and Fairlane riders we see that the elderly population is less likely to us the bus and if they do (in the case of Northland), they do not intend to leave the community or go to other counties.
Map 3: Bus Riders and Black & White Population
The distribution of the black and white population is presented by a dot density map; the pink color presents areas in which the black population is dominant, and the light blue presents areas in which the white population is dominant.
Wayne county is dominated by the black population while the suburbs are mainly white.
The majority of Groesback riders are black as well as some of the riders in Fairlane. On the other hand, most of Northland riders are white.Map 4: Bus Riders and the Rent Value
The average rent value in the three areas is between $500-600.
Northland area has many more block groups in which the rent is higher then $600 compared to the other two regions.
Riders in the three areas tend to reside in low-rent neighborhoodsMap 5: Bus Riders and the Median Value of Home Property
In the Groesback area most properties are valued between $70,000 and $80,000.
Riders with higher property value are less likely to use the service for travel between counties. This pattern is most notable in Northland and Fairlane.
Riders in three area tend to reside in areas where property values are lower.