Date of Award

10-5-2017

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.Sc.

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Keywords

excess commuting, urban form

Supervisor

Maoh, Hanna

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to examine the relationship between urban form and excess commuting for 10 different occupation types in 12 different Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) across Ontario, Canada and to provide insights that could help inform the planning process. The results suggest the following: 1) that two cities with the same type of urban form may not necessarily exhibit the same level of commuting efficiency; 2) the size of the CMA and the amount of spatial interaction activities are key factors with respect to commuting efficiency; 3) certain occupations were found to have higher excess commuting than the CMA-wide measure; therefore, planners could channel land use development to attract those occupational classes; 4) some patterns of urban form could benefit from a reliable transit system, in which case planners could focus on building transit systems that connect these workers to their places of work; and 5) planners could also utilize the Brotchie's urban triangles to evaluate if the current urban form is associated with an efficient commuting pattern and identify what types of urban form could give rise to more commuting efficiency. Future research may expand on this thesis by comparing urban land development and commuting efficiency changes for a particular city over time. Other opportunities may include performing similar analysis with a larger sample of CMAs across Canada, or comparing the three largest CMAs in Canada (i.e. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver). Future research may also consider allowing workers who live in the CMA to commute to jobs outside the CMA, or live outside the CMA and commute inwards.

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