A Review on The Concept of Transit-dependency And The Research on The Multidimensional Transit-dependency Index

Abstract

This paper aims to answer two major questions: “How should we properly define Transit-dependency?” and “How should we measure Transit-dependency?” In the paper, the concept of Transit - Dependency is inspected through the three lenses: The Social Justice Lens, The Economy Lens, and The Poverty and Social Exclusion Lens. Existing literature on TDI application is also reviewed and compared. After that, I inspect the methodology of measuring Transit-Dependency from existing research. Thereupon, the paper argues that Transit-dependency should be considered and measured at the individual level and from multidimensional aspects. Based upon the argument, I propose a new method for establishing a “Multidimensional Transit-Dependency Index” using a synthetic population dataset and factor and clustering methods. I present the rationale and technical feasibility of these methods and provide a framework for the whole working process. Using the index, it is possible to measure the individual’s probability of belonging to one or more transit-dependent group, and can further be aggregated into large-scale measures on different geographies.