Towards a model of urban planning in a bureaucratic context: The distribution of transit service in Manhattan.
Item
-
Title
-
Towards a model of urban planning in a bureaucratic context: The distribution of transit service in Manhattan.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9315499
-
identifier
-
9315499
-
Creator
-
Rosen, Martin Stanley.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Leanne Rivlin
-
Date
-
1993
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Urban and Regional Planning | Political Science, Public Administration | Transportation
-
Abstract
-
This dissertation focuses on the urban planning process, specifically urban transit planning, within a large urban public bureaucracy. It is designed to uncover an appropriate model of the decision-making process in planning by examining actual service outputs and impacts.;Initially, the development of planning and planning theory in the United States is discussed. A similar survey of transit and transit planning follow. Due to the compelling role that the bureaucratic organization plays in transit planning the major contributing theories from relevant fields--organizational theory, public administration, political science--are reviewed. Special attention is given to the literature on service delivery which offers an avenue for an empirical study.;Two opposing models of the planning process emerge from the literature: an External Control model and a Technical-Bureaucratic model. The former suggests that external forces form a major determining factor in decision-making, while the latter posits a formalized technical routine which remains immune to external influences. To test these opposing models, a study was conducted of the distribution of surface transit service throughout Manhattan.;Manhattan bus ridership data obtained from the New York City Transit Authority were used to establish an Average Passenger Load (APL) variable of surface transit service levels according to route segments. Bus route segments were matched with census tracts to compute APL levels for each tract. A multiple regression analysis was computed between key socioeconomic factors in the 1980 United States Census and the APL variable.;Results revealed only minor evidence to support the External Control model. In spite of this outcome, a number of reservations about the alternative Technical-Bureaucratic model are explored as are various implications to planning and transit service delivery that emerge from the study. Particularly salient are issues surrounding an adequate definition of, and role for, equity in the planning and distribution of transit services.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
