Study Finds Bypasses Harm Inner-City Gas Stations

Contact BTS 30-02 David Smallen 202-366-5568

Wednesday, November 27, 2002 -- Inner-city gasoline service stations are the business sector in small cities most likely to suffer from diversion of traffic to highway bypasses when compared to retail stores, eating and drinking establishments and service industry locations, according to a new study in The Journal of Transportation and Statistics released today by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

Retail stores and eating and drinking establishments typically face less negative impacts, according to the article. "The better a relief route works from a traffic standpoint, the greater its adverse impact on per capita local sales," the study found. Service industries, the fourth sector studied, see only minimal impacts.

The study, The Impacts of Bypasses on Small and Medium-Sized Communities: An Econometric Analysis, examined 42 Texas cities of less than 50,000 population. It was conducted by Sivaramakrishnan Srinivasan and Kara Kockelman of the University of Texas.

This edition of the Journal of Transportation and Statistics (Vol. 5, Issue 1) also contains:

• Statistically Based Validation of Computer Simulation Models in Traffic Operations and Management by Jerome Sacks, Nagui M. Rouphail, Byungkyu Park, and Vonu Thakuriah
• Road Capacity and the Allocation of Time by David Levinson and Seshasai Kanchi
• Using Non-Parametric Tests To Evaluate Traffic Forecasting Performance by Stephen Clark, Susan Grant-Muller, and Haibo Chen
• Rounding of Arrival and Departure Times in Travel Surveys; an Interpretation in Terms of Scheduled Activities by Piet Rietveld.

To submit a research paper or to receive submission guidelines, send an e-mail to journal@bts.gov or write to the Managing Editor, JTS, at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room 7412, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC, 20590. The journal's editor-in-chief will arrange for peer review through the editorial board.

One-year complimentary subscriptions to the Journal of Transportation Statistics, which is issued three times a year, can be obtained by visiting the BTS web page at www.bts.gov/jts, by calling 202-366-DATA, by faxing requests to 202-366-3197, or by writing to Product Orders at the address above.

For technical information contact Marsha Fenn at 202-366-1845.