I will be studying the relationship between urban economic structure and trajectory and the success of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in major North American cities. To support this analysis, we will gather and analyze the following information for North American cities that have implemented light rail transit:
- Industrial and occupational structure over time
- Pre-and-post LRT implementation transit usage
- Unemployment rates
- Change in labour force size
- Population growth
The goal is to examine the relationships between ridership and these key variables measuring economic success, such as the percentage of residents in certain industries and occupations. Analysis of occupational/industry data will focus on change in manufacturing activity, and the share of the labour force employed in senior management,
low level service, humanities, and science and technology. A case study for the Kitchener-Waterloo region will be done to determine how the new LRT system impacts affordable housing and to better understand potential side effects.
