About Demographic Analysis
Spatial Analysis is a form of thematic mapping that offers quick access to demographic data for a given service area.
You can quickly determine vital population characteristics such as age, population density, and vehicle ownership in proximity to your fixed routes and stops—both planned and existing. In addition, you can use Demand Forecasting to examine how likely it is that different portions of the population will use the transit service and how changes to the system may affect ridership.
- What is the total population within a quarter mile of a fixed route?
- What is the population density (per square mile) within a half mile of a point location such as a bus stop?
- How many households within a particular district or polygon have more than two cars?
The answers to these types of questions are useful in getting a general idea of the characteristics of an area; however, the totals and densities of such things as population and auto ownership do not reveal the potential demand for public transit.
Demand Forecasting in PLAN takes Spatial Analysis a step further by allowing static and elastic multiplication values to be placed on demographic data. This allows a quicker quantitative measurement of transit demand.