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Abstract
Transportation has always been an inseparable part of the tourism industry due to its vital role in transferring tourists from one country to another and circulating visitors within their destinations. Public transportation is an important factor in growing tourism within a destination. However, American public transit systems in most cities face the dual challenges of high operating costs and low ridership. Promisingly, however, there are destinations within touristic cities where visitors have a significant impact on the economy compared to the size of the population. Since tourism has created a critical effect on a city’s economic achievement and social dynamism, this research focuses on how well city mass transit systems serve visitors to major North American cities. We believe that tourist-friendly public transportation can increase ridership and significantly impact the success of the city’s public transit system. The primary goal of this research is thus to plan tourist-friendly public transportation in United States cities. This study aims to answer one fundamental question: “What does a well-designed public transit system that specifically serves tourism in the interest of economic development look like?” The current study uses different tools, predominantly ArcGIS network analysis, to represent the spatial pattern of U.S. cities' visitor origins and destinations and the accessibility of these points via city public transit systems. The findings, which represent major U.S. cities, demonstrate a similar spatial pattern for visitors’ origins and destinations. Moreover, they represent a positive correlation between having a public transit system that is developed and one that is tourist friendly.