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I love playing with isochrones. In my maps, they are boundaries where the edges of the boundary are are the same physical or time distance away from a given point.
For example, here's how far transit can get you in 15 minutes from Chicago's city hall. via @mapnificent
For example, here's how far transit can get you in 15 minutes from Chicago's city hall. via @mapnificent
I don't have transit isochrone capability, so I looked at the 1/2 mile walking distance areas from the Kedzie Green Line station and the Western Brown Line station to see how they're affected by a diagonal street. (And parks!)
Notice that Kedzie has the typical diamond shape of most walking distance isochrones in Chicago, given our uniform grid.
But Western is slightly skewed; Lincoln Ave. means that someone can walk diagonally and reach places further away from the station in the same 1/2 mile.
But Western is slightly skewed; Lincoln Ave. means that someone can walk diagonally and reach places further away from the station in the same 1/2 mile.
btw, these isochrones were measured from each station entrance/exit:
Kedzie has 4
Western has 3
(Kedzie has two stairs, an elevator, and an exit-only stair).)
Kedzie has 4
Western has 3
(Kedzie has two stairs, an elevator, and an exit-only stair).)
The other thing the Lincoln Ave diagonal at Western Brown Line station does is increase the overall coverage area. The area is 26 acres larger.
In addition to having diagonal streets, having more station entrances is another neat trick that transit agencies can use to increase the walking distance coverage area around a station. https://twitter.com/yfreemark/status/1357398780996386820
For that, consider the new Wilson station, which has 3 entrances: 1 on each side of Wilson, and a 3rd a block away at Sunnyside.
Here's what that isochrone looks like.
Here's what that isochrone looks like.
The Wilson station walking distance coverage area is 34 acres larger than the Western (Brown) coverage area!
It "implements" both tricks (more entrances + diagonal street of Broadway).
It "implements" both tricks (more entrances + diagonal street of Broadway).
The walking distance isochrones will be available on @ChiBuildings eventually. (I do this because I love maps and I like "thinking aloud" about new functionality.)
I have lately been choosing to use only distance based isochrones for walking, because the lack of cleared sidewalks during the winter will slow people down and the software doesn't account for that.
These isochrones are generated by @ors_news, which is an awesome geocoding service.
The isochrones also return estimated population, so I can even measure how many more people live within 1/2 mile walking distance from the Western station as the Kedzie station (about 2x).
The isochrones also return estimated population, so I can even measure how many more people live within 1/2 mile walking distance from the Western station as the Kedzie station (about 2x).
