The Dual of the Transportation Problem Revisited: Optimizing Land Use and Growth management Strategies to Enhance Regional Commuting Patterns in the Orlando Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The nexus between urban spatial structure and the duration, sustainability, and efficiency of home-based journey-to-work trips has been an active area of both theoretical and empirical research within academia for the past three decades. Previous studies have predominantly employed variants of a classic optimization problem, known as the Transportation Problem, to assess excess commuting—a construct that gauges regional jobs–housing (im)balance. However, scant attention has been given to the dual of the Transportation Problem in scrutinizing the impacts of urban form on commuting patterns. This study integrates Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with the dual of a variant of the classic Transportation Problem that accounts for diverse workforce groups with a view to informing long-range planning efforts in the Orlando metro area. Specifically, the proposed model identifies patterns of urban spatial location advantage, wherein the densification of housing and intensification of jobs in various economic sectors could effectively reduce commuting time. The anticipated results are also juxtaposed against those derived from a dual model proposed by a previous study in 2012. The expected findings hold the potential to inform regional land use and transportation planning scenarios and growth management strategies for the Orlando metro area in Central Florida. Moreover, on a broader scale, the research is poised to benefit planning efforts in any regional or local jurisdictions currently or in the future embarking upon the process of reorganizing comprehensive plans, along with the associated land development regulations.