The MBTA commuter rail contains nearly 138 stations and covers 388 service miles. Below the maps represent data regarding the population per census tract and the number of parking spots at each MBTA Parking Lot. Nodes for the MBTA Parking Lots, which are located at MBTA Commuter and some Rapid Transit Stations, were used as analytical placeholders for the actual stations and allowed me to create the 1-mile buffer surrounding each one. Joined to this buffer are the attributes for the MBTA station and the green shading represents the number of parking spaces, as normalized by the average population within that 1-mile radius.

 

As seen with the MBTA Rapid Transit map, the end stations were most valuable in terms of population reach as these would be the locations people would park at to commute into Boston. Now with the data on the number of parking spaces, I used this as an indicator for commuter rail ridership and by normalizing it to the local average population allows one to see exactly where demand for commuter rail stations may be high. The large-scale map showing eastern Massachusetts shows how the greatest number of parking spots per person are near the ends of the lines. When zoomed into the Boston Metro Area, it becomes quite clear which stations have the greatest amount of parking spots per person. By comparing these values to the graduated symbols that represent population per tract, one could compare whether an area of high population had too few parking spaces. As the circle gets greener, the more likely that this station is located in a heavy MBTA commuter area.