Expected role of public transportation services in securing residents’ accessibility to the city center in suburban housing development areas

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to examine an expected role of public transportation services in suburban housing development areas of Kobe City in Japan, through calculation of accessibility to the city center using a utility-based measure. The calculation results suggest that, (1) residents’ high dependency on car use is evident and leads to a decrease in accessibility for the elderly who may not use a car because of the decline of public transportation services, and (2) although most housing areas have been developed adjacent to railway station, some nearby railway lines do not always contribute to residents’ accessibility because of their low level of service and competition with alternative railway or bus services. Under such circumstances, an integrated public transportation network plan is required to be made in these housing areas.