Sustainable Streetscape and Built Environment Designs around BRT Stations: A Stated Choice Experiment Using 3D Visualizations

Ahmad Adeel,Jeroen Stevens,Kris Scheerlinck,Bruno Notteboom,Ansar Yasar

doi:10.3390/su13126594

Abstract

The incompatibility between the microscale-built environment designs around mass transit stations and stakeholders’ preferences causes dissatisfaction and inconvenience. The lack of a pedestrian-friendly environment, uncontrolled development patterns, traffic and parking issues make the street life vulnerable and unattractive for users, and affect the mass transit usage. How to design the streetscapes around mass transit stations to provide a user-friendly street environment is a crucial question to achieve sustainable transit-oriented development goals. To recognize the specific attributes of streetscape environment relevant in local context of BRT Lahore, this paper presents the results of a visual preference experiment in which nine attributes of built environment were systematically varied across choice sets. Multinomial logit models were set up to identify the preferences of three target groups: BRT users, commercial building users and residents at different locations. The research indicates that not only the road-related factors (bike lane and sidewalk widths, crossings facilities, street greenery) have a significant influence on people’s preference but also that building heights, and the typology of buildings and housing projects around BRT corridor have shaped these preferences. When planning and designing urban design projects around mass transit projects, these significant attributes should be considered.

Highlights

Accepted: 7 June 2021During the last decade, state-of-the-art mass transit systems have been developed in Pakistan in the form of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in order to provide efficient means of transportation
We collected the data from four different BRT stations, they can be subdivided in two groups: ICHRA and Chungi Amarsidhu metro station areas have similar existing streetscape characteristics with high population density and low level of affluence among property users, Kalma Chowk and Muslim town metro station areas share the same features with low population density and high level of affluence among property users, so we examined the data based upon two location groups
The results further showed that BRT users of both location group 1 and location group

Summary

Introduction

Accepted: 7 June 2021During the last decade, state-of-the-art mass transit systems have been developed in Pakistan in the form of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in order to provide efficient means of transportation. TOD is a core strategy for the effective integration of transport infrastructure and surrounding urban fabric in order to create livable, walkable, accessible, cyclable and mixed-use compact neighborhoods with a great mix of people of different social backgrounds, promoting sustainable urban development with economic, social and cultural efficacy [1,2]. The concept of TOD is mainly branded by the two main features: (1) a functional relationship with, and proximity to, the transit terminals and service provision through high-quality mass transit systems; (2) compact developments and mixed-use neighborhoods and buildings that, because of their attractive urban design features, inspire cycling and walking and use of public transit service by shoppers, residents, visitors and employees [5].

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