Transit-oriented Research Articles

The Walking Bangkapi: Inclusive Pedestrian Network’s Integrated Design and Implementation Study on Bangkok’s Emerging Transportation District

With a city growing in size, capacity, density, and intensity, walkability in the Bangkapi district (Bangkok, Thailand) represents a challenge to produce more inclusive transportation through mobility planning that suits the multimodal transportation system (skywalk, MRT lines, water transportation) and the walking experience of the pedestrian. Drawing from Bangkok’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) strategic plan, the challenge lies in the balancing point of efficiently and effectively elevating walkability while keeping the local urban identity. This study investigates the notion of walkability as both a ground-up participatory design process and within the overall mobility planning framework by reviewing both Thai and international sidewalk standards and through interviews with stakeholders. We conclude by producing an experimental design guide and policy recommendations on how area-specific sidewalks have the potential in shaping more feasible and equitable mobility planning from the ground up.

Built Environment Renewal Strategies Aimed at Improving Metro Station Vitality via the Interpretable Machine Learning Method: A Case Study of Beijing

Understanding the built environment’s impact on metro ridership is essential for developing targeted strategies for built environment renewal. Taking into consideration the limitations of existing studies, such as not proposing targeted strategies, using unified pedestrian catchment areas (PCA), and not determining the model’s accuracy, Beijing was divided into three zones from inside to outside by the distribution pattern of metro stations. Three PCAs were assumed for each zone and a total of 27 PCA combinations. The study compared the accuracy of the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and several machine learning models under each PCA combination to determine the model to be used in this study and the recommended PCA combination for the three zones. Under the recommended PCA combinations for the three zones, the model with the highest accuracy was used to explore the built environment’s impact on metro ridership. Finally, prioritized stations for renewal were identified based on ridership and the built environment’s impact on metro ridership. The results are as follows: (1) The eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model has a higher accuracy and was appropriate for this study. The recommended PCA combination for the three zones in Beijing was 1000 m_1200 m_1800 m. (2) During the morning peak hours, the density of office and apartment facilities greatly influenced the ridership, with a strong threshold effect and spatial heterogeneity. Our research framework also provides a new way for other cities to determine the scope of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and proposes a new decision-making method for improving the vibrancy of metro stations.

Mobility justice or transit boosterism? The use of rail transit as an urban transformation strategy in Kitchener, Canada, and Malmö, Sweden

Many cities and countries have embraced transit-oriented development as an international growth management approach, shifting trips from car-oriented to transit. But in this race to become more sustainable, who is being left out? Using mobility justice as a theoretical framework, this paper presents a qualitative comparison between Malmö, Sweden, and Kitchener, Canada, two mid-sized cities where new rail-based infrastructure was completed in 2019. Using over 40 interviews with local residents, business owners and staff, planners, and private sector developers in each city, we found that transportation improvements have created unequal transport mobilities. In both cities, new transportation infrastructure did not improve travel times or access to transit for existing users; in Kitchener, local changes to make way for the new LRT had negative effects on the neighborhood, and bus transit times increased, while in Malmö bus services remained the same as the new train was barely used. This detachment of transportation needs from infrastructure is necessary for local and state politicians to promote new infrastructure as a branding approach. We call this transit boosterism.

Conflicting regional policy goals: accessibility and segregation in the Helsinki metropolitan area

ABSTRACT Regional land use, housing, and transport (MAL) agreements between the Finnish state and municipalities in growth regions guide urban policy in the Helsinki metropolitan area towards regional cooperation and densification. Alongside economic growth and connectivity goals, segregation prevention is a visible but ill-defined social sustainability goal in these agreements, and anti-segregation measures lean heavily on providing new social housing in accessible locations. This tool, in turn, leans on a combination of social mixing, a traditional preventive tool in fighting segregation, and a new tool, maximising spatial justice through transit-oriented development. We argue that there is a discrepancy between these goals: while on an individual level, public transport accessibility is meant to reduce transport poverty and provide equal opportunities for employment and services, accessible areas fare lower than others in socioeconomic status. Therefore, increasing social rental housing in areas with lower socioeconomic status may unintentionally amplify segregation. This article asks how actors of different governance levels view concentrating social housing in accessible locations as a risk to segregation. Interviews show a concern of social challenges not being sufficiently addressed.

Rent growth near rail stations after the Great Recession

This study provides an incisive analysis of U.S. rail station area rent trends from 2012 to 2016, post-Great Recession. Utilizing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Hierarchical Spatial Autoregressive (HSAR), and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models, it uncovers complex interplays between rent changes and socioeconomic, as well as built environment factors. Key findings reveal that increased rents are associated with walkability, higher housing density, and predominantly White neighborhoods. Conversely, rent decreases correlate with diverse land use, higher Black population percentages, and locations further from rail stations or business districts. These results are critical for understanding rent dynamics in transit-oriented development areas, impacting diverse housing market sectors, including workforce and affordable housing. The study’s regional analysis highlights the need for geographically tailored approaches. This research informs policy on housing development and affordability, aiming to mitigate displacement risks for low-income, transit-dependent communities in gentrifying urban areas.

Integrated Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) with suburban rail network design problem for maximizing profits

ABSTRACT Driven by the transit-oriented development (TOD) policy for rail stations, this study focuses on the network design of rapid suburban railways and the TOD zone design of corresponding suburban rail stations within metropolitan areas. A multi-level rail transit network was introduced, and the newly planned suburban rail network was considered as an expansion of the existing network to provide rapid services between urban and suburban areas. An integrated programming model was proposed to determine the physical and service routes of suburban rail network, the frequencies of each line, and the TOD plan along the selected rail stations. The integrated model is solved using the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed model and methods is illustrated through numerical experiments, and several scenarios are designed for parameter analysis.

Pedestrian movement with large-scale GPS records and transit-oriented development attributes

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a widely accepted strategy for sustainable urban planning that encourages walking and transit ridership. Walking behavior in metro station areas is often quantified using pedestrian volumes. However, even in areas with similar pedestrian volumes, the walking distance and time spent within metro station areas may vary. Thus, a more comprehensive approach is required to evaluate pedestrian movement in a TOD context. Accordingly, we developed pedestrian movement indices (PMIs), which aggregate individual pedestrian movement as an area characteristic to capture pedestrian count, distance walked, and time spent based on large-scale GPS data. Furthermore, we illustrated the differences in the relationship between PMIs and TOD attributes according to each index using density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit (or the “5Ds”). A comparison of the three PMIs showed that pedestrian count, distance, and time spent provided different information for evaluating pedestrian movement. TOD attributes’ impact around metro stations varied, depending on the PMIs. These results indicate that policymakers should select appropriate measures to meet their policy aims when assessing pedestrian movement within metro station areas. This study contributes to monitoring pedestrian movement and incorporates pedestrian movement into spatial planning efforts considering TOD.

Challenges Ahead for Sustainable Cities: An Urban Form and Transport System Review

This article reviews the critical issues surrounding the development of sustainable urban environments, focusing on the impact of transport and urban form on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim is to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art on the subject and to unravel what directions the literature suggests for sustainable urban planning. Current research and practices are synthesized, highlighting the interdependence of urban design and transportation systems in achieving sustainability goals. Important dimensions and practices of city planning and transport policies are explored, including urban form, urban sprawl, mixed land use, densification and infill, and urban public spaces, and how these directly influence transport dynamics, including modal choices and energy consumption. Innovative approaches in urban planning, such as transit-oriented development, and technological advancements, such as electric mobility, are also examined and their potential roles in sustainable urban transport. The conclusion underscores the urgency of adopting holistic and adaptable strategies to foster sustainable urban environments, calling for concerted efforts from policymakers, urban planners, and communities. Awareness of the conclusions can help municipal decision-makers in planning their cities for a sustainable future. Finally, the authors analyze important directions for future research and practical applications towards developing cities that are environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically viable.

Evaluate Human Perception of the Built Environment in the Metro Station Area

Transit-oriented development (TOD) has become a dominant form of spatial planning and land use in large cities internationally. As the intersections of urban space and rail transportation, metro station areas play a key public service function in the lives of city residents. Based on the “5D” index and Node-Place theory in the metro station area, current research on the built environment in metro station areas focuses on improving the economic and transportation efficiency while neglecting public perception of the construction of station space. Sentiments, as an important part of the individual’s perception, are closely related to the built environment. Therefore, this study takes 187 metro stations within the fifth ring road of Beijing, China, as an example and extracts public sentiment information from social media data using a wide range of natural language processing techniques to quantitatively analyze the distribution of the public’s sentiment characteristics (including intensity, polarity, and category) in the metro station area and deeply explores the spatial correlation with the distribution of the objective built environment elements. The study shows that influenced by the spatial design of the metro station, density, land use functions, etc., the sentiment intensity of the station area within the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing is “strong in the east and weak in the west, strong in the north and weak in the south”, and the sentiment polarity has the characteristic of gradually negative from inside to outside in a circular pattern. Synthesizing the sentiment perception in the metro station area, our study further divided the Beijing metro station area into four major categories and eight specific subtypes.

Evaluation of indicators of railway-induced annoying vibration based on building measurements developed by TOD: a discussion

The main negative impact of the residential buildings located on the cover structure of a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) metro depot is that residents would suffer from the train-induced annoying vibrations. Arguments accordingly arose on the possibility of evaluating indicators controversy for this application that acceleration data was more captured in the past while velocity would be more related to structure born noise. Therefore, this paper provided a relative comparison based on a measurement campaign that both velocity and acceleration sensors were installed together at the same time. The collected vibration accelerations and velocities are analyzed and discussed using the methods of transmission loss, coherence, and time and frequency domain analysis. The results indicated that even there was no difference for identifying the resonance frequency of structure, but the transit mobility and human annoyance evaluation were obviously different by using velocity or acceleration. Attempts to establish a relationship between the two indicators using the calculus method failed because they showed the largest error at the peak frequency at the same vibration level, which would have affected the evaluation results and the judgment on the choice of mitigation measures.

Evaluating transit-oriented new town development: Insights from Seoul and Tokyo

This study evaluates 7Ds (density, diversity, design, distance to transit, destination accessibility, demand management, and demography) from a transit-oriented development (TOD) perspective for four large-scale new towns (NTs) in the suburban areas of Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. The analysis revealed variations in self-sufficiency and travel behavior based on these differences, leading to four main policy implications. First, Seoul’s NTs demonstrated high-density mixed-use development, promoting localized short-distance travel within these areas. This highlights the importance of encouraging high-density mixed-use development to foster commuting self-sufficiency. Second, Tokyo’s NTs feature housing development centered on rail transit, resulting in a greater utilization of rail transit modes. This emphasizes the positive impact of rail-transit-oriented development on sustainable mode choice. Third, demand management strategies such as firm-based subsidies and an integrated transit system were identified in the Tokyo and Seoul NTs, respectively. These strategies aimed to provide incentives for choosing public transit over private cars. Additionally, it is crucial to consider the relationship between NTs and their neighboring areas to prevent wasteful commuting resulting from continuous decentralization trends in jobs and housing. This study offers valuable insights for policymakers and planners by highlighting the significance of integrating TOD principles into NT planning and development.

Peningkatan Keterpaduan Layanan Transportasi Antarmoda pada Kawasan Poris Plawad di Kota Tangerang

The integration of intermodal transportation services has become a strategic necessity in improving the quality of urban transportation services, which is reflected in the extent to which the provision of facilities, infrastructure, and supporting amenities can enhance travel experiences and promote sustainable transportation. Achieving integration should focus on major transportation nodes in an area, such as the Poris Plawad Terminal and Batu Ceper Station in the Poris Plawad area of Tangerang City. The Poris Plawad area is also part of the government's plan to develop it as a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) area. This research aims to evaluate the needs and performance of services and determine priorities for improving intermodal transportation services in the Poris Plawad area.
 The sampling technique used is purposive sampling, with a total of 202 respondents obtained. Data collection from respondents was carried out through questionnaires distributed to transportation service users at the Poris Plawad Terminal and Batu Ceper Station, as well as residents within an 800-meter radius of both transportation nodes. This study uses an integrated approach combining the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method and the Kano model.
 The analysis results indicate that there are 5 service provision needs that need to be prioritized for improvement at present. Firstly, the provision of crossing facilities. Secondly, the provision of connected pedestrian paths (sidewalks). Thirdly, uninterrupted sidewalk functionality. Fourthly, the quality of sidewalk pavements. And fifthly, the access to and from the transportation nodes free from traffic conflicts.

Accessibility and Land Use Effect of Residential Area with Different TOD Typology to Value Creation

TOD (Transit Oriented Development) is the planning design focusing on integrated transportation and land use in an area with certain radii. There are many transits node which is being designed as TOD, which varies into many typologies. Indication of TOD measurement from TOD ideal, can be measure from accessibility factor and land use factor. There is an indication that each TOD area will give different output (value creation) related to accessibility and land use function. Many studies states about the TOD in different city. where this paper will analyse many areas within the same city. The method is analysing the area into TOD index using AHP, then measuring the value creation with summation of real land and building priceThen analyse the correlation between TOD index and value creation. The study case locations is in Lebak Bulus, Dukuh Atas and Kelapa Gading. The identification of value creation will be useful as an input to the urban planners or policy makers for designing more targeted strategies. The discoveries made in comparative context differ from those made in prior studies. This paper is thus believed to make a new contribution to the existing TOD categorized with additional input related to value creation inside.

How transit-oriented development concepts and strategies influenced green transport systems: A meta-analysis approach

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a major planning tool to promote green transport mode share. There are many previous studies in this field but with very diverse research focuses and outcomes. This study has classified the research purposes of previous studies into four categories: exploratory; potential and challenges; performance evaluation; and in-depth investigation. To identify critical factors that might influence green transport systems, a systematic literature review is delivered via a meta-analysis. Specifically, green transport mode share was set as the dependent variable and a proxy for TOD outcomes. From the model results, several key factors are identified. For example, built environment planning (e.g., pedestrian sidewalks) plays a critical role in green transport systems. The main findings of this paper can provide clear direction to current TOD, such as how to improve TOD outcomes and providing planning guidance for potential TOD.

Historical institutionalism in action: Incremental prevalence of Transit-Oriented Development in Tokyo 1945-1982

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) increasingly refers to global practices integrating land-use planning, urban development, and transit today, but their historical experiences have received little attention from the discussion, not to mention any theoretical elaboration with institutional thinking. The literature identifies Tokyo as a global exemplar of TOD as a new term for enduring practice. However, why and how Tokyo’s practice uniquely relies on private railway conglomerates remains underexplored. This article elaborates on a historical institutionalist approach using an inductive process tracing technique to understand Tokyo’s postwar history from 1945 to 1982, emphasizing incremental changes induced by endogenous forces. The exploration takes precedent insights into the private railway conglomerate-led TOD practice as an informal institution of “standard operating practice” and refines them with postwar history and supplementary prewar episodes. It finds that contingent policy choices allowed conglomerates to dismantle their geographical and financial constraints from prewar regulations. The actions reinforced their institutional privilege in public affairs as a foundation for subversive railway privatization reforms from 1982 onward. The finding thus identifies a socio-political dimension of TOD shaped by agents across sectors, developing the current methodology in planning studies and contributing to the debates on defining TOD.

Development of the TOD.id Mobile App

The rise of large cities worldwide has spurred the emergence of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as an urban planning concept. Indonesia, including Jakarta, has begun implementing TOD strategies. To facilitate TOD in Indonesia, this study proposes a conceptual mobile app, TOD.id, informed by preliminary research. It introduces a novel tax approach, Land Value Capture (LVC) tax, to address funding challenges, which account for up to 53.8% of the problem. However, TOD.id remains in a developmental phase, with all features in the conceptual stage, making it unsuitable for immediate market launch. During this stage, this research aims to enhance the TOD.id mobile app by refining existing features and exploring potential new functionalities, which will be based by literature review and benchmarking against similar existing apps in Indonesia. The study employs a desk study method, a qualitative benchmark study method, and the collection of qualitative data. The outcomes of this research are expected to pave the way for the optimal realization of TOD.id in the Indonesian market, aligning with the projections from previous studies.

Research on the evaluation of land use around urban rail stations based on the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) mode

The Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) model is suitable for urban land use development, with its main concept being to efficiently develop and utilize the limited urban land resources based on public transportation. In China, as urban public transportation, primarily rail transit, is being developed, there are some issues surrounding the land use around urban rail transit stations. Therefore, this research takes different types of urban rail transit stations as the research objects, conducts differentiated evaluations of the comprehensive benefits of land use around different types of stations, and provides relevant suggestions. This study classifies urban rail transit stations according to land use functions and establishes a three-level comprehensive benefit evaluation index system from four dimensions: land use, transportation system, economic benefits, and environmental benefits. It uses expert scoring, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation methods to conduct differentiated evaluations of the comprehensive benefits of land use around different types of rail transit stations and provides empirical analysis using a station in Chongqing as an example.

Transit-Oriented Development: Learnings from Global Examples

Abstract Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a method employed in area-based developments to address civic mobility, automation, inequality, community, equality, and climate change in metropolises. This research paper utilizes a comparative analysis of various published papers to create a cohesive analytical study. The main goal is to identify critical parameters that contribute to the success of TOD. It examines highly successful global examples of TOD, including Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Shenzhen, México, and Washington D.C., to understand how the aforementioned parameters impact TOD development and its achievements. Indian cities are making substantial investments in public transportation and transitioning into transit hubs. The success of this progress depends on implementing TOD regulations, such as zoning rules for mixed-land use, density control, limited parking, PPP finance, and fostering collaboration between public and private agencies near transit stations. In conclusion, while planning frameworks have been widely adopted and implemented by various countries, financial frameworks play a more pivotal role in influencing success, making TOD more practically viable worldwide.

High-Speed Rail and Energy Productivity: Evidence from China

Using the difference-in-differences method combined with the propensity score matching, this study identifies the causal relationship between high-speed rail (HSR) and energy productivity in China. Furthermore, we investigate the mechanism through which HSR affects energy productivity, as well as the heterogeneity of the impact across quantiles and distances. The results show that HSR connection contributes to the improvement of energy productivity. This finding is consolidated after a potential endogeneity problem is addressed using the instrumental variable method and a variety of potential confounders are controlled through a series of robustness checks. On average, the marginal impact of HSR on energy productivity is approximately 9%. Moreover, HSR connection cannot be completely substituted by traditional railway and aviation in improving energy productivity. The heterogeneity analysis suggests that the positive energy productivity effect of HSR gradually decreases with an increasing distance to the nearest HSR station. In addition, HSR network accessibility has a significant positive effect on energy productivity, while technological innovation mediates the relationship between HSR development and energy productivity. We propose that to achieve the long-term improvement of energy productivity, policymakers should comprehensively consider both transit-oriented development and ecology-oriented development modes.

The development of an intermodal transportation area in Banyuwangi using the transit-oriented development approach

Public transportation is one of the means of transport people use to move from one city to another. This makes the integration of transportation in an urban area very necessary. This study discusses the concept of developing an integrated transportation area. This research was conducted in Ketapang Village, Kalipuro District, and Banyuwangi Regency. This area is very strategic if developed into a transportation integration area. This is because this area has a train station and port crossing, and a type A terminal will be built there. However, considering the current condition of the area, this potential has not been appropriately developed. This study aims to determine the suitability of the existing conditions with the concept of transit-oriented development and to determine development priorities that can be applied in this area using an analytical hierarchy process analysis (AHP) involving relevant agencies and stakeholders. The results of this study are the suitability of the existing field conditions with the concept of transit-oriented development and the arrangement of development priorities that can be applied to this area following the concept of transit-oriented development.