Transit Station Area Research Articles

Quantifying the Social Equity of Economic Performance for Different Groups of Residents in Rail Transit Station Areas

Quantifying the Social Equity of Economic Performance for Different Groups of Residents in Rail Transit Station Areas

Non-Linear Impact of Economic Performance on Social Equity in Rail Transit Station Areas

Rail transit station areas (RSAs) are heralded as a transformative approach to urban planning, emphasizing the integration of transportation, housing, and commercial development to foster sustainable and inclusive cities. This study presents a comprehensive exploration of the interplay between transit-oriented development (TOD) economic performance and social equity in RSAs, employing advanced methodologies, like eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAPs), to decipher the complex relationships between TOD characteristics and social equity outcomes. Focused on Dalian’s urban center, this study integrates diverse datasets, including mobile location, geospatial, and economic price data, to construct a nuanced analysis framework within the NPE (node–place–economic) model. The results indicate that economic factors significantly impact overall social equity, particularly influencing key variables, such as weekday and weekend commuter population densities. Local explanatory plots reveal that economic performance variables associated with transportation development exhibit a broad non-linear impact on social equity in RSAs. This study advances equitable urban development through TOD by stressing the importance of factoring in multiple variables in RSA planning. This approach is vital for creating synergistic effects, fostering equitable spatial planning, and has both theoretical and practical benefits for improving residents’ well-being.

Modelling volumetric growth of emerging urban areas around new transit stations

Cities in developing countries are fast transforming from area-based expansion, representing spatial growth, to volumetric expansion, representing a higher skyline. Existing urban growth prediction models predict only spatial or two-dimensional growth. This paper demonstrates a volumetric urban growth model, incorporating the vertical expansion of urban areas. Two separate models were calibrated for spatial and built-up height growth, using historical growth patterns of transit-triggered new town development in India. The models were applied to upcoming transit station areas in India to predict the volumetric urban expansion for the next twenty years.

Design Strategies to Improve Metro Transit Station Walking Environments: Five Stations in Chongqing, China

While transit-oriented development (TOD) has been widely adopted in urban design alongside the expansion of urban metro transit, the creation of pedestrian-friendly environments has often been overlooked during implementation. This has resulted in a lower walking advantage around metro transit stations. To address this issue and encourage walking and public transport use in metro transit station areas, this study undertook a quantitative comparative analysis of the pedestrian environment in five Chongqing metro transit station areas. The analysis focused on three key dimensions: “comprehensive evaluation”, “basic scale”, and “structural quality”. The comprehensive evaluation considered factors such as the pedestrian catchment area ratio, POI kernel density distribution, and crowd agglomeration. The basic scale dimension comprised floor area ratio, building density, pedestrian road density, and the quantity of station entrances and exits. Finally, structural quality factors included land use type mixing degree, POI function mixing degree, intersection connectivity, median street length, pedestrian route directness, and green view index. Based on these analyses, this study proposes a series of pedestrian environment design strategies including land use and transportation. The strategies for land use advocate for “developing compact and diverse land use”, “strengthening attraction of station center”, “positioning large projects on the edge”, “restricting private transportation capabilities”. The strategies for transportation consist of “increasing pedestrian road density”, “traffic calming organization”, “subdivision of road types”, and “three-dimensional pedestrian traffic system”. These strategies aim to create a more humanized and environmentally friendly pedestrian environment, proactively rise to the challenge of climate change, thereby cultivating sustainable urban development.

Built environment’s nonlinear effects on mode shares around BRT and rail stations

This study investigates nonlinear associations between built environment (BE) attributes and commuting mode share within rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) catchment areas. Data from approximately 2,790 fixed guideway transit station areas across 34 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States were analyzed using a random forest approach. Results show nonlinear associations of the BE with mode share in transit catchment areas with substantial differences between rail and BRT catchment areas. Rail catchment areas exhibit greater sensitivity to the BE to reduce car dependency as compared to BRT stations. Moreover, polycentricity and population density at regional level are effective at reducing car dependency. We suggest that policymakers consider BE threshold effects and station types when adjusting land-use policies, e.g., in transit-oriented development. Additionally, BRT systems could be a useful alternative to rail in sprawling areas that do not have the compactness needed to support rail.

Transit Station Area Development and Demographic Outcomes

Transit Station Area Development and Demographic Outcomes

Passive transit accessibility: Modelling and application for transit gap analysis and station area assessment

This paper presents a passive transit accessibility model and showcases its applications to Brisbane, Australia, as a robust decision support tool for transport and urban planning. Active accessibility describes how easy it is for a person to reach essential activities such as work, education or shopping, while passive accessibility refers to the ease of an activity located in a given area being reached by potential users such as workers, students or shoppers. The passive accessibility measure can help determine the location of new activity centres where good transit access is essential to serve nearby communities. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the application of the model. First, the model is used to examine the passive transit accessibility of major employment and commercial areas in Brisbane, Australia, to identify areas deemed in needs of transit service improvement. Second, the model is incorporated into the node–place modelling framework for assessment of potential transit oriented development (TOD). The node–place model offers a conceptual framework for evaluating the (re)development potential or enhancing the transit supply of station areas. The node–place model is used to classify 1186 analysis zones in Brisbane. The study identifies areas that have potential for transforming into TODs after improving transit accessibility or changing land use or development.

Measuring the influence of transit accessibility on housing and transportation expenditures in the U.S.: A propensity score matching approach

This study quantified the extent to which transit accessibility has an impact on housing and transportation expenditures of households in the U.S. (the treatment effect). This study used propensity score matching (PSM) to construct transit station areas (TSAs) and corresponding non-TSAs with similar observed characteristics, including built environment features and socio-economic characteristics of CBGs, and then employed paired t-tests to estimate the treatment effect. This study revealed that homeowners in TSAs spent 1,595 dollars more on housing expenditures and saved 493 dollars on transportation expenditures annually compared to those in non-TSAs. Also, the annual rent costs of TSAs and non-TSAs in the U.S. were about 15,990 and 14,993 dollars, while the annual transportation costs of TSAs and non-TSAs were approximately 13,151 and 13,644 dollars. This study contributes to an understanding of how transit accessibility in the U.S. was associated with the housing and transportation affordability of locations.

Optimization Method for Land Use of the Xi’an Rail Transit Station Area Based on a Multi-Objective Model

For the intensive, efficient, and sustainable utilization of land resources, it is of great significance to optimize the spatial allocation of different types of land use intensity in rail transit station areas. The current land use optimization model has some shortcomings in objective function, constraint conditions, and the solution process. In response to this, a new multi-objective optimization model for rail transit station land use was built. With station space efficiency as the starting point, the three objectives of the model optimization were the traffic volume, environment quality, and land balance of the rail transit station, and the constraint conditions were the plot ratio, environment quality, and efficiency level. Lingo was used to solve the optimal plot ratio of different types of land use intensity. Compared with the non-inferior solution of the rail transit station area multi-objective original model, the ideal plot ratio of various land uses obtained by the optimized new model was more reasonable. There was a relatively large gap between the non-inferior solutions of some original models and the actual conditions. In contrast, the optimized new model had stronger maneuverability. The deviation ranges of the two models were −0.4% to 0.9% on the residential land plot ratio adjustment index, −3.2% to 4.8% on the public land plot ratio adjustment index, and 1.1% to 1.9% on the commercial land plot ratio adjustment index. This research aimed to provide a basis and reference for the land use and planning of Xi’an rail transit station.

Transit station area walkability: Identifying impediments to walking using scalable, recomputable land-use measures

Transit station area land-use characteristics can increase or decrease the perceived costs of riding rail relative to driving or taking other modes. This paper focuses on those characteristics that create discomfort to riders who are walking between stations and destinations, with the aim of providing researchers and planners with a tool that can be used to identify pain points in any existing or potential station areas. We propose and demonstrate a scalable, recomputable method of measuring pedestrian quality for trips that relies solely on datasets readily available for almost any location in the United States, and we compare results using data from a global source, OpenStreetMap. We illustrate our tool in neighborhoods surrounding the Blue Line light rail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, calculating the population-weighted distribution of land uses within pathway buffers of walks from stations to nearby destinations. We focus on land uses that pose a disutility to pedestrians such as major highways or industrial tracts, and we compare disamenity levels across station areas. Despite their simplicity, our measures capture important differences in land-use-related pedestrian experiences and reveal the inadequacy of using circular buffers to designate and characterize station catchment areas.

TOD mode: study on land planning and land use optimization for urban rail transit station area

The rational planning of land around rail transit stations in cities can effectively improve the convenience of transportation and economic development of cities. This paper briefly introduced the transit-oriented development (TOD) mode of urban planning. We constructed a hierarchical structure for evaluating the quality of land plan-ning of urban rail transit stations through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. The structure started from three large aspects, i.e., traffic volume, regional environmental quality, and regional economic efficiency, and every large aspect was divided into three small aspects. Then, an optimization model was established for land planning of rail transit stations. The land planning scheme was optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA). To enhance the optimization performance of the GA, it was improved by coevolution, i.e., plural populations iterated inde-pendently, and every population replaced the poor chromosomes in the other populations with its excellent chro-mosomes in the previous process. Finally, the Jinzhonghe street station in Hebei District, Tianjin city, was taken as a subject for analysis. The results suggested that the improved GA obtained a set of non-inferior Pareto solutions when solving a multi-objective optimization problem. The distribution of solutions in the set also indicated that any two objectives among traffic volume, environmental quality, and economic efficiency was improved at the cost of the remaining objectives. The land planning schemes optimized by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algo-rithm, the traditional GA, and the improved GA, respectively, were superior than the initial scheme, and the opti-mized scheme of the improved GA was more in line with the characteristics of the TOD mode than the traditional one and the PSO algorithm, and the fitness value was also higher. In conclusion, the GA can be used to optimize the planning design of land in rail transit areas under the TOD mode, and the optimization performance of the GA can be improved by means of coevolution.

Evaluation of public transportation station area accessibility based on walking perception

Public transportation (PT) often fails to provide door-to-door service. Passengers often have to walk a distance to reach their destination after getting off the public transportation station. Therefore, the walking accessibility of the station area directly affects the attractiveness of the PT. For walking, accurate calculation or prediction of accessibility should consider not only the objective distance, but also the environment and psychological perception factors of pedestrians. This paper aims to map the pedestrian perceived cost to the transportation environment to evaluate the walking accessibility of the public transportation station area accurately. From the perspective of psychological perception of walking environment, four key impedance factors are selected and a pedestrian perceived impedance model is established. Then an evaluation model of station area accessibility is set employing POIs (Point of Interests) based on the accumulative opportunity method. Finally, the case is given to show the application of the model. The results show that the number of crosswalks with signal lights, mixed use of sidewalk and non-motorized lane, the obstacle quantity and the vehicle entrance quantity on sidewalks can increase perceived impedance significantly. For example, pedestrians are willing to spend 4.21 extra minutes to adopt routes with one fewer obstacle per 100 meters. Within 10 minutes of walking time, walking perception has a greater impact on station area accessibility. The perceived walking time thresholds for evaluating bus and rail transit station area accessibility are recommended to be 15 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively. The evaluation results can provide a reliable basis for improving the walking network around public transportation station.

Revealing the Influence of the Fine-Scale Built Environment on Urban Rail Ridership with a Semiparametric GWPR Model

There is a causal interaction between urban rail passenger flow and the station-built environment. Analyzing the implicit relationship can help clarify rail transit operations or improve the land use planning of the station. However, to characterize the built environment around the station area, existing literature generally adopts classification factors in broad categories with strong subjectivity, and the research results are often shown to have case-specific applicability. Taking 154 stations on 8 rail transit lines in Xi’an, China, as an example, this paper uses the data sources of multiple open platforms, such as web map spatial data, mobile phone data, and price data on house purchasing and renting, then combines urban land classification in the China Urban Land Classification and Planning and Construction La1d Standard to classify the land use in the station area using structural hierarchy. On the basis of extracting fine-grained factors of the built environment, a semi-parametric Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (sGWPR) model is used to analyze the correlation and influence between the variation of passenger flow and environmental factors. The results show that the area of Class II residential land (called R2) is the basis for generating passenger flow demand during morning and evening peak periods; The connection intensity between rail transit station area and bus services has a significant impact on commuters’ utilization level of urban rail transit. Furthermore, two scenarios in practical applications will be provided as guidance according to the research results. This study provides a general analytical framework using urban multi-source data to study the internal relationship and impact between the built environment of urban rail transit stations and passenger flow demand.

Opportunity access as a design framework for guiding transportation and land use integration: an evaluation of U.S. transit-oriented developments (TOD)

ABSTRACT For years, transportation and land use integration has been identified as important approaches for planners, engineers, and designers, but to understand more research is needed to understand how it affects people who live around stations. In response, this research builds on a multi-year analysis quantitative and qualitative study of 2323 transit stations in over 350 corridors throughout the U.S. – one of the largest federally funded studies on livability related to transportation. This effort yielded empirical links to transportation and land use integration and quality of life outcomes. This paper concludes that the intersection between successful transportation and land use integration (TLI) depends on people’s ability to equitably access opportunities to improve and/or maintain their desired quality of life. Along these lines this paper (a) identifies important characteristics (metrics) of TLI in 2323 transit station areas in the United States, (b) applies these metrics toward the development of a typology of station types (TOD), and then (c) validates these metrics by geo-locating a variety of quality of life outcomes for station area residents. Put simply, this paper finds that opportunity access can be an organising principle for guiding transportation and land use integration strategies. In turn, providing individuals with equitable access to opportunities measurably shows significant potential for achieving many societal and individual quality of life benefits such as lowering auto-dependency, household budget burdens, greenhouse gas emissions, and even poverty and obesity rates.

How to Measure the Impact of Walking Accessibility of Suburban Rail Station Catchment Areas on the Commercial Premium Benefits of Joint Development

As the primary solution to the issue of high passenger traffic in urban areas, rail transit has a significant impact on the structural form of cities and regional development. Additionally, it has varying degrees of a premium effect on land value around stations. Current research on the factors influencing the premium effect of rail transit station areas mainly focuses on the macro level of the station area circle, with more attention given to the premium caused by distance and functional differences. Most research objects are typically urban center lines or stations. However, this study focuses on the core area of the station and concentrates on the impact of the construction of integrated station–city facilities on the choice of pedestrian routes and the enhancement of pedestrian accessibility. It also explores whether this enhancement is associated with the premium benefits of ancillary commercial development. To achieve this goal, this paper integrates models from several related studies to conduct a comprehensive assessment. Firstly, it uses a spatial panel econometric model to improve the classical characteristic price method model. It then combines the ideas and models of the cost–benefit analysis method, taking the Odakyu Odawara Line of the Japanese suburban railroad as an example. This analysis explores the mechanism and factors influencing the rent premium of commercial facilities in the suburban rail station area and systematically assesses the combined station–city facilities. The study evaluates the social benefits (enhanced walkability) and economic value (premium value added from commercial facilities) of the combined station–city facilities systematically. The results of the study show that (1) the premium benefits of suburban railroad station area commercial facilities are significantly related to the type of station–city combination facilities, combination mode, and walking time and weakly related to the location factor. Additionally, (2) the results of the cost–benefit valuation analysis based on the Ebina Station verify that a reasonable design of station–city combination facilities can effectively enhance the proximity of commercial facilities to the station and improve the walking accessibility, thus promoting the premium benefits. The study demonstrates that a reasonable design of the combined station and city facilities can effectively enhance the proximity of commercial facilities to the station and improve pedestrian accessibility, promoting premium benefits, which can quickly feed the construction cost of the station and achieve positive revenue in the short term. Therefore, the results of the study provide a quantitative reference for the planning and design of suburban stations.

Study on the Influence Mechanism and Space Distribution Characteristics of Rail Transit Station Area Accessibility Based on MGWR.

The accessibility of rail transit station areas is an important factor affecting the efficiency of rail transit. Taking the Beijing rail transit station area as our research object, this paper took a 15 min walking distance as the index of station area accessibility, and investigated the status quo and influencing factors of the unbalanced distribution of rail transit station area accessibility in Beijing. In this paper, the data of Beijing rail transit stations were obtained from the Amap open platform, and the accessibility of the station area was calculated using the path planning service provided by the Amap API. The Getis-Ord Gi* method was used to analyze the overall distribution characteristics of the accessibility of the Beijing rail transit station area, then the high accessibility area and the low accessibility area were determined. To explore the factors influencing domain accessibility, multi-source data were obtained, a total of 11 indicators were constructed, and the random forest model was used to identify feature importance. Using the eight selected influencing factors, the OLS regression model, GWR model, and MGWR model were used to study the spatial heterogeneity of influencing factors. By comparison, it was concluded that the MGWR model can not only effectively analyze the spatial heterogeneity of rail transit station accessibility, which can automatically mediate the bandwidth of different influencing factors, and then reflect the spatial changes of the influencing factors of rail transit station accessibility more truly. The results show that (1) the accessibility of the Beijing rail transit station area shows obvious spatial agglomeration characteristics in space. The accessibility of the station area in the fourth ring is higher than that outside of the fourth ring road, and the accessibility near the south and north fifth ring road is higher than that of the east fifth ring road and the west fifth ring road. (2) The basic influencing factors of rail transit station accessibility include road density and functional mixing degree.

The impact of light rail transit station area development on residential property values in Calgary, Canada: Focus on land use diversity and activity opportunities

Although many studies have examined the effects of transit accessibility on housing prices, fewer studies have looked more closely at the implications of transit station area development on the urban housing market. Employing a multi-level hedonic price model, we examined the effect of light rail transit (LRT) station area development on residential property values in Calgary, Canada. Station area development is measured by 1) land use diversity index, also known as land use entropy, and 2) activity opportunity count (i.e., the number of selected business licenses) within the 400m-buffers of station. In the case of Calgary, land use diversity is not associated with property values, which is counter to the existing knowledge. However, our findings suggest that activity opportunities around stations are positively related, particularly to the value of apartment properties. We also observed that a lack of activity opportunities for pedestrians and transit users and a poorly designed station area can partially explain the unexpected outcomes.

Assessing Transit Station Area Redevelopment: A Case Study of the Lindbergh Station in Atlanta

This article assesses the land-use, demographic, circulation, and economic development attributes of transit station area development. Findings from this assessment are applied to the Lindbergh Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Station area in Atlanta, Georgia, for which a private-public partnership is currently being negotiated. Recommendations for the redevelopment of the Lindbergh Station area are provided, including a schematic design that integrates those recommendations. The resulting recommendations are intended to maximize the likelihood for transit ridership and economic benefit while offsetting traffic congestion and vehicle emissions—in keeping with the objectives of the Federal Transit Administration’s Livable Communities Initiative. A safe and inviting walking environment throughout a station area—extending well beyond the area of physical redevelopment itself—is fundamental to achieving these objectives. Existing barrier effects and lack of pedestrian connectivity associated with major transportation corridors within the Lindbergh Station area will significantly offset transportation and environmental benefits on which public investment in the redevelopment is predicated. Solutions are required that provide not only safer street crossings, but a larger proportion of rights-of-way devoted to pedestrian movement and the development of a “street life. “ Priority should be given to pedestrian improvements that increase access to transit for traditionally underserved populations. Finally, open space is required to effectively compete with other more auto-dependent areas and to draw higher income populations to transit station areas.

Transit Station Area Land Use/ Site Assessment with Multiple Criteria: An Integrated GIS-Expert System Prototype

This article is intended to assist decision-makers confronted with the problem of determining the suitability of a site with a proposed light rail transit (LRT) stop as a transit supportive (re)development by exploring a prototype, integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) and decision-support system. An inclusive concept of a hierarchy is presented in which the multiple, diverse dimensions of the land-use/site assessment problem—from goal, criteria, to alternatives—can be embedded in deciding suitability of a site as a transit-supportive development.Framed as a multicriteria procedure, and integrated with a GIS, the decision-support system provides the flexibility to account not only for the configurational or physical features of the built environment and the patterns of growth (or decline) of the population and employment in the region, but also the socioeconomic, demographic, and trip-making characteristics of the targeted population. The joint effects of the population (demand) characteristics and the features of the built environment of land use/transportation (supply) are reflected in the scores of the site assessment. Furthermore, the prototype facilitates decision making by deriving the relative importance of the multiple “supply” and “demand” factors strategically and adaptively vis-a-vis the site-specific constraints and opportunities. Finally, criteria-weighted land-use suitability scores are computed and displayed to indicate the suitability of the site as a transit-supportive development. The multicriteria part of this prototype is implemented with a C++ program as an interactive, expert decision-support system integrated with a GIS.

Transit-Oriented Development Suitability Analysis by the Analytic Hierarchy Process and a Geographic Information System: A Prototype Procedure

A prototype procedure is illustrated to assess the suitability of land use around proposed light rail transit stations of a metropolitan area, with an example of a focus on one station area land use pattern. Transit oriented development (TOD) guidelines provide the criteria for an assessment. The procedure for assessment is facilitated by a geographic information system (GIS), and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multicriteria methodology that is increasingly employed in conjunction with geographic information systems. The weights of the criteria are determined through paired comparisons (relative measurement), and a ratings intensity scale is used to determine the scores of land units (absolute measurement). This flexibility in measurement is helpful in situations where land use criteria, such as TOD guidelines, as suitability factors and with certain desirable thresholds of intensity are known, but must be considered strategically and adaptively, responsive to local priorities and site-specific conditions. The scores of land uses on a scale of zero to 100 percent are determined, which indicate the degrees of the suitability of a transit station area as a potential TOD. As well, the proportions suggest changes that target particular parcels—individually and as a group—so as to bring about a desirable mix of the public, core/employment, and housing uses for an urban TOD. This prototype application highlights the versatile properties of the AHP, particularly when used in the specific context of a development paradigm (TOD) in conjunction with a geographic information system that has not been previously addressed in the literature on applications.