By Eric Murphy
Increasing the number and variety of destinations around a transit station can encourage more people to use that station, but a new study shows more destinations concentrated around one station can also lift ridership across the entire network.
“We suggest that the development of amenities around rail transit stations can bring not only local but also network-wide ridership benefits, fostering a greater willingness among travelers to use rail transit,” wrote the study’s authors. “This, in turn, has the potential to stimulate consumption and further catalyze the development of amenities near rail transit stations, thereby creating a positive feedback loop.”
For some transit systems, sprawling land use patterns can make it difficult to realize the ridership benefits of better access. The resulting low ridership can make transit feel deserted outside of the morning commute. But adding a variety of destinations close to just a few stations through transit-oriented development can benefit ridership across the network and throughout the day.
The study looked at Shenzhen’s rail system and found that network-wide benefits of access to amenities—things like libraries, schools, and hospitals, rather than jobs—were concentrated during daytime hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Meanwhile, access to jobs boosted ridership during the morning commute and evening ridership depended on access to people’s homes.
For every 10% increase in access to jobs, ridership on the morning commute jumped 4.6%. Every 10% increase in access to people’s homes boosted evening ridership by about 5%.
One way to add a wide variety of destinations into the network and realize the ridership benefits of expanded access is to extend the transit network. But that requires a lot of expensive new infrastructure and long travel times for riders.
A less expensive, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly way to achieve those same benefits is to encourage the natural concentration of the places people need to go and the people they want to see into areas accessible by the current network.
When building or expanding transit networks, the researchers explain:
Transport and urban planners should work together closely to ensure that the connectivity levels of planned stations in the network are spatially matched with the land use function and intensity around them. This will enable travelers to easily reach their destinations from any station via the rail transit network, thereby increasing rail transit’s attractiveness. In the case of updating existing rail transit networks, we suggest that the planned new lines should prioritize better integration with existing lines and enhance connectivity among all stations in the network. This will lead to a high level of network accessibility for all stations in the network, ultimately boosting ridership.
Photo credit: Aric Cheng via Unsplash. License.