Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of Socio-Demographic and Land Use Features on Transit Ridership

Given the concerns about urban mobility, traffic congestion, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, much research has explored the relationship between the built environment and transit ridership. However, the nature of aggregation and the cross-sectional approach of the research rarely provides crucial clues to time sequence between ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ since it only considers one point in time. From the perspective of longitudinal approach, this paper develops regression models for rail transit stations in Los Angeles Metro system. The models attempt to identify the socio-demographic characteristics and land use features influencing on longitudinal transit ridership changes. Step-wise ordinary least square (OLS) regression models are used to identify factors that contribute to transit ridership changes. Those factors include number of dwelling units, employment-oriented land uses such as office and commercial land uses, and the land use balance. The models suggest a negative relationship between job and population balance with transit ridership change. They also raise a question regarding the ¼ mile (0.4 km) radius commonly used in transit analysis. The models indicate that the ¼ mile (0.4 Km) of geographical extent is too small to capture the significant influence of built environment on transit ridership.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP025 Public Transportation Planning and Development.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Kim, Dohyung
  • Ahn, Yongjin
  • Choi, Simon
  • Kim, Kwangkoo
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 15p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Built environment; Demographics; Land use; Longitudinal studies; Rail transit; Regression analysis; Ridership
• Geographic Terms: Los Angeles (California)
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01516330
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-1867
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 28 2014 1:32PM