Impact of Rail Transit Station Development on Population Density and Car Commuting in the United States and Japan

This study aims to provide further insights on the relationship between population density and car use by analyzing the impact of rail transit station development on population density and car commuting in the United States and Japan. Firstly, the cross-sectional analysis of the effect of rail transit station development on population density and the modal share of car commuting was conducted. Secondly, changes in population density and car commuting after rail transit station development were longitudinally analyzed. According to the cross-sectional analysis, zones with relatively high density were uncommon in areas that were distant from rail transit stations. As for the car share of commuting trips, in areas that were close to stations, lower shares of car trips in zones with higher density were observed. In lower density zones, factors other than density might affect the share of car use for commuting, regardless of proximity to transit stations. The result suggested that transit stations possibly enable nearby zones to sustain a relatively higher population density and a reduction in car commuting. From longitudinal analysis, transit station development was found to be effective for increasing population density around rail transit stations in Japan, and to a lesser degree in the US. The modal share of car commuting was dramatically restrained in Japan as a result of transit station development, but this was not always the case for the US.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Suzuki, Takamasa
  • Muromachi, Yasunori
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 89th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2010-1-10 to 2010-1-14
• Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: DVD
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 15p
• Monograph Title: TRB 89th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commuting; Population density; Rail transit stations; Railroad commuter service; Transportation policy; Vehicle sharing
• Geographic Terms: Japan; United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01154446
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 10-3242
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 14 2010 7:14AM