The non-linear effects of built environment on bus ridership of vulnerable people
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2025
Subject Area
place - asia, place - urban, mode - bus, land use - impacts, land use - planning, policy - equity, ridership - disadvantage, ridership - behaviour, technology - passenger information, technology - geographic information systems
Keywords
Bus ridership, disadvantaged, equity
Abstract
Understanding public transit patterns of vulnerable people, and their influencing factors is crucial for equitable transportation planning. However, few studies have explored how the impact of built environment factors and according threshold effects vary among different population groups. This paper bridges this research gap through an empirical study carried out in the City of Wuhu, a prefectural-level Chinese city. Bus ridership of three disadvantaged groups (the elderly, disabled and the low-income) and the mainstream population was obtained using smart card transaction records and bus trajectory GPS data. The non-linear effects of built environment on bus ridership of different groups were then examined and compared using Gradient Boosting Regression Trees (GBRT). The results suggested that both the importance and threshold effects of built environment variables vary among four population groups. The effect ranges of built environment variables were further identified to shed light on land-use policy-making for promoting equitable public transit.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, S., Zhang, J., Yang, Y., Kong, Y., Li, Z., Shen, Y., & Tang, J. (2025). The non-linear effects of built environment on bus ridership of vulnerable people. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 139, 104540.
Comments
Transportation Research Part D Home Page:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13619209