Does Transit-Oriented Development Affect Metro Ridership?

A study was done to confirm the advantages of transit-oriented development (TOD) in increasing transit ridership and dispersing transit ridership distribution in a timely manner. To examine how the built environment of TOD influences the level and temporal distribution of metro ridership, 46 metro stations in Taipei City, Taiwan, China, were used as a sample, and cross-section analyses for 2004 were performed by using regression models and t-tests. Conclusions were reached on the basis of the empirical results. Daily ridership was positively affected by the floor-space area of the station areas, negatively affected by the percentage of four-way intersections, and insignificantly affected by mixed land use. Ridership dispersion in time was positively influenced by sidewalk length, negatively affected by retail and service floor-space area, and insignificantly influenced by density. The influences of density and pedestrian-friendly urban design on daily ridership differ significantly between weekdays and weekends, whereas the effects of all TOD characters on daily ridership dispersion differ significantly between weekdays and weekends. Finally, two potential applications of the empirical findings are discussed: TOD strategy directions corresponding to the studied cases and planning analysis for a specific station area.