Mobility resilience: Transit-oriented development, ride-hailing, and car ownership

Abstract

<p>Transit-oriented development (TOD) is often seen as a way to reduce car dependence and promote public transit ridership. However, the decrease in car dependence may lead to two results when travel demands are constant: (1) transfer people to public transit, as the TOD advocates; (2) stimulate people to use other alternative automobile travel modes like ride-hailing. Therefore, this study systematically explored the relationship between TOD design, ride-hailing usage and car ownership through the case study of Chengdu, China. Our findings indicate that TOD design which aims to promote walkability/public transit and restrain driving, is associated with car ownership reduction. Whereas TOD design and reduced car ownership are related to incentivized use of ride-hailing. This study suggests a path of mobility resilience in automobile travel: those who are accustomed to being dependent on private cars would transfer to other alternative automobilized means to “recover” from habituated travel behaviors, even if under the “impact” of public transit-oriented incentives.</p>