TOD-China revisited: A travel outcome-based perspective

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), a strategy focusing development around transit stations, was brought forward in the US in 1990s and promoted worldwide. Many Chinese cities are building or planning to build mass rapid transit systems, which provides a golden opportunity to realize truly sustainable urban transportation. However, the land developments surrounding transit stations are Transit-Adjacent Developments (TADs) at best, lacking transit-land use integration and generating undesired travel patterns. This paper completes previously proposed TOD-China model and similar frameworks by explicitly incorporating into the framework the desired travel outcomes in urban China that TOD-China are expected to offer. The most desired travel outcomes identified in TOD-China are balanced transit ridership, low car ownership and usage, short trip length and duration, and high non-motorized mode share within the TOD. Hong Kong´s TOD experience is introduced to serve as a benchmarking case for TOD-China practices.