Household-mode choice and residential-rent distribution in a metropolitan area with surface road and rail transit networks

Abstract

The authors formulate a model integrating households' residential-mode choice and residential distribution in a metropolitan area with surface streets and rail transit networks. The model was constructed to describe transportation-residential land-use interaction by means of continuous analytical approaches and mathematical programming methods. Heterogeneity among residential sites and households is also considered, to alleviate aggregation bias. The model is formulated to minimize the sum of households' generalized travel costs and Tent costs under user equilibrium by incorporating flow-congestion effects and the bid-rent effects of different income households. Decision variables include the number of households and flow intensity at each residential site, and the number of transferring passengers at each rail transit station. In addition, the generalized travel cost, households' residential distribution, and rent-cost distribution in a metropolitan area are analyzed to explore the benefits of rail transit lines. The results reveal that, upon completion of rail transit networks, savings in travel time from each residential site to the central business district are more marked for longer commuting distances. Moreover, rent costs are, as expected, higher in areas along rail-transit lines.