Access to mass rapid transit in OECD urban areas

TL;DR

This paper introduces a standardized metric called 'People Near Transit' (PNT) to measure access to mass rapid transit in 85 OECD urban areas, providing a foundational dataset for urban transport and environmental research.

Contribution

It defines a universal PNT metric, presents the largest dataset of MRT coverage in OECD cities, and proposes a standardized protocol for future expansion and comparison.

Findings

PNT metric effectively quantifies MRT access.

Largest dataset of MRT coverage in OECD cities.

Standardized protocol enables future expansion.

Abstract

As mitigating car traffic in cities has become paramount to abate climate change effects, fostering public transport in cities appears ever-more appealing. A key ingredient in that purpose is easy access to mass rapid transit (MRT) systems. So far, we have however few empirical estimates of the coverage of MRT in urban areas, computed as the share of people living in MRT catchment areas, say for instance within walking distance. In this work, we clarify a universal definition of such a metrics, the "People Near Transit (PNT)", and present measures of this quantity for 85 urban areas in OECD countries, the largest dataset of such a quantity so far. By suggesting a standardized protocol, we make our dataset sound and expandable to other countries and cities in the world, which grounds our work into solid basis for multiple reuses in transport, environmental or economic studies.