Analysis of Regional Disparities in Intercity Mobility in Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify regional disparities in terms of intercity mobility. We propose three regional disparity indices for defining mobility between cities to clarify passenger movement. These are, individual mobility, mobility in terms of passenger volume, and mobility in terms of regional population. For this case study, regional disparities in intercity mobility provided by public transportation services, with Tokyo as the point of departure, were quantitatively estimated. The results revealed that individual mobility contributed greatly to inter-regional disparity, while mobility in terms of passenger volume and regional population also contributed, but to a lesser extent.