Impact of Transit-oriented Development of Bus Rapid Transit Station Areas on Resident’s Travel Behavior in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

While transit-oriented development (TOD) encourages sustainable travel behavior and reduces vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), most previous studies have explored the impact of built environment characteristics on travel behavior in developed nations, and little is known about developing economies, particularly in Asian regions such as Pakistan. Our study fills this research gap and examines the impact of TOD attributes on residents’ travel behavior around bus rapid transit (BRT) stations using 426 respondents in Lahore. We employed a multilevel mixed-effect regression model to understand the impact of TOD attributes on VKT. This study concluded that TOD residents are more likely to use BRT, walking, and motorcycles and drive less than transit-adjacent development residents. Moreover, the model results demonstrate that population density, residential density, and land-use diversity were not significantly associated with VKT. Our results suggest that high-density mixed-use development strategies reduce VKT and encourage transit and non-motorized use for sustainable travel behavior.