This book revisits the concept of the transit catchment area (TCA) and examines evolving practices in TCA planning against the backdrop of expanding big and open data (BOD) in transit-oriented land use planning.
In many developed countries and regions, car dependence and urban sprawl have led to undesirable outcomes. Improved transit and land use planning can help create well-connected areas where people, businesses, and employers want to be. But how can we make these transit zones more appealing? BOD is transforming how we understand and address this challenge. Drawing on empirical data and case studies, this book shows how TCAs can be defined across two dimensions—feature (form) and performance (function)—and how BOD, combined with traditional sources, can be used to characterize these dimensions while revealing their complex interrelationships. The author employs a mixed-method approach that includes desktop research, survey data, and quantitative analysis with visualization. Readers will learn how to redefine TCAs and enhance planning practices by leveraging BOD sources such as smartcard data, OpenStreetMap, and social media—making transit areas more attractive while addressing car dependence, urban sprawl, and related challenges such as congestion, pollution, and declining social capital.
Big and Open Data for Transit Planning will be useful for planners, officials, students, and academics who are interested in the nexus of transit/transportation, land use, and sustainable development.
Table of Contents:
1.Introduction: Overview of big and open data and transit planning. 2.Transit Catchment Areas. 3.A normative framework for TCA planning. 4.Big and open data in TCA planning: Theory. 5.Traditional approaches to transit catchment area planning. 6.BOD meets transit catchment area planning: Practice. 7.Identifying and measuring features of transit catchment area. 8.Defining and measuring performance of TCAs. 9.Designing TCAs: Linking features and performance. 10.A future of BOD in TCA planning.
About the Author :
Jiangping Zhou is Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
Review :
'Planners have long analyzed transit within catchment areas as tidy circles around stations. That convention conceals as much as it reveals, but there is better way. Jiangping Zhou shows how big and open data, used alongside traditional sources rather than in place of them, allow us to distinguish the form of transit areas from their function. Big and Open Data for Transit Planning offers a conceptual framework and a practical guide for anyone serious about integrating public transport and land use. Grounded in cases from Hong Kong to Copenhagen, this is a rigorous and unusually candid book about both the promise and the limits of new data.'
Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan.
'This essential work provides a masterful synthesis of how Big and Open Data (BOD) revolutionizes the integration of transit and land use planning. It redefines Transit Catchment Areas through the dual lenses of physical features and functional performance. The author offers a robust and normative framework for creating sustainable and socially inclusive urban environment. It is a must-read for professionals who seek to move beyond traditional survey data and harness the potential of digital analytics.'
Jiawen Yang, Professor of Urban Planning, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School.
'An essential account of big open data and transit planning - examining how new forms of data can assist in the planning of new transit systems. A data driven approach to a more effective understanding of transit and vibrant cities.'
Robin Hickman, Professor of University College of London.
'This text offers a timely and highly accessible contribution to the transport planning literature. Adopting a data driven rethinking of transit catchment areas the book successfully bridges traditional planning with an empirical understanding of how we as everyday citizens access our urban environments. A highly recommended read for researchers and practitioners working in public transit and transport planning.'
Jonathan Corcoran, Professor of the University Queensland.
'Transit catchment area (TCA) is redefined and the framework for TCA planning is introduced with the existing concepts such as transit-oriented development (TOD), node-place model, third place, etc. The text then offers how to utilize the emerging big and open data (BOD) both in theory and case studies of TCA planning. Researchers and practitioners who are interested in public transport planning and TOD can learn the basics of TCA planning, and current opportunity and challenges utilizing BOD for advancing TCA planning.'
Toshiyuki Yamamoto, Professor, Nagoya University.
'Big and Open Data for Transit Planning rethinks the transit catchment area through two lenses — form and function — and shows what smartcard, digital maps and social-media data can reveal that surveys and censuses miss. Grounded in cases from Copenhagen to Shenzhen, it's a practical guide for planners and advocates to evidence-based transit and land-use planning.'
David Levinson, University of Sydney.
