Design of Mass Transit System and Compact City

ABSTRACT We incorporate the key design variables of mass transit—the number of stations, the length of a transit line, and the number of transit lines—into a monocentric city model of urban land use. We demonstrate that increasing the number of stations (i.e., reducing the spacing between them) promotes higher population density, leading to a more compact urban form. Conversely, extending transit lines further into the suburbs encourages urban dispersion. We examine two approaches to endogenizing transit designs: maximizing profit from transit operations and maximizing social welfare. It is shown that the number of stations chosen under a profit‐maximizing design is smaller than that under a social welfare‐maximizing design. We extend the analysis by modeling the city as a system of corridors, distinguishing between transit corridors and auto corridors. The development of the transit system is represented as the conversion of auto corridors into transit corridors. Using numerical simulations calibrated with parameter values reflecting real‐world Japanese cities, our results indicate that the development of mass transit system can contribute to a more compact urban structure. This effect is driven mainly by the relocation of residents from auto corridors to transit corridors.