Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea

Lee, Kyujin; Kim, Tae-Wan; Kwak, Jaeho; Jeon, Gyoseok

doi:10.3390/su17104501

Open AccessArticle

Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea

by

Kyujin Lee

¹

,

Tae-Wan Kim

¹

,

Jaeho Kwak

² and

Gyoseok Jeon

^1,*

¹

Department of Transportation Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea

²

Korea Railroad Research Institute, Suwon 16105, Republic of Korea

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2025, 17(10), 4501; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104501

Submission received: 25 March 2025 / Revised: 8 May 2025 / Accepted: 9 May 2025 / Published: 15 May 2025

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Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the characteristics and influencing factors of the access trips of railway users in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea. A total of 11 metropolitan railway stations and 4 urban railway stations were selected, and data on users’ travel characteristics—including access modes, travel purposes, demographic attributes, and whether they were accompanied by infants—were collected through one-on-one interviews. Based on 1683 collected cases, the data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results showed a statistically significant difference between bus access distances, which were 1.78 km for metropolitan railways and 1.59 km for urban railways. In contrast, the walking access distances were approximately 620 m for both, showing a minimal difference. The further analysis of factors influencing the access distance revealed that apartment ownership, users’ income level, the presence of accompanying travelers, the distance between stations, the number of transfer routes, and whether users were traveling with infants had significant effects.

Keywords: railways; railway accessibility; access distance; threshold distance; access behavior

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MDPI and ACS Style

Lee, K.; Kim, T.-W.; Kwak, J.; Jeon, G. Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea. Sustainability 2025, 17, 4501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104501

AMA Style

Lee K, Kim T-W, Kwak J, Jeon G. Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea. Sustainability. 2025; 17(10):4501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104501

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lee, Kyujin, Tae-Wan Kim, Jaeho Kwak, and Gyoseok Jeon. 2025. "Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea" Sustainability 17, no. 10: 4501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104501

APA Style

Lee, K., Kim, T.-W., Kwak, J., & Jeon, G. (2025). Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea. Sustainability, 17(10), 4501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104501

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Investigating Threshold Distances and Behavioral Factors Affecting Railway Station Accessibility: A Case Study of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea

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