The Interaction between Public Transport Systems and Land Use in the Era of Technological Innovations in Transportation

Dear Colleagues,

Public transport and urban development have long been closely linked in the way that land use patterns may influence people’s activities and generate travel demand which requires the corresponding supply of public transport, while the public transport provision determines the accessibility of locations and feedback to the changes in land use characteristics. Sometimes public transport is part of integrated urban planning strategies. An example is how mass public transport systems have been used to guide development along new urban corridors in the last century. However, with the precedence of technological innovations in transportation, the interactions among public transport systems, people’s travel behaviours and land use have been reshaped. For example, intercity and regional high-speed rail have been used for commuting within urban agglomerations and contributed to the development around transport hubs. The rail transit systems, which stretch out to the edge of cities, stimulate new urban growth. Meanwhile, buses with intelligent communication systems have provided demand-responsive transportation services such as employee pooling, ride-pooling, and public on-demand bus projects. Shared autonomous driving buses are being tested to facilitate first and last-mile services in lower density areas. These innovations not only facilitate the movement of people, but also have potentially wide-ranging and spatially varying impacts on population, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. An understanding of the interrelations between public transport and land use, including the impacts of new technology, is particularly important within the global context of sustainable development and the need to reduce transport CO2 emissions whilst improving social equity.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to provide insights into how public transport systems, travel behaviours, and urban planning are interrelated. Papers related to how technological innovations in public transportation impact travel behaviours and urban development are particularly welcome, but papers on transport and land use and other spatial impacts will also be considered.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that consider the following themes:

• Urban planning strategies, public transport systems, and their environmental and social impacts;
• Evolution of the built environment influenced by public transport systems, as well as new urban development and travel patterns by public transport;
• Social-spatial variations in accessibility levels and travel patterns;
• Social equity impacts of the distribution of public transport investments;
• Impact of public transport on urban regeneration and neighbourhood development;
• Technological innovations in public transport systems, policies, and impacts on travel behaviours and spatial development;
• Travel patterns and built environment changes associated with new public transport systems, including by different socio-economic groups;
• Social equity and innovations in public transport systems.

Prof. Dr. Robin Hickman
Dr. Lixun Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.