Transit-oriented development, as initially conceptualized (TOD 1.0), aims to re-engineer the built environment to promote transit and walking and curb car-oriented sprawl. While widely adopted and practiced, TOD 1.0 faces increasing challenges amid growing societal concerns over inequality and climate crisis. TOD-advocated development densification and diversification could adversely affect neighborhood affordability, residential stability, and microclimate conditions. The emergence of disruptive transportation technologies has also brought both threats and opportunities to transit. This article calls for a paradigm shift, transforming TOD 1.0 to Next-Gen TOD in three aspects. First, Next-Gen TOD shifts the spatial focus from TOD nodes to corridors or networks to harness the network effects of transit systems. Second, Next-Gen TOD shifts the planning/policy focus from prescribing the attributes of 3-Ds (Density, Diversity, and Design) to balancing the outcome of 3-Es (Efficiency, Equity, and Eco-Adaptivity). Third, by including additional 2-Es, Evaluative and Educative, Next-Gen TOD operates as an analytical and engagement platform to support participatory process and informed choice of planning/policy options. The article presents two examples, Hong Kong West Kowloon HSR-TOD and TOD-based affordable housing modeling in Austin, TX, to illustrate the application of Next-Gen TOD.

Successful transit-oriented development (TOD) requires integrating urban planning measures and TOD-potential success factors while addressing gaps between theoretical practice and practical urban environments for the forthcoming TOD initiatives. This study provides empirical insights into the influencing factors and variables of the TOD-integrated system in Thailand. A quantitative approach with exploratory and confirmatory methods was used to assess multi-stakeholder perceptions through a questionnaire survey in three diverse TOD towns within urban municipality boundaries. The research used a multilevel assessment, including exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and covariance-based structural equation modeling. The results provided three key thematic areas for the TOD-integrated practices model, including mixed development and urban identity corresponding to land-use systems prioritizing pedestrian-friendly designs, sustainable and active transport incorporated into transport systems focusing on improving travel behavior, and high density and community well-being for socioeconomic systems to promote urban tourism. The integration of urban planning measures and potential success factors was identified as critical for achieving these thematic areas for the successful TOD outcomes. The results overcome the gap between theory and practice by delivering actionable insights for TOD initiative decision-making by providing an integrated model of land use, transport, and socioeconomics that supports multi-stakeholder collaboration and sustainable urban development, enabling TOD from concept to implementation.

Whether urban rail accessibility is distributed equitably has significant implications for social equity, especially in rapidly urbanizing cities. This research analyses how metro accessibility was distributed across different neighborhoods in Hangzhou during 1998-2021. The results indicate that public housing projects tended to be located in areas with lower metro accessibility compared to market housing. The unequitable distribution of metro accessibility between public and market housing appeared to worsen as urban expansion continued. These findings imply that institutional interventions are required to enhance inclusive transit-oriented development.

Through large-scale new construction, expansion and comprehensive development of suburban railways, the Tokyo metropolitan area has effectively driven the development of the peripheral areas of the metropolitan circle, which has achieved good socioeconomic benefits and is a model for the construction of human settlements. This study adopts an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research design, taking the JR Chuo Express Line, Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line, and TX Express Line as typical cases. It first conducts a historical policy discussion based on textual analysis of the transformation and renovation of Tokyo’s suburban railways and their relationship with urban development, sorting out the characteristics and successful experiences of integrated development along suburban railways in Tokyo. Then, it carries out a data-based discussion on the current situation, summarizing the effects of the lines and their stations on driving population growth and land prices, the TOD (transit-oriented development) model along the lines, and the collaborative strategies between railways, stations, and surrounding cities, so as to analyze the synergistic relationship between the transformation of suburban railways and urban development in Tokyo as well as the effects after the transformation. Research results indicate that during the early construction and development stages of the outer areas of the Tokyo metropolitan area, suburban railways have had a positive effect on the development of population and land prices along the line, as well as the integrated development of stations and cities. Their construction experience can provide reference for the formulation of suburban railway development strategies and integrated development along the lines in similar international metropolitan circles.

Ride-hailing services, characterized by convenience, flexibility, and on-demand availability, have substantially reshaped urban mobility patterns, posing uncertain impacts on subway ridership. To clarify the competitive and cooperative dynamics between two modes, a latent class choice model (LCCM) is employed using revealed preference survey data (N = 2061) collected from Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China. Three distinct commuter segments are identified through latent class analysis, and results indicate that ride-hailing and subway predominantly exhibit a competitive relationship (46.34%). Moreover, user heterogeneity is evident across user groups. Competitive users ride more frequently and commute shorter distances, and carless users tend toward competitive relation, while cooperative behaviors are linked to income and metro accessibility. Interestingly, commonly used spatial proximity assumption in previous studies exerts few influences on empirical modal interactions. Designing user-targeted takeaways for different transportation participants, this work offers valuable insights for improving multimodal travel efficiency and sustainable urban mobility.

Efficient weekly scheduling, including task assignments, maintenance, washing, and parking, for urban rail transit vehicles is essential for reducing operational costs and ensuring smooth depot operations. However, optimizing these components separately may cause inefficiencies, conflicts, and suboptimal vehicle utilization, ultimately compromising system performance and reliability. This study presents an integrated optimization model to minimize mileage variance, driving distances, and shunting operations. To address the multiobjective nature of the problem while satisfying operational constraints, a novel utility-balancing simulated annealing (U-SA) algorithm is developed. In this algorithm, the utility-balancing mechanism is embedded in the SA framework and guided by fuzzy programming to coordinate multiple objectives effectively. The algorithm utilizes three distinct operators—mileage-balancing operator, distance-minimization operator, and shunting-optimization operator—to steer the optimization toward an efficient solution. The model and algorithm are validated through a real-world case study of Beijing Subway’s Line 12. Computational results demonstrate that the approach effectively balances objectives, reduces operational costs, and enhances resource utilization. Sensitivity analysis reveals that adding parking tracks reduces shunting operations, while earlier washing windows helps shorten driving distances. This method offers a practical decision-support tool to improve the efficiency of urban rail transit operations.

Urban rail transit (URT) service disruptions, though infrequent, involve high risk and uncertainty, often triggering passenger behaviors that deviate from normal patterns. How stranded passengers make travel decisions under such conditions is essential for improving emergency response and system resilience. However, traditional models based on expected utility theory (EUT) often fail to capture the psychological complexity and bounded rationality exhibited during disruptions. This study develops a decision-making framework that integrates cumulative prospect theory (CPT) with multi-attribute decision-making to model travel mode choices of stranded passengers under non-mandatory evacuation URT service disruption scenarios. Stated-preference (SP) surveys were designed to simulate varied disruption scenarios, capturing passenger evaluations of alternative modes such as detour URT routes, buses, ride-hailing, and cycling. A baseline EUT model and three CPT-based models with different parameter constraints were calibrated using empirical data. Results show that CPT-based models, especially those applying nonlinear value and probability functions to travel time, significantly outperform EUT models in fitting behavioral patterns. Passengers tend to overestimate low-probability events and underestimate high-probability ones, with heightened sensitivity near the extremes of probability. The value function calibration reveals increasing sensitivity to time gains and diminishing sensitivity to losses, reflecting anxiety-driven urgency and “loss numbness”—a sharp reaction to initial delays that flattens as delays grow. The proposed model effectively captures key psychological mechanisms in disruption scenarios, offering a more behaviorally realistic basis for predicting passenger responses. These insights support more targeted emergency resource deployment and behavior-sensitive management strategies, contributing to enhanced resilience in urban rail systems.