Cities are facing growing issues related to the effects of GHG emissions, air pollution and congestion. To induce mode shift towards more sustainable transportation modes, planners need to provide highly attractive transit networks. One way to do this is to improve their accessibility.
Enhancing walking accessibility to public transportation starts with something crucial: assessing the current level of walking accessibility. This study introduces a walking accessibility assessment using GIS functions and open-source data. It also proposes new accessibility indicators of the quality of access to transit. The Montreal metro network is used as a case study. We generate walking catchment areas and test indicators of accessibility by studying their geometric properties and by comparing them with ideal ones. We use census data to further develop indicators accounting for the population
This methodology identifies stations with low accessibility and estimates potential accessibility gains. In Montreal, some 406,375 people could benefit from accessibility improvements, representing a 46.5% increase.
Based on the diagnostic, scenarios were developed to address specific barriers such as infrastructure and land-use constraints. These scenarios involve bridging physical barriers to maximize accessibility gains. These measures aim to improve walking access equitably and enhance transit network attractiveness.
