Urban structural hierarchy and the relationship between the ridership of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway and the land-use pattern of the station areas

•We examine the relationship between TOD factors and the level of ridership.•The stations are classified by their level of network accessibility and location within the urban structure.•The ridership at the CBD and fringe areas is influenced mostly by density.•The ridership at the sub-central areas is affected mainly by diversity.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the ridership of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway (SMS) and the land-use pattern of its station areas to verify the assumption that the ridership of transit stations at both ends of the range of urban structural hierarchy is more affected by density than by land use diversity, whereas the ridership of the stations in between are influenced more by land use diversity than by density. The station areas were classified and clustered according to an accessibility index, which refers to the position of the urban structural hierarchy of Seoul. A multiple regression model was applied to each cluster of the station areas. Finally, the estimated models for all station areas and for the clusters were compared to verify the assumption. The results show that the subway ridership at Seoul’s CBD and fringe areas is primarily influenced by density, whereas the sub-central area is generally affected by diversity. The intermodal connectivity by bus had an influence. The results provide policy implications for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) strategies to increase subway ridership in metropolitan areas where a number of sub-centers exist.