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| A STUDY ON COMMUTING CHARACTERISTICS IN BEIJING——Based on over 1000 Questionnaires |
| WEN Jing, WANG Xing, LIAN Xin |
| College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China |
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Abstract Since the reform and opening up, China has experienced the change from a planned economy to a market economy. In this change, the disintegration of the system of units causes the broken of the traditional urban spatial structure characterized by job-housing balance. On the other hand, the positive externalities of clustering require industrial agglomeration. This paper provides a case study of 4 districts which cover different types of job-housing spatial structure in Beijing. Using the survey of over 1,000 questionnaires, the authors try to compare commuting characteristics including distance, time-consuming and efficiency among the residents who commute by different travel modes and in different sample areas. The main findings are as follows: (1) public transport is the main mode for commuters in Beijing. (2) The residents who take motor vehicles have longer distance and time-consuming than those who take non-motor ones. (3) The commuting time of residents in Beijing is too long compared with other metropolises. (4) Commuting by car, which is not a popular travel mode, has the highest commuting efficiency. (5) Transfer can make remarkable negative effect on commuting efficiency. (6) The commuting characteristics vary as the job-housing spatial structure of the region changes. (7) For the commuting flow between the residential center and job centers, public transport is the main mode. However, high transfer rate and efficiency loss brought by transfer is a severe problem. Motor vehicles must be the main travel model alongside of the urban expansion in the future. In consideration of the income level of most residents and the urban environment, the Government should be committed to the construction of public transport systems in particular metro systems. Based on our findings, we propose that cutting down the transfer rate and time-consuming is the key method to improve the efficiency of public traffic. In the meantime, through transportation should be established between high-density employment centers and residential centers. The traffic congestion problem could only be solved only if this could be done.
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Received: 22 October 2011
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2012, Vol. 27 
