Award Date


Degree Type


Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)


Civil and Environmental Engineering

First Committee Member

Hualiang Teng

Second Committee Member

Mohamed Kaseko

Third Committee Member

Haroon Stephen

Fourth Committee Member

Ashok Singh

Number of Pages



In the past, the studies in the U.S. on high speed rail have been on economic impact. Recently, there are a few studies on the multimodal connectivity at high speed rail stations. High speed rail stations are viewed as hubs that are connected by different modes of public transportation by which passengers are transported to their destinations. How and in which way these different modes are connected to high speed rail stations influence the ridership of high speed rail stations. As the development of high speed rail system in the U.S. has come to the stage for actual design and construction, providing guidelines on multimodal connectivity at high speed rail stations become highly needed.

The objective of this study was to quantify the multimodal connectivity of high speed rail stations. In this study, the multimodal connectivity is measured by the number of modes connected to high speed rail stations, the number of transportation facilities installed at HSR stations, the transfer time from the connecting modes to HSR stations, and the public transportation arrival time intervals. To achieve the objectives, data for different number of high speed rail stations in France, Spain, Japan and China were collected. With the data collected, the characteristics of the high speed rail stations in terms of connecting with other modes are identified. The relationship between ridership and the characteristics of multimodal connectivity of high speed rail stations were identified through developing regression models.

It was observed from the analysis that the multimodal connectivity at high speed rail stations in different countries present different profiles. For example, the high speed rail stations in China are connected with more bus lines than other countries. The bus lines connected to HSR stations in other countries are similar. Relatively, there are more bus stops/terminals provided in France. The transfer times in Japan and China are significantly longer than those in France and Spain. The average bus arrival interval in France is longest, more than double than that in China.

All the connectivity variables considered in this study influence the ridership in these four countries in different ways. Bus, subway, and regional railroad service influences ridership significantly. The number of bus services influences the ridership in three countries except France. The more bus services connected to high speed rail stations, the higher ridership for high speed rail is shown in these stations. Subway, light rail, traditional rail are modes of transportation with high capacity. Their connection to high speed rail station always implies high ridership for high speed rail. The number of facilities of connecting modes of transportation at HSR stations is also shown significant impacts on high speed rail ridership. For instance, the more bus and subway stops, and the more bicycle parking and taxi stands, the higher HSR ridership. Transfer time is identified to be significant influencing factor to HSR ridership: commuter rail and bicycle transfer time in France, and taxi transfer time for China. This study discusses the implications of these findings for the HSR stations proposed for California and Nevada. Pedestrian access is also discussed and recommended. Additional issues regarding transfer times in California's metropolitan areas are addressed.


Connectivity; High-speed rail; High speed trains; Local transit – Ridership; Multimodal; Ridership; United States; Urban transportation


Transportation | Urban, Community and Regional Planning | Urban Studies | Urban Studies and Planning