Impact of bus rapid transit in shaping transit-oriented development: evidence from Lahore, Pakistan

Transit-oriented Development (TOD) reduces traffic congestion and encourages high dense, mixed-use, and walkable environments. Whether Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) shaped TOD or not has not been well examined, though rail transit has been widely studied. Therefore, this study fills this research gap and investigates what kind of urban fabric has been created by BRT’s shaping of the TOD within 800 meters between 2012 and 2021 in Lahore using three TOD criteria: density, diversity, and design. This study conducted observation surveys and interviews with the officials of departments to evaluate the aforementioned TOD criteria, and the collected data were analyzed using ArcMap. This study concluded that population density, development volume, and land use for economic activities all increased after the BRT operation. Pedestrian paths were not improved or remain the same, signifying that the walkability and open space either remained the same or declined in the station areas. However, intersection density increased in some station areas. The evidence in this study indicates that density and diversity improved but design criteria remained the same or declined. Therefore, to achieve TOD, the government should give priority to improving the walking environment, for instance, by creating more pedestrian paths and open spaces.