Suburban areas often struggle with a first- and last-mile mobility problem, where residents have difficulty reaching the nearest public transport hub from their homes. Demand-responsive transport (DRT) has emerged as a flexible solution, yet the potential health benefits of combining DRT with existing public transport networks have yet to be assessed.
In this study, Associate Professor Haruka Kato at Osaka Metropolitan University, examined whether multimodal travel, specifically combining DRT with fixed-route buses or railways, has a synergistic effect on residents' daily walking. This research project was carried out as part of the smart city project in Senboku New Town, Osaka. Using step count and travel-related data from the HealthSmart-Senboku smartphone application, the researcher applied a quasi-experimental approach to evaluate changes in physical activity associated with different travel patterns.
The results revealed an average increase of 1,730 steps per day and the largest gains occurred when DRT was combined with fixed-route buses. Notably, the study also shed light on why the effect occurred. Few participants cited "improving health" as a reason for using multiple modes of transport. Instead, bus use increased significantly during the DRT operation period, which suggests that once DRT reduced the access barrier, residents took buses more often and accumulated more walking through routine movements such as traveling to pick-up points and transfers.
"These findings suggest that a bus–DRT combination could promote physical activity by increasing the frequency of public transport journeys, regardless of whether people intend to be healthier," said Dr. Kato. "For bus operators and local governments, this highlights a practical co-benefit, cross-sector coordination that could produce measurable public-health gains alongside improved mobility."
The findings were published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
