A research group led by Associate Professor Kimihiro Hino from the Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, analyzed the impact of the newly introduced Haga–Utsunomiya LRT Line (Lightline) on residents’ walking behavior using smartphone-based step count data. The study revealed that residents living within approximately 600 meters of an LRT station significantly increased their average daily step counts after the line’s opening.
Opened in August 2023, the Lightline is Japan’s first newly constructed tram line in 75 years, designed to help realize a “network-based compact city.” It aims to reduce car dependency in regional cities and encourage a shift toward walking and public transport. However, few studies have objectively demonstrated the impact of new railway projects on residents’ walking behavior, and no such empirical evidence had been reported for a regional city in Japan.
The analysis compared smartphone step count data from 397 residents aged 18–65, collected before (November 2022) and after (November 2023) the opening of the Lightline. Using generalized linear mixed models, the researchers found that residents living within 550 meters of a station increased their weekday step counts by 1.15 times (approximately +826 steps), while those within 650 meters increased their holiday step counts by 1.12 times (approximately +626 steps).
These findings suggest that the increase in step counts was not only due to Lightline use itself but also to improved walking accessibility to newly developed commercial and service facilities around the stations.
This study was conducted as part of a collaborative research project between The University of Tokyo and GeoTechnologies, Inc. The research group plans to continue analyzing long-term changes in walking behavior following the Lightline’s introduction to better understand its lasting impacts.
Paper information
Journal: Journal of Transport & Health
Title: The Impact of Introducing New Light Rail on Step Counts: Threshold Distance Analysis in a Japanese Regional City
Authors: Kimihiro Hino*, Ikuho Yamada, Takahiro Yoshida（*Corresponding Author）
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