Impact of High-speed Rail on Destination Accessibility: A Case Study of China

ABSTRACT

The massive construction of high-speed rail (HSR) in China has changed tourists’ choice for transportation and shortened travel time, thus improving the accessibility of destinations. The principal goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of HSR on accessibility. With the ArcGIS network analysis toolkit, this paper calculates the market potential of destination cities, using 336 prefecture level municipalities in China as samples. It then measures the impact of HSR on accessibility to these cities, giving consideration to multiple modes of transportation, namely: aviation, high-speed rail and expressway. The study finds that HSR has become the top priority of transport in the context of short and medium-range travel distance for tourists. Meanwhile, thanks to HSR, the market potential of all cities in China has increased by 12.8%, the improvement being more significant for small- and medium-sized cities especially. In addition, HSR also strengthens the centrality of city with the hub airport. Lastly, regional differences in accessibility are expanded by HSR at a national level.

摘要

中国高铁的大规模建设改变了旅游者对交通方式的选择, 新的交通方式或交通方式组合缩短了旅游者的旅行时间, 从而提高了目的地的可达性。本文以中国336个地级行政区和直辖市为样本, 综合考虑了航空, 高速公路和高铁多种交通方式, 利用ArcGIS网络分析方法计算了目的地城市的市场潜能, 以测度高铁对目的地城市可达性的影响。研究发现, 高铁改变了旅游者对交通方式的选择, 中短程距离内高铁成为主要方式。高铁使全国所有城市的市场潜能提高了12.8%, 中小城市的提高更为显著。高铁也强化了航空枢纽城市的中心性。从全国尺度看, 高铁扩大了可达性的区域差异。

KEYWORDS:

• High Speed Rail
• market potential
• accessibility
• transportation mode choice
• GIS

关键词:

• 高铁
• 市场潜能
• 可达性
• 交通方式选择
• 地理信息系统

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. China HSR website (http://news.gaotie.cn/yunying/2017-08-15/414584.html).

2. Civil Aviation Administration of China. (2015). Statistical Bulletin of Civil Aviation Industry Development in 2014. Retrieved from website: http://www.caac.gov.cn/en/HYYJ/NDBG/201602/t20160216_28397.html.

3. Civil Aviation Administration of China. (2015). Statistical Bulletin of Civil Aviation Industry Development in 2014. Retrieved from website: http://www.caac.gov.cn/en/HYYJ/NDBG/201602/t20160216_28397.html.

4. China General Railway Company. (2015). China Railway Yearbook 2015. Beijing: CGRC.

5. Ministry of Transport of People’s Republic of China. (2015). China Highway Atlas 2015. Beijing: China Communications Press.

6. It is measured according to the mileage of the expressway.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [41001068].

Notes on contributors

Jin Weng

Jin Weng is Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. His research interests are in tourism economics and tourism destination development (E-mail: [email protected]).

Xiaolin Zhu

Xiaolin Zhu is Graduate Student in the Department of Tourism at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Her research interests are in tourism destination development and tourism geography (E-mail: [email protected]).

Xin Li

Xin Li is Graduate Student in Department of Tourism at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. His research interests are in regional economics and tourism destination development (E-mail: [email protected]).