Ridership patterns at subway stations of Seoul capital area and characteristics of station influence area

An enormous amount of transit data, created when people use their transportation cards, is being used effectively as smart card-based fare payment systems are being widely implemented. In Korea, the transportation card was first introduced by the Seoul Special City government in 1996 on its local bus services and has been compatible with the metropolitan subway system since 2000. Public transit card data can be used for many studies including determining the flow of transit passengers, which makes it possible to establish effective land development and transportation policies at a national level. In this paper, we aim to identify the daily travel patterns of metropolitan subway passengers as they move through stations using clustering analysis and reveal the relationship between land cover and demographic factors by using regression analysis. The main functions are confirmed in accordance with the intended use of each station and classified into five types. Moreover, we identified the features and influencing factors of the station influence area utilizing demographic data and a land cover map. The results obtained by clustering and regression analysis showed the clear relationship between travel patterns and the other characteristics in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The results of this study could be important for national development strategies and traffic planning.