Green space exposure at subway stations, transportation mode choice and travel satisfaction

Access to subway stations is important for daily commuting, but scant attention has been given to green space exposure at subway station areas in people’s residential neighbourhoods and workplace areas. This paper focuses on the association between street-level green space exposure around subway stations at residential and work locations and people’s choice of subway as their primary commuting mode and travel satisfaction, using street view data and survey data in Beijing, China. Street view data and a machine learning approach were used to measure both street view green space quantity (SVG-quantity) and street view green space quality (SVG-quality). The results suggested that SVG-quantity and SVG-quality generate differential effects on subway use and travel satisfaction under residential and workplace contexts. Findings of this study highlight the complementary effects of green space and travel infrastructure provision in shaping travel behaviour and wellbeing in residential neighbourhood and workplace contexts.