Assessing walking accessibility to public transport stops in Budapest

Inconsistency in the distribution of stops and stations is a critical issue in urban transport systems as an equitable walking distance to public transport stops and stations is required. Thus, a relevant aspect in urban mobility is walking accessibility to public transport stations. In this study, the evaluation of walking accessibility in Budapest, Hungary, is conducted based on predefined threshold times. Spatial analysis with QGIS is used to find the distances between the origins and nearest stations, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method is applied to define the factors of walking accessibility, such as density and public transport types. The novel approach is to integrate the results of the AHP analysis with the outcomes of the spatial analysis to produce accessibility classification maps. The findings indicate that bus services provide the highest accessibility, covering 98 % of the population within a 15 min walk. On the other hand, metro and tram services exhibit significant gaps, particularly in suburban areas. The results show that about 42.8 % of the city require minor accessibility improvements, whereas 33.6 % demand urgent interventions. The Findings highlight the importance of integrating multimodal transport solutions to improve accessibility and promote sustainable mobility as well as to provide insights for urban planners to enhance the efficiency of transport networks.