Research on the Impact of Urban Rail Transit Network Topology on Transfer Convenience: Evidence from 50 Cities Worldwide

Previous research on urban rail transit (URT) transfer convenience mainly focused on the transfer stations, often neglecting the impact of network topology. This paper uses the transfer convenience index to characterize the transfer convenience and extracts the topological indicators, including the collinearity degree, from the URT networks of fifty global cities. Leveraging a back propagation neural network model integrated with SHAP, the study analyzes the transfer convenience and influencing factors of the URT network. Our findings reveal a threshold effect of the collinearity degree on transfer convenience. When the collinearity degree is disregarded, the relationship between the transfer convenience index and the number of transfer stations predominantly aligns with an exponential function model. When the transfer station number exceeds 15, the transfer convenience index reaches its maximum in a ring–radial morphology. The conclusion could help urban planners understand the changing rules of transfer convenience in the URT network, guiding strategic decisions on transfer station placement and network morphology selection.