Evaluating the Comprehensive Development Level and Coordinated Relationships of Urban Multimodal Transportation: A Case Study of China’s Major Cities

Urban multimodal transportation effectively meets the diversified travel demand of residents. However, it also generates extensive development problems such as traffic congestion, exhaust emissions and low operational efficiency. Therefore, there is an urgent need in urban sustainable development to achieve the coordinated and stable development of various modes of transportation. In this study, we took 36 major cities in China as the research object; measured the comprehensive development level of urban multimodal transportation; used the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) to research the coordinated development relationship among buses, rail transit, and taxis; and clarified the shortcomings of the coordinated development of multimodal transportation. The results show that the comprehensive development of urban multimodal transportation in China has shown a significant upward trend from 2016 to 2020, with an average annual growth rate of about 7.36%. There are significant differences in the development levels of multimodal transportation in different cities. In addition, the relationship among buses, rail transit, and taxis in the major cities in China presents a state of uncoordinated development. Therefore, the relevant departments of cities should optimize the allocation of transportation resources, in terms of infrastructure construction and operation, according to these development levels and coordination of multimodal transportation.