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With an increasing interest for electric vehicles (EV) and the associated charging needs, understanding how public charging infrastructure networks impact the adoption of such vehicles is central for planners and policymakers. While most studies are conducted at the regional or national scales, urban contexts present specificities for the deployment of these networks, given the scarcity of private parking spaces and the strong competition for land. Using data from a survey (n = 642) conducted in Montreal, Canada, this work investigates the influence of public charging infrastructure accessibility on EV adoption in an urban context. Three measures of accessibility are analyzed: 1) objective (number of charging stations near home), 2) perceived (perceptions about the current public charging network), and 3) prospective (expectations on the public charging network in five years). The findings reveal the importance of perceived and prospective accessibility measures as opposed to objective ones, and thus demonstrate that the deployment of public charging networks is an issue tied by perceptions. We also find that non-EV owners underestimate their accessibility to public chargers, thereby illustrating how perceptions may vary across individuals. The results suggest that, in addition to expanding the public charging network, efforts aiming at better informing citizens on the presence and the locations of these charging facilities could contribute to increasing EV adoption. This study highlights the importance of perceptions and expectations and provides a nuanced understanding of how integrating accessibility-based policies into electrification plans might speed up EV adoption in metropolitan areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We estimate the price premium of rail accessibility on property prices in Hong Kong. • Access to the rail network raises the property prices significantly. • A significant spatial heterogeneity is revealed across different submarkets. • Repeat sales model shows a larger effect in several new towns along the new lines. • We offer policy implications in light of the regional impact of rail infrastructure. With new rail lines, residents can enjoy higher accessibility and more activity opportunities. However, better access to public transport can potentially increase land prices in catchment areas. In this research, we aim to investigate whether this capitalisation effect goes beyond the conventional catchment area and how such an effect varies across different regions. In a departure from previous studies, we employed a gravity-based accessibility measure to capture the regional impact of rail lines using a cross-sectional analysis of 2001 and 2011 residential apartment data in Hong Kong and a difference-in-difference approach to estimate repeated sales transacted in both years. We used a three-level hierarchical estimation method that allowed the price effect to vary by submarket. The results indicated that the network accessibility of rail lines had a statistically significant capitalisation effect on property prices that varied across different submarkets. Although the three major new rail lines had a greater impact on the built environment in suburban areas, the elasticities in property price with regard to accessibility were still larger in urban areas in both 2001 and 2011. We also establish that the improvements in rail accessibility had a substantially greater effect on the changes in property price between 2001 and 2011 in several new town submarkets along the new lines. From a regional perspective, we conclude that the price effect of new transport infrastructure goes beyond the local catchment areas and call for urban policies that address housing affordability issues across different submarkets in the region and a re-examination of land value capture policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system has been widely acclaimed for its unique 'rail-plusproperty' (R+P) model of operation. However, MTR projects, like other transit-oriented development (TOD) projects, have been under scrutiny as a catalyst for land-price appreciation and gentrification. In this study, we aim to examine the impact of new MTR lines on the spatial distribution of public and private housing estates across Hong Kong since the 1980s. Drawing on housing, transport and census data, we reveal that local improvement in accessibility due to the expansion of the MTR network has attracted private residential developments. This implies that low-income households might have been gradually squeezed out of such prime locations. Based on our findings, we propose recommendations on urban development under the TOD model, with a view to making Hong Kong and other transit cities more socially and spatially just. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on the self-containment of new towns has focused on access to employment and commute travel; little research has been documented regarding access to non-work facilities and its relation to non-work active travel, overlooking an important aspect to assessing the self-containment of new towns. Drawing on multiple sources of data in Hong Kong, we measure walking accessibility to three main types of non-work facilities (markets, restaurants and parks) as major destinations for non-work travel. Through a series of statistical analysis, we investigate in detail the effects of accessibility on the probability and duration of home-based walking trips. Our findings indicate that: (1) new towns were more disadvantaged and less equitable in terms of the accessibility to non-work facilities than urban areas; and (2) accessibility increased both the likelihood and duration of new town residents' walking trips particularly for grocery-shopping and dining-out purposes. The findings indicate that enhancing accessibility to non-work facilities in new towns can be beneficial in terms of both achieving self-containment and promoting more sustainable travel behaviour. Recommendations are proposed accordingly to help create more pedestrian-friendly environment, and balanced provision of non-work facilities in and around new towns and other suburban developments. • Accessibility to non-work facilities is vital to the self-containment of new towns • Walking accessibility to three main types of non-work facilities is measured. • The relationship between accessibility and walking trips is investigated. • Accessibility is lower and less equitable in new towns than urban areas. • Higher accessibility encourages longer walking trips for new-town residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]