The aim of this study was to exmine the influence of combined urban form and land use on the vibrancy in urban areas within a geographical boundary for walkers. A geographical boundary is defined as a block group surrounded by expressways and arterials, based on findings in previous studies. Spatial regression was performed with mobile signal data representing the degree of vitality within the defined areal unit as a dependent variable, and explanatory variables measured by urban form hierarchy were used to consider both natural and built environments. The outcome helps comprehend the physical and functional forms of vibrant neighborhood environments. The result implies the importance of highly desirable features for walking- or transit-friendly neighborhoods. It also indicates the right combination of land uses needed to support the daily lives of local residents: little lost space, short blocks, well-connected streets, short distances to transit stations, and proximity to essential facilities. This study suggests a new way of defining a spatial unit for vitality analysis and shows the critical roles of both natural and built environments in activating local vitality. These findings establish the groundwork for designing better neighborhoods, especially for an area composed of local streets and collector roads.

The Korean government has announced plans to supply electrified buses to achieve decarbonization in the transportation sector and to create next-generation growth engines. Although a multitude of technical and political studies have been conducted to support the successful introduction of electrified buses, studies on the attitudes and perceptions of passengers toward electrified buses remain insufficient. To evaluate the perceptions and preferences of potential passengers toward the specific attributes of electrified buses, this study performed an online survey (N = 586) that includes people who had experienced travel on public buses. Values of the relative importance of eight different attributes—safety, ride comfort, environmental friendliness, exterior design, cleanliness, crowding, seat comfort, and convenience getting on/off—were evaluated using the best-worst scaling method. The results showed that safety (share of preference: 41.3%) was the most important attribute when using electrified buses. This was followed by eco-friendliness (14.3%) and ride comfort (13.6%). On the other hand, the least important attribute was exterior design (1.8%). Gender differences were also observed in the valuation of certain attributes among the passenger preferences toward electrified buses. The results of this study contribute to the development of strategies for the wide-spread adoption of electrified buses and provide a stepping-stone to a more sustainable public transportation system.