Research on the coupling degree of regional taxi demand and social development from the perspective of job–housing travels

Due to the urban industrial transformation and upgrading in China, the relationship between residential and employment spaces in large cities has changed significantly, resulting in an increasingly prominent job–housing separation phenomenon. Based on the taxi GPS trajectory data, this paper firstly analyzes the time and space distribution of job–housing–travel and the commuting characteristics of residents. Then, we construct the evaluation index systems of regional jobs–housing–taxi demand and regional social development level for Beijing. After calculating the weight of each index by using an entropy weight method, we analyze the coupling relationship between regional taxi demand and social development by building the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM). Conclusions are as follows: Firstly, it shows imbalance of space distribution of taxi orders in different administrative and functional areas. The order quantity gradually decreases from the main urban area to the edge, with the most in the living area, accounting for 46.23% of the total orders. Secondly, the daily variation trend of taxi orders in different functional areas is significantly different. During the morning rush hour, taxi orders flow out of residential areas and into office areas; however, during the evening rush hour, they flow out of the office and into the living area. For example, the residence area has a higher proportion of getting on passengers during the morning rush hour, which is 1.46 times that of the getting off ones. Thirdly, a low coupling coordination degree is observed between the regional social development level and the job–housing–taxi demand in Beijing, with a gradually decreasing from the main urban area to the outside, which is mainly caused by the imbalance between supply and demand. Therefore, it is suggested that the relevant government departments should formulate specific control schemes to traffic congestion according to local commuting features, and promote job–housing balance. Meanwhile, the taxi resources are supposed to be allocated reasonably by the striving to information symmetry, to promote the coordination and sustainability between the regional job–housing–taxi demand and social development level.