<p>Socioeconomic classification criteria for cities.</p>

Therefore, this study investigates how travel distance regulates the shares of highway, railway, and aviation modes in intercity transportation system, and examines the underlying dynamics across multiscale socioeconomic and spatiotemporal contexts.

Using nationwide Location-based Services (LBS) data collected from China, polynomial fitting models were constructed to establish the relationship between travel distance and multi-modal shares. Our results demonstrate the significant role of travel distance in shaping intercity passenger mode shares, with effects that vary substantially across different contexts. Temporally, highway mode share rises for short-to-medium trips during holiday periods such as Spring Festival Travel Rush, while aviation always dominates for long trips.