Exploring changes in public transport use and walking following residential relocation: a British case study
Paulus Teguh Aditjandra, Xinyu (Jason) Cao, Corinne Mulley
2015
Journal of Transport and Land Use
The promotion of local sustainable travel is ever prominent within local transport plans, although it is still not well understood how the change to more sustainable and less carbon-based travel can be achieved. The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the travel choice mechanism following residential relocation. This paper uses a structural equations model and an ordered model to explore the drivers of public transport and walking use within an urban environment, using
more »
... quasi-longitudinal dataset from 10 communities in the metropolitan area of Tyne and Wear, in northeast England. The results show that changes in public transport use are determined by accessibility features of the built environment, alongside socio-demographic and travel attitude characteristics. Changes in walking, on the other hand, are determined mostly by built-environment characteristics. These findings suggest that a different approach is needed for the promotion of public transport use than for increasing walking trips (aside from walking to access public transport). The provision of public transport services needs to take into account the importance of the value of transport to users, to sufficiently attract and retain them. To promote walking, policy must focus on changes to the built environment (such as safety, travel accessibility, and the sociability of the environment), since it is changes in these characteristics that drive walking in the urban area. about the effect of the built environment on travel behavior (see, for example, Banister 2012; Ewing and Cervero 2010), there is still limited evidence of the mechanism or causality behind observed changes in travel behavior, especially in terms of public transport use, within a European context. Evidence from Northern California demonstrated that, after controlling for attitudes and changes in socio-demographic characteristics, changes in automobile use are affected by changes in spaciousness and accessibility of built-environment characteristics, while changes in walking trips are associated with changes in attractiveness, physical activity options, safety, and social aspects (Cao, Mokhtarian, and Handy 2007). The data from North East England showed that changes in driving behavior are affected by changes in safety factors, shopping accessibility, and social factors (Aditjandra, Cao, and Mulley 2012). This paper aims to report the analysis of changes in public transport use and walking, following residential relocation, using quasi-longitudinal household survey data from 10 selected neighborhoods in North East England collected in spring 2007. This study is one of the few applications of the structural equation model on quasi-longitudinal data that offers insights into the link between neighborhood design and travel choices. Recent research progress in Europe During the past three decades, land-use and travel-behavior research has enhanced our understanding of how transport engineers and planners use the tools of land-use and transportation planning to achieve sustainability that is economically efficient, environmentally sound, and socially acceptable. North American studies have demonstrated that density (including population, dwelling unit, and employment), diversity (land-use mix), design (street network characteristics), destination accessibility, distance to public transport, demand management (including parking) and demographics are the key drivers that influence travel behavior (Ewing and Cervero 2010). Attitudes in the context of residential self-selection were also found to influence travel behavior (Cao, Mokhtarian, and Handy 2009). Furthermore, the issue of quality of life through the impact of (physical) health and carbon emissions has also been identified as contributing to the way in which land-use policies shape travel behavior (Glaeser and Kah 2010; Heath et al. 2006) . Recent developments in land-use and travel-behavior research, based on the extensive North American literature, have emphasized the process of plans and place-making and
doi:10.5198/jtlu.2015.588
fatcat:gdlsmf33jbanvlrpllygye4tfu