Purpose.
Test for a causal relationship between neighborhood design and physical activity within the neighborhood by controlling for self-selection.
Design.
Cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal ...analyses of residents of selected neighborhoods.
Setting.
Eight Northern California neighborhoods.
Subjects.
Random sample of 1682 adults stratified by movers (moved within 1 year) and nonmovers (moved > 1 year ago) responding to self-administered mail surveys (24.7% response rate).
Measures.
Self-reported number of days in last 7 days of moderate to vigorous physical activity somewhere in the neighborhood and self-reported change in physical activity in the neighborhood from prior to moving (for movers) or from 1 year ago (for nonmovers).
Analysis.
Zero-inflated Poisson regression for cross-sectional analysis (n = 1497); ordered probit model for quasi-longitudinal analysis (n = 1352).
Results.
After we controlled for physical activity attitudes and neighborhood preferences, selected neighborhood design characteristics were associated with physical activity within the neighborhood and changes in selected neighborhood design characteristics were associated with changes in physical activity within the neighborhood.
Conclusions.
Both cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal analyses provided evidence of a causal impact of neighborhood design. Improving physical activity options, aesthetic qualities, and social environment may increase physical activity. Critical limitations included self-report measures of physical activity, lack of measures of duration and intensity of neighborhood physical activity, lack of measures of total physical activity, and limited measures of preferences related to physical activity.
Trip generation Handy, Susan
Journal of transport and land use,
01/2015, Letnik:
8, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This paper introduces a set of articles about how transportation planners need better tools for estimating trip generation, and to develop better tools we need more data collection, especially ...methods that capture passenger trips by personal vehicles, transit, walking, and bicycling, as well as freight trips. With such data in hand, researchers would be able to develop models that both produce more accurate estimates of vehicle trips and generate trip estimates for other passenger modes and for freight. Such estimates would help to ensure adequate provision for these modes and not just for cars.
Background Between 2003 and 2008, a total of 25 partnerships funded through the Active Living by Design (ALbD) program worked to change built environments and policies in communities to help citizens ...be active in their daily routines. Purpose This paper systematically summarized the scope of ALbD physical projects and policy changes, described resources generated by the partnerships, and highlighted supports and barriers to the process. Methods Using a mixed-methods approach, multiple data sources, including key informant interviews, focus groups, and a web-based tracking system, were used to collect data during project implementation. Qualitative results were analyzed using systematic coding procedures to identify themes, ideas, and concepts derived from the data. Data analysis occurred in 2008–2010. Results Most of the 25 partnerships documented physical projects and policy changes in each of the following sectors: urban planning ( n =16); active transportation ( n =23); trails/parks/recreation/open space ( n =22); communities ( n =22); and schools ( n =18). ALbD community partnerships were successful at generating ∼$256 million in resources beyond their initial grant, mostly through policy changes. Challenges included creating and sustaining political will and community support as well as securing technical expertise and resources. Planning and relationship building were critical to success in changing policy and implementing projects. Conclusions Although there is more to understand about how these change processes affect physical activity and health across populations and settings, as well as how social, cultural, and psychosocial factors influence community responses to the policy changes and physical projects, findings from this initiative provide a foundation for subsequent research and practice.
Communities are increasingly looking to urban design and the concept of the New Urbanism as an effective strategy for reducing automobile dependence in suburban areas. While the available empirical ...evidence suggests that automobile travel is lower in traditional-style neighborhoods, it provides limited insights as to how and why, largely because the research methodologies used have been insufficent for the task. Most of the studies addressing this question fall into three categories: simulation studies, aggregate analyses, and disaggregate analyses. Two other approaches offer greater promise for understanding the relationship between urban form and travel behavior: choice models and activity-based analyses. This paper reviews alternative approaches for exploring the link between urban form and travel behavior, outlines issues and complexities that this research must address, and, finally, suggests that the focus of this research should shift from the search for strategies to change behavior to a search for strategies to provide choices.
•This study uses existing survey data, network GIS analysis, and publicly available weather data to model the relationship between particularly hot conditions and vehicle flow through two of the ...region’s primary entry points and estimate in-basin VMT attributable to travel through them.•This research evaluates several ways of defining “hot conditions” nearby and find that between 500 and 1,200 additional vehicles enter the basin at these two points alone, generating an additional in-basin daily VMT of about 12,000 to 33,000 when hot conditions exist.•Based on estimates, every additional 10 degrees increases traffic flows by approximately 1,200 vehicles over the two entry points to the Basin analyzed here and leads to approximately 27,000 additional daily visitor miles of travel.
The Lake Tahoe Basin of California and Nevada is a popular destination for visitors. As temperatures rise globally, visitation to this climatic refuge is likely to grow. Increased visitation contributes to increases in vehicle miles of travel (VMT), congestion, crashes, emissions, and deteriorating travel experiences at Lake Tahoe, while also contributing to friction between visitors and residents. Policymakers are exploring ways to mitigate these problems, but one key uncertainty to first address is exactly how many visitors are in the Tahoe Basin at a given time and how and where they travel while there. It is also unclear how visitation is influenced by heat in the nearby lower-elevation population centers during the summertime, which is when visitation is the highest. This study thus seeks to 1) quantify day and overnight visitors in the Tahoe Basin, 2) estimate VMT attributable to each group, and 3) model the influence of hot temperatures nearby on visitation and VMT within the Tahoe Basin. We use existing survey data, network GIS analysis, and publicly available weather data to model the relationship between particularly hot conditions and vehicle flow through two of the region’s primary entry points and estimate in-basin VMT attributable to travel through them. We evaluate several ways of defining “hot conditions” nearby and find that between 500 and 1,200 additional vehicles enter the basin at these two points alone, generating an additional in-basin daily VMT of about 12,000 to 33,000 when hot conditions exist. Quantifying the magnitude of the challenge enables managers to design and scale interventions to mitigate impacts.
This paper describes a practical method of adjusting existing Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) estimates to produce more accurate estimates of motor-vehicle trip-generation at developments ...in smart-growth areas. Two linear regression equations, one for an A.M. peak-hour adjustment and one for a P.M. peak-hour adjustment, were developed using vehicle trip counts and easily measured site and surrounding area context variables from a sample of 50 smart-growth sites in California. Many of the contextual variables that were associated with lower vehicle trip generation at the smart-growth study sites were correlated. Therefore, variables representing characteristics such as residential population density, employment density, transit service, metered on-street parking, and building setback distance from the sidewalk were combined into a single "smart-growth factor" that was used in the linear regression equations. The A.M. peak-hour and P.M. peak-hour adjustment equations are only appropriate for planning-level analysis at sites in smart-growth areas. In addition, the method is only appropriate for single land uses in several common categories, such as office, mid- to high-density residential, restaurant, and coffee/donut shop. The method uses data from California, but the methodological approach could provide a framework for adjusting ITE trip-generation estimates in smart-growth areas throughout the United States.
The low mobility of seniors may be due in part to a history of auto-oriented transportation and land use policy decisions. More recently, land use policies that make it possible to drive less show ...promise of effectiveness for the population as a whole. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of such policies for older people. Using data collected from Northern California in 2003, this study explores the ability of neighborhood design to preserve accessibility for the elderly by enabling a shift from driving to transit and walking, controlling for confounding factors. The results show that overall, older people drive less and use alternative modes more often than younger people. After controlling for attitudes and socio-demographics, neighborhood design has limited effects on driving and transit use, but enhancing accessibility tends to be a promising strategy for promoting walking trips. This enhanced accessibility has a much larger effect on the elderly than on the younger. Therefore, neighborhood design seems to be an important aspect of sustaining the accessibility of older people.
Transportation planning researchers use the term “accessibility” to characterize the ability of people to reach jobs, school, healthcare and other services and activities. Disability scholars use ...that term to characterize the ability of people with disabilities to use transportation modes where and when present. In the United States of America (US), transportation policymakers’ use of the latter definition only for minimal legal compliance at the expense of the former definition, without synthesizing both definitions, has led to real-world negative consequences for transportation for people with disabilities, including when new train lines lead to consolidation of bus routes and in regulatory debates about how ridehailing services may serve people with disabilities. Thus, in the context of transportation policy, we propose a new set of terms that, when used consistently, can more accurately distinguish these concepts. These terms are “provider-view availability”, referring to where & when a transportation mode is present or legal to use, “immediate usability”, referring to the ease of interacting with a vehicle or (physical or digital) infrastructure upon encountering it, “user-view availability”, referring to how some people cannot start trips on a given mode due to severe problems with immediate usability, and “cumulative usability”, referring to the challenges that users of a certain mode may face more often as trip times or distances increase. We argue that transportation policymakers in the US could more accurately characterize holistic problems with transportation facing people with disabilities by consistently using these terms and thereby mitigate similar negative consequences going forward.
•Accessibility means different things in planning versus disability justice contexts.•Policymakers consider narrow ADA compliance or planning without disability.•Narrow or exclusionary consideration has hurt people with disabilities in policies.•New terminology could clarify transportation issues specific to disability or not.•New terminology aligns with biopsychosocial models of disability.
Bicyclists as Consumers Popovich, Natalie; Handy, Susan L.
Transportation research record,
01/2014, Letnik:
2468, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The role of bicyclists as consumers is explored through an examination of the relationship between travel mode and shopping behavior. As cities develop policies to combat congestion and reduce ...emissions from the transportation sector, tension often develops when scarce road space must be allocated, particularly in dense urban cores. The challenge is to accommodate all travel modes and ensure that local businesses are not negatively affected by infrastructure changes. Previous studies in the United States and abroad focused primarily on consumable goods, not retail expenditures. These studies demonstrated that bicyclists made more frequent purchases than their car-driving and transit-riding counterparts and tended to shop at small businesses close to home, whereas motorists spent more money on single occasions. The objective of this study was to examine differences in shopping behavior between bicyclists and motorists–-two groups that are in perpetual competition for parking space and other infrastructure accommodations–-in downtown Davis, California. Two cross-sectional online surveys in 2009 and 2010 that asked questions about recent shopping in downtown Davis provide the data set. Respondents who biked on their most recent trips downtown spent, on average, slightly more on their purchases each trip than their car-driving counterparts. Bicyclists also made more frequent shopping trips and thus spent more money at downtown establishments than customers traveling by car.
•We examine three dimensions of commute quality: stress, wasted time, and liking.•Bicycle and train commuters report the highest quality commutes, bus riders the lowest.•Commute quality is strongly ...associated with overall commute satisfaction.•Increasing the opportunity to live near work would increase commute quality and satisfaction.
The quality of a worker’s commute significantly impacts her well-being. We seek to add to the nascent literature on this topic by examining how travel mode, location, and other personal characteristics are associated with perceived commute quality and then by exploring implications for commute satisfaction. We use data from the annual Campus Travel Survey of students and employees at the University of California, Davis and focus on three dimensions of the commute experience: how stressful the commute to campus is, whether travel time is seen as wasted time, and the degree to which commuters like their travel mode. Our analysis shows that commute quality differs by residential location, commute mode, student versus employee status, and gender. Overall, bicycle commuters and train commuters report the highest quality commutes, all else equal; bus riders report the lowest quality commutes; the results for those traveling to campus by car are somewhere in the middle. We also find that all three dimensions of perceived commute quality are strongly associated with overall commute satisfaction. These results point to several different strategies for employers like UC Davis that aim to improve commute quality in order to enhance well-being: improve the quality of each mode, encourage a shift to modes offering higher quality commutes, identify “mis-matched” employees who are not using the mode that would yield the highest commute satisfaction, use social marketing techniques to change perceptions of and preferences for commute options, and increase housing near work sites to enable more commuters to live within bicycling distance.
PDF
