•A study in Oslo and Stavanger, Norway shows clear effects of the built environment on auto ownership.•Combined cross-sectional, longitudinal and qualitative data improves the evidence of ...causality.•The distance from the dwelling to the main city center has an important effect on auto ownership.•Outward residential relocation tends to increase car ownership and inward relocation to reduce it.•Neighborhood density variables also exert important influences.
Based on a study in the Oslo and Stavanger metropolitan areas in Norway combining quantitative and qualitative methods, this paper sheds light on influences of built environment characteristics on auto ownership. In both metropolitan areas, the distance from the dwelling to the main city center, a measure of regional destination accessibility, has an important effect on auto ownership. A quasi-longitudinal analysis shows that outward residential relocation tends to increase auto ownership and inward relocation to reduce it. Neighborhood density variables including population and employment also exert important influences. The analysis of qualitative interview material substantiates the causal mechanism about the effects of the built environment characteristics on auto ownership.
•This study the employs gradient boosting decision trees approach.•It explores nonlinear influences of local, regional, and transit accessibility on car ownership.•Local accessibility is more ...important than transit access and regional accessibility.•Nonlinear and threshold effects are prevalent.•This study identifies the most effective ranges of accessibility measures.
Using a 2017 travel survey dataset and crawled heatmaps and point-of-interests (POIs) data in Beijing, China, this study adopts a gradient boosting decision trees (GBDT) algorithm to measure the relative importance and nonlinear effects of local accessibility, regional accessibility, and transit access on household car ownership. Results show that local accessibility measures such as retail and service density and job density play a more critical role in predicting auto ownership than transit access, while regional access to city centers is the least important. Thus, for reducing car ownership, planning efforts should emphasize improving local accessibility through planning pedestrian-scale neighborhoods (i.e., life-circles). Moreover, nonlinear associations between accessibility measures and car ownership are common. The results suggest that within the 15-min neighborhood life circle, there should be 65–145 retail and service facilities per km2 and block size should be within 150–200 m. Furthermore, residential neighborhoods should be within 400 m of bus stops and 1200 m of metro stations. These findings provide meaningful policy implications for planning pedestrian-scale neighborhoods recently advocated in Chinese cities.
Many studies have measured residential and travel preferences to address residential self-selection and they often focused on the average or independent effect of the built environment on travel ...behavior. However, individuals' behavioral responses to built environment interventions may vary by their different tastes. Using the 2011 data from the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area, this study examines the influences of neighborhood type, travel attitudes, and their interaction terms on commute mode choice. The interactions between neighborhood type and travel attitudes have no significant impact on driving commute frequency whereas the effects of neighborhood type on the propensity for transit commute differ by transit preference. Specifically, urban consonants (including those in LRT neighborhoods) have the highest propensity for transit commute, followed by suburban dissonants, urban dissonants, and then suburban consonants. Therefore, individuals' heterogeneous responses to built environment elements should be taken into account in future research and in the design of land use and transportation policies aiming to shape urban travel.
•The interaction between neighborhood type and travel attitudes on commute frequencies is examined.•The impact of neighborhood type on driving frequency is independent of travel attitudes.•The impact of neighborhood type on transit frequency depends on the level of travel attitudes.•Urban consonants use transit the most, followed by suburban dissonants, urban dissonants, and suburban consonants.
Although many studies have explored the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior, the literature offers limited evidence about the collective influence of built environment ...attributes, and their non-linear effects on travel. This study innovatively adopts gradient boosting decision trees to fill the gaps. Using data from Oslo, we apply this method to the data on both weekdays and weekends to illustrate the differential effects of built environment characteristics on driving distance. We found that they have a stronger effect on weekdays than on weekends. On weekdays, their collective influence is larger than that of demographics. Furthermore, they show salient non-linear effects on driving distance in both models, challenging the linearity assumption commonly adopted in the literature. This study also identifies effective ranges of distance to different centers and population density, and highlights the important role of sub-centers in driving reduction.
•Residential congruence affects residential satisfaction.•Significant neighborhood attributes differ by time of stay in the neighborhoods.•Safety and amenities are neighborhood improvement ...priorities.
Previous studies have overwhelmingly focused on the effects of objective and/or perceived neighborhood characteristics on residential satisfaction. Little attention has been paid to residential preferences and their realization. This study hypothesizes that residential satisfaction is different for individuals whose residence is located in a neighborhood with characteristics that match their preferences and those whose residence is located in a neighborhood with characteristics that do not match their preferences. Therefore, residential satisfaction depends upon whether perceived neighborhood characteristics match the resident’s preferences for the characteristics. Using data from the Twin Cities, this study explores two related issues: the impact of mismatched neighborhood characteristics on residential satisfaction and the impact of perceived neighborhood characteristics on residential satisfaction. We find that using mismatched neighborhood characteristics or perceived neighborhood characteristics as explanatory variables produces somewhat different environmental correlates of residential satisfaction. Findings from this study suggest that improving parks and open space, neighborhood safety, and neighborhood appearance is important to enhance residential satisfaction of existing residents.
•We compare transit use of residents in LRT corridor and control corridors well served by bus transit.•People moving into LRT corridor before its opening use transit more than those in control ...corridors.•Transit use of people moving into LRT corridor after its opening is similar to that of urban controls.•LRT-related land use and transportation policies are necessary for ridership growth.
Rail transit is often implemented in the corridors already with high transit demand. When evaluating its ridership benefits, previous studies often choose the city/county/region as control groups, rather than comparable corridors without rail, and hence overstate its impacts. In this study, we employ propensity score matching to explore the impact of Hiawatha light rail transit (LRT) on transit use. We find that compared to residents in similar urban corridors, the Hiawatha LRT promotes transit use of residents who have lived in the corridor before its opening, and that residents who moved to the corridor after its opening use transit as often as new residents in the comparable urban corridors without LRT. We conclude that besides LRT, land use and transportation policies are necessary for ridership growth.
► This research decomposes the shopping process of a group of search goods. ► The media of information search and product trial are important predictors of transaction medium. ► The medium for ...awareness is the most important predictor. ► Travel demand due to shopping medium switching is not substantial.
Internet facilitates hybrid shopping processes by enabling consumers to acquire information, experience product, and conduct transaction using different media (e.g., internet, store, and catalog) at different locations at different times. Although several studies have explored how internet transactions and store sales influence each other, few investigated transportation implications of the hybrid shopping process of single products. Using 540 internet users in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, USA, this study decomposed their shopping processes of a group of search goods (books, CDs, VCDs, videotapes, and album) to understand the relationships of e-shopping and store shopping. We found the media for product awareness, information search, and product trial are important predictors of transaction medium; and the awareness medium is the most important. Further, 17% of store buyers used internet for information search and/or product trial, and about 10% of internet buyers made trips to store to acquire information and/or experience product. The findings carry implications for marketing strategies and travel demand analysis.
Many studies have found that residents living in suburban neighborhoods drive more and walk less than their counterparts in traditional neighborhoods. This evidence supports the advocacy of smart ...growth strategies to alter individuals’ travel behavior. However, the observed differences in travel behavior may be more of a residential choice than a travel choice. Applying the seemingly unrelated regression approach to a sample from Northern California, we explored the relationship between the residential environment and nonwork travel frequencies by auto, transit, and walk/bicycle modes, controlling for residential self-selection. We found that residential preferences and travel attitudes (self-selection) significantly influenced tripmaking by all three modes, and also that neighborhood characteristics (the built environment and its perception) retained a separate influence on behavior after controlling for self-selection. Both preferences/attitudes and the built environment itself played a more prominent role in explaining the variation in non-motorized travel than for auto and transit travel. Taken together, our results suggest that if cities use land use policies to offer options to drive less and use transit and non-motorized modes more, many residents will tend to do so.
► We model neighbourhood characteristics and travel behaviour using quasi longitudinal data. ► structural equations model is used to find determinants in travel behaviour changes. ► more people are ...exposed to public transport access, the more likely they drive less. ► A social environment with vitality also reduces the amount of private car travel.
The objective of this study is to explore whether changes in neighbourhood characteristics bring about changes in travel choice. Residential self-selection is a concern in the connections between land-use and travel behaviour. The recent literature suggests that a longitudinal structural equations modelling (SEM) approach can be a powerful tool to assess the importance of neighbourhood characteristics on travel behaviour as opposed to the attitude-induced residential self-selection. However, the evidence to date is limited to particular geographical areas and evidence from one country might not be transferrable to another because of differences in land-use patterns and land-use policies. The paper is to address the gap by extending the evidence using British data. The case study is based on the metropolitan area of Tyne and Wear, North East of England, UK. A SEM is applied to 219 respondents who reported residential relocation. The results identify that neighbourhood characteristics do influence travel behaviour after controlling for self-selection. For instance, the more people are exposed to public transport access, the more likely they drive less. Neighbourhood characteristics also impact through their influence on car ownership. A social environment with vitality also reduces the amount of private car travel. These findings suggest that land-use policies at neighbourhood level can play an important role in reducing driving.
Planning for quality of life is generally conceptual because empirical studies are limited. Most of them focus on environmental amenities and have yet to consider other dimensions of neighborhood ...design. More importantly, previous studies are not based on theoretical frameworks and hence have a limited capacity to reveal the mechanisms underlying neighborhood design and life satisfaction. This study adapts Campbell’s model to connect neighborhood characteristics and life satisfaction through perceptions and residential satisfaction. It applies structural equations models to the data from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Land use mix simultaneously imposes positive and negative impacts on life satisfaction although its total effect is insignificant. Both high density and poor street connectivity are detrimental to life satisfaction, but street connectivity is much more influential than density. To enhance life satisfaction, planners should limit poor-connectivity neighborhoods and implement strategies to promote positive responses of land use mix.
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