An integrated assessment of factors affecting modal choice: towards a better understanding of the causal effects of built environment

This paper discusses the methodological challenges in understanding causal relationships between urban form and travel behavior and uses a holistic quasi-experimental approach to investigate the separable marginal influence of each of several urban form factors on mode choice as well as the complex relationships between those factors and a wide range of personal traits. Data analysis and models are used to reveal the effect of such interactions on mode choice for both work and non-work trips in Rome, Italy. It is found that population density does not have a significant marginal positive effect on sustainable mode choice for work trips. Conversely, this factor decreases sustainable mode choice for non-work trips. Small scale street design quality alone increases sustainable mode choice for non-work trips. This is while presence of street network integration alone increases automobile use for all trip purposes. The results point to the importance of incorporating all the urban form factors of diversity, design and street network integration if the goal is to increase the use of more sustainable modes of transportation for both work and non-work trips, but also show that attitudes and preferences can modify the response to urban design factors. The findings suggest that thoughtful policies triggering certain attitudes (cost sensitivity, sensitivity to peer pressure regarding the value attributed to sustainable transportation, and transit preference) can be adopted to significantly increase sustainable mode choice even in the neighborhoods with specific physical restrictions.

[1]  M. Southworth,et al.  Streets and the Shaping of Towns and Cities , 1996 .

[2]  Asad J. Khattak,et al.  Neighbourhood Types, Travel and Body Mass: A Study of New Urbanist and Suburban Neighbourhoods in the US , 2008 .

[3]  Stephane Hess,et al.  On the use of a Modified Latin Hypercube Sampling (MLHS) method in the estimation of a Mixed Logit Model for vehicle choice , 2006 .

[4]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Travel and the Built Environment , 2010 .

[5]  R. Cattell.  The Scree Test For The Number Of Factors. , 1966, Multivariate behavioral research.

[6]  Daniel A. Badoe,et al.  Transportation–land-use interaction: empirical findings in North America, and their implications for modeling , 2000 .

[7]  Ram M. Pendyala,et al.  Analysis of the Role of Traveler Attitudes and Perceptions in Explaining Mode-Choice Behavior , 1999 .

[8]  Daniel Fuller,et al.  The potential modal shift and health benefits of implementing a public bicycle share program in Montreal, Canada , 2013, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

[9]  Assessing the Dimensionality and Factor Structure of Multiple-Choice Exams , 2006 .

[10]  Maria Johansson,et al.  The effects of attitudes and personality traits on mode choice , 2006 .

[11]  C. Bhat,et al.  A Mixed Multinomial Logit Model Analysis of Weekend Recreational Episode Type Choice , 2004 .

[12]  Ruth L. Steiner.  Trip Generation and Parking Requirements in Traditional Shopping Districts , 1998 .

[13]  R. Gifford,et al.  Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior : Predicting the Use of Public Transportation ' , 2002 .

[14]  Roger Mackett,et al.  Why do people use their cars for short trips? , 2003 .

[15]  Pavlos S. Kanaroglou,et al.  Urban Form and Household Activity‐Travel Behavior , 2006 .

[16]  A. Musso,et al.  Improving Urban Mobility Management: Case Study of Rome , 2006 .

[17]  David Banister,et al.  Sustainable urban development and transport -a Eurovision for 2020 , 2000 .

[18]  Paul R. Kinnear,et al.  SPSS 12 Made Simple. , 2005 .

[19]  R. Cervero,et al.  TRAVEL DEMAND AND THE 3DS: DENSITY, DIVERSITY, AND DESIGN , 1997 .

[20]  Michael J. Greenwald,et al.  Walking, Urban Design, and Health , 2008 .

[21]  Susan L Handy,et al.  Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California , 2005 .

[22]  Linda Steg,et al.  INSTRUMENTAL-REASONED AND SYMBOLIC-AFFECTIVE MOTIVES FOR USING A MOTOR CAR , 2001 .

[23]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[24]  P. Rickwood,et al.  Urban Structure and Commuting in Australian Cities , 2009 .

[25]  M. Petticrew,et al.  Promoting walking and cycling as an alternative to using cars: systematic review , 2004, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[26]  Jarrett Walker,et al.  Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking About Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives , 2011 .

[27]  Peter Calthorpe,et al.  Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change , 2010 .

[28]  Bill Hillier,et al.  Network effects and psychological effects: a theory of urban movement , 2005 .

[29]  J. García-Palomares.  Urban sprawl and travel to work: the case of the metropolitan area of Madrid , 2010 .

[30]  Perver K. Baran,et al.  Space Syntax and Walking in a New Urbanist and Suburban Neighbourhoods , 2008 .

[31]  Eric J. Miller,et al.  Urban Form, Energy and the Environment: A Review of Issues, Evidence and Policy , 1996 .

[32]  Lawrence D. Frank,et al.  Land Use and Transportation Interaction , 2000 .

[33]  Georg Wilhelm Theis.  Incorporating attitudes in airline itinerary choice : modeling the impact of elapsed time , 2011 .

[34]  Donald Appleyard,et al.  Livable Streets: Protected Neighborhoods? , 1980 .

[35]  Deborah Marshall,et al.  Constructing experimental designs for discrete-choice experiments: report of the ISPOR Conjoint Analysis Experimental Design Good Research Practices Task Force. , 2013, Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

[36]  B. Hillier,et al.  Rejoinder to Carlo Ratti , 2004 .

[37]  Jordan J. Louviere,et al.  Detecting Attribute by Covariate Interactions in Discrete Choice Models , 2010 .

[38]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[39]  Alan Borning,et al.  An extensible, modular architecture for simulating urban development, transportation, and environmental impacts , 2001, Comput. Environ. Urban Syst..

[40]  Xinyu Cao,et al.  Examining the Impacts of Residential Self‐Selection on Travel Behaviour: A Focus on Empirical Findings , 2009 .

[41]  Bill Hillier,et al.  Space is the machine , 1996 .

[42]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  What Affects Commute Mode Choice: Neighborhood Physical Structure or Preferences Toward Neighborhoods? , 2005 .

[43]  Maria Kamargianni,et al.  Generation Y's Travel Behavior and Perceptions of Walkability Constraints , 2014 .

[44]  Randall Crane,et al.  The Influence of Urban Form on Travel: An Interpretive Review , 2000 .

[45]  P. Mokhtarian,et al.  How do individuals adapt their personal travel? Objective and subjective influences on the consideration of travel-related strategies for San Francisco Bay Area commuters , 2005 .

[46]  K. Shriver.  Influence of Environmental Design on Pedestrian Travel Behavior in Four Austin Neighborhoods , 1997 .

[47]  C. Ratti.  Space Syntax: Some Inconsistencies , 2004 .

[48]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Travel and the Built Environment: A Synthesis , 2001 .

[49]  M. Bierlaire,et al.  ESTIMATION OF VALUE OF TRAVEL-TIME SAVINGS USING MIXED LOGIT MODELS , 2005 .

[50]  Yixiang Long.  The relationships between objective and subjective evaluations of the urban environment: Space Syntax, cognitve maps, and urban legibility , 2008 .

[51]  Michel Bierlaire,et al.  BIOGEME: a free package for the estimation of discrete choice models , 2003 .

[52]  S. Handy,et al.  Factors associated with bicycle ownership and use: a study of six small U.S. cities , 2010 .

[53]  Raktim Mitra,et al.  Built Environment Correlates of Active School Transportation: Neighborhood and the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem , 2011 .

[54]  Caspar G. Chorus,et al.  Traveler response to information , 2007 .

[55]  Chandra R. Bhat,et al.  Investigating Subjective and Objective Factors Influencing Teenagers' School Travel Mode Choice: Integrated Choice and Latent Variable Model , 2015 .

[56]  L. Frank,et al.  Impacts of Mixed Use and Density on Utilization of Three Modes of Travel: Single-Occupant Vehicle, Transit, and Walking , 1994 .

[57]  K. Train.  Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation , 2003 .

[58]  Robert J. Schneider,et al.  Understanding Sustainable Transportation Choices: Shifting Routine Automobile Travel to Walking and Bicycling , 2011 .

[59]  Marco Petrelli,et al.  The impact of land use characteristics for sustainable mobility: the case study of Rome , 2012 .

[60]  Bjørn G. Johansen,et al.  Modelling the effects of personality traits on ridership : The case of high speed rail in Norway , 2013 .

[61]  R. Bucks,et al.  Review of SPSS 12 Made Simple (P.R. Kinnear & C.D. Gray) Psychology Press. , 2005 .

[62]  Moshe Ben-Akiva,et al.  Discrete Choice Analysis: Theory and Application to Travel Demand , 1985 .