The built environment and trip chaining behaviour revisited: The joint effects of the modifiable areal unit problem and tour purpose

Empirical research that examines the built environment and travel behaviour has frequently found inconsistent results, which can be attributed to the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) and to different treatments of travel purposes. This study considers these two important issues simultaneously in investigating the association between the built environment and travel behaviour in Beijing, China. Using tours as the analysis unit of travel, this study classifies three tour purposes: subsistence, maintenance and recreation, and identifies seven different spatial units to address the MAUP. Based on data from the 2010 Beijing Comprehensive Travel Survey, this study uses logistic regressions to estimate the primary tour mode and tour complexity. The results identify the ‘ideal’ unit at which the built environment has the greatest association with tours of specific purposes. Such results inform how urban planning and transportation policies can effectively influence travel.

[1]  T. Koepsell,et al.  Association of the built environment with physical activity and obesity in older persons. , 2007, American journal of public health.

[2]  T. Werner.  Activity Based Approaches To Travel Analysis , 2016 .

[3]  P. Zhao.  The Impact of the Built Environment on Individual Workers’ Commuting Behavior in Beijing , 2013 .

[4]  Fred L. Mannering,et al.  Evaluating Effects of Transportation Demand Management Strategies on Trip Generation by Using Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression , 1999 .

[5]  Sun Sheng Han,et al.  Planning parameters and household carbon emission: Evidence from high- and low-carbon neighborhoods in Beijing , 2013 .

[6]  Dagfinn Ås,et al.  Studies of Time-Use: Problems and Prospects: , 1978 .

[7]  D. Scott,et al.  Understanding the Impact of the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem on the Relationship between Active Travel and the Built Environment , 2014 .

[8]  M. Dijst,et al.  Urban Form and Travel Behaviour: Micro-level Household Attributes and Residential Context , 2002 .

[9]  Q. Shen,et al.  Comparing travel mode and trip chain choices between holidays and weekdays , 2016 .

[10]  Alireza Ermagun,et al.  Built environmental impacts on commuting mode choice and distance: evidence from Shanghai , 2017 .

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

[12]  M. Hickman,et al.  Household type and structure, time-use pattern, and trip-chaining behavior , 2007 .

[13]  Donggen Wang,et al.  Built environment diversities and activity–travel behaviour variations in Beijing, China , 2011 .

[14]  H. Timmermans,et al.  Influence of Land Use on Tour Complexity: A Dutch Case , 2006 .

[15]  D. Hensher,et al.  Trip chaining as a barrier to the propensity to use public transport , 2000 .

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

[17]  Douglas Houston,et al.  Implications of the modifiable areal unit problem for assessing built environment correlates of moderate and vigorous physical activity , 2014 .

[18]  R. Cervero.  MIXED LAND-USES AND COMMUTING: EVIDENCE FROM THE AMERICAN HOUSING SURVEY , 1996 .

[19]  Debbie A. Niemeier,et al.  Effect of land use on decisions of shopping tour generation: A case study of three traditional neighborhoods in WA , 2004 .

[20]  Chandra R. Bhat,et al.  A comprehensive daily activity-travel generation model system for workers , 2000 .

[21]  Qing Shen,et al.  How do built-environment factors affect travel behavior? A spatial analysis at different geographic scales , 2014 .

[22]  S. Srinivasan,et al.  An analysis of multiple interepisode durations using a unifying multivariate hazard model , 2005 .

[23]  Harry Timmermans,et al.  Capturing tour mode and activity choice interdependencies: A co-evolutionary logit modelling approach , 2007 .

[24]  Chinh Q. Ho,et al.  Tour-based mode choice of joint household travel patterns on weekend and weekday , 2013 .

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

[26]  Joffre Swait,et al.  Distinguishing taste variation from error structure in discrete choice data , 2000 .

[27]  Ming Zhang,et al.  Metrics of Urban Form and the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem , 2005 .

[28]  A S Fotheringham,et al.  The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem in Multivariate Statistical Analysis , 1991 .

[29]  Michael Fox,et al.  Transport planning and the human activity approach , 1995 .

[30]  Xin Ye,et al.  An Exploration of the Relationship Between Mode Choice and Complexity of Trip Chaining Patterns , 2007 .

[31]  Chandra R. Bhat,et al.  A Comprehensive Analysis of Built Environment Characteristics on Household Residential Choice and Auto Ownership Levels , 2007 .

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

[33]  Marlon G. Boarnet,et al.  The influence of land use on travel behavior: specification and estimation strategies , 2001 .

[34]  E. I. Pas.  The Effect of Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics on Daily Travel-Activity Behavior , 1984 .

[35]  Yoram Shiftan,et al.  Practical Approach to Model Trip Chaining , 1998 .

[36]  A. Heppenstall,et al.  Daily travel behaviour in Beijing, China: An analysis of workers' trip chains, and the role of socio-demographics and urban form , 2014 .

[37]  Erik Elldér,et al.  Residential location and daily travel distances: the influence of trip purpose , 2014 .

[38]  Chao Liu,et al.  Exploring the influence of built environment on tour-based commuter mode choice: A cross-classified multilevel modeling approach , 2014 .

[39]  Robert B. Noland,et al.  Multivariate Analysis of Trip-Chaining Behavior , 2005 .

[40]  Graham Currie,et al.  Exploring the trip chaining behaviour of public transport users in Melbourne , 2011 .

[41]  Jianguo Wu,et al.  The modifiable areal unit problem and implications for landscape ecology , 1996, Landscape Ecology.

[42]  F. Witlox,et al.  Commuting trips within tours: how is commuting related to land use? , 2011 .

[43]  Ming Zhang,et al.  Influence of Urban Form on Travel Behavior in Four Neighborhoods of Shanghai , 2009 .

[44]  Louis A. Merlin.  Measuring Community Completeness: Jobs—Housing Balance, Accessibility, and Convenient Local Access to Nonwork Destinations , 2014 .