Understanding suburban commuting characteristics: an empirical study in suburban Dallas

A rapid growth in suburban population over the past two decades has inevitably turned once lightly‐traveled rural roads to heavy traffic highways which require considerable investment for upgrading. However, such a need was not recognized in time to develop suburban‐oriented traffic management strategies, and consequently led to unprecedented levels of suburban congestion. Mobility improvement in suburbs has thus become one of the most pressing transportation issues. In response to increasing public concern on this issue, a flurry of reports and articles have been produced to explore various short‐ and long‐term strategies. However, a vital aspect, namely, a fundamental understanding of suburban commuting behavior, has not been adequately addressed. In this paper, an exploratory analysis is performed to characterize suburban commuting behavior based on a survey conducted at Parkway Center complex in suburban Dallas, Texas. Several key travel characteristic variables are identified in the exploratory analy...