Conceptualising convenience: Transportation practices and perceptions of inner-urban high density residents in Brisbane,Australia

High-density living in inner-urban areas has been promoted to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of travel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, previous research presents mixed results on the relationship between living in proximity to transport systems and reduced car-dependency. This research examines inner-city residents’ transportation practices and perceptions, via 24 qualitative interviews with residents from high-density dwellings in inner-city Brisbane, Australia. Whilst participants consider public transport accessible and convenient, car use continues to be relied on for many journeys. Transportation choices are justified through complex definitions of convenience containing both utilitarian and psycho-social elements, with three key themes identified: time-efficiency, single versus multi-modal trips, and distance to and purpose of journey, as well as attitudinal, affective and symbolic elements related to transport mode use. Understanding conceptions of transport convenience held by different segments of the transport users market, alongside other factors strongly implicated in travel mode choice, can ensure targeted improvements in sustainable transport service levels and infrastructure as well as information service provision and behavioural change campaigns.     

Circuity in urban transit networks

This paper investigates the circuity of transit networks and examines auto mode share as a function of circuity and accessibility to better understand the performance of urban transit systems. We first survey transit circuity in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, region in detail, comparing auto and transit trips. This paper finds that circuity can help to explain mode choices of commuters. We then investigate thirty-five additional metropolitan areas in the United States. The results from these areas show that transit circuity exponentially declines as travel time increases. Moreover, we find that the circuity of transit networks is higher than that of road networks, illustrating how transit systems choose to expand their spatial coverage at the expense of directness and efficiency in public transportation networks. This paper performs a regression analysis that suggests the circuity of transportation networks can estimate transit accessibility, which helps to explain mode share.     

Built environment effects on leisure travel for children: Trip generation and travel mode

This study empirically analyzed the effects of built environment on leisure travel among children. Students of three elementary schools, namely Yangmingshan, Sanyu and Shilin, all located in the Shilin District of Taipei, were chosen to provide sample data. The negative binomial regression model and multinomial logit model were used to analyze trip generation and travel mode, respectively. This study reached the following empirical findings: (1) mixed land use, employment density, walkway quality, leisure facility supply and leisure travel distance encouraged generation of leisure trips for children; (2) intersection density, building density, employment density and walkway quality encouraged a child to use transit systems or non-motorized travel modes for leisure travel; and (3) vehicle density and leisure travel distance discouraged walking and biking but encouraged the use of transit systems for leisure travel involving children. Local government can use the empirical findings of this study to develop urban planning strategies to encourage children to perform leisure activities outside the home using transit systems or non-motorized travel modes.     

Disentangling the behavioural side of the first and last mile problem: the role of modality style and the built environment

The first and last mile (FLM) problem, namely the poor connection between trip origins or destination and public transport stations, is a significant obstacle to sustainable transportation as it is likely to encourage the use of cars for FLM travel, if not for the entire trip. This study examines the role of modality style and built environment in FLM mode choice behaviour, in order to identify the key features that might invoke a travel mode shift from cars to more sustainable travel options for both mandatory and discretionary trips. More specifically, this study draws on disaggregate data from the South East Queensland household travel survey and presents a latent class choice model to unravel modality style groups. Results reveal two distinct individual-level modality style groups: (1) driving and walking oriented; (2) multimodal travellers. Individuals in the second modality style group were found to be relatively inelastic to FLM travel time for mandatory trips, while individuals in the first group were largely unaffected by built environment characteristics and highly habitual in their mode choice behaviour for both mandatory and discretionary trips. Home residence environments with high road intersection density and public transport accessibility, and home residence environments with diverse land use mix, respectively encourage individuals within the second modality style to walk for mandatory trips, and discretionary trips. To this end, when place-based policies seek to change certain built environment features, individuals in the second modality style are more likely to shift their preference from cars to more sustainable modes. Finally, our findings have practical planning implications in targeting mode shift through highlighting the importance of considering the intersection of individual modality style in a given locale and mode choice behaviour. More specifically, our findings advocate for place-based policies that seek to target particular locales with the certain modality style deemed to be more predisposed to adopting a mode shift.     

Analysing the spatial-temporal characteristics of bus travel demand using the heat map

As the basic travel service for urban transit, bus services carry the majority of urban passengers. The characterisation of urban residents' transit trips can provide a first-hand reference for the evaluation, management and planning of public transport. Over the past two decades, data from smart cards have become a new source of travel survey data, providing more comprehensive spatial-temporal information about urban public transport trips. In this paper, a multi-step methodology for mining smart card data is developed to analyse the spatial-temporal characteristics of bus travel demand. Using the bus network in Guangzhou, China, as a case study, a smart card dataset is first processed to quantitatively estimate the travel demand at the bus stop level. The term ‘bus service coverage’ is introduced to map the bus travel demand from bus stops to regions. This dataset is used to create heat maps that visualise the regional distribution of bus travel demand. To identify the distribution patterns of bus travel demand, two-dimensional principal component analysis and principal component analysis are applied to extract the features of the heat maps, and the Gaussian mixture model is used for the feature clustering. The proposed methodology visually reveals the spatial-temporal patterns of bus travel demand and provides a practical set of visual analytics for transit trip characterisation.     

Estimating social travel demand of senior citizens in the Netherlands

Like many other countries, the Netherlands is experiencing a sharp rise in the ageing population. As age increases, people’s mobility may decrease. However, older people have more leisure time compared to their younger (working) counterparts, and potentially spend more time on social activities. Therefore, this group can possibly increase social travel demand. However, to date, the travel demand for social activities of senior citizens has received only little attention. This paper studies trip-making for social purposes, with a special focus on the demographic ageing factors. Using social activity diary data, models are estimated to predict the number of social trips, the travel distance and mode of transport for social trips. The results indicate that the elderly of today seem to be as mobile as their younger counterparts with respect to the number of social trips. High education and involvement in clubs on average result in more social trips and full time work is found to result in fewer social trips. With regard to trip distance the results show that the average travel distance does not decrease as people get older. Full time work is found to result in longer social trips. Shorter trips were found for people in urban as well as rural areas. Trips for the purpose of visiting or joint activities tend to be longer than average. With regard to transport mode choice the results indicate that older seniors (75+) are less likely to choose the bicycle, relative to driving. No other significant age effects were found. Significant effects were found for gender, household structure, education level, car ownership, having a disability, urban density, distance and the purpose of the social activity.     

Greenhouse gas impacts of different modality style classes using latent class travel behavior model

This study analyzed the interconnections between urban structure and socioeconomic, demographic and lifestyle variables and direct ground transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Helsinki metropolitan region in Finland by using a latent class choice model (LCCM). The aim of the study was to identify and improve our understanding of the latent modality styles which guide people's everyday travel choices, and the resulting GHG implications. The GHG implications for different modality style groups are particularly interesting, since such analysis has not been included in previous studies. This study used the transport survey of the Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) from 2012, including over 17,000 trips, and consisted of two parts: first, the population was divided into classes based on latent class analysis, and secondly, the mode choices and GHG emissions were modelled for each class. Seven modality style groups were defined with strongly varying GHG impacts and travel profiles. According to the class specific choice modelling the probabilities of selecting different modes also varied significantly. The study offers new information for designing effective mitigation policies for different types of modality style groups. For example, car-oriented groups would benefit from more fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles with alternative power sources, whereas the multimodal traveler could be more receptive to policies promoting cycling and public transport. Overall, the study depicts the potential of the latent class method to study the emissions caused by heterogeneous populations and to search for efficient GHG mitigation possibilities.     

Exploring the trip chaining behaviour of public transport users in Melbourne

This paper explores trip chaining behaviour of Melbourne residents using evidence from a household travel survey. The research literature has suggested that trip-making behaviour has grown increasingly complex as modern life has become busier and people grow time-poor. Complex trip chains have been said to require flexible travel modes, and for this reason some research has suggested that public transport is limited in this regard compared to the private car. Results of this study show that between 1994 and 1999 the complexity of trip chains was relatively stable and the complexity of chains was found to be larger for rail and tram than for car-based trips. Disaggregate analyses compare the complexity of chains based on work versus non-work chains, the purpose of stops on the chain, and whether the chain entered the central city of Melbourne or not. Overall these findings suggest a less bleak outlook for public transport ridership in a travel future which is said to be becoming more complex.     

Uncovering the spatiotemporal patterns of CO2 emissions by taxis based on Individuals' daily travel

Traffic-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions have become a major problem in cities. Especially, the CO₂ emissions induced by taxis account for a high proportion in total CO₂ emissions. The availability of taxi trajectory data presents new opportunities for addressing CO₂ emissions induced by taxis. Few previous studies have analyzed the impact of human trips on CO₂ emissions. This paper investigates trip-related CO₂ emission patterns based on individuals' travel behavior using taxi trajectory data. First, we propose a trip purpose inference method that takes into account the spatiotemporal attractiveness of POIs to divide human trips into different types. Further, we reveal the spatiotemporal patterns of CO₂ emissions from various types of trips, including temporal regularity and periodicity as well as spatial distribution of “black areas”. Finally, comparative analysis of CO₂ emissions for different kinds of trips based on trip behavior is conducted using three variables, namely trip distance, trip duration and trip speed. This study is helpful for us to understand how to make travel and cities more sustainable through modifying people's trip behaviors or taxi trips.     

The influence of socioeconomic characteristics,land use and travel time considerations on mode choice for medium- and longer-distance trips

This paper contributes to the limited number of investigations into the influence of the spatial configuration of land use and transport systems on mode choice for medium- and longer-distance travel (defined here as home-based trips of 50 km and over) in the Netherlands. We have employed data from the 1998 Netherlands National Travel Survey to address the question as to how socioeconomic factors, land use attributes, and travel time affect mode choice for medium- and longer-distance travel, and how their role varies across trip purposes: commuting, business, and leisure. The empirical analysis indicates that land use attributes and travel time considerations are important in explaining the variation in mode choice for medium- and longer-distance travel when controlling for the socioeconomic characteristics of travellers.     

Expanding the positive utility of travel through weeklong tracking: Within-person and multi-environment variability of ideal travel time

Travel has been found to have a positive utility—often measured as a desire for non-zero travel time. Although past studies have found that desired travel time varies by trip attributes, they often focused on a single trip purpose (e.g., commute) or single time point (e.g., peak period of one day) and rarely captured variation within individuals and across multiple travel environments. To address these limitations, we employed a smartphone-based travel behavior survey of 186 users making 4397 trips in the Washington, DC, and Blacksburg, VA metropolitan areas. For each user, multiple trips were recorded and the user was asked to repeatedly report on the ideal travel time for each trip. We found that desired travel time varied across different trip environmental characteristics and purposes. Ideal travel time was longer for active travel trips, leisure trips, weekend trips, and when the user conducted activities during trips (e.g., talking, using the phone, looking at the landscape) and traveled with companions. Our study suggests the need for more realistic estimation of the value of travel time savings and the need for quantifying the effect of multitasking during travel on people's willingness to reduce travel time. Practitioners should also consider providing better urban infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists to fulfill their trips, as their ideal travel times closely match actual travel times.     

Exploring travel patterns and trip purposes of dockless bike-sharing by analyzing massive bike-sharing data in Shanghai,China

In recent years, dockless bike-sharing has rapidly emerged in many cities all over the world, which provides a flexible tool for short-distance trips and interchange between different modes of transport. However, new problems have arisen with the fast and extensive development of the dockless bike-sharing system, such as high running expenses, ineffective bike repositioning, parking problems and so on. To improve the operations of the dockless bike-sharing system, this study aims to investigate the travel pattern and trip purpose of the bike-sharing users by combining bike-sharing data and points of interest (POIs). A massive amount of bike-sharing trips was obtained from the Mobike company, which is a bike-sharing operator in China. The POIs surrounding each trip origin and destination were derived from the Gaode Map application programming interface. K-means++ clustering was adopted to investigate dockless bike-sharing travel patterns and trip purpose based on trip records and their surrounding POIs. The clustering results show that on weekdays, bike-sharing trip origin and destination can be divided into five typical groups, i.e., dining, transportation, shopping, work and residential places. Dining is the most popular trip purpose by bike-sharing, followed by the transferring to other transportation modes and shopping. In addition, through understanding the spatial distribution of the bike-sharing usage patterns of five typical activities, strategies for improving the operation of the dockless bike-sharing system are provided.     

An approach to imputing destination activities for inclusion in measures of bicycle accessibility

This paper proposes a new method to estimate bicycle accessibility for various trip purposes based on a massive dockless bike-sharing dataset in Shanghai, China. Specifically, a Dirichlet multinomial regression topic model (DMR model) is applied to identify bicycle trajectories' trip purposes, simultaneously considering arrival time and drop-off location. Based on obtained trip purposes, we estimate impedance functions using a negative exponential function. Finally, based on estimated impedance functions, two cases of bicycle accessibility for two different purposes - restaurant and hospital - are presented in Shanghais central area. The results show that almost 90% of bicycle trips are less than 30 min or 5 km. Although the difference between the impedance functions between various trip purposes is not significant, we find that trip purposes of “Work and School” have the highest travel impedance for bicyclists. Cyclists in Shanghai accept longer bicycle travel times for leisure (e.g., shopping) than for commuting (e.g., work or school).     

Do satisfying walking and cycling trips result in more future trips with active travel modes? An exploratory study

Previous studies have indicated that travel satisfaction - the experienced emotions during, and cognitive evaluation of, a trip - can be affected by travel mode choice and other trip characteristics. However, as satisfactory trips might improve a person's attitude towards the used mode, persons may be more likely to use that same mode for future trips of the same kind. Hence, a cyclical process between travel mode choice and travel satisfaction might occur. In this paper we begin to analyse this process—using a structural equation modelling approach on cross-sectional data—for people who engage in walking and cycling for leisure trips in the Belgian city of Ghent. The focus on walking and cycling reflects recent studies indicating that active travel is often associated with the highest levels of travel satisfaction. Results of this exploratory analysis offer tentative support for the idea of a cyclical process: the evaluation of walking and cycling trips positively affects the respondents' attitude towards the respective mode, which in turn has a positive effect on choosing that mode.     

Testing the accuracy of collected geoinformation in the Norwegian Personal Travel Survey––experiences from a pilot study

This paper presents results from a pilot study to the Norwegian Personal Travel Survey 2001 designed to test the quality of geographical information in travel surveys. The use of travel surveys to produce input data for transport modelling requires respondents to provide adequate geographical information on their trips. Data from a telephone survey of 1500 respondents are analysed, and it is shown that people in general are capable of recalling street addresses of places they have been to or give alternative geographical information to help locate trips at a set level. However, the accuracy of location recall varies with respect to place of residence, trip purpose and transport mode.     

Walking,cycling, and public transport for commuting and non-commuting travels across 5 European urban regions: Modal choice correlates and motivations

The objective of this study was to explore individual and contextual-level characteristics associated with active (walking and cycling) and public transport as main travel modes for both non-commuting and commuting purposes, in residents of five European urban regions. We also described participant-reported motivations for modal choice for each journey purpose. The study used multilevel models to investigate cross-sectional associations of individual (i.e. age, gender, educational level) and contextual (defined by a combination of residential neighbourhood characteristics in typologies) characteristics with the choice of active and public transport as outcome. Based on an online survey of 6037 residents of Ghent and suburbs (Belgium), Paris and inner suburbs (France), Budapest and suburbs (Hungary), the Randstad (including the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht in the Netherlands) and Greater London (United Kingdom), we observed associations with both individual and contextual characteristics.Results of the multilevel modelling show that the probability of using active or public transport as main mode varies depending on both individual and contextual characteristics. At individual level, relations with gender, age, education, weight status and having at least one child varied according to main transport mode and/or purpose. For example, overweight participants reported lower level of cycling for commuting and non-commuting travels than normal-weight participants. In the context of non-commuting travels, participants with one or more child reported less public transport use and more walking (vs participants without children). Among contextual-level variables, urban characteristics of the residential neighbourhood defined by four clusters (according to food environment, recreational facilities and active mobility opportunities) were associated with public transport and walking but not with cycling. For active transport the most important reasons were “I like to travel (on foot or by bike)” and “I want to be physically active” for both travel purposes. “Public transport facilities nearby” was indicated as the most important reason for public transport (for both trip purposes) – the second was “Journey time”.Our findings highlight the importance of exploring a combination of multiple correlates at individual and contextual level according to journey purposes and suggest that the role of health-related individual characteristics such as weight status need further exploration.     

Urban travel behavior adaptation of temporary transnational residents

Temporary transnational relocation is a growing type of migration. However, travel behavior adaptation of highly skilled temporary residents and its urban impacts have largely been ignored. This study extends the knowledge of mobility biographies, mobility cultures, and mobility of millennials by examining how temporary residents adapt their intra-urban travel behavior in response to a transnational relocation. The data used here comes from semi-structured interviews with students and researchers of nine different nationalities, aged between 19 and 31 years, temporarily living in Portugal (Lisbon or Porto). We found supporting evidence for the occurrence of residential self-selection, although prior information on study/workplace combined with low knowledge on neighborhood-level make it somewhat specific. Given their shortterm perspective, temporary residents are more prone to rely on public transport and non-motorized modes, having a low likelihood of purchasing vehicles. Thus, measures aimed at improving and facilitating the use of active modes can have an immediate effect on this group's travel behavior and contribute to reaching critical mass for these sustainable alternatives. Temporary residents are also a potentially interesting market segment for public transportation operators for increases in revenues, as they tend to display a relatively higher travel intensity and a wider diversity of activities and destinations. Finally, technology usage was found to reduce the stress-related to traveling to unfamiliar places by increasing the perceived spatial orientation, having the downside of generating a feeling of confidence that decreases the internalization of information. Providing timely and persuasive information at the very beginning of temporary residents' stay can help induce their travel behavior decisions.     

Exploring tertiary students' travel mode choices in Auckland: Insights and policy implications

It is crucial that policymakers and public transport operators comprehend tertiary students' travel mode choices and understand the factors that inform these choices in order to manage travel demands effectively and to optimise the use of public transport and improve its quality of service, particularly during the peak hours. This study aims to examine tertiary students' travel mode choices in Auckland, which is recognised as one of the most car-dependent cities in the world. The city is struggling with traffic congestion, particularly around its Central Business District (CBD) during peak hours. Auckland is New Zealand's largest city, with a population of 1.4 million residents. The main campuses of two major public universities, The University of Auckland (UoA) and Auckland University of Technology (AUT), are located in the CBD, attracting a large number of daily trips by both staff and students, particularly during the teaching semesters. However, there is a limited understanding of tertiary students' travel mode choices, particularly the factors that inform these choices when they travel to the universities' city campuses. A mixed methodology approach was used to comprehend the travel mode choices of students attending The University of Auckland and to identify the key factors that are drivers of these choices. The data collection included a questionnaire-based survey, which received 249 responses, and 10 semi-structured interviews with students. Thematic analysis was utilised to codify and then analyse the interviews. Despite the significant car dependency in Auckland, the survey demonstrated that most respondents utilised public transport and active modes when commuting to the university's city campus. Seven factors were identified that inform tertiary students' travel mode choices: cost, parking availability and cost, access to a car, travel time, physical environment, reliability, and attitudinal variables. The interviewees mostly argued that travel cost and lack of or limited access to a private car were the primary drivers of their travel mode choices. The study suggests that different stakeholders, such as Auckland Transport (AT) and The University of Auckland, should work collaboratively to provide an inclusive travel demand management policy. The university could rearrange classes for off-peak hours, and AT could offer tertiary students further discounts during these hours. These actions would result in the optimisation of public transport efficiency, improvement of the quality of the public transport service, and mitigation of traffic congestion around Auckland's Central Business District (CBD).     

Greenhouse gas emissions from flying can offset the gain from reduced driving in dense urban areas

Numerous studies have illustrated how denser urban forms lead to smaller greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger transport. Many of these studies have excluded aviation since the association between urban structure and air travel is not as intuitive as it is the case of ground travel. However, several recent studies have concluded that air travel is a significant contributor to the GHGs from passenger transport. Furthermore, even air travel habits depend heavily on lifestyles and socio-economic factors that are related to the urban form. Here we analyse the interactions between urban structure and different transportation modes and their GHG impacts in Finland. The study utilises the data from the Finnish Transportation Agency’s passenger traffic survey from May 2010 to May 2011, which includes over 12 000 people and over 35 000 trips. The survey is based on one-day travel diaries and also includes additional data on long-distance trips from a longer period. Methodologically, the study takes a traveller’s perspective to assess the GHG emissions from passenger transport. We found that (1) air travel breaks the pattern where GHG emissions decrease with increasing density of urban structures, and (2) in the metropolitan region there is a clear trade-off between car-ownership and air travel in the middle income class. The main policy implication of our study is that air travel must be included in GHG assessments and mitigation strategies targeting travel behaviour. In dense urban regions, the emissions of air travel have the potential to offset the gain from reduced private driving.     

The influence of stratification by motor-vehicle ownership on the impact of built environment factors in Indian cities

Development of compact cities, many contend, aids in the promotion of sustainable modes (public transit, walking and cycling). But the studies done until now have inadequately represented the effect of socio-economic stratification on the relationship between built environment factors and non-motorized transport (NMT) mode choice, which is important in context of a developing country like India. The present study, done in the city of Bangalore, analyzes the influence of built environment factors –density and diversity - on the mode choice and trip distance for the two segments: respondents owning at least one personal vehicle and respondents not owning any personal vehicle. The built environment factors are analyzed for their marginal effects in the presence of various socio-demographic and alternate specific attributes. The results of the built environment factors for the vehicle non-owning group highlighted the requirement of a policy framework to reduce their trip distance by controlling their employment and housing location. The gender of a commuter had a significant effect on the choice of modes, and the results that females had a higher likelihood of using NMT compared with males contradicted the results in other cities. Also, the trip distance model determined that females preferred a shorter walking distance compared with males. Further, the study determined the need for a well-planned, inclusive and coordinated land-use and transport control strategies in the future.