The effects of social heterogeneity on travel patterns: A replication study

This paper examines differences between the U.S. and Australian urban landscape in terms of the relationship between urban structure and the effectiveness of public transportation. A replication study is undertaken that tests the validated hypothesis from a U.S. study that urban travel corridor social heterogeneity reduces patronage of public transportation because of resident concerns with social composition of passengers and effects on the travel privacy dimension. A causal model is identified for the city of Sydney that specifies enogenous and endogenous variables, as per the U.S. study, which affect bus and rail use. Results do not lead to the acceptance of the hypothesized relationship. The presence of social heterogeneity in Sydney travel corridors does not deter residents within the study corridors from using the bus or train for the journey to work, nor do they appear to affect longer term decisions on car ownership. Bus patronage was shown to be dependent on social heterogeneity factors while rail use was associated with car owning households. These results highlight differences in urban spatial structure and travel patterns between Sydney and cities in the U.S. study, and suggest differential effects of changes in urban spatial structure and policy responses.