Shifts Between Automobile, Bus, and Bicycle Commuting in an Urban Setting

In an urban setting, investments in bicycle and transit modes are expected to produce benefits such as reduced automobile vehicle miles traveled and reduced automobile parking demand. In reality, these benefits might be lower than expected if users simply shift between non-automobile modes. This article investigates shifts between automobile, bus, and bicycle use among students commuting to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) in 2008 and 2012. The authors found that a significant decline in driving was associated with a significant increase in bicycle mode share, suggesting that bicycling replaced certain automobile commute trips. Analysis by distance revealed nuances in mode substitution. There were significant increases in bicycle commuting for students living between 1.0 and 9.9 miles (1.6 and 15.9 km) from campus. However, the increases in bicycling for students living between 1.0 and 1.9 miles (1.6 and 3.1 km) corresponded with decreases in bus rather than automobile commuting, suggesting bus and bicycle substitution for short commutes. There was a significant shift in long-distance commuting—greater than 10 miles (16 km)—from automobile to bus. Differentiation between primary and secondary travel modes revealed an increasing proportion of regular drivers who bicycled as their secondary commute mode between 2008 and 2012. Also, approximately two-thirds of the students who bicycled and nearly half of the students who used the bus as their primary mode used a different, secondary commute mode. Many students who already bicycled were inclined to use the bus when they were not able to bicycle, but fewer bus users tried bicycle commuting.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF20 Bicycle Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Hu, Lingqian
  • Schneider, Robert J
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 17p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile travel; Bicycle travel; Bus travel; College students; Commuting; Modal shift; School trips; Urban areas
• Identifier Terms: University of Wisconsin
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01515818
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-3206
• Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 25 2014 9:15AM