Intra-household Travel Interactions, the Built Environment, and School Travel Mode Choice: An Exploration Using Spatial Models

Physical activity derived from active school travel may have important implications for the healthy development of children. School travel research and policy typically contemplates the efficacy of built environment interventions. Less attention has been given to how children’s school transport relates to broader patterns of daily household activities and travel. Beyond behavioral concerns, school travel research has not considered the potential spatial autocorrelation in mode choice outcomes. This research examines the effect of intra-household travel interactions and the neighborhood environment on mode choice for school trips. School travel data from the 2006 Transportation Tomorrow Survey were used to estimate multinomial (conditional) logit models of mode choice, for 11 year old children in Toronto, Canada. Spatial autocorrelation was explored by extending logit specifications to include an additional auto-covariate parameter. Propensity mapping was also used to identify locations where the built environment facilitated or discouraged walking. The results indicate that land use mix and high block density near the home location, and land use mix near the school location increased the odds of walking. Potential directness of school travel route and the presence of major streets en-route were negatively associated with walking. The auto-covariate parameter was statistically significant, suggesting the presence of unobservable spatial dependency in mode choice among neighbors. The availability of adults at the time of school travel likely encouraged driving, the presence of siblings increased the likelihood of walking or using transit.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Mitra, Raktim
  • Buliung, Ron N
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2012-1-22 to 2012-1-26
• Date: 2012

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 91st Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Households; Mode choice; Multinomial logits; Neighborhoods; School children; School trips; Spatial analysis
• Geographic Terms: Toronto (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01366642
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 12-0816
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 30 2012 9:38AM