The influence of the built environment on mode choice: implications for transit-oriented development

The Five Ds of the built environment - density, land use diversity, pedestrian oriented design, destination accessibility and distance to transit - are often cited as the built environment factors that can reduce car use in favour of public transport, walking and cycling. This paper examines the strength of these effects by analysing whether built environment factors can be shown to influence journey to work transport mode share in Sydney. GIS and multivariate regression analysis shows that each of the Five Ds of the built environment are statistically significant determinants of mode share for the journey to work, with the exception of pedestrian oriented design. Destination accessibility by public transport and population density appear to be the most important factors. However the influence of the Five Ds was much lower than the control variables of car ownership, income and workplace location. Results suggest that the design of local urban areas can influence non-car mode share by residents. This gives support to planning controls that promote transit-oriented design. However, the effect of the built environment should not be overstated and consideration should also be given to more strongly associated variables such as car ownership and workplace location.

• Authors:
  • McKibbin, M
• Conference:
  • Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management (AITPM) National Conference, 2011
  • Location: Melbourne Victoria, Australia
  • Date: 2011-8-10 to 2011-8-11
• Publication Date: 2011-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 15p
• Monograph Title: AITPM 2011 national conference: linking communities: growing liveability and accessibility, 10-11 August 2011, Melbourne, Victoria

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Land use; Mode choice; Planning; Travel behavior; Work trips
• Uncontrolled Terms: Policy and planning; Selection; Urban form
• Geographic Terms: Australia; Sydney (Australia)
• ATRI Terms: Transport facilities
• ITRD Terms: 1154: Network (transport); 1145: Transport mode
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01354718
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ARRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Oct 24 2011 7:58AM