Macro-Level Analysis of Association between Non-motorized Trips, Socio-Economic Characteristics, and Crime

Interest and emphasis on non-motorized modes of transportation have been increasing in the recent years. A better understanding of factors affecting non-motorized commuting trips would enable stakeholders in non-motorized transit to come up with relevant and cost-effective strategies to promote it. This study aims to improve the understanding of the association between non-motorized commuting trips, crime, and associated demographics. Moreover, this study demonstrates an innovative approach for using yearly crime dataset (Chicago) in conjunction with American Community Survey (ACS) dataset. ACS dataset contains data about non-motorized commuting trips and critical socioeconomic characteristics. An unsupervised data mining technique called Self Organizing Map (SOM) was used to find an association between different factors as it does not require any prior assumptions. The findings show that areas with lower income households are associated with high pedestrian and bicycle commuting. A negative association between crime and non-motorized commuting was also identified. The results also show that areas with larger youth populations are likely to have high non-motorized commuting trips. This study provides insights into the ongoing state of the art study designs and analysis methods associated with non-motorized travel mode.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB50 Standing Committee on Transportation Planning Applications. Alternate title: Macrolevel Analysis of Pedestrian and Bike Commuting: Using Self-Organizing Maps to Associate Crime, Poverty, and Demographics
• Authors:
  • Bibeka, Apoorba
  • Das, Subasish
  • Martin, Michael W
  • Jalayer, Mohammad
  • Munira, Sirajum
  • 0000-0002-4953-2628
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commuting; Crimes; Nonmotorized transportation; Socioeconomic factors
• Geographic Terms: Chicago (Illinois)
• Subject Areas: Law; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01663550
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-00885
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 22 2018 11:56AM