Travel in Inner City versus Urban Fringe of Adelaide: The Role of Neighbourhood Design

Prior literature has found suburban development to be associated with the unbalanced choice of travel mode. The micro-scale aspects of the built environment that influence modal choice, however, have not been well-established. Furthermore, the majority of the literature is from North American or European cities, thereby providing less Australian context. Using a sample from Adelaide, this paper looked at the connection between neighborhood design and mode choice, classifying the sample into 2 low-density, growing outer-ring suburbs vs. 2 suburbs selected for their higher density, stability, and inner-ring location. Statistical analyses showed that neighborhood design has a strong association with mode choice. Specifically, traditional neighborhood designs are correlated with the choice of non-motorized modes, while suburban designs are associated with automobile use. Multinomial logit models suggest that micro-scale urban form factors play a key role, and that travel time and commute distance also impact mode choice along with a number of social factors such as income level, employment, and family structure. This study, therefore, supports the assertion that land use policies have at least some potential to reduce the choice of private vehicles, thereby reducing dependency on vehicles. This study may also serve to assist other practitioners in Adelaide in their efforts to address the issue of inducing travel, and to present better solutions for sustainability concerns.

• Record URL:
  http://www.ecoplan.org/library/wt12-4.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13527614
• Authors:
  • SOLTANI, A
  • Allan, Andrew
  • Somenahalli, Sekhar
  • Primerano, Frank
• Publication Date: 2006-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 64-78
• Serial:
  • World Transport Policy & Practice
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Eco-Logica Limited
  • ISSN: 1352-7614
  • Serial URL: http://worldtransportjournal.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile travel; City planning; Land use; Mode choice; Multinomial logits; Neighborhoods; Social factors; Suburbs; Sustainable transportation; Travel behavior; Travel time; Urban areas
• Geographic Terms: Adelaide (Australia); Australia
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01045120
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 12 2007 12:11AM