Exploring the influence of built environment on travel mode choice considering the mediating effects of car ownership and travel distance

Chuan Ding, Donggen Wang, Chao Liu, Yi Zhang*, Jiawen Yang

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    290 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Though there is a growing literature on the connection between the built environment and travel behavior, limited efforts have been made to consider the intermediary nature of car ownership and travel distance simultaneously while modeling the relationship between the built environment and travel mode choice behavior. The mediating effects from car ownership and travel distance, as an important piece, are not sufficiently investigated. To fill this gap, in this study the relationships among travel mode choice, car ownership and travel distance were described using a framework of integrated structural equation model (SEM) and discrete choice model (DCM). Drawing on a rich dataset of National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and numerous built environment measurements in Baltimore metropolitan area, this research applied the integrated SEM and DCM approach to investigate how the built environment affects travel mode choice through influencing car ownership and travel distance. Therefore, the direct and indirect effects of built environment on travel mode choice were revealed. This study hopes to give transportation planners a better understanding on how the built environment influences travel mode choice, and consequently develop effective and targeted countermeasures to reduce car use.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)65-80
    Number of pages16
    JournalTransportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
    Volume100
    Early online date13 Apr 2017
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2017

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • Civil and Structural Engineering
    • Transportation
    • Management Science and Operations Research

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Baltimore
    • Built environment
    • Car ownership
    • Mediating effect
    • Travel behavior

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