scholarly journals Purpose-Based Walking Trips by Duration, Distance, and Select Characteristics, 2017 National Household Travel Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
pp. S86-S93
Author(s):  
Kathleen B. Watson ◽  
Geoffrey P. Whitfield ◽  
Stacey Bricka ◽  
Susan A. Carlson

Background: New or enhanced activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations is an evidence-based approach for increasing physical activity. Although national estimates for some infrastructure features surrounding where one lives and the types of nearby destinations are available, less is known about the places where individuals walk. Methods: A total of 5 types of walking trips (N = 54,034) were defined by whether they began or ended at home (home based [HB]) and trip purpose (HB work, HB shopping, HB social/recreation, HB other, and not HB trip) (2017 National Household Travel Survey). Differences and trends by subgroups in the proportion of each purpose-oriented trip were tested using pairwise comparisons and polynomial contrasts. Results: About 14% of U.S. adults reported ≥1 walking trip on a given day. About 64% of trips were HB trips. There were few differences in prevalence for each purpose by subgroup. For example, prevalence of trips that were not HB decreased significantly with increasing age and increased with increasing education and household income. Conclusions: Given age-related and socioeconomic differences in walking trips by purpose, planners and other professionals may want to consider trip origin and destination purposes when prioritizing investments for the creation of activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations where people live, work, and play.

Author(s):  
Ryland Lu

This paper addresses academic discourse that critiques urban rail transit projects for their regressive impacts on the poor and proposes bus funding as a more equitable investment for urban transit agencies. The author analyzed data from the 2012 California Household Travel Survey on transit trips in Los Angeles County. The author cross-tabulated data on the modal breakdown of transit trips by household income category and on the breakdown of household income associated with trips by bus and rail transit modes. The author also comparatively evaluated the speed of trips (as a ratio of miles per hour) taken by rail and by bus by low-income households in the county. The author found convincing evidence that, on average, trips low-income households made by rail transit covered a greater distance per hour than trips taken by bus transit, but that trips made on the county’s bus rapid transit services with dedicated rights-of-way had a higher mean speed than those taken by rail. Moreover, the mode and income cross-tabulations indicate that rail transit projects only partially serve low-income households’ travel needs. To the extent that equitable transit planning entails minimizing the disparities in access, both rail and bus rapid transit projects can advance social justice if they are targeted at corridors where they can serve travel demand by low-income, transit dependent households.


Urban Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Conway ◽  
Deborah Salon ◽  
David King

The advent of ridehailing services such as Uber and Lyft has expanded for-hire vehicle travel. We use data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) to investigate the extent of this expansion in the United States. We report changes in the for-hire vehicle market since ridehailing services became available and statistically estimate the determinants of ridehailing use. From 2009–2017, the for-hire vehicle market share doubled. While for-hire vehicles still only account for 0.5% of all trips, the percent of all Americans who use ridehailing in any given month is nearly 10%. Within the for-hire vehicle market, this trend of growth has not been uniformly distributed across demographic groups or geographies; it has been greater in mid-sized and large cities, and among younger individuals and wealthier households. This suggests that understanding the equity implications of ridehailing is an important avenue for research. Multivariate analysis provides evidence that both transit and nonmotorized transport use are correlated with ridehailing use, that ridehailing has a negative relationship with vehicle ownership, and that residents of denser areas have higher ridehailing use. Given the rapid growth of ridehailing, it has become important for cities to include for-hire vehicles in their planning going forward. These NHTS data provide a starting point, but more detailed and frequent data collection is needed to fully understand this many-faceted, rapidly-changing market.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueming CHEN

This paper statistically assesses the impacts of household/zonal socio economic characteristics on tour making within the Richmond/Tri-Cities Model Region, Virginia, United States, based on the dataset made available through the 2009 Virginia National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Add-On Program. The tour analysis distinguishes nine tour types (three simple tours and six complex tours) stratified by aggregate tour purposes of work (including school and other subsistence activities), maintenance and discretionary. A series of regression model runs have yielded the following conclusions: First, at aggregate level, the number of drivers, median household income, household size, number of workers, and zonal walking modal share are statistically significant and positively impact tour frequency. Tour length and complexity are positively related to household income and number of vehicles, but negatively related to zonal walking modal share. Second, at an individual tour type level, each tour type’s frequency/length/complexity is impacted by a different set of household/zonal socioeconomic characteristics. Zonal socioeconomic characteristics have little or no impacts on household tour making. It is recognized that many unknown factors may also have impacted tour activities, which require further in-depth studies in order to better explain complex tours.This paper statistically assesses the impacts of household/zonal socio economic characteristics on tour making within the Richmond/Tri-Cities Model Region, Virginia, United States, based on the dataset made available through the 2009 Virginia National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Add-On Program. The tour analysis distinguishes nine tour types (three simple tours and six complex tours) stratified by aggregate tour purposes of work (including school and other subsistence activities), maintenance and discretionary. A series of regression model runs have yielded the following conclusions: First, at aggregate level, the number of drivers, median household income, household size, number of workers, and zonal walking modal share are statistically significant and positively impact tour frequency. Tour length and complexity are positively related to household income and number of vehicles, but negatively related to zonal walking modal share. Second, at an individual tour type level, each tour type’s frequency/length/complexity is impacted by a different set of household/zonal socioeconomic characteristics. Zonal socioeconomic characteristics have little or no impacts on household tour making. It is recognized that many unknown factors may also have impacted tour activities, which require further in-depth studies in order to better explain complex tours.


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