Urban Transport
Esfandiar Zebardast; elnaz baghernejhad
Abstract
The analysis of the casual relationship between built environments and travel behavior has been a key issue in the literature on transportation and planning. Residential self-selection is an issue that requires greater elaboration in investigations of built environments and travel behavior. It suggests ...
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The analysis of the casual relationship between built environments and travel behavior has been a key issue in the literature on transportation and planning. Residential self-selection is an issue that requires greater elaboration in investigations of built environments and travel behavior. It suggests that people choose their neighborhoods according to their travel attitudes and preferences. In other words, people who prefer to walk more decide to reside in walkable neighborhoods. Therefore, people walk more because they like to walk. Hence, residential self-selection, which refers to people’s propensity to choose where to live, is based on their travel attitudes. It is therefore essential to explore the impacts of built environments on travel behavior given the roles of travel attitudes, neighborhood preferences, and socio-demographic characteristics in explanation of the relationship. In this paper, structural equation modeling was applied to specify the extent to which the observed patterns of travel behavior could be attributed to the residential built environment, through investigation of the relationship between the built environment and the frequency of non-work travel involving walks in three neighborhoods with different land development patterns in Tehran, Iran. With an identification of the direct and indirect impacts of the factors effective on travel behavior, the following hypotheses were made. 1) If a built-environment element affects travel behavior or another factor directly or indirectly, it has a causal relationship with travel behavior. 2) If the travel attitudes or neighborhood preferences affect the built environment, self-selection could be understood as confounding the casual relationship between the built environment and travel behavior. For testing the above hypotheses, data were collected from 273 questionnaires distributed in three neighborhoods: Moniriye (as a traditional neighborhood), Golestan (as an automobile-oriented neighborhood), and Bime (as a conventional neighborhood). Using exploratory factor analysis, the aspects of built environments were extracted as follows: residential environment characteristics, highway accessibility, public transport accessibility, destination diversity and accessibility, density, and residence preferences. The latter refers to residents’ accessibility preferences/priorities if they wish to move to a new neighborhood. Moreover, the factors effective on travel attitudes, as elicited by exploratory factor analysis, were found to include favoring means of transport other than private cars, dependent on private cars, reducing travel, and favoring private cars. After the specification of the domains of built environment, accessibility preferences/priorities, and travel attitudes, structural equation modeling was applied to identify the relative and casual relationships between the built environment and travel behavior in the three neighborhoods. The evidence from the car-oriented and conventional neighborhoods indicated the causality of the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior. In the traditional neighborhood, however, travel attitudes and neighborhood preferences were found to influence travel behavior directly and indirectly. Nevertheless, the overall comparative assessment of the direct/indirect impacts on travel behavior in the three examined neighborhoods demonstrated that the built environment elements had casual effects on the travel behavior involving walks. For instance, destination diversity and accessibility had direct and indirect impacts on travel behavior in all the three neighborhoods. It could be concluded that enhancement of diversity and public transport accessibility and reduction of highway accessibility played more prominent roles in non-motorized travel behavior. If cities adopt land use policies offering more options to utilize non-motorized means of transport, therefore, many residents would tend to welcome the idea.
Urban Transport
shahrzad moghadam; zohre fani; mohamad taghi razaviyan
Abstract
Nowadays, the cities are rapidly transforming due to such reasons as the spatial structure, economic and social relations. Therefore, they need new approaches in urban management. Urban spaces are physical manifestation of citizens’ social needs and provide the necessary groundwork for access and ...
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Nowadays, the cities are rapidly transforming due to such reasons as the spatial structure, economic and social relations. Therefore, they need new approaches in urban management. Urban spaces are physical manifestation of citizens’ social needs and provide the necessary groundwork for access and provision of services required by users. They make the conditions for all users (men and women) to fairly use and enjoy the urban space. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the factors influencing women’s travel behavior in Zanjan. The study is an applied research and the methodology is descriptive-analytical. The statistical population includes 15-50 year old women in Zanjan. The sample size was determined using Cochran’s C test (384 questionnaires) and the samples were selected through random sampling method. In the present study, we first aimed at investigating and identifying urban traffic patterns based on theoretical foundations and 9 components. Questions are quantified on the Likert scale and Gutmann spectrum. Then, the patterns of women’s traffic in the city and its significant difference from the various forms of urban transport system are analyzed using these indicators. Data was analyzed in SPSS, using Kruskal-Wallis test, analysis of variance and correlation tests. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of questions. Information obtained from the questionnaires indicated a relationship between car ownership, occupation, family structure and travel behavior. Results show that owning a personal car leads to more mobility among employed women. In addition, women who have children are more dependent on personal cars than men, because they are not satisfied with the performance of urban public transportation. The results of this research indicate that women’s needs are not considered in urban transport planning. With the differentiation of functions in cities, transportation has affected the social and economic dimensions of women’s lives in the city.In addition, couples with children mostly use personal cars for transportation. This is apparent from the great difference in the average personal car usage in the group of women with children owning personal cars (54.56) and women without children with personal car ownership (20.6). Employed women drive more than housewives; they tend to use personal cars. Higher comfort, speed and safety are the reasons for driving personal cars rather than using other urban transportation forms. Women’s dissatisfaction with the public transport system (0.033) can be one of the several factors in increased traffic congestion and dependence on personal cars in the urban transport system of Zanjan. Housewives who own personal cars do not advise the use of public transport system. They will use alternative methods if the condition of public transportation improves.
