Drive or Walk?

Abstract

An extensive body of literature has developed on the relationship between the physical environment and travel behavior. Although many studies have found that neotraditional neighborhood development supports nonautomobile travel by providing good street connectivity, pedestrian and cycling facilities, and internal destinations, questions remain about the travel behavior of individuals within such neighborhoods. This study uses travel diaries to examine utilitarian trip-making behavior within a neotraditional neighborhood and compares total trips with mode-specific (i.e., walk and drive) trips. Negative binomial regression is used to examine the effect of a set of independent variables, including personal and household characteristics, select attitudinal factors, and distance from residences to the commercial center. It is found that within the neotraditional neighborhood, walk trips drop off quickly with increasing distance to destinations, whereas drive trips increase. The analysis demonstrates the importance of short distances for within-neighborhood travel and the merit in considering trips separately for walk and drive modes to avoid obscuring important factors associated with trip making.