Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California

Handy, Susan; Cao, Xinyu; Mokhtarian, Patricia L.

doi:10.1016/j.trd.2005.05.002

Cited by 886 publications

(584 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

491

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Every respondent receives a score for the "pro-transit" factor, with positive and higher scores indicating a stronger positive attitude towards using transit and lower, more negative scores indicating a negative attitude towards transit. Using these factor scores, Mokhtarian and Handy have found a significant relationship between attitudes and travel behavior, sometimes a stronger relationship than with land use (Handy, Cao, and Mokhtarian 2005;Kitamura, Mokhtarian, and Laidet 1997).…”

Section: Attitudes Norms Perceived Behavioral Control and Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Evaluation of Individualized Marketing Programs for Travel Demand Management

Dill¹,

Mohr²

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research examines the use of individualized marketing as a transportation demand management (TDM) strategy, using the City of Portland's SmartTrips program. This research project has two specific aims: (1) to evaluate whether the benefits of these individualized marketing programs continue to at least one year after the project ends; and (2) to examine whether the theory of planned behavior (TPB) can help explain the behavior changes identified. Surveys of residents conducted one or two years after the original program found that the share of daily trips made driving alone, walking, and bicycling were comparable to that found in the previous follow-up surveys, still significantly lower (for driving alone) or higher (for walking and bicycling) than the pre-surveys. This may indicate that the SmartTrips program was effective at changing behavior for a longer time period than previously measured. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) models were effective at explaining travel behavior. The models showed that attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control explain a large share (45-55%) of the variance in travel behavior. The relative influence of each component of the model differed some by mode. The findings support previous research that individualized marketing programs can be effective at changing people's travel behavior. The findings indicate that the benefits of the programs may extend beyond one year and up to at least two years. However, the research also found that the programs may not be as effective in environments that are less conducive to walking, bicycling, and transit. The research also found that that attitudes, norms, and perceptions play a large role in travel decisions. To be most effective, individualized marketing programs need to influence these factors, though efforts that focus on social norms to influence travel behavior may be less effective than those that include attitudinal and behavioral control components. Sensitivity to regional characteristics and the specific travel mode that is the target of interest is also warranted.

show abstract

Section: Attitudes Norms Perceived Behavioral Control and Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Evaluation of Individualized Marketing Programs for Travel Demand Management

Dill¹,

Mohr²

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Handy et al (2005Handy et al ( , 2006 developed three ordered probit models to investigate the unidirectional causal link from the built environment to travel behavior. After accounting for the influence of current attitudes and changes in socio-demographics, they found that changes in neighborhood characteristics consistently affected changes in these behaviors.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, they treated auto ownership as exogenous in the relationship between the built environment and driving behavior, but it was actually endogenous. Cao et al (2007) and Handy et al (2005) showed that changes in the built environment influence changes in auto ownership, which in turn affect changes in driving. In other words, auto ownership is a mediating link connecting the built environment and travel behavior.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, changes in travel behavior, changes in the built environment, and changes in auto ownership were selected as endogenous variables, based on the findings of Handy et al (2005Handy et al ( , 2006 and Cao et al (2007) as well as previous studies. Second, we set the presumed directions of influences.…”

Section: Socio-demographicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our previous work showed that changes in driving behavior are influenced by changes in accessibility, and that changes in auto ownership are affected by changes in outdoor spaciousness (Handy et al 2005;Cao et al 2007). Therefore, changes in accessibility and outdoor spaciousness were chosen as endogenous variables capturing changes in the built environment.…”

Section: Driving Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Characterization of Truck Traffic in California for Mechanistic–Empirical Design

Harvey

2006

Transportation Research Record

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Suburban sprawl has been widely criticized for its contribution to auto dependence. Numerous studies have found that residents in suburban neighborhoods drive more and walk less than their counterparts in traditional environments. However, most studies confirm only an association between the built environment and travel behavior, and have yet to establish the predominant underlying causal link: whether neighborhood design independently influences travel behavior or whether preferences for travel options affect residential choice. That is, residential self-selection may be at work. A few studies have recently addressed the influence of self-selection. However, our understanding of the causality issue is still immature. To address this issue, this study took into account individuals' self-selection by employing a quasi-longitudinal design and by controlling for residential preferences and travel attitudes. In particular, using data collected from 547 movers currently living in four traditional neighborhoods and four suburban neighborhoods in Northern California, we developed a structural equations model to investigate the relationships among changes in the built environment, changes in auto ownership, and changes in travel behavior. The results provide some encouragement that land-use policies designed to put residents closer to destinations and provide them with alternative transportation options will actually lead to less driving and more walking.

show abstract

Neighborhood Resources for Physical Activity and Healthy Foods and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Despite increasing interest in the extent to which features of residential environments contribute to incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, no multisite prospective studies have investigated this question. We hypothesized that neighborhood resources supporting physical activity and healthy diets are associated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. Methods Person-level data came from 3 sites of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a population-based, prospective study of adults aged 45 to 84 years at baseline. Neighborhood data were derived from a population-based residential survey. Type 2 diabetes was defined as a fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher (≥7 mmol/L) or taking insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents. We estimated the hazard ratio of type 2 diabetes incidence associated with neighborhood (US Census tract) resources. Results Among 2285 participants, 233 new type 2 diabetes cases occurred during a median of 5 follow-up years. Better neighborhood resources, determined by a combined score for physical activity and healthy foods, were associated with a 38% lower incidence of type 2 diabetes (hazard ratio corresponding to a difference between the 90th and 10th percentiles for resource distribution, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.43–0.88 adjusted for age, sex, family history of diabetes, race/ethnicity, income, assets, educational level, alcohol use, and smoking status). The association remained statistically significant after further adjustment for individual dietary factors, physical activity level, and body mass index. Conclusion Better neighborhood resources were associated with lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, which suggests that improving environmental features may be a viable population-level strategy for addressing this disease.

show abstract

Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California

Cited by 886 publications

References 9 publications

Long-Term Evaluation of Individualized Marketing Programs for Travel Demand Management

Long-Term Evaluation of Individualized Marketing Programs for Travel Demand Management

Characterization of Truck Traffic in California for Mechanistic–Empirical Design

Neighborhood Resources for Physical Activity and Healthy Foods and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About