Comparative Analysis of the Household Car Ownership between Toyota City and Nagoya City

Abstract

This study investigates the household passenger car ownership in the local city and its difference from that in the metropolis in Japan. Large scale person trip survey data for Toyota City and Nagoya City are used for empirical analysis. A bivariate ordered probit model is developed to analyze the ownership of the light motor car and the ordinary motor one. The Gibbs Sampler algorithm is implemented to estimate the parameters. The major findings suggest: 1) that population density and density of railway stations have different effects on the ownership of two vehicle types between two cities; 2) that population density only significantly and negatively impacts the ownership of the light motor car, and density of railway stations does not impact ownership of two vehicle types in Toyota City; 3) that population density and density of railway stations significantly and negatively impact the ownership of two vehicle types in Nagoya City.