Do travel options influence how commute time satisfaction relates to the residential built environment?

Hannah Hook,Jonas De Vos,Veronique Van Acker,Frank Witlox

doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103021

Abstract

Although previous studies have explored how satisfied people are with their travel, the link with the built environment and available travel options is unclear. This research investigates whether travel options influence how commute time satisfaction relates to the built environment. First, profiles among commuters in terms of commute time satisfaction (CTS) and residential built environment (RBE) were identified by performing a cluster analysis using a large European sample with the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2013 survey. Following, whether travel options (mode availability) could inform differences among CTS-RBE profiles was investigated, while accounting for neighborhood characteristics and satisfaction with life and life domains, by performing logistic regression analyses. Travel options were found to indicate CTS-RBE profiles. This research supports the idea that travel options can affect the CTS-RBE relationship, and can therefore be useful to measuring and correcting travel option unavailability or travel captivity. The contributions of this study to the travel behavior field, in addition to being the first study to examine CTS, is important to urban planning and policy to not only identify the places in which travel options can be improved, but for whom.

Highlights

This paper aims to examine how commuter satisfaction is related to the residential built environment (RBE), and how travel options affect this relationship
This study explores these links by using commuter profiles determined by commute time satisfaction (CTS) and residential built environment (RBE) variables
The aims of this research was to first analyze the link between travel satisfaction and the built environment, and second to investigate how this link is affected by travel options

Summary

Introduction

This paper aims to examine how commuter satisfaction is related to the residential built environment (RBE), and how travel options (mode availability) affect this relationship. Travel distance, and travel duration, for instance, are all affected by the built environment, and have proven to influence travel satisfaction This study explores these links by using commuter profiles determined by commute time satisfaction (CTS) and residential built environment (RBE) variables. The CTS-RBE profiles provide an opportunity to investigate travel option differences between, for example, high- and low-satisfied rural residents, and can inform circumstances or definitions of travel captivity. This is important to urban planning and policy to identify the places where travel options can be improved, but for whom. What is known far about the relationship between travel and commute satisfaction, the built environment, and travel options will be discussed through literature review, and subsequently this paper will investigate travel options among individuals of varying categories of CTS and RBE

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