Exploring the relationship between urban form and nonwork travel through time use analysis

Abstract

This paper presents an activity-based time-use analysis of the relationship between urban form and nonwork travel. Using data from the 1991 Activity–Travel Survey in Boston, the study tested the role of spatial accessibility as a composite measure of urban form in explaining individuals’ nonwork activity participation, travel times, and travel frequencies. The results showed varying effects of modifying spatial accessibility on nonwork activity participation and travel among different activity categories. When accessibility to schools improved, children and adults were found to pay more visits to and spent more times in schools yet without generating additional total school travel. However, for every standard deviation increase in accessibility to entertaining, recreational, eat-out, and other social opportunities, the odds were 1.23 times greater to engage in these activities than staying at home. In contrast, the odds were 0.79 for them to spend time in chauffeuring family members. There was a substitution relationship between work commute and nonwork travel when levels of accessibility changed. An increase in accessibility by 1 standard deviation was associated with a decrease in work commute by 2.23 min, but increases in travel times for social activities by 2.07 min and for shopping travel by 1.20 min. The increase in social travel was due to more frequent trip making resulting from higher accessibility. Findings from the study underscore the importance of physical planning and design to improve spatial accessibility and to help divert the additional social travel induced by accessibility improvement to nondriving modes.