Inequality in activity participation: Multidimensional disadvantages and daily trips by trip purpose and trip day

Abstract

This paper investigated how daily trips are associated with multidimensional disadvantages in demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, transportation barriers, and internet use based on the 2017 U.S. National Household Travel Survey. We examined how these disadvantages affected weekday and weekend trips for work, recreation, and social participation purposes. Accounting for transit services and walkability at the metropolitan area level, the results of multilevel ordered and binomial logistic regression revealed that although the disadvantages were negatively associated with the likelihood of making any trips, their associations varied by the type of disadvantages, trip purpose, and trip day. Having a lower income was associated with a higher likelihood of making a weekday social participation trip and a weekend work trip. No internet use was more consistently related to a lower likelihood of making any weekday trips. A lack of car ownership was negatively associated with social participation trips, and the perceived financial burden of trips was negatively related to recreational trips. We discuss policy implications for reducing the effects of these disadvantages on trip likelihood.