Non-motorized transportation in four Shanghai districts

Abstract

Shanghai is well known for a high level of non-motorized travel, in particular by bicycle. This research investigated firstly whether significant differences in the use of non-motorized transportation between areas of the city can be attributed to particular features of the local environment, in particular road network characteristics and design; secondly, the extent to which personal and household characteristics contribute to this variable use of foot and bicycle modes of travel. The most recent trips and daily repeated trips of 1,811 individuals were collected in four districts in Shanghai in a one-week period. Distances were extracted from a GIS while regression analysis examined the significance of district, age, income, trip purpose and mode choice in the distance travelled and in the proportion of travel by non-motorized means. District accounted for up to 22% of variance in the proportion of non-motorized travel. Differences in the allocations to motorized and non-motorized modes between districts were significantly related to block structure and road density but not to public transportation provision. There were also significant differences in travel distances by mode and trip purpose. Finally, age, income, household composition and type of employment had very minor effects on travel mode and travel distance by non-motorized modes.