Relationship between motorcycle travel and the built environment: Evidence from Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract

The current understanding of the built environment effects on motorcycle ownership is limited. No built environment characteristics have been identified as predictors of motorcycle mode choice likelihood. This research fills these gaps in knowledge by examining the relationship between motorcycle travel and the built environment using the largest metropolis of Taiwan, home to the world's highest motorcycle ownership rate, as the study context. Multinomial logistic and tobit regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between the built environment on household vehicle ownership, mode choice in a trip, and household motorcycle vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), controlling for socioeconomic predictors of motorcycle travel. It used the most recent trip and household datasets from both the 2000 and 2009 large-scale household travel surveys in the Taipei Metropolitan Area for analysis. Findings suggest that higher population density, being farther from the central business district and from metro stations are correlated with higher household motorcycle ownership levels, higher likelihood of motorcycle mode choice, and higher household motorcycle VKT; lower job density is correlated with higher household motorcycle ownership levels and higher household motorcycle VKT; higher income is correlated with lower motorcycle ownership levels, lower motorcycle mode choice likelihood, and higher household motorcycle VKT. The academic novelty of this research is that it rejects most of its literature-based hypotheses about motorcycle travel and the built environment. Transportation and land use policy should expand mass transit, develop suburban employment centers near metro stations, and reshape the spatial distribution of population so that areas near metro stations become more densely populated than others.