Socio-Demographic Variations in Mode Choice Preferences of Peri-Urban and Urban Areas—A Case Study of Bangalore

Abstract

AbstractPeri-urban regions are located in the fringes of an existing city and are important in the urban transportation planning process of the city. The present research analyzes the differential impact of socio-demographic factors on the travel behavior of urban and a peri-urban areas. Specifically, the current study, at first, performs a descriptive multivariate mode share comparison between motorized two-wheelers and Non-Motorized Transport (NMT). Further, it estimates a mode choice model and a trip distance model to determine the marginal effects of socio-demographic and transportation system characteristics. Interaction terms are introduced in the utility function of the mode choice model using a peri-urban indicator to delineate the differential impact of socio-demographic factors in urban and peri-urban areas. The estimated mode choice model gave a comparatively good fit with the data (47 and 27.5%). The significance of the interaction terms indicated a difference in the influence of travel characteristics between urban and peri-urban areas. Gender has a significant influence on the mode choice with females in both urban and peri-urban region having a positive disposition toward NMT. In both regions, an increase in the travel distance reduced the use of non-motorized modes and increased the use of private vehicles. From a social equity perspective, there was a huge scope for promotion of public transport and non-motorized transport in the peri-urban areas. Further, paratransit could be contemplated as a solution to overcome the poor connectivity in the radial routes of peri-urban areas.KeywordsSocio-demographicsMode choiceNon-motorized transportMotorized two-wheelersPeri-urban areas