TOD residents\u2019 attitudes toward walking to transit station: a case study of transit-oriented developments (TODs) in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the attitude toward walking to the stations of residents living within 1 km of transit stations, or they are called transit-oriented development (TOD) residents. They are highly expected to walk to transit station and use rail in their daily travel. In this research, 249 respondents are asked 10 questions on attitudes of walking to station. The analysis was conducted in two stages: factor analysis and structural equation model. As the current access mode of respondents, walkers are more likely to be low-income households. People using motorized mode are mostly from middle- to high-income, households the largest group of respondents. For walking acceptance, high-income group accepts distance and time shorter than other incomes. Low-income households can accept the longer walking distance but shorter time. Middle-income households are more likely to walk in shorter distance than lower-income households, but they tend to accept longer walking time than others. As for the analysis results, the feeling of walking among all respondents significantly influences the walking acceptance. The benefit of walking significantly influences walking acceptance only among middle-income households. The walking attitudes on convenience, safety, a sense of freedom, healthiness, and environmental friendliness highly affect respondents’ acceptable walking distance and time in TODs.