Travel Demand and Emissions from Driving Dogs to Dog Parks

Abstract

This paper reports on an intercept survey of dog park visitors in Seattle, U.S., which was combined with Google Maps and Google Popular Times data to develop estimates of the number of walking trips, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with traveling to dog parks. It is estimated that approximately 1.6 million VMT and more than 700 tonnes CO2-equivalent are generated annually by driving dogs to dog parks in Seattle, representing approximately 0.07% of vehicle trips and 0.04% of GHG emissions from cars and light trucks in the city. Based on a stated choice exercise, it is estimated that allowing dogs off-leash in neighborhood parks could reduce these VMT and GHG emissions by 38% and 45%, respectively, while encouraging more than 39,000 additional walking trips annually. Even limiting such use to the hours of 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. would reduce VMT and GHGs by 24% and 28%, respectively, while encouraging 22,000 additional walking trips. Although less than 20% of survey respondents expressed an interest in replacing a trip to the dog park with a visit to a neighborhood park, those who did were likely to replace driving trips to the dog park with walking trips. Thus, allowing dogs off-leash in neighborhood parks, even for limited hours each day, could increase physical activity while reducing the vehicle travel and GHG emissions associated with driving dogs to dog parks.