Abstract
Using the 2012 Household Travel Survey data for the Cleveland metropolitan area, this study aims to examine the connections between travel behavior by using trip chaining and joint travel as mediating variables of travel distances and controlling for socio-demographics and urban form. Trip chaining and joint travel capture the complexity of tours and intra-household interactions, respectively. Socio-demographics represent personal and household characteristics. Urban form, which is measured not only at tour origins but also at tour destinations, helps capture the effects of residential density, retail and non-retail densities, transportation connectivity, public transit accessibility, and land-use mix. Structural equation model (SEM) approaches are applied to examine the interrelationships among these variables. The model results reveal that significant effects with expected signs exist among travel behavior: Trip chaining is negatively associated with joint travel and positively related to travel distances, and joint travel has negative effects on travel distances. Consistent with existing literature, socio-demographic attributes are strong explanatory factors of travel behavior. Urban form characteristics have significant influence on travel distances at both tour origins and destinations. The findings of this study will improve the future evaluation of transportation projects and land-use policymaking.
Highlights
Increasing attention in recent years has been given to research of travel behavior
The increasing non-retail density at tour origins increases the travel distances indirectly through the activity-travel patterns. These findings indicate that retail density at tour destinations and non-retail density at tour origins may not affect travel distances directly, but may have indirect effects on the travel distances caused by trip chaining or joint travel
Previous studies on travel behavior consider trip chaining, joint travel, and travel distances as different aspects of travel behavior and aim to explain these using a variety of factors, such as socio-demographics and urban form
Summary
Increasing attention in recent years has been given to research of travel behavior. Outcomes of travel behavior, primarily in terms of travel distances and vehicle miles traveled (VMT), have been viewed as main contributors to greenhouse effects, energy consumption, environmental quality, traffic congestion, and traffic accidents (Akar, Chen, & Gordon, 2016; Brownstone & Golob, 2009; Rentziou, Gkritza, & Souleyrette, 2012). JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT AND LAND USE 10.1 activity-travel patterns such as trip chaining and joint travel (Bricka, 2008; Duncan, 2015; Vovsha, Peterson, & Donnelly, 2003). Investigating the mechanism and consequences of trip chaining improves understanding of links between activity participation and mobility (Noland & Thomas, 2007; Yang, Wang, Ren, Fan, Qi, & Chen, 2010; Ho & Mulley, 2013a; Ho & Mulley, 2013b; Vovsha et al, 2003). Trip chaining and joint travel are generally identified as measurements of tour complexity, intra-household interactions, and spatial-temporal constraints in travel behavior studies (Chandrasekharan & Goulias, 1999; Ho & Mulley, 2013a; Noland & Thomas)
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