Intra-urban Trips Research Articles

Analysis of Modal Split of Intra-urban Trips in a Centenary City: A Case Study of Enugu, Nigeria

The mode choice of commuters is an important element in the formulation and design of transportation policy. It gives policymakers a better understanding of the dynamics of intra urban trips. However, most of the studies on the modal split of intra urban trips found in the literature focused on Europe, America, and Southeast Asia with little emphasis on Africa. The lacuna this trend creates motivates this study to present evidence from Nigeria using the centenary city of Enugu as a case study. This study is critical for knowledge production that drives explicit outline strategies for the development of a sustainable urban transportation system in Nigeria. Data on modal split and determinant factors were collected from primary source through the use of a questionnaire. Discriminant analysis was used to classify the modal split of intra urban trips in Enugu into two groups’ namely public and private transport. Although public transport modes are the most used for intra urban trips, the mode share indicates that private transport mode (car) is the most used single mode for intra urban trips. More than three-quarters of commuters that use private transport for intra urban trips prefer the mode, whereas a little less than one-fifth of commuters will switch to public transport modes. On the other hand, most of the commuters that use public transport for intra urban trips prefer the modes and very few others will switch to private transport. Car ownership has the strongest influence on the modal split. The study identifies the need for policy interventions that reflects better understating of the dynamics of intra urban trips.

Hierarchical organization of urban mobility and its connection with city livability

The recent trend of rapid urbanization makes it imperative to understand urban characteristics such as infrastructure, population distribution, jobs, and services that play a key role in urban livability and sustainability. A healthy debate exists on what constitutes optimal structure regarding livability in cities, interpolating, for instance, between mono- and poly-centric organization. Here anonymous and aggregated flows generated from three hundred million users, opted-in to Location History, are used to extract global Intra-urban trips. We develop a metric that allows us to classify cities and to establish a connection between mobility organization and key urban indicators. We demonstrate that cities with strong hierarchical mobility structure display an extensive use of public transport, higher levels of walkability, lower pollutant emissions per capita and better health indicators. Our framework outperforms previous metrics, is highly scalable and can be deployed with little cost, even in areas without resources for traditional data collection.

Can bicycle relieve overcrowded metro? Managing short-distance travel in Beijing

Beijing is experiencing severe over-use of its metro system, as is the case in many large cities worldwide. Bicycle can be a competitive mode for short-distance intra-urban trips. In this paper, we explore whether it is possible to use bicycle to replace a portion of short-distance public transport trips. We collected data on bicycle choices and perceptions of bicycling environments. Participants are current metro, bus riders, and bicyclists from 8 short-distance travel scenarios which consisted of 24 study sites across Beijing. Multivariate binary logistic regression models were applied to test association between the perceived bicycling environment and bicycle choices of current metro riders, bus riders, and bicyclists. We found the highest potential for bicycle replacement was for travel distance equivalent to two stations, approximately 1.5km–2km, with 13% of current metro riders and 10% of bus riders willing to switch. Several perceptual aspects of the bicycle and bicycling environments were revealed that influence intentions to shift to bicycling, including desires for a separated cycle lane, worries about exposure to air pollution and better travel time control. Also, we found there were clear differences between habitual bicyclists and those bicycling occasionally or never.

Spatial pattern and organisational structure of intra - urban trips in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study examines spatial pattern and organization of intra-urban trips in Ogun State, Nigeria. Data on intra-urban travels for various purposes were collected from 2,100 households in 14 selected urban centres through questionnaire survey. The percentage distribution technique was used to establish the aggregate proportion of intra-urban trips to different land uses on weekdays and weekends’ basis. The variation in intra-urban trips for different purposes was examined using analysis of variance while interrelationships between the trips were examined through correlation technique. Intra-urban trips are generated for work, school, religious, recreation, shopping, social and others [errands, pleasure visit, etc].Work and school trips dominate with 34 and 35% of aggregate trips respectively. Religious trips follow with 14% while other trip types feature in lower proportion: shopping [7%], social [4.12%], recreation [3%] and others [2%]. Trips for different purposes are positively correlated (r≥0.9, P≤0.01) although significant variation exists in their number for different purposes across the cities. (F=4.142, P≤0.01). About 90% and 95% of work and school trips respectively in each urban centre are generated on week days .About 66% of recreation trips, 84% of religious trips 96% of social trips and over 50% of trips categorized as others are generated on weekends in different urban centres. Shopping trips feature remarkably across weekdays and weekends. There is high positive relationship between weekday and weekend trips (r=0.99, P≤0.01). The study recommends the need to closely monitor the relative location of work and educational land uses in relation to residences in an attempt to manage intra-urban commuting on weekdays. The detail characteristics of recreation, religious, and social trips are recommended for effective management of intra-urban trips on weekends. Interdependent nature of intra-urban trips calls for holistic approach to general intra-urban trips planning. Key Words : Intra-urban trips, urban trips organization, trip generation, trip planning, weekend trips, weekday trips.

Urban Socio-Economic Variables and Intra-Urban Trips in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study examines the relative influence of socio-economic variables of urban centers on intra-city tripgeneration. Data were collected on sixteen socio-economic variables and household trip generation in fourteen urbancenters of the state. The nature and degree of relationships between socio-economic variables and trips generated wereestablished through simple bivariate correlation technique. Multiple regression analysis was used to explain variablesthat predict trips generated. The principal component analysis was used to resolve observed collinearity problem in regressionanalysis.There is a strong significant positive correlation between trip generated and 13 out of sixteen socio-economicvariables. The principal component analysis on the socio-economic variables produced two components: socialand commercial component and industrial development component.The two components explain 58.68% of variationin intra-urban trips generated (F=7.830, P≤0.50), (F=13.982, P≤0.50). The industrial development component does notprovide significant explanation.The study emphasizes the need for proper planning and effective monitoring of developingof socio-economic variables in cities because of their critical influence on trip generation.

Socio-economic Determinants of Intra-urban Trips Generation in Ogun State, Nigeria

The focus of this study is on the significance of Socio-economic characteristics of residents on intra-urban travel in Ogun State, Nigeria. 1507 households were randomly sampled across the 14 urban centres in the state and information on intra-urban trip generation and 12 socio-economic variables in respect of them were collected. The multiple regression technique was used to establish the influence of socio-economic variables on intra-urban trip generated by households. The number of significant socio-economic determinants of intra-urban trips ranges between 2 and 8, while the proportion of the criterion (trip generation) explained by the predictors (socio-economic variables) ranges between 35.80 an 81.70% across the urban centers. The more developed urban centers have higher number of socio-economic determinants of trip than the less developed ones. On the other hand, the magnitude of criterion explained by the socio-economic variables is higher on the less developed urban centres. At regional setting, 8 out of 12 socio-economic variables namely: Number of workers, Age, Mode of travel, Sex, Occupation, Length of stay, Rent and Income significantly explained 46.10% of variation in criterion. This suggests the need to include variables on socio-economic development of cities in future research on intra-urban travel.

How to Incorporate the Spatial Dimension in Destination Choice Models: The Case of Antwerp

This paper presents and estimates destination choice models based on a large sample of intra-urban trips. Particular attention is paid to incorporating the effects of the spatial dimension. The data used relate to non-work trips in the agglomeration of Antwerp (Belgium). A geographical analysis is performed in order to represent the city and its suburbs by a limited set of zones of destinations and to characterize these zones in terms of land use. Different types of discrete choice model are compared in terms of utility function, global formulation and performance. The mixed nested logit formulation with random coefficients appears to be the most attractive. The results confirm the difficulty of grasping spatial realities by simple quantitative measurements but also illustrate the importance of ‘space’ when choosing a destination. The empirical results also show that land use and urban development policies clearly have their effect on urban mobility.

Land Use Mix and Intra-Urban Travel Pattern in Ogbomoso, a Nigerian Medium Sized Town

Land use mix is a recognized factor of human travel behaviour in cities. It also relates to urban transport planning and management. It fact, it is often hypothesized that it can, within the context of current policy interest, reduce travel in cities and conserve energy and environmental impact relating to urban transport. This paper examines the relationship between land use mix and distribution of intra-urban trips among the town tracts of Ogbomoso. It was found that tracts with high land use mix generate and attract relatively large number of trips while tracts with low land use mix generate and attract relatively small number of trips. Similarly, tracts with high land use mix have high intra-zonal and inter-zonal trips and the tracts with low land use mix have relatively small intra-zonal and inter-zonal trips. The result is strange and different from empirical expectations and experiences of towns in developed countries. This may be due to the small size of the town in this study, the socio-economic and cultural background of the society or other variable of transport development. It calls for greater efforts in identifying more factors that influence urban transport and policy to solve urban transport problems, particularly in developing countries.

Travel Behavior of the Urban Elderly in Kyoto, Japan

The purpose of this paper is to analyze travel behavior of the elderly in Kyoto City, based on data derived from the Person Trip Survey of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area in 1990 and my own questionnaire survey held at the Golden Age Academy in March, 1997.Spatial variation of travel behavior rate was examined. Generally, a lower rate of travel was observed in peripheral districts, while a higher rate was observed in central or inner districts. Such a pattern is different from the spatial distribution of the elderly population. A correlation analysis exhibits that the decision not to travel is related to variables such as cohabitation rate with a son/daughter and rate of retirement.Characteristics of intraurban trips by the elderly are clarified. If we select only the elderly people who went out for purposes like shopping, their mean distance between residence and destination was actually longer than for their non-elderly counterparts (specifically, housewives and persons without an occupation and under 64 years old). Therefore, the proposition that the distance elderly people travel is shorter than that for non-elderly people is not necessarily the case.Looking at various activities and trip destinations by the elderly, the results of the questionnaire survey show that within Kyoto there are many recreational places that the elderly enjoy. In particular, monthly fairs held at well-known shrines and public facilities for the elderly were investigated as examples. The fair had appeared before the period when population ageing began to attract attention in Japan. Public facilities, which appeared as a response to the ageing of population, are not very popular.Finally, I suggest, based on these findings, that current social services are somewhat inappropriate.‘Soft’support is needed more than‘hard’support. It would be more helpful to the elderly to increase ease of access to existing opportunities and facilities rather than to construct facilities exclusively used by them. Such a consideration, I hope, will lead to the enhancement of the lives of Japan's elderly population.

Non-routine travel in urban transportation planning: The case of developing countries

Planners, researchers and policy makers shuold pay greater attention to non-routine intraurban trips rather than traditional journey to work trips when organizing urban transport planning and investment in the developing areas. This is because the character of existing urban employment and land-use patterns suggest a different trip behaviour. In order to assist this transition, alternatives for studying internal trip behaviour in Third World cities are also discussed.

Potential Accessibility in terms of Residents' Daily Activity

This paper is concerned solely with graph theoretical modelling of potential accessibility measurement. Attempts will be made to establish a useful model to evaluate the potential accessibility in terms of residents' daily activity, and then to examine its usefulness with specific application to a hypothetical small island.Before proceeding further, a few definitions are in order. Potential accessibility is defined here for a vantage residence as access to all facilities (churches, banks, supermarkets etc.) in the region as a group. Therefore a residence with higher potential accessibility possesses a relatively higher advantage than the other residences as regards their daily activity. A trip is defined as a residence-to-residence circuit. A trip linkage is the spatial connection created when a resident moves from one facility to another or between his residence and facilities. Functional connectivity, which is a nonspatial concept, shows the frequency of opportunities to make trips. For example, the functional connectivity between residences and banks is higher than the functional connectivity between residences and hospitals, simply because the former trips are, on the average, more frequent than are the latter. A single stop trip is one in which the only trip linkages observed are between the residence and a single facility, whereas on a multistop trip, trip linkages are created between several facilities as well as between the residence and facilities (Figure 1).In order to build a reliable model, it is necessary to consider the following two important daily trip characteristics. First, a substantial portion of intraurban trips occurs on multistop journeys. According to Wheeler, trips involving more than one stop before returning home comprise a quarter to a third of all urban travel. Second, a trip linkage is a function of both distance (road and time distance) and functional connectivity. The shorter the distance, and the higher the functional connectivity, the stronger the trip linkage will be.The model is as follows:T=O·D+s1O·H·D+s2O·H2·D+……+sn-1O·Hn-1·D=n∑k=1sk-1O·Hk-1·D, where: T is the integral potential accessibility matrix (m×m), O is the accessibility matrix from residences to facilities (m×n), H is the accessibility matrix from facilities to facilities (n×n), D is the accessibility matrix from facilities to residences (n×m), s is the parameter, m is the number of residences, andn is the number of facilities.O·D shows the potential accessibility matrix in terms of single stop trips, O·H·D in terms of 2 stop trips and O·Hn-1·D in terms of n stop trips. Since daily trips are a mixture of single stop and multistop trips, we get the integral potential accessibility matrix by summing up the weighted potential accessibility matrices of single and p (p=2, 3, ……n) stop trips. The main diagonals of the matrix T indicate the integral potential accessibility of each residence.This model is then applied to a hypothetical small island with 19 facilities and 20 residences (Figure 5). Among these 19 facilities, there are two groceries and two supermarkets. In this analysis, the functional connectivity matrix is derived from a data set collected in 1949 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by the Traffic Audit Bureau.

Aggregate and Disaggregate Travel Demand Models

An empirical investigation of the relative merits of aggregate and disaggregate travel demand models is carried out. Specifically, the empirical investigation concerns models of travel mode choice, using work-trip data for CBD trips in London, England, and Syracuse, N.Y. This research represents the first such comparison to be made between aggregate and disaggregate models of intraurban trips. Initially, the statistically best disaggregate models were constructed for each data set and estimation of the modal choices from the other data set was attempted. Statistical measures were computed for each model to assess the goodness-of-fit achieved. Subsequently, the data were aggregated to districts, based on the London Transportation Study, for the London data, and to zip code areas for the Syracuse data. Again, the statistically best aggregate models were constructed for each data set and the same statistical and estimation tests were made for the aggregate models.

On the Mobility of Population in the National System of Cities, Towns and Villages of the USSR (in connection with development of the service sector)

AbstractPopulation mobility, as represented by the number of trips per person per year, is analyzed in the context of treating passenger transportation as one of the key elements in the developing service sector of the Soviet economy. Population mobility is computed in terms of three basic distance zones: intraurban trips (within a particular city or town), suburban trips within a localized settlement system (from small system to large agglomeration) and long-distance trips. The mean number of trips per person in the USSR as a whole is 2.8 in the long-distance zone, 43 suburban and 154.5 intraurban trips. An attempt is made to estimate the breakdown by trip purposes in each distance zone. Because of the lack of data, only two categories are distinguished: work trips and all other trips (shopping, personal business, etc). Work trips are taken to represent half of all intraurban journeys and roughly 40 percent of suburban journeys. All long-distance travel is assumed to have purposes other than work. A rela...