Levels Of Car Use Research Articles

Patterns of car dependency of metropolitan areas worldwide: Learning from the outliers

Despite the development of alternative modes of urban transport, the private car is still the most popular transport option in many regions around the world. Various spatial and socio-economic characteristics of metropolitan areas (MAs) seem to be generally correlated with levels of car use, and thus with car dependency. In this research, we study car dependency in a subgroup of global MAs, that are characterized profiles of car dependency, and are therefore considered outliers. Drawing on data that are available from the Mobility in Cities Database (MCD), we consider 56 MAs and use Mahalanobis distance to identify 7 outlier MAs that are either more, or less car dependent than anticipated by the regression model. We investigate the driving forces behind unpredicted levels of car use and position the outlier MAs in a catalogue of mobility profiles. A combination of urban form, convenience of car use, availability of alternative modes to car and car ownership characteristics were found to contribute to the level of car dependency in these MAs.

Is a car necessary for active aging? Relationships between aging, car use, and time spent on activities that sustain health and well-being

The aging population of the Global North is increasingly car dependent, with repercussions for health and well-being. This article analyzes how car use interacts with living an active life and how this has changed over time in Sweden. National time use data were used to analyze change in two cross sections of older people (65–84 years old) over a ten-year period (2000/01–2010/11). Previous studies concentrated on the relationship between travel behavior as such and older adult’s access to driver’s licenses and cars. We offer an integrated approach that includes all daily activities as we explore the changing social distribution of car use, as well as how different levels of car use are associated with time spent on active aging activities that benefit individuals and society.We conclude that an increasing proportion of the older population in Sweden are moderate to heavy car users and identify convergence over time between car use by older women and older men. We also find that heavy car users spend more time traveling to active aging activities. At first glance, this finding suggest that older people in Sweden are dependent on a car for living an active life. However, examination of how much time is actually spent on active activities after travel time is excluded reveals that few significant differences remain. This nuances the idea that access to a car is a necessity for spending time in activities that contribute to society and to personal well-being in old age.

RMetS Climate Change Forum 2022: a vision for 2050 and implications for action

<scp>RMetS</scp> Climate Change Forum 2022: a vision for 2050 and implications for action

882Relationship of Urban Sprawl with Overweight and Obesity: Roles of Physically-Active and Sedentary Travel Behaviours

Abstract Background Urban sprawl – low-density neighbourhood developments at the city’s periphery – is related to risk of overweight/obesity. Our mediation analysis examined the extent to which this relationship may be explained by physically-active and sedentary travel behaviours. Methods We analysed data from 2,465 metropolitan residents in the 2011-12 wave of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study. Urban sprawl measure was geographic information system derived residential proximity to the major city centre. Self-reported weekly frequency of walking for transport (WT) and car driving duration (car use) were used as measures of physically-active and sedentary travel behaviours. Risk of overweight/obesity was calculated using objectively-measured body mass index (&amp;gt; 25 kg/m2). Multi-level regression models and joint-significance mediation tests were used. Results Residing near the city centre was associated with higher levels of WT and lower levels of car use. For instance, compared to those living within 10km from the city centre, those living over 30km away had 57% lower WT frequency (p&amp;lt;0.001) and 1.4 hours/week more car use (p=0.002). In turn, lower levels of WT and higher levels car use were associated with elevated overweight/obesity risk. Conclusions These analyses suggest that travel behaviors can be potential mediators in relationships of urban sprawl with overweight/obesity. Future studies are warranted to assess causality of these relationships. Key messages Urban planning policies need to consider these impacts of the expansion of urban sprawl and promote inner-city high-density development by encouraging more physically-active travel and less time spent sitting in cars to reduce the population burden of overweight/obesity.

Understanding perspectives on policy change: The case of dogs on public transport in Sydney, Australia

Modern life requires increasingly complex and diverse travel behavior. We attend multiple destinations for multiple purposes, and trips are chained together as households negotiate the demands and opportunities presented by cities. To compete with the autonomy and flexibility of the private car, a successful public transport system should accommodate this complexity. Drawing from a series of data sources, this paper applies a discourse analysis to examine perspectives on the implementation of a public transport policy designed to accommodate one specific, but surprisingly common, user need: travel with dogs. In 2015, A bespoke survey of 1250 dog-owners in Sydney, Australia revealed a high level of car use for dog-related trips. This reflects, in part, the fact that dogs are prohibited on the public transport network in the case study city. Recognizing that any change to this policy requires an evidence base of community sentiment, a further survey (n = 1091) of both dog and non-dog owners was conducted in 2017 to assess attitudes to dogs on public transport. Over 20 percent of the representative sample opposed apolicy change. In 2019, a discourse analysis was conducted on 163 comments to an article on dogs on public transport published on the academic news site, The Conversation. Several themes emerged, extending from concerns about cleanliness, to a basic distrust of dog owners. These three data sources, in combination, establish both the need for change and the nature of resistance to change, revealing the complexity of advocating for potentially positive developments in transport policy.

Urban Transport and Eco-Urbanism: A Global Comparative Study of Cities with a Special Focus on Five Larger Swedish Urban Regions

Urban transport is critical in shaping the form and function of cities, particularly the level of automobile dependence and sustainability. This paper presents a detailed study of the urban transport eco-urbanism characteristics of the Stockholm, Malmö, Göteborg, Linköping, and Helsingborg urban regions in southern Sweden. It compares these cities to those in the USA, Australia, Canada, and two large wealthy Asian cities (Singapore and Hong Kong). It finds that while density is critical in determining many features of eco-urbanism, especially mobility patterns and particularly how much public transport, walking, and cycling are used, Swedish cities maintain healthy levels of all these more sustainable modes and only moderate levels of car use, while having less than half the density of other European cities. Swedish settlement patterns and urban transport policies mean they also enjoy, globally, the lowest level of transport emissions and transport deaths per capita and similar levels of energy use in private passenger transport as other European cities, and a fraction of that used in lower density North American and Australian cities. Swedish urban public transport systems are generally well provided for and form an integral part of the way their cities function, considering their lower densities. Their use of walking and cycling is high, though not as high as in other European cities and together with public transport cater for nearly 50% of the total daily trip making, compared to auto-dependent regions with between about 75% and 85% car trips. The paper explores these and other patterns in some detail. It provides a clear depiction of the strengths and weaknesses of Swedish cities in urban transport, some key policy directions to improve them and posits possible explanations for some of the atypical patterns observed.

Parenthood and cars: A weakening relationship?

A wide body of research supports the notion that the travel behaviour of families with children tends to be car dependent. Yet recent literature suggests a more varied set of travel practices are emerging among this group. Using data from a large-scale household travel survey, we explored whether changes are evident in levels of car use among three household groups in Melbourne, Australia. The three groups were selected to broadly represent a sequential order of life stages: Young Couples, Young Families, and School-age Families. Chi square and two-tailed t tests were used to examine changes in travel behaviour between 2007 and 2013/2014. Negative binomial regression analysis was then conducted to examine characteristics predicting vehicle, walking and public transit trips, among the three groups. Vehicle trips decreased for all groups between 2007 and 2013/2014; the decline was greatest among households with children present, both young and school-age. This suggests that a shift towards more sustainable travel behaviour is indeed apparent among families with young and school-age children in Melbourne. However, further research is required to understand the causes of the decline and to examine evidence of the decline in other locations.

Understanding high car use in relation to policy measures based on Swedish data

Globally, transport increases its share of emissions and the transport sector desperately needs an efficient climate policy including efficient strategies to reduce unsustainable levels of car use. By providing insights into the profile of passenger mileage by car in relation to levels estimated to be sustainable in 2050, this work gives insight into who will, and who needs to, be affected by policies and measures to achieve climate goals. The study, using Swedish national travel behaviour data, in line with international research, shows that a minority produces the majority of all passenger mileage by car. Adding an analysis of the national attitudinal study to the national travel behavioural data reveals that the high mileage producers further belong to groups with a low inclination to adopt sustainable behaviour, i.e. men, the middle aged and frequent car users. Policies and measures proposed to reduce unsustainable levels of car use need to be tailored to those groups in order to be efficient.

The changing influences on commuting mode choice in urban England under Peak Car: A discrete choice modelling approach

The phenomenon of Peak Car has been defined over the past eight years as a plateau or fall in the level of car use in urban areas. Although Peak Car research to date has relied on population-level data, such macro-level trends can be disaggregated into many individual travel decisions. This research uses English survey data collected by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2009 to test a range of variables influencing choice of commuting mode in residents of urban England. The variables tested are subdivided into spatial, demographic, level of service, and attitudinal. Multinomial logistic regression is used to test these variables individually and then in combination, producing a multivariate discrete choice model of commuting mode choice. The choice between commuting modes is fourfold: car, bus, train, and active modes. The results suggest that the relationship between income and car use is changing, as higher incomes are found to be associated with increased odds of choosing to commute by train or active modes rather than the car when other factors are controlled for. Attitudes to buses and active modes are also found to be influential.

2459 - Active Transport and Health: Is Employment Essential to Community Change in Developing Countries?

The links between health and physical activity and between physical activity and habitual travel by passive (cars) and active (principally walking and cycling) transport modes have been well explored. As a result, the potential of urban planning strategies that mobilize their potential for achieving significant health and environmental benefits is well established. In developing countries, however, travel patterns are already far more centred on walking, cycling and increasingly, motor cycles. In many cities, this has occurred despite car-centred urban planning, which has boosted road-related deaths and caused air pollution and other related phenomena to soar. In these very different contexts, will strategies tested in developed countries really serve us well, or should we consider employment generation as integral to behavioural change for low- and middle-income communities? Santiago Chile has transitioned rapidly to a car-centred urban transport model, with massive subsidies for highways and other infrastructure that has encouraged sprawling land use policies and high levels of car use. Cars, however, remain the privilege of just 40% of households, given the severe concentration of wealth in this recently democratizing, post-dictatorial society. Health and environmental impacts have been very negative. So too, the effect on social equality, in a city that is already extremely segregated and excluding, as part of the legacy from the military regime's urban policies (1973–1990).Based on recent research (2016–2017) that has combined qualitative (workshops, focus groups) and quantitative methods (surveys, data mining and analysis) under the umbrella of a participation action research methodology this presentation considers the implications, for social change, of high levels of walking, Uneven cycling patterns and spatial segregation in a developing context concludes that including employment programs and cross-cutting gender policies could be essential to fostering active transport and achieving the health, environmental and social equity objectives defined in the Sustainable Development and other global goals. Carefully developed, employment-related measures could make a substantial contribution to health and social equity.

The Effects of Land-Use Patterns on Home-Based Tour Complexity and Total Distances Traveled: A Path Analysis

This work studies the relationships between the number of complex tours (with one or more intermediate stops) and simple home-based tours, total distances traveled by mode, and land-use patterns both at the residence and at the workplace using path analysis. The model includes commuting distance, car ownership and motorcycle ownership, which are intermediate variables in the relationship between land use, tour complexity and distances traveled by mode. The dataset used here was collected in a region comprising four municipalities located in the north of Portugal that are made up of urban areas, their sprawling suburbs, and surrounding rural hinterland. The results confirm the association between complex tours and higher levels of car use. Land-use patterns significantly affect travelled distances by mode either directly and indirectly via the influence of longer-term decisions like vehicle ownership and commuting distance. The results obtained highlight the role of socioeconomic variables in influencing tour complexity; in particular, households with children, household income, and workers with a college degree tend to do more complex tours. Land-use patterns mediate the effects of tour complexity on the kilometers travelled by different modes. Increasing densities in central areas, and particularly the concentration of jobs, have relevant benefits by reducing car kilometers driven.

Riding with dogs in cars: What can it teach us about transport practices and policy?

In low density cities shaped by the assumption of private car access and a relative paucity of public transport options, it is likely there are personal costs to not having a car. These subtle sacrifices contain vital clues as to why many people remain attached to car use, and their exposure can inform policy solutions that encourage car independence.This paper takes dog ownership asa case in point of an ostensibly health promoting and personally satisfying practice which, in many cities, either requires, or is enriched by, access to a private car. Drawing on empirical data from a convenience survey of over 1250 dog owners in Sydney, Australia, we explore the way cars augment and shape the human-dog bond and identify a high level of car use for dog-related trips. This suggests a distinct and previously unrecorded inclination for people to travel relatively long (that is, non-walkable) distances with their dog. It also reflects the fact dogs are prohibited on the public transport network in our case study city, leaving no legal alternative but to drive non-walkable dog-related trips. Enabling dogs to ride public transport with their owners is suggested as a potential way to reduce dog-related car trips, while fulfilling preferences for owners to travel with their dogs. Unsurprisingly, survey participants indicated nigh universal support for such policies, with many stating they would change their transport behaviour should such a policy be approved. Given the support and benefits of allowing dogs on public transport, the second part of the paper explores how such initiatives are regulated across the developed world and considers the practical and cultural implications of pursuit of such a policy in a car-dominated city. We conclude with reflections on lessons to be learned from differences in dogs-on-transport policy and practice from city to city. We explore whether such differences indicate the normalisation and acceptance of public dogs, or public transport.

Does a high level of multimodality mean less car use? An exploration of multimodality trends in England

Some existing studies have suggested that a higher level of multimodality—the use of more than one transport mode within a given period of time—may be desirable to achieve societies less dependent on cars. The aim of this study was to investigate the trends in individual multimodality in England. In addition, we explored whether these trends were homogenous, i.e. similar between socio-economic characteristics, and whether changes in multimodality corresponded with changes in car use and the use of other transport modes. Our analyses showed that in contrast to reported trends in existing research, the level of multimodality in England decreased between 1995 and 2015. These trends stratified by income were diverging, which may imply that inequality in transport opportunities may be increasing. In contrast, the trends for age and gender were converging. In addition, we found that the car mode share remained fairly stable and absolute car use decreased since 2004, whilst multimodality decreased. This suggests that there is no necessary relationship between aggregate levels of car use and the average individual level of multimodality. Moreover, our analyses showed that these trends were very similarly independent of which indicator was applied. This indicates that for analysing trends in multimodality, the choice of indicator may not be that important, and indicators that are elementary to calculate and easy to interpret, e.g. number of modes used, highlight trends that are highly consistent with more sophisticated metrics. This paper finishes with a discussion of the implications of these findings.

Determinants of demand in individual transport with particular reference to spatial aspect

Mobility by individual transport is determined by many factors that influence the ownership and use of a car. These factors can be divided into categories related to: spatial structure, household socio-economic and demographic characteristics, situation associated with a given journey, including purposes of journey-making. The aim of the paper is to have a closer look at the aforementioned factors with particular reference to spatial aspect. The conclusions to the article underline that the traffic congestion increases and the quality of public transport improves with the growth of settlement network density, which results in a lower level of car use and lower level of motorization rate. This is particularly noticeable in large cities. In turn, in peripherally located rural areas, there is lack of alternative modes of transport, which, combined with longer travel distances to destinations, contributes both to increased motorization as well as to a relatively higher cars’ mileages.

The Modal Split of Cities: A Workplace‐Based Mixed Modelling Perspective

AbstractMany transport planners and policy‐makers compare cities on the basis of travel behaviour or transport system characteristics. These comparisons are then used to promote cities as ‘cycling capitals’ or ‘public transport paradises’. However, data‐related and methodological issues make comparisons across cities difficult. This paper presents an alternative to the dominant atomistic‐residential perspective which takes a random sample of residents in a city as input. We conceptualise cities as concentrations of workplaces and compare the commuting behaviour of employees active in a selection of sectors. This paper presents a new indicator to measure the modal split of cities and explains the level of car use in Belgian cities using mixed models. The presence of a railway station is associated with lower levels of car use, while highway access increases the share of the car. The car is also less popular in city centres, subcentres and in more dense urban areas.

Workplace travel plans: can they be evaluated effectively by experts?

Employers are regularly involved in transport planning and characteristic workplace-oriented tools include: (1) travel plans for building projects, (2) mandatory travel plans, (3) subsidies to employers with an advanced travel plan and (4) best travel plan awards. In all cases, experts judge the level of car use. We argue that decision-makers might benefit from a multiple regression-based benchmark modelling tool that estimates the expected share of the car. In this paper, we estimate the share of car users in the commuting modal split at workplaces. However, since the amount of information available to experts differs, we gradually add information to the model to measure the impact of data availability. Without historic data on modal split, the current share can only be predicted moderately well, i.e. within a 20% range. Besides adding the past, results improve by using homogenous and regional subsamples. Nevertheless, quantitative analyses do not make expert knowledge obsolete.

Establishing the Links between Online Activity and Car Use

The links between online activity and physical mobility are of wide and growing interest to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. This paper presents the results of an analysis of microdata from the Scottish household survey. The survey provides a unique, large-scale, nationally representative data set that includes both a travel diary instrument and a pseudodiary of participation in online activity. Multivariate regression models were estimated to relate people's online-activity pro-files with their car driving mileage. The models included demographic and spatial characteristics to control for potential confounding effects. The analysis found that, net of other effects, compared with nonuse of the Internet, Internet usage was associated with a higher level of car use. The marginal effect of time spent online was, however, found to be negatively linked with car use. In other words, spending large amounts of time online is, all else equal, associated with less car driving mileage. The paper concludes with a discussion of further research needs to advance this line of inquiry.

The Contribution of Benefit-in-Kind Taxation Policy in Britain to the ‘Peak Car’ Phenomenon

Car use per person has historically grown year-on-year in Great Britain since the 1950s, with minor exceptions during fuel crises and times of economic recession. The ‘Peak Car’ hypothesis proposes that this historical trend no longer applies. The British National Travel Survey provides evidence of such an aggregate levelling off in car mileage per person since the mid-1990s, but further analysis shows that this is the result of counter trends netting out: in particular, a reduction in per capita male driving mileage being offset by a corresponding increase in female car driving mileage. A major contributory factor to the decline in male car use has been a sharp reduction in average company car mileage per person. This paper investigates this aspect in more detail. Use of company cars fell sharply in Britain from the 1990s up to the 2008 recession. Over the same period, taxation policy towards company cars became more onerous, with increasing levels of taxation on the benefit-in-kind value of the ownership of a company car and on the provision of free fuel for private use. The paper sets out the changes in taxation policy affecting company cars in the UK, and looks at the associated reductions in company car ownership (including free fuel) and patterns of use. It goes on to look in more detail at which groups of the population have kept company cars and in which parts of the country they have been most used, and how these patterns have changed over time. A preliminary investigation is also made of possible substitution effects between company car and personal car driving and between company car use and rail travel. Clearly, the role of the company car is only one of many factors that are contributing to aggregate changes in levels of car use in Great Britain, alongside demographic changes and a wide range of policy initiatives. But, company car use cannot fall below zero, so the effect of declining year-on-year company car mileage suppressing overall car traffic levels cannot continue indefinitely.

How Carsharing Affects the Travel Behavior of Households: A Case Study of Montréal, Canada

ABSTRACT Although carsharing is spreading across the world, few studies have examined its collective benefits. There is a need to analyze the socio-demographic features of users, and assess the role and impact of carsharing on the overall travel behaviors of their households. This article compares the results of two simultaneous surveys in the Montréal area: a web-based survey among carsharing users; and a regional, large-scale household travel survey. Results show a significant difference in modal split of car use between carsharing users and typical residents, for various types of households and levels of carsharing use. In all cases, carsharing members never reached the level of car use observed in the population.

Global Perspectives on Children's Independent Mobility: A Socio-Cultural Comparison and Theoretical Discussion of Children's Lives in Four Countries in Asia and Africa

The article provides a comparative analysis of children's independent mobility in four countries – South Africa, Tanzania, Japan and Australia. The authors discuss key findings across the four study sites and illustrate the contextually bound nuances connected to the data at the community level. The data illustrate that while Japanese children have the most independence generally, Japanese children who live in a small town outside of a main city centre have significantly lower mobility than their city counterparts, and levels of car use for driving children to school are similar to levels in Australia. The results also reveal that while children in South Africa generally look to be more independent, have fewer restrictions and are accompanied less by parents than children in Australia (which appears to have the highest rate of accompaniment), the community-wide data illustrate that children living in the high-income city communities have the least amount of independence of all sites in the four countries, with travel to school by car as high as 87%. Additionally, the research illustrates that age is not a clear determinant of a growing increase in independence and mobility in communities. An inspection of the data reveals possibilities for considering the heterogeneous perspective of childhood where the intersection of children's locales and how children traverse them is as significant as the aggregated data that provide universal notions of the childhood experience. The final discussions provide some opportunities to consider Prout's introduction of a life course approach for reconceptualising children and childhood, which he believes allows for a multiplicity and complexity of childhoods. This concept is seen to be helpful when considering how to include global perspectives in children's independent mobility without universalising children's life experience.