Abstract

Promoting walking travel is considered important for reducing automobile use and improving public health. Recent U.S. transportation policy has incentivized investments in alternative, more sustainable transportation modes such as walking, bicycling and transit in auto-oriented cities such as Los Angeles. Although many past studies have analyzed changes in walking travel across the U.S., there is little clarity on the drivers of change. We address this gap by conducting a longitudinal analysis of walking travel in the greater Los Angeles area from 2001 to 2009. We use travel diary and household data from regional and national surveys to analyze changes in walking trip shares and rates across our study area. Results show that walking has significantly increased across most of Los Angeles, and that increases in walking trips generally correspond with increases in population, employment, and transit service densities. Estimates from fixed-effects regression analysis generally suggest a positive association between population density and walking, and that higher increases in transit stop density are correlated with increased walking trips to and from transit stops. These findings illustrate how regional planning efforts to pursue a coordinated land use-transit planning strategy can help promote walking in auto-oriented or vehicle adopting cities. Document type: Article

Abstract

Background The number of trips of the average urban inhabitant per year has grown steadily in recent years – but we are actually moving (our bodies) less. Every day, millions of trips are made by car (where 50% of these are less than 5 km) or other motorised private vehicles as well as with public transport, while only a small percentage of trips are made by active modes, such as cycling and walking. This lack of physical activity causes major health problems for individuals and great economic costs for society as a whole. To reverse these negative impacts the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week (e.g. 30 minutes 5 times per week). Replacing short motorized trips can feasibly increase physical activity in everyday life. Methods PASTA “Physical Activity trough sustainable transport approaches” collected data in a longitudinal web-based survey with a cohort design to study the effects of active mobility on overall physical activity and health. The target population for the survey was the entire adult population in 7 European Cities. In total, more than 12.000 people participated in the survey with half of them filling in valid travel diaries on actual trips on a regular basis. Results Differences in sociodemographics and travel behaviour of cyclists in the seven cities will be shown in the paper. Preliminary results reveal that more than 2.000 participants from the total sample can be identified as regular cyclists (reported in their trip diaries) with an average age of 40 years. Most of them are highly educated and full time employed. In comparison to non-regular cyclists, the share of female is lower; however the share of people who have a driving licence and who have at least sometimes access to a car is higher within the group of cyclists. About 85% of regular cyclists reach at least 30 cycling-minutes per reported day. This indicates that a high share of regular cyclists can reach the WHO´s recommended level only by routine cycling trips. Further the threshold of reaching the minimum recommendation by cycling will be analysed between the cities. Conclusions In this study, we compare cyclists and their travel behaviour in seven European cities. Our first results indicate, that cycling as a mean of transport can help reach the WHO’s physical activity recommendations and including physical activity into daily life without much of extra effort. Document type: Article

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. Document type: Article