Interpreting the influence of urban form on household car travel using partial least squares structural equation modelling: some evidence from Northern Ireland

Banerjee, U.; Hine, J., 2016, in Transportation Planning and Technology

doi:10.1080/03081060.2015.1108081

Location	Northern Ireland
Population	General
Sample size	662
Factor analysis type	confirmatory factor analysis, nan rotation
Stepwise regression	no
Removal of insignificant variables	no
Reviewed by	LCM

Abstract

This paper investigates the relative influence of urban form, attitude and preferences and socio-economic and demographic factors on travel patterns in terms of vehicular miles travelled in Northern Ireland. Two specific issues unique to the research context, where car reliance is an inherent part of daily lifestyle, are of concern when determining the pattern of these inter-relationships: firstly ‘where we live’ and secondly its impact on ‘how we travel’ or vice versa. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling the empirical findings show that while there is no significant direct influence of the neighbourhood scale urban form variables on the vehicular miles travelled (VMT), regional-scale urban form factors exert a strong effect on VMT. Car-oriented preference and socio-economic characteristics were found to be key determinants of VMT, although the strongest influence is exerted by residential preferences namely ‘where we live’ which in turn influences ‘how we travel’. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

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