2023 journal article
Active travel among carless and car-owning low-income populations in the United States
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART D-TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT, 117.
author keywords: Active travel; Spatiotemporal analysis; Carless households; Suburbs; National household travel survey; Zero-inflated negative binomial model
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
1. No Poverty
(OpenAlex)
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 14, 2023
Low-income households may resort to cycling and walking to alleviate travel costs. Using data from the 2001, 2009, and 2017 National Household Travel Surveys, this study examines the spatiotemporal differences in the use of active travel among three socioeconomic groups classified based on household income and vehicle ownership. After controlling for a number of observed and unobserved factors, we find that individuals in low-income, car-owning households are associated with up to 14% more walking trips and 33% more cycling trips in a week compared to higher-income households, on average. However, in urban areas, higher-income households use active travel significantly more than low-income, car-owning households, while the opposite holds for suburban and rural areas. Individuals living in low-income, carless households are associated with even higher use of active travel. These results suggest that active travel is used, to some extent, out of necessity and lack of other viable options.