AUTOMOBILE OWNERSHIP, HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT AUTOMOBILES, AND URBAN TRAFFIC PARAMETERS: ARE THEY RELATED?

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2002

Subject Area

operations - traffic, ridership - commuting, place - urban, mode - mass transit

Keywords

Urban areas, Transit, Traffic characteristics, Socioeconomic factors, Socioeconomic aspects, Public transit, Network efficiency, Mass transit, Local transit, Level of service, Automobile ownership, Autolessness

Abstract

Most research to date on automobile ownership has concentrated on establishing links between various socioeconomic factors and automobile ownership, without much regard to urban traffic parameters that may affect ownership rates. To address the issue of the effect of traffic parameters on ownership rates, the study takes a twofold approach. First, it investigates whether traffic characteristics and network efficiency parameters influence automobile ownership. Second, it investigates whether not having an automobile (autolessness) is also affected, and to what degree, by these parameters. The results clearly suggest that the variables affecting automobile ownership and autolessness are not the same. It further suggests that traffic network and efficiency parameters do not, on the one hand, affect autolessness, but they do, on the other hand, affect the number of automobiles owned by a household. What this seems to imply is that a household's decision to purchase the first automobile is primarily based on socioeconomic factors, whereas the decision to purchase a second automobile (or more) is largely based on traffic network, efficiency, and transit level-of-service parameters.

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