Impacts of built environment on travel behaviors of Generation Z: a longitudinal perspective

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2023

Subject Area

place - north america, land use - impacts, ridership - attitudes, ridership - behaviour, ridership - young people, ridership - mode choice, ridership - modelling, planning - surveys, policy - sustainable

Keywords

Travel behaviors, Mode choice, Generation Z, Built environment, National household travel surveys

Abstract

Having grown up in an "always-on" technological environment, Generation Z differ significantly in attitudes and lifestyles compared to previous generations. However, their travel behaviors have not been widely discussed and adequately understood. Using data from the latest three National Household Travel Surveys in the United States, we in this paper identify the uniqueness of Gen Z in travel behaviors and preferences, and use the zero-inflated Poisson model to test the impacts of key factors on the mode choices. Results from the longitudinal analysis indicated that Gen Z are not always more environmentally friendly than same-age people in the past decades, while Gen Z have a stronger tendency to travel in a green way in response to changes in built environment than their counterparts decades ago. These findings demonstrate that Gen Z, who have been greatly affected by technological advances and social media, may show unprecedented potential to support sustainable transportation.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by SpringerLink, copyright remains with them.

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