Publication Cover
Transportation Letters
The International Journal of Transportation Research
Volume 8, 2016 - Issue 1
443
Views
31
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Paper

Spatial heterogeneous impact of built environment on household auto ownership levels: evidence from analysis at traffic analysis zone scales

, , , &
Pages 26-34 | Received 30 Dec 2013, Accepted 21 Feb 2015, Published online: 05 Feb 2016
 

Abstract

Household auto ownership modeling plays an important role in travel demand analysis because it reveals a key link between travel behavior and built environment. The object of this paper is to estimate the impact of built environment on household auto ownership levels by using a multilevel, mixed ordered probit model, which captures the spatial heterogeneity across traffic analysis zones (TAZs). Parameters are estimated with Bayesian estimation method via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. The data come from the household travel survey 2007–2008 for the Washington–Baltimore Region. Empirical results indicate that our multilevel ordered probit model can effectively address the spatial heterogeneity across zones and provide better model fit than traditional ordered probit model. It is found that built environment can explain about 42.8% of the spatial heterogeneity in household auto ownership. Our findings can help policy makers develop a better understanding of how the built environment can influence household auto ownership.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB725404).

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.