Examining associations between urban design attributes and transport mode choice for walking, cycling, public transport and private motor vehicle trips

Objective
Many research papers examine the relationship of the built environment on transport behaviour using only one mode of transport. Yet to inform policy makers, a broader examination of transport mode choice across different transport modes is required. Here, associations between urban design attributes and transport mode choices including transport walking, transport cycling, public transport and private motor vehicle use were explored.

Methods
Secondary analysis was conducted on 16,890 participants aged 18 years or older who participated in the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel Activity 2009–2010 (VISTA09) in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Adjusted multilevel logistic regression models were used to explore the relationship between urban design attributes and transport-walking, cycling, public transport and private motor vehicle use.

Results
Taking transport-walking, cycling or public transport trips was positively associated with the housing diversity score and gross dwelling density. Taking private motor vehicle trips was negatively associated with street connectivity, land use mix, local living score, housing diversity score, gross dwelling density and proximity to supermarkets.

Conclusion
The study found that environments that neighbourhoods with gross residential densities exceeding 20 dwellings per hectare, a well-connected street network, access to 9 or more local living destinations and short distances to public transport services (i.e., ≤ 400 m for bus and ≤ 800 m for train) encourage walking, cycling and public transport use, while discouraging driving. Comprehensive integrated urban planning of transport infrastructure, land use development and service provision is required to create neighbourhoods that support active and sustainable living that allow for a flexible mix of land uses and transport options.