2012 volume 39(3) pages 459 – 470
doi:10.1068/b36168

Cite as:
Cao X, Fan Y, 2012, "Exploring the influences of density on travel behavior using propensity score matching" Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 39(3) 459 – 470
Download citation data in RIS format

Exploring the influences of density on travel behavior using propensity score matching

Xinyu Cao, Yingling Fan

Abstract. The causality issue has become one of the key questions in the debate over the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior. Since a residential self-selection effect exists, it is important to know if the observed influence of the built environment on travel behavior diminishes substantially once we control for self-selection. Using 5537 adult respondents to the 2006 Great Triangle Travel Survey in North Carolina, this study applied the propensity score matching approach to identify the causal effect of density on travel behavior and the relative contribution of self-selection to travel behavior. The results showed that, after removing self-selection bias, residents living in high-density neighborhoods travel, on average, 3.31 fewer miles per person per day than those who live in low-density neighborhoods. Self-selection effects account for 28%, 64%, and 49% of the observed influences of density on personal miles travelled, driving duration, and transit duration, respectively. We also found that different modeling approaches produce different point estimates, and that interval estimates of treatment effects tend to have a large variation. This points to a caveat of using point estimates to evaluate the impacts of the built environment on travel behavior.
Keywords: land use, smart growth, transportation, treatment effect, statistical control

Restricted material:

PDF Full-text PDF size: 633 Kb

Your computer (IP address: 54.242.188.217) has not been recognised as being on a network authorised to view the full text or references of this article. If you are a member of a university library that has a subscription to the journal, please contact your serials librarian (subscriptions information).