Tim Schwanen

Travel behaviour in Dutch monocentric and policentric urban systems

Abstract In this paper, we analyse how monocentric and policentric urban structures affect modal choice and travel distances for different travel purposes in the Netherlands. The analysis is based on data from the Dutch National Travel Survey 1998. Here we distinguish four kinds of urban systems: one monocentric and three types of policentric systems. The evidence on how the structure of urban regions affects travel behaviour is mixed. Regarding modal choice, deconcentration of urban land uses encourages driving and discourages the use of public transport as well as cycling and walking. However, in terms of distance travelled per person, the results of the relocation of jobs and residences to suburban locations are less commuting in some urban regions, and longer commuting distances in others. The longer commute may also be an effect of the strong spatial planning policies in the Netherlands.

Policies for Urban Form and their Impact on Travel: The Netherlands Experience

This paper documents an evaluation of the consequences of the Netherlands national physical planning policy for an individuals travel behaviour. Four components of this policy are considered: the concentrated decentralisation of the 1970s and 1980s; the strict compact-city policy of the 1980s and 1990s; the A-B-C location policy; and the spatial retailing policy. Using data from the 1998 Netherlands National Travel Survey, the article addresses the following questions. Did physical planning reduce the use of the private car and promote the use of public transport together with cycling and walking? Did physical planning lead to shorter travel distances and times? The analysis suggests that national spatial planning has been most effective in retaining high shares of cycling and walking in the large and medium-sized cities, in particular for shopping trips. In terms of travel time, however, spatial policy seems to have been less successful. The building of new towns and, more recently, the development of greenfield neighbourhoods close to cities do not appear to have reduced commuting times. Alternative strategies to promote the use of public transport, the bicycle and walking through the regulation of land use are discussed. Relaxing some of the present spatial planning controls is suggested to reduce car use and travel times.

‘I like to go out to be energised by different people’: an exploratory analysis of mobility and wellbeing in later life

ABSTRACT This paper adds to the growing number of studies about mobility and wellbeing in later life. It proposes a broader understanding of mobility than movement through physical space. Drawing on the ‘mobility turn’ in the social sciences, we conceptualise mobility as the overcoming of any type of distance between a here and a there, which can be situated in physical, electronic, social, psychological or other kinds of space. Using qualitative data from 128 older people in County Durham, England, we suggest that mobility and wellbeing influence each other in many different ways. Our analysis extends previous research in various ways. First, it shows that mobility of the self – a mental disposition of openness and willingness to connect with the world – is a crucial driver of the relation between mobility and wellbeing. Second, while loss of mobility as physical movement can and often does affect older peoples sense of wellbeing adversely, this is not necessarily so; other mobilities can at least to some extent compensate for the loss of mobility in physical space. Finally, wellbeing is also enhanced through mobility as movement in physical space because the latter enables independence or subjectively experienced autonomy, as well as inter-dependence in the sense of relatively equal and reciprocal social relations with other people.

Travel-time ratios for visits to the workplace: the relationship between commuting time and work duration

For a better understanding of commuting behavior, the home-to-work journey has to be addressed in the context of daily time use. Although many studies have analyzed commuting times, the influence of the time spent working on the home-to-work travel time has only been investigated indirectly. This paper uses the travel-time ratio concept to investigate the association between work duration and commuting. We describe the theoretical framework of the travel-time ratio and analyze realized travel-time ratios for work activities with data from the 1998 Dutch National Travel Survey. It is shown that workers, on average, spend 10.5% of the time available for work and travel on commuting, which corresponds to 28 min (single trip) for an 8-h workday. The travel-time ratio varies systematically with sociodemographic variables; urban form is of rather limited importance in the explanation of travel-time ratio values.

A microlevel analysis of residential context and travel time

The literature on the association between residential context and travel concentrates on distance traveled and modal choice, as these variables are the most important from an environmental perspective. Travel time has received less attention—an unfortunate oversight in our view, as peoples travel decisions are determined by time rather than by distance. By using data from the 1998 Netherlands National Travel Survey, we have considered travel time associated with trip purpose and transport mode, and have shown that sociodemographic factors and residential context influence daily travel time. Gender, number of workers in the household, age, and education all have a significant impact on travel time. The effects of car ownership and household income are only indirect, operating through mode choice and activity participation. Travel time for car drivers tends to rise with the degree of urbanisation of the residential environment. Further, in the polycentric metropolitan region of the Randstad, travel times by car are greater than in the monocentric regions of the country. It is also shown that in the Netherlands cycling and walking are still important travel modes, especially for shopping purposes. These results may be attributed to the long history of urbanisation and to planning policy in the Netherlands.

Travel and Subjective Well-Being: A Focus on Findings, Methods and Future Research Needs

Subjectively experienced well-being has recently attracted increased attention in transport and mobility studies. However, these studies are still in their infancy and many of the multifarious links between travel behaviour and well-being are still under-examined; most studies only focus on one aspect of this link (i.e. travel satisfaction). In this paper, we give an overview of studies concerning travel and well-being, focusing on results, methods and gaps in present research. We suggest that travel behaviour affects well-being through experiences during (destination-oriented) travel, activity participation enabled by travel, activities during (destination-oriented) travel, trips where travel is the activity and through potential travel (or motility). The majority of empirical studies to date have been based on hedonic views of well-being, where pleasure and satisfaction are seen as the ultimate goal in life. They have paid little attention to eudaimonic views of well-being, which emphasise the realisation of ones true potential, although this form of well-being can also be influenced by travel behaviour. We also argue that longer-term decisions, such as residential location choices, can affect well-being through travel. Travel options differ between different kinds of neighbourhoods, which can result in different levels of (feelings of) freedom and consequently different levels of subjective well-being. Since studies at present only show a subset of the travel behaviour–well-being interactions, we conclude the paper with an agenda for future research.

The Prism of Everyday Life: Towards a New Research Agenda for Time Geography

Abstract In light of the renewed attention for time geography in the transport modelling field in recent years, this paper provides a timely state‐of‐the‐art review of the contributions of the time‐geographic approach to the closely related research areas of transport planning and accessibility analysis. Specific attention will be devoted to the ways in which recent advances in time geography have deepened the understanding of human activities and travel possibilities in space and time. From this literature review, a detailed research agenda is derived and the latest research attempts to deal with lingering time‐geographic issues are discussed.

Well-being and Mobility: A Theoretical Framework and Literature Review Focusing on Older People

ABSTRACT There is an increasing attention for how mobility is associated with well-being amongst people in general and older adults in particular. Comparisons across research projects and articles are, however, hampered by the different understandings and conceptualisations of well-being that are employed. We, firstly, develop a heuristic framework for understanding the concept of well-being, and secondly, use this to explore possible linkages between well-being and mobility and to critically examine the various conceptualisations of well-being in research on mobility in later life. It is argued that future work on well-being and mobility should consider both the objective and the subjective and the hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of well-being, and should pay detailed attention to the multiple ways in which well-being and its linkages to mobility are context-dependent and shaped by the particularities of time and place.

My space or your space? Towards a measure of joint accessibility

Abstract Research on space–time accessibility is usually concerned with determining and assessing the opportunities for individual activity participation. However, a significant part of everyday activities is conducted jointly with others, implying that the feasibility of potential locations for activity engagement depends on the accumulation of conditions related to the spatiotemporal setting of each participant. In this paper, we put forward a method to gauge the accessibility of places to a particular group of people willing to engage in a joint activity. The method calculates locational benefits by taking into account network-based travel times, individual activity schedules, and the attractiveness and temporal availability of facilities. The applicability of the method extends towards situations with multiple facilities and participants, being available for multiple periods of time. As a possible output of our model, maps of joint accessibility are created which can be used to evaluate different rendezvous scenarios.

A Theoretical Framework and Methodology for Characterising National Urban Systems on the Basis of Flows of People: Empirical Evidence for France and Germany

In advanced economies, flows play an important part in connecting urban nodes. This paper sets up a framework for identifying and classifying the pattern of the urban systems from an interaction perspective. Three S-dimensions are proposed (that is, the strength of interaction, the symmetry of interaction and the structure of the network) and a set of indices that are important for characterising network configurations. Using the European long-distance mobility database (DATELINE), the framework is applied to examine the pattern of interaction between functional urban areas (FURs) in France and Germany. The analysis is carried out separately for three journey purposes: business, holiday and leisure. The results reveal that national urban systems embrace a wide variety of constellations and that considerable variation in these constellations can be observed across journey purposes and countries. Overall, the authors are confident that the proposed framework provides a useful analytical tool for characterising the configurations of urban systems.