Abstract
This study advances understanding of the role of residential location in joint household travel and activities for non-work purposes in an Asian city context. This has been done by investigating the relationship between job accessibility, and the undertaking and duration of joint travel and activities of multi-person households in Hong Kong. Particular attention was given to the difference between new town and urban-area commuters who experienced marked different levels of job accessibility as a result of their residential locations. Drawing on the 2011 household travel survey, a suite of multivariable analysis was carried out. The findings highlight that: (1) longer working hours were associated with a lower probability of joint household travel and activities for new town and urban-area commuters alike; (2) longer commute and working hours significantly reduced the time window for joint household activities; (3) and job accessibility played a more important role in affecting the opportunities for discretionary joint household activities among new town commuters than urban-area commuters. The implications of these findings can be used to inform policymaking to increase the opportunities and time window for joint household travel and activities among new town commuters. Potential avenues for future research are also identified.
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Notes
We have also experimented with zero-inflated Poisson and Negative Binomial SEM, which did not result in good model-fit.
We have also summarised working hours and overlap time windows for some public transport commuters who did not make any non-commute trips. Compared to Group 1, this group was also associated with longer working hours and markedly shorter time windows. The results, based on a relatively small sample size (i.e., N = 100), can be obtained from the authors upon request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and advice. This work was supported by the General Research Fund (GRF) of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (Grants Number: CUHK14602017).
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Appendices
Appendix I: Job accessibility by private vehicle
Appendix II: Average joint household travel and activity durations: public transport commuters
Home location | N | Ave. commute duration (min) | Ave. working hours | Discretionary | Maintenance | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joint travel | Joint activity | Joint travel | Joint activity | |||||||||
Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | |||||
New Town | Tsuen Wan | 2823 | 96.58 | 9.63 | 0.81 | 55.48 | 0.89 | 135.80 | 0.53 | 40.27 | 0.32 | 92.78 |
Shatin | 2750 | 106.73 | 9.71 | 0.76 | 38.33 | 0.76 | 99.05 | 0.29 | 20.00 | 0.25 | 105.71 | |
Tuen Mun | 1212 | 126.86 | 9.89 | 0.83 | 75.00 | 0.83 | 151.50 | 0.41 | 33.00 | 0.25 | 123.33 | |
Tai Po | 795 | 120.74 | 9.71 | 0.75 | 53.33 | 0.63 | 162.00 | 0.38 | 70.00 | 0.38 | 53.33 | |
Fanling/Sheung Shui | 789 | 128.10 | 9.70 | 0.63 | 56.00 | 0.76 | 102.50 | 0.63 | 29.00 | 0.38 | 111.67 | |
Yuen Long | 375 | 116.04 | 9.85 | 0.27 | 55.00 | 0.27 | 150.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Tseung Kwan O | 1669 | 90.36 | 9.86 | 0.30 | 33.00 | 0.30 | 154.00 | 0.18 | 30.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Tin Shui Wai | 589 | 131.12 | 9.83 | 0.34 | 45.00 | 0.34 | 180.00 | 0.68 | 55.00 | 0.51 | 60.00 | |
Tung Chung | 319 | 106.75 | 9.93 | 0.31 | 60.00 | 0.31 | 120.00 | 0.31 | 60.00 | 0.31 | 60.00 | |
Summary | 11,321 | 107.99 | 9.75 | 0.65 | 51.36 | 0.67 | 129.14 | 0.39 | 37.59 | 0.26 | 92.41 | |
Urban Area | HKI | 4597 | 84.91 | 9.60 | 0.70 | 41.41 | 0.65 | 130.33 | 0.52 | 18.54 | 0.26 | 105.42 |
Kowloon | 7171 | 86.34 | 9.61 | 0.45 | 40.00 | 0.49 | 141.80 | 0.60 | 28.26 | 0.30 | 158.04 | |
Summary | 11,768 | 85.78 | 9.61 | 0.54 | 40.70 | 0.55 | 136.51 | 0.57 | 24.78 | 0.31 | 140.00 | |
Rural | 600 | 103.12 | 10.12 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.17 | 85.00 | 0.17 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Total | 23,689 | 96.84 | 9.69 | 0.58 | 46.42 | 0.60 | 132.20 | 0.47 | 29.59 | 0.27 | 118.44 | |
Appendix III: Average joint household travel and activity durations: private-vehicle commuters
Home location | N | Ave. commute duration (min) | Ave. working hours | Discretionary | Maintenance | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joint travel | Joint activity | Joint travel | Joint activity | |||||||||
Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | Proportion (%) | Ave. duration (min) | |||||
New Town | Tsuen Wan | 155 | 64.23 | 9.36 | 3.23 | 42.00 | 3.23 | 81.00 | 6.45 | 30.00 | 2.58 | 108.75 |
Shatin | 214 | 72.14 | 9.48 | 4.21 | 42.78 | 4.67 | 197.00 | 5.14 | 24.64 | 0.93 | 7.50 | |
Tuen Mun | 129 | 80.28 | 10.09 | 3.10 | 23.75 | 3.10 | 120.00 | 3.88 | 47.00 | 2.33 | 83.33 | |
Tai Po | 129 | 73.98 | 9.60 | 4.65 | 21.67 | 4.65 | 107.50 | 1.55 | 35.00 | 0.78 | 100.00 | |
Fanling/Sheung Shui | 65 | 84.29 | 9.79 | 1.54 | 60.00 | 1.54 | 210.00 | 3.08 | 30.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Yuen Long | 50 | 62.08 | 9.85 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 35.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Tseung Kwan O | 90 | 74.69 | 9.90 | 3.33 | 50.00 | 3.33 | 75.00 | 2.22 | 35.00 | 1.11 | 105.00 | |
Tin Shui Wai | 30 | 74.87 | 9.71 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Tung Chung | 5 | 68.00 | 10.77 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Summary | 867 | 72.88 | 9.67 | 3.23 | 36.79 | 3.34 | 0.00 | 3.81 | 31.55 | 1.27 | 82.27 | |
Urban Area | HKI | 320 | 63.74 | 9.59 | 3.13 | 63.50 | 3.13 | 134.50 | 4.06 | 23.85 | 0.31 | 255.00 |
Kowloon | 354 | 61.46 | 9.24 | 2.54 | 38.89 | 2.54 | 112.78 | 1.13 | 26.25 | 0.28 | 100.00 | |
Summary | 674 | 62.55 | 9.41 | 2.82 | 51.84 | 2.82 | 124.21 | 2.52 | 24.41 | 0.30 | 177.50 | |
Rural | 258 | 77.55 | 10.04 | 0.78 | 32.50 | 0.78 | 115.00 | 3.10 | 33.13 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Total | 1,799 | 69.68 | 9.62 | 2.72 | 42.45 | 2.78 | 130.50 | 3.22 | 29.67 | 0.72 | 96.92 | |
Appendix IV: Modelling results of probability of joint household travel and activities: private-vehicle commuters
Variable | Coefficient estimates (N = 1799) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Discretionary | Maintenance | |||
Model 1: Joint travel | Model 2: Joint activity | Model 3: Joint travel | Model 4: Joint activity | |
Age | − 0.014 | − 0.009 | 0.018 | 0.022 |
Female | 0.401 | 0.408 | 0.250 | − 0.101 |
Married | 1.121** | 1.057* | 1.565* | 1.306 |
Public housing estates | 0.253 | 0.213 | − 0.631 | − 0.160 |
Household size | 0.131 | 0.106 | 0.192 | − 0.311 |
Having dependent children | − 0.934** | − 0.796* | 0.937** | 0.941 |
Having another elderly | − 1.222 | − 1.216 | − 0.240 | − 0.321 |
Having a domestic helper | − 0.618* | − 0.670* | 0.166 | − 0.321 |
Multiple earners | 0.003 | − 0.065 | − 0.482 | − 0.732 |
Population density (natural log transformed) | − 0.118 | − 0.101 | − 0.075 | 0.006 |
Job accessibility by private vehicle | 2.303* | 2.153* | − 0.525 | − 0.945 |
Commute duration | − 0.002 | − 0.001 | − 0.005 | − 0.003 |
Working hours | − 0.127** | − 0.118* | − 0.102* | − 0.251** |
Model summary | ||||
Wald χ2 | 24.48** | 22.56*** | 31.37*** | 12.04 |
AIC | 400.119 | 408.992 | 446.826 | 135.062 |
BIC | 477.049 | 408.992 | 523.755 | 211.992 |
Appendix V: SEM modelling results for private-vehicle commuters
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Tao, S., He, S.Y. Job accessibility and joint household travel: a study of Hong Kong with a particular focus on new town residents. Transportation 48, 1379–1407 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-020-10100-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-020-10100-4