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Weekly activity-travel behaviour in rural Northern Ireland: differences by context and socio-demographic

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Abstract

Despite a wide variation in access to goods and services between rural areas, common policy interventions are often proposed in Northern Ireland. Questions remain as to the level and form of policy differentiation that is required, if any, both within and between different rural areas. This issue is investigated in this paper through the analysis of activity-travel patterns of individuals living in two rural areas with different levels of area accessibility and area mobility. Three focus groups, 299 questionnaires and 89 activity-travel diaries for 7 days were collected for individuals from these areas. Regression analyses were employed to explore the degree to which different factors influence activity-travel behaviour. The results indicate that individuals from rural areas with a higher level of accessibility are more integrated within their local community and as a result, are potentially less at risk of being excluded from society due to immobility. Differences, however, were also found between different groups within an area (e.g. non-car owning individuals who were more reliant on walking, and low-income individuals who made trips of a shorter distance). Based on the study findings and a review of existing policies, this research highlights the need to tailor policy responses to reflect the particular sets of circumstances exhibited in different areas.

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Notes

  1. These include: Band A—Belfast metropolitan urban area, Band B—Derry urban area, Band C—large town (population between 18,000 and 75,000), Band D—medium town (population between 10,000 and 18,000), Band E—small town (population between 4500 and 10000), Band F—intermediate settlement (population between 2,250 and 4,500), Band G—village (population between 1,000 and 2,250), and Band H—small village, hamlet, and open countryside (population less than 1,000.

  2. Note that this classification is different from the classification of the route length variable. For this analysis, a categorisation of the trip destinations was made based on a network distance from the population weighted centroid of each case study areas and also based on trips of individuals from the respective case study areas. On the other hand, the route length classification was made irrespective of case study areas and also irrespective of the origin and destination of a trip.

  3. Train journeys were not considered in this analysis due to the fact that the train was not accessible for the respondents living in Doagh. In addition, analysis shows that the train played a minor role in facilitating travel in rural areas. Only 0.7% of trips were made by train by the respondents from Moira.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief (Martin G. Richards) of this journal and the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. Base map: Land and Property Services, Permit No. 110017, © Crown copyright 2011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Built Environment Research Institute, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, UK

    Julian Hine & Neale Blair

  2. School of Urban Development, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, 4000, QLD, Australia

    Md. Kamruzzaman

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  1. Julian Hine
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  2. Md. Kamruzzaman
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  3. Neale Blair
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Correspondence to Md. Kamruzzaman.

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Hine, J., Kamruzzaman, M. & Blair, N. Weekly activity-travel behaviour in rural Northern Ireland: differences by context and socio-demographic. Transportation 39, 175–195 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-011-9322-4

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