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An investigation on mode choice and travel distance demand of older people in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Canada: application of a utility theoretic joint econometric model

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Abstract

This paper uses a utility-theoretic joint econometric model to investigate the factors affecting mode choice and travel distance of older people (age 65+) along with the interrelationship between these two. The main objective is to investigate the effects of modal accessibility on travel distance requirements of older people and resulting implications of social exclusions. Empirical models are estimated by using a household travel survey conducted in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Canada. The empirical model reveals that older people living in the NCR often need to travel longer distances for engaging in various activities because of poor modal accessibility. It is also evident that the effects of accessibility are not the same across the region. Older people living far from the central business district (CBD) need to travel longer distances compared to the older people living close to the CBD. With an increasingly older population in the region, an increasing of risk of transportation-related social exclusion may be implied because of the need for longer distance travel to engage in activities. Most importantly, such implications in the NCR is driven more by the region’s urban form and land use patterns than the performance of the regional transportation system.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by an NSERC Discovery Grant and an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation. The author acknowledges the contribution of the TRANS Committee for making the household travel survey data and traffic assignment model outputs available for this study. Special thanks to Ahmad Subhani, Senior Project Manager of the City of Ottawa, for discussions, encouragement and enthusiasm. Comments and suggestions of four anonymous reviewers as well as the editor are greatly acknowledged. Of course, errors and mistakes are the sole responsibility of the author.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Khandker Nurul Habib

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  1. Khandker Nurul Habib
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Correspondence to Khandker Nurul Habib.

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Habib, K.N. An investigation on mode choice and travel distance demand of older people in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Canada: application of a utility theoretic joint econometric model. Transportation 42, 143–161 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-014-9537-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-014-9537-2

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