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Trip generation of vulnerable populations in three Canadian cities: a spatial ordered probit approach

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Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of trip generation of three vulnerable groups: single-parent families, low income households, and the elderly. It compares the mobility of these groups to that of the general population in three Canadian urban areas of Hamilton, Montreal and Toronto, based on data from large-sample metropolitan transport surveys. An ordered probit model with spatially expanded coefficients is used for the analysis. Spatial expansion shows that there are spatial mobility trends for elderly populations and low-income populations even after socio-economic attributes are accounted for. Such spatial differences are not generally found for single parent families. This novel spatial analysis provides clues as to where vulnerable populations may experience greater degrees of social exclusion. It provides information to help prioritize transportation infrastructure projects or other social programs to take into account the needs of vulnerable populations with the lowest levels of mobility.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Human Resources and Social Development Canada for this project. Data was used with the kind permission of the technical committee of travel surveys in the Greater Montreal Area (Agence Métropolitaine de Transport, Ministère des Transports du Québec, Société de Transport de Montréal, Société de Transport de Laval, and Réseau de Transport de Longueuil) and the Urban Transportation Research Advancement Centre Data Management Group at University of Toronto. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are the authors’ alone and do not reflect the position of these organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Urban Transportation Research Advancement Centre, University of Toronto, 35 St George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A4, Canada

    Matthew J. Roorda

  2. McMaster Institute for Transport and Logistics, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Antonio Páez & Steven Farber

  3. Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, MADITUC Group, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Catherine Morency

  4. Cities Centre, University of Toronto, 455 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5S 2G8, Canada

    Ruben Mercado

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  1. Matthew J. Roorda
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  2. Antonio Páez
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Correspondence to Matthew J. Roorda.

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Roorda, M.J., Páez, A., Morency, C. et al. Trip generation of vulnerable populations in three Canadian cities: a spatial ordered probit approach. Transportation 37, 525–548 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-010-9263-3

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