Much has been written about the connection between land use/urban form and transportation from the perspective of impacting automobile trip generation. This only addresses half the issue. The theoretical advances in land use/transportation relationships embodied in paradigms such as the jobs housing balance, neo-traditional design (NTD) standards and transit oriented development (TOD) rely very heavily on the generation of pedestrian traffic in order to realize their proposed benefits. The analysis presented here employs similar models and data sets used in Boarnet & Greenwald for the Portland, Oregon area, but applies them towards analysis of non-work walking travel. The results suggest that whatever effects land use has on affecting individual non-work walking trip generation, the impacts take place at the neighborhood level.

This paper examines the nature of land use based substitution effects on travel modes, identified by Greenwald, examining the direct impact of land uses inducing trip-making behaviors. These impacts are analyzed in the context of trip chaining, defined here as consolidating two or more non-home activities in a single departure from home. The findings suggest rather than strictly promoting one type of transportation over another, the regional impact of localized urban design practices is to consolidate trip making behavior closer to the home. As such, urban design “carrots” must be complemented with policy “sticks” in order to promote true exchanges of travel modes.

This paper replicates the research on non-work automobile trip generation and land use conducted by Boarnet & Crane (1999) and Boarnet & Sarmiento (1998) for the Portland, Oregon, region. Additionally, new variables examining New Urbanist arguments are incorporated. The results suggest that any links between land use and non-work trip behavior act primarily by influencing trip costs, in terms of distances traveled and speeds achieved, rather than directly influencing the number of trips made. This analysis is consistent with Boarnet and Crane and Boarnet and Sarmiento, suggesting that this model is not sensitive to errors that might arise due to the unique characteristics of the urban area under review.