Center for Activity Systems Analysis

This study uses two-day travel diary data to examine whether land use matters more for an individual's total vehicle miles traveled (VMT). More specifically, sociodemographic, land use, and street connectivity variables are used to estimate nonwork trip frequency and nonwork vehicle miles traveled via ordered probit and ordinary least-squares regression models. We compare standardized coefficients of the models and conclude that: (1) the influence of land use variables is similar in both the trip generation and VMT regressions; and (2) income is the primary determinant of both trip frequency and VMT, but that land use exerts an influence that is on par with other sociodemographic characteristics after the primary role of income is considered.