Balanced Growth, Travel Demand, and Physical Activity

Abstract

All smart growth initiatives involve some degree of mixed land uses. Which mixed-use strategies – e.g., jobs-housing balance, adding retail to residential districts-- offer the greatest traffic-reducing benefits? This paper addresses this question by examining the degree to which job accessibility is associated with reduced work travel and how closely retail-service accessibility is correlated with miles and hours logged getting to shopping destinations. Based on data from the San Francisco Bay Area, we find that jobs-housing balance offers the greatest travel reduction benefits, by a substantial margin. Retail accessibility does significantly increase non-motorized travel, which is important given America’s mounting obesity problem. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy measures introduced in California to bring housing, workplaces, and retail centers closer together. 1 1. Balanced Growth and Sustainable Urbanism Mixed land uses are a signature feature-- part of the DNA, if you will-- of smart growth. One mixed-use strategy is jobs-housing balance, long touted by transportation planners as a way to reduce peak-period travel and rationalize commutesheds (Cervero, 1989; Ewing,

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