Women's Travel Behavior and Land Use: Will New Styles of Neighborhoods Lead to More Women Walking?

Abstract

Many travel behavior researchers have explored the links between land use characteristics and travel patterns. Several of them have demonstrated that certain patterns, such as density, mixed uses, and street connectivity, are associated with fewer or shorter vehicle trips, or both. There is also a considerable body of literature demonstrating the differences between men's and women's travel patterns. Yet less effort has been devoted to examining how land use may interact with sex to influence travel outcomes. If land use does affect travel, does it affect men's and women's travel differently? In particular, will both women and men take advantage of the walkable features of new urbanist neighborhoods? This study examines these questions in more detail through empirical analysis of land use and travel data. The relationships between walking behaviors, land use, and sex are emphasized. The findings reveal that women in new urbanist neighborhoods may walk more than do women in less walkable environments. However, men appear more likely to respond to these environments and walk more than their female counterparts. Land use and urban design may also remove some of the current barriers to women's walking, particularly safety concerns; however, the results indicate that women's ability or inclination to walk may be rooted in other reasons, such as family responsibilities.

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