What affects how far individuals walk?

Abstract

The number of studies that explore contributing factors that encourage individuals to do more walking trips is proliferated in recent years. However, there is still a lot to know about differentiating between short and long walking trips and their associated influencing factors. The current research investigated the impact of the influencing factors on the share of short and long walking trips across four different trips in 112 traffic analysis zones of Rasht, Iran. The share of walking trips was defined as the proportion of walking trips that originated/ended in an area on all trips that originated/ended in that area. In four trip purposes in short, long, and all trips, the factors associated with the share of walking in origins and destinations were investigated in 24 separate models. The factors included built environmental indices, such as transportation network connectivity and land-use variables, as well as socio-demographic. To differentiate between short and long walking trips, 600 m walking distance was recognized as a proxy. According to the results, the population density was found significantly increase share of walking in both the origins and destinations of short walking trips. Moreover, the models’ goodness of fits were relatively higher in short walking trips comparing long walking trips. This research's findings would give a profound assessment to city planners and decision makers who favor expanding walking as a sustainable mode of transportation.