Individual and geographic variations in the propensity to travel by active modes in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

The transportation impacts of an increasingly urban population have led planners and policy makers to consider ways to encourage the use of active travel in urban areas. Active travel is attractive from a planning perspective because its environmental impact is considerably lower than the alternatives, and in addition is known to have a number of population health and social benefits. Not surprisingly, there has been a growth in interest in the factors associated with the use of active modes of transportation. The objective of this study is to investigate the individual (demographic and socio-economic) and contextual (geography and land use type) factors that correlate with the propensity to travel by active modes in Vitoria-Gasteiz. This is a medium sized city in the north of Spain, and a case study that has hitherto not been reported. Data obtained from a household travel survey (HTS) conducted in 2014 allow us to estimate a multinomial logit model of the propensity to travel by different modes of transportation. Furthermore, since the data are geocoded, we can estimate a model with spatially-varying coefficients to assess the geographical variations in the probability to use active modes. The results of the study provide valuable information concerning differences in active travel by gender and age, including significant and quite substantial variations by location. In addition, the effect of different urban fabrics indicates the relevance of density and mix of uses for active travel. In this way, the present research helps to increase our global knowledge-base regarding active travel in a medium-sized city.