The spatial distribution of hybrid electric vehicles in a sprawled mid-size Canadian city: Evidence from Windsor, Canada

Technological advancements in recent years have allowed hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to improve in terms of associated tailpipe emissions and fuel efficiency. As a result, the demand for HEVs in Canada has been on the rise, but the market share is still negligible. In this paper, the population of HEVs in the Windsor Census metropolitan area (CMA), Ontario, Canada for the year 2010 is considered to study the determinants that led to the observed spatial distribution of this class of vehicles across the different census tracts within the CMA. Vehicle-specific characteristics along with locational variables are employed in the analysis. Locational factors are based on census tract profile attributes (namely socio-economic factors) that were acquired from the 2011 Census National Household Survey (NHS). Other variables used in the analysis include mixed density index, average commuting distance and a measure of spatial clustering. Discrete choice modeling is used to explain the residential location of HEV owners in the CMA. Moran's I statistics analysis suggests that the spatial distribution of HEV owners exhibits a clustering pattern. This was also reinforced by the significance of the spatial term used in the choice model. Area-based socio-economic factors pertaining to the size of population, gender, type of occupation, education, size of household of the people living in an area, and income explain the spatial prevalence of HEVs. Also, areas housing long distance commuters as well as areas with mixed density tend to house HEV owners.