OTREC-RR-12-12

OTREC-RR-12-12This study looks at travel to suburban commercial strips by residents living within one third of a mile of the strip, focusing on six sites in Oregon and Georgia. The study mapped pedsheds around these strips and found significant increases in network extents when formal and informal pedestrian paths were added to street centerline data. Informal networks such as paths through vacant land and cuts in fences were widespread and suggest a pent up demand

This study looks at travel to suburban commercial strips by residents living within one-third of a mile of the strip, focusing on six sites in Oregon and Georgia. The study mapped pedsheds around these strips and found significant increases in network extents when formal and informal pedestrian paths were added to street centerline data. Informal networks such as paths through vacant land and cuts in fences were widespread and suggest a pent-up demand for route directness.
Travel surveys found significant walking and biking in these areas Ð just over one-third of all trips to the commercial strip Ð with travel distance and walking along or across arterials affecting mode choice. This suggests network extent and connectivity are factors critical to walking and biking in these areas. Mode choice motivations included convenience, cost, and culture. There was little variation across sites, suggesting that motivations and levels of active travel are fairly consistent across income and geography.