There is a lack of consensus as to whether the relationship between the built environment and travel is causal and, if it is, the extent of this causality. This problem is largely caused by inappropriate research designs adopted in many studies. This paper proposes a new method (based on path choice) to investigate the causal effect of the pedestrian environment on the utility of walking. Specifically, the paper examines how the pedestrianenvironment affects subway commutersÆ egress path choice from a station to their workplaces in downtown Boston. The path-based measure is sensitiveenough to capture minor differences in the environment experienced by pedestrians. More importantly, path choice is less likely to correlate with job and housing location choices, and therefore largely avoids the self-selection problem. The results suggest that the pedestrian environment can significantly affect a personÆs walking experience and the utility of walking along a path. (A) Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
Abstract