Are mode choice, travel distance and travel time dependent on characteristics of the built environment ? To what extent do activity patterns vary across spatial contexts ? Is urban form a more important determinant of travel patterns and time use than factors related to travelers' sociodemographic background ? The research in this dissertation seeks to answer these and related questions through analysis of the 1998 Netherlands National Travel Survey (Onderzoek Verplaatsingsgedrag). The results suggest that the urban form factors considered influence the aspects of travel/activity patterns that have been analyzed, but that their importance varies across travel and time use indicators. Mode choice, for instance, is dependent on urban form to a larger degree than the type of workday activity schedule. Another main outcome is that, after account is taken of other relevant factors, commute distances and times for car drivers are on average larger in most types of polycentric urban areas than in monocentric regions in the Netherlands. (Author/publisher)
Abstract