This paper explores how changes over time in demographic and socio-economic attributes and in the travel environments of different regions have impacted on the activity-travel patterns of car commuters from two different type of urban areas in the Netherlands (Randstad and Non-Randstad). The data that used in this study was drawn from the Dutch National Travel Survey and supplemented with demographic, land use, and network data. The paper addresses the question using simultaneous equation modeling to assess the stability in the structural relationships underlying some key indices of activity engagement and travel. The results show that residents from different types of urban areas establish different patterns of interaction between their travel parameters. In the last decade Non-Randstad car commuters have stabilized their non-work activity time and reduced their non-work visits and trip chains while Randstad car commuters have stabilized their number of trip chains and their total travel time. Despite the differences, both groups exhibit tendencies of travel time expansion.
Abstract