Nowadays almost all researchers focusing on the impact of land use on travel behaviour examine personal and household variables such as income, age and household type. Still, within ‘homogeneous’ groups, there may be preferences for travel modes (especially car or public transport) and these may have an impact on the influence of land use on travel behaviour a subject for which available literature is scarce. This paper represents then an endeavour to relay results of empirical research on this matter and also attempts to answer the following questions: 1. Are there preferences for modes? 2. Is there a relationship between preferences and neighbourhood characteristics? 3. Have preferences for modes played a role in residential choices of households? 4. Do preferences for modes add explanatory power to mobility models that include personal and household characteristics, and land-use variables? Results obtained here reveal positive answers to all four questions, which then confronts us with the question: does this therefore mean that land-use policies make no sense? This one will also be discussed. (Author/publisher)
Abstract