The Factors Leading To Commuting Mode Shifts After Residential Relocation

With large-scale land development and construction of peripheral areas in China, most of large cities are experiencing extensive suburbanization, which has resulted in outward residential relocation flows and intensified separations of workplace and residence. This paper, with Nanjing as case study, investigated the effects of demographics, relocation attributes, public transport accessibility, and travel environment perception on mode shift because of relocations.Through the reasonable design, we obtained a total of 354 valid questionnaires for analysis. Two logistic regression models were developed for two specific groups of travel-mode shift:from a non-motorized mode to a motorized mode and from public transport to a motorized mode. The results showed that when urban residents relocation occurs, living is not synchronous with the employment, after relocation 44% of the population is from the city center move to outside, and there are still 68% of the population working place is located in the city center, after relocation commuter traffic way to private motorized transfer significantly, the private car commuter growth from 9% to 29% after relocation, cost increase dramatically when commuting. At the same time, good accessibility, including increased bus lines, improved accessibility to metro stations, increased bus service coverage to attract individual to use public transport, inhibition of private motorized commuter way plays an important role. In addition, active moves and passive move before and after relocation characteristics and influencing factors of transportation has significant differences, active move individual 68% used car commuter, independent strong selectivity, living area and passive move individual accessibility is poorer, at the same time by way of their own economic conditions can choose is less, for public transportation dependence is stronger. In the end, the improved for relocation caused by the traffic problem core is to reduce the transfer to private motorized transportation way, guarantee the leading position of public transport in commuter traffic. The findings suggest that a control policy on the shift to automobile should be made to guarantee the leading role of public transport.