Journey to work and job search characteristics of the urban poor

Gender differences in work trip and job search patterns have received several analytical attention in recent years. A consistent finding in the literature is that women work closer to home than men because of their lower income, greater household responsibilities, and heavier reliance on public transit. While these findings pervade the literature, there has been little analysis into the extent to which they hold in the exclusive case of the urban poor. Can poor women afford to choose between jobs on the basis of journey to work considerations, any more than poor men? Using a survey data from Edmonton, this study examines the gender differences in commuting and job search patterns of the urban poor. The findings suggest that, even among the low income population, women have shorter work trips and greater preference for part-time jobs than men because of their child care and household responsibilities. More women than men did not have enough time for their job search activities; and fewer women than men were prepared to accept job offers in all parts of the study area due to their household responsibilities. The results suggest that while males' employment problems are tied primarily to the working of the labour market, through inadequate skills and lack of good-paying jobs, females' employment problems are more explicable in terms of their role as mothers and homemakers.     

Employer travel plans,cycling and gender: will travel plan measures improve the outlook for cycling to work in the UK?

Cycling is a ‘green’ alternative to commuting by car yet it makes up only a small percentage of journeys in the UK. Here we examine the commuter habits of three companies in Hertfordshire, UK. These provide contrasting case studies allowing examination of travel behaviour in relation to gender and employer travel plans. Women are known to commute shorter distances, yet are less likely to cycle. A variety of cultural and trip characteristics can account for this yet more detailed analysis reveals that some generalisations do not apply. Organisational initiatives to increase cycle commuting were perceived more positively by men than women and this suggests provision of cycling facilities in travel plans will not be effective for organisations employing a large proportion of women. However, this hides a subgroup of women who have access to a cycle and live near enough to cycle who are more positive about cycle facilities. A variety of cultural and societal constraints on cycle use are considered. Measures to encourage cycling in employer travel plans must reflect the gender balance in the organisation as well as recognised geographical and organisational factors.     

Household structure and gender differences in travel time: spouse/partner presence,parenthood, and breadwinner status

Despite having more similar roles at work and home than ever before, US men and women continue to exhibit different travel behavior. An open question is whether the remaining gender differences in travel differ by traditional and emergent aspects of household structure such as spouse/partner presence, parenthood, and breadwinner status. Using data from the 2003–2010 American Time Use Survey, this study offers a unique, empirical travel time analysis of metropolitan workers stratified by household structure. Results show that gender differences in travel time respond to multiple aspects of household structure in complex and interactive ways. Gender difference in work travel time is only observable when spouse/partner presence and parenthood interact, i.e., in couple households with children. Gender difference in household support travel reacts to parenthood but not spouse/partner presence. Gender difference in travel time between employed females and employed males in single-breadwinner couples is no different from gender difference in double-breadwinner couples. The results call for policy initiatives and research inquiries that pay greater attention to the large gender disparities in work travel in couple households with children and the large gender disparities in household support travel in all households with children including single-parent households. Although incapable of ruling out the influences of internalized gender differences (e.g., preference theory) and gendered structural contexts (e.g., labor market segmentation), the findings provide clear evidence that traditional gender roles and relations remain operative in contemporary households in the US.     

Area- and gender-based commuting differentials in India’s largest urban-rural region

In the countries of the Global South such as India, rapid urbanization and the increase in individual motorization may lead to a predominance of unsustainable commuting patterns. However, urbanization also has important positive effects, including the empowerment of women. This paper examines newly released, spatially disaggregated data on home-to-work commuting by non-agricultural workers in the National Capital Region of India. It aims to understand and compare commuting patterns in urban and rural areas, including choice of travel modes, commuting distances, and gender differentials.The results reveal a tendency observable in urban residents to use individual motorized transport more often both for short and for long trips, although the proportion of individual motorization is far from what it is in the industrial world. Rural areas are characterized by the predominance of non-motorized travel modes and a large share of long trips. The mobility gap between men and women does not appear to increase with literacy. In urban areas, women often choose to commute by car rather than using green modes of transportation (especially in higher-income districts). The paper stresses the importance of the area and gender differentials that need to be taken into account when formulating regional transport policies.     

The intra-household choices regarding commuting and housing

This paper is an empirical analysis of the relationships between commuting decisions of spouses in dual-income households, where the role of housing and housing tenure is taken into account. The study is based on a large survey of US commuters and actual commuting and housing choices. Household commuting decisions are analyzed together with housing choices using the data from the 2001 American Housing Survey. A sample of dual-career spouses who commute to work by car only is used to explore the inter-relationship between male and female commuting decisions in such households and the effect of housing choices on their commuting. The inter-relationships between spousal commuting decisions are examined separately for the two forms of housing tenure: ownership and renting. In general, men commute further than women and owners commute further than renters.It is shown that for both renters and homeowners, journeys to work by men and women in such dual-earner households appear to be “complements” and not “substitutes”. This means that commute trips are jointly chosen to be longer (or shorter) for both spouses, as part of household selection of preferred housing and neighborhood characteristics. The residuals of equations explaining commute times and commute distances for men are strongly positively correlated with those for women. Many of the explanatory factors affect the men and women in similar ways. In particular, housing value is positively correlated with commute times and distances for both genders. The commute distance for women owners appears more sensitive to housing value than that of men, meaning women adjust their trips to work even more so than men do, as part of obtaining better housing.For both homeowners and renters, longer commute distances were correlated with higher salaries for both spouses. Somewhat surprisingly, it was found that commuting distances for women are similarly or even more sensitive to income increments than are those of men. Household size appears to affect women who own housing in ways opposite from those who rent. Other housing and neighborhood factors also affect the joint commuting decisions of these men and women.     

Gender inequality in mobility and mode choice in Pakistan

Using the nationally representative dataset of the 2007 Pakistan Time-Use Survey, this paper examines gender differences in daily trip rate, mode choice, travel duration, and purpose of travel, which are previously unreported because of limited data availability. Wide gender mobility gaps are observed in the country, where women are less likely to travel, are half as mobile as men and may rely heavily on walking. The particular social and cultural context of the country, that renders women as private, secluded and family honor, seems influential in shaping their mobility and choice of activities. Demographic factors such as age, household income, and marital status significantly decrease female mobility levels. Hence, these findings call for a gender-based culturally responsive transportation policy in the country.     

The determinants of long distance travel in Great Britain

This study analyses of the determinants of long distance travel in Great Britain using data from the 1995-2006 National Travel Surveys (NTSs). The main objective is to determine the effects of socio-economic, demographic and geographic factors on long distance travel. The estimated models express the distance travelled for long distance journeys as a function of income, gender, age, employment status, household characteristics, area of residence, size of municipality, type of residence and length of time living in the area. A time trend is also included to capture common changes in long distance travel over time not included in the explanatory variables. Separate models are estimated for total travel, travel by each of four modes (car, rail, coach and air), travel by five purposes (business, commuting, leisure, holiday and visiting friends and relatives (VFRs)) and two journey lengths (<150 miles and 150+ miles one way), as well as the 35 mode-purpose-distance combinations.The results show that long distance travel is strongly related to income: air is most income-elastic, followed by rail, car and finally coach. This is the case for most journey purposes and distance bands. Notable is the substantial difference in income elasticities for rail for business/commuting as opposed to holiday/leisure/VFR. In addition, the income elasticity for coach travel is very low, and zero for the majority of purpose-distance bands, suggesting coach travel to be an inferior mode in comparison to car, rail and air. Regarding journey distance, we find that longer distance journeys are more income elastic than shorter journeys.For total long distance travel, the study indicates that women travel less than men, the elderly less than younger people, the employed and students more than others, those in one adult households more than those in larger households and those in households with children less than those without. Long distance travel is also lowest for individuals living in London and greatest for those in the South West, and increases as the size of the municipality declines.     

Gender differences in commuting travel in the U.S.: interactive effects of race/ethnicity and household structure

Transportation - This research investigates the interactive effects of the household structure and race/ethnicity on gender differences in commuting travel in the United States. Existing research...     

Household-level commuting mode choices,car allocation and car ownership level choices of two-worker households: the case of the city of Toronto

The paper presents a comprehensive investigation on household level commuting mode, car allocation and car ownership level choices of two-worker households in the City of Toronto. A joint econometric model and a household travel survey dataset are used for empirical investigations. Empirical models reveal that significant substitution patterns exist between auto driving and all other mode choices in two-worker households. It is revealed that, female commuters do not prefer auto driving, but in case of a one car (and two commuters with driving licenses) household, a female commuter gets more preference for auto driving option than the male commuter. Reverse commuting (commuting in opposite direction of home to central business district) plays a critical role on household level car allocation choices and in defining the stability of commuting behaviour of two-worker households. Two worker households in higher income zones and with longer commuting distances tend to have higher car ownership levels than others. However, higher transit accessibility to jobs reduces household car ownership levels. The study reveals that both increasing two worker households and reverse commuting would increase dependency on private car for commuting.     

Gender differences in travel behaviour and willingness to adopt sustainable behaviour

This paper presents pioneering research on gender differences in travel behaviour in southeastern Europe. The study analyses the socio-economic and main travel characteristics (particularly parking) of men and women. Additionally, it examines the influence of parking demand management measures on their behaviour, in terms of the willingness of men and women to reduce car use and to adopt more sustainable behaviour. The results reveal significant differences between genders in most of the characteristics examined. Moreover, it is shown that women are less car dependent and more sensitive to parking pricing and, therefore, more willing to replace a car journey with public transport. These findings suggest that gender should be an essential parameter when user behaviour is examined and modelled. Furthermore, the results indicate that gender differences must be considered when transport policy is created to affect the behaviour of men and women equally. The achievement of social equality is one of the primary objectives of sustainable development.     

The impact of married women's employment on household travel patterns: A Swedish example

As the number of married women working outside the home continues to grow, questions arise as to the impact of a wife's employment on household travel patterns. In this paper we examine the effects of a wife's employment status on her own travel activity pattern and on that of her husband. Using data from the Uppsala Household Travel Survey, in which sample-household members kept detailed travel diaries for 35 days, we first compare the travel patterns of married women employed full time with those of married women employed part time and married women not working outside the home. We then compare the travel patterns of the three corresponding groups of husbands. Measures of travel activity patterns that were used include indices of overall travel frequency for different purposes, amount of time spent and distances travelled for different purposes, indices of the level of variety in the individual's destination choice set, and measures of mode use. The results show that women employed full-time do reduce their participation in some non-work activities although their distances travelled to activity sites are not shorter than those travelled by the other women.Few significant intergroup differences distinguish the travel activity patterns of the three groups of men. The evidence suggests that a woman's full-time employment does bring significant changes to her own travel pattern but has little impact on that of her husband. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications and a review of several Swedish programs that could eventually result in greater similarity in the travel activity patterns of men and women.     

The persevering commuter – Duration of long-distance commuting

A growing number of people are long-distance commuters. For some long-distance commuting is a temporary solution, while as for others it can be a more long-term strategy to promote career and income. This study addresses duration of long-distance commuting – 30 km or more between home and work – in Sweden, and what characterizes individuals who commute for shorter or longer periods. The effects of long-distance commuting in terms of economic outcome for both partners in a commuter household are analysed. The study is based on register data for the years 1995–2005 covering all long-distance commuters in Sweden. One finding is that previous experience of long-distance commuting makes it more likely to have a long duration of long-distance commuting. In addition economic incentives, such as a higher income, are positively correlated for continuing to long-distance commuting more than a few years. Furthermore, the analysis shows that male commuters benefit more in terms of economic outcome of long-distance commuting. It is concluded that the trend with increasing long-distance commuting can sustain not only gender differences on the labour market but also within households. Finally, the paper indicates that long-distance commuting is a strategic mobility choice for households, rather than a short-term solution for a few years.     

Gender differences in activity participation,time-of-day and duration choices: new evidence from Calgary

To date only limited research has quantified differences between female and male activity patterns, and analyses at an individual activity level are scarce. Past research has focused on investigating gender differences in mobility levels based on observed travel patterns, especially those related to commuting. This article reports new evidence based on analyses of a household activity survey data-set collected from a Canadian city – Calgary – in 2001. Results show that contemporary females and males have a very similar activity participation pattern. On the other hand, analyses applied to activity starting times support the view that there are minor gender differences in time-of-day choices. In addition, duration and survival analyses through log-rank and Wilcoxon tests show that women and men tend to spend more or less time on some of the 10 weekend/weekday activities, and thus indicate that they share different domestic and societal responsibilities: males tend to spend longer time for out-of-home activities, such as work, school, social, and out-of-town; whereas females contribute more to domestic work, including shopping, eating, and religious activity. In general, this article contributes new evidence to gender differences in activity participation, time-of-day, and duration choices at the individual activity level. Such differences may influence travelers’ time, mode, and location choices and thus have important implications for the complexity of an activity-based modeling framework. These implications are discussed along with recommendations for incorporating gender differences in an activity-based modeling framework.     

Modeling household activity–travel interactions as parallel constrained choices

The daily activity-travel patterns of individuals often include interactions with other household members, which we observe in the form of joint activity participation and shared rides. Explicit representation of joint activity patterns is a widespread deficiency in extant travel forecasting models and remains a relatively under-developed area of travel behavior research. In this paper, we identify several spatially defined tour patterns found in weekday household survey data that describe this form of interpersonal decision-making. Using pairs of household decision makers as our subjects, we develop a structural discrete choice model that predicts the separate, parallel choices of full-day tour patterns by both persons, subject to the higher level constraint imposed by their joint selection of one of several spatial interaction patterns, one of which may be no interaction. We apply this model to the household survey data, drawing inferences from the household and person attributes that prove to be significant predictors of pattern choices, such as commitment to work schedules, auto availability, commuting distance and the presence of children in the household. Parameterization of an importance function in the models shows that in making joint activity-travel decisions significantly greater emphasis is placed on the individual utilities of workers relative to non-workers and on the utilities of women in households with very young children. The model and methods are prototypes for tour-based travel forecasting systems that seek to represent the complex interaction between household members in an integrated model structure.     

Home-based telecommuting and intra-household interactions in work and non-work travel: A seemingly unrelated censored regression approach

Although telecommuting has become a popular option as a new mode of working, no theoretical or empirical consensus has been reached on its potential for substituting or generating travel. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a household head’s telecommuting on household travel while controlling for the interdependence within a household and across travel purposes, by applying seemingly unrelated censored regression models to data from the 2006 Household Travel Survey in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. In terms of vehicle kilometers traveled, the analysis shows that telecommuters’ non-commute and non-work trips as well as his/her household members’ non-work trips are greater than those of non-telecommuters and their household members’, whereas telecommuting partially reduces commuting trips. However, an analysis stratified by household type reveals that the difference for household members is significant only in households with less than one vehicle per employed member: in such households (with insufficient vehicles available), the vehicle otherwise used for mandatory travel, such as for the household head’s commute, can be used for non-commute purposes or by other household members if the household head does not use it for commuting. This implies that, when vehicle travel budgets of a given household are limited, this compensatory travel mechanism can make optimum use of limited resources (i.e., vehicles), but offsets the travel-substituting effect of telecommuting. Accordingly, to more precisely estimate the impact of telecommuting-promotion policies and apply them as part of travel demand management strategies, their counteracting effects among household members should be considered.     

Gender differentials in travel pattern – The case of a mid-sized city,Rajkot, India

This paper is at the conjunction of arguments for gender equity in transport services on one hand and need to move towards low carbon transport on the other in a developing country city. The case study city, Rajkot, a mid-sized Indian city with mixed land use and limited public transport at the time of this study, has short trip lengths and low trip rates. But, even in this city there is gender disparity in travel pattern. Thus, trip rates and trip lengths of women in the city in each of the income group are lower than that of their male counter parts. With the increase in income, both, the trip rates and lengths increase, but, the increase is higher for men than for women. While the large proportions of women in each income group walk, that among the lowest income group walking is the predominant mode, as they are ‘no-choice’ or ‘forced’ walkers. With the increase in household income, women tend to shift to para-transit and men to personal motorized transport. If sustainability arguments or climate policies are to target retaining the current low ecological footprint of the women as one of the strategies, it needs to cater to expansion of their mobility while improving infrastructure to support the same.     

Gender,Residential Location,and Household Travel: Empirical Findings from Low‐income Urban Settlements in Durban,South Africa

Abstract

Urban development and transport policies designed to improve the livelihoods of poor communities need to consider the particular needs of women to be effective. Gender roles are played out in a spatial world, and can thus be expected to vary across the urban landscape. The paper examines empirical relationships between spatial factors—in particular residential location within the city—and travel behaviour for men and women in a cross‐section of low‐income communities in a large metropolitan area in South Africa. Data from a comprehensive household survey show that locality has a significant influence on gender experiences of mobility. Gender differences are greatest in more distant, rural localities, although site‐specific characteristics such as walking access to social services, informal work, and small‐scale agriculture help alleviate women’s inequitable travel burdens. Central localities display the smallest differences between men and women’s travel habits, supporting the notion that the high access afforded by centrally located housing helps to promote the satisfaction of women’s daily needs as well as their strategic empowerment. Households in peri‐urban and peripheral localities suffer the highest travel burdens, having neither the high access of a central location nor the livelihoods‐enhancing amenities of a rural environment. Women bear a large part of this burden. Urban development strategies to benefit the urban poor while promoting gender equity are highlighted, including an added emphasis on the provision of social and educational infrastructure within closer proximity to peripheral residential areas, coupled with better pedestrian access.     

Willingness to accept commuting time within the household: stated preference evidence

In this study, stated preference data is used to derive estimated values of commuting time (VOCT). Both spouses in two-earner households are individually making trade-offs between commuting time and wage; both with regard to their own commuting time and wage only, as well as when both their own commuting time and wage and their spouse’s commuting time and wage are simultaneously changed. Thus, we are able to compare how male spouses and female spouses value each other’s commuting time. When only ones own commuting time and wage are attributes, the empirical results show that the estimated VOCT is plausible with a tendency towards high values compared to other studies, and that VOCT does not differ significantly between men and women. When decisions affecting commuting time and wage of both spouses are analyzed, both spouses value the commuting time of the wife highest. Further analysis show that this result is driven by households where the man has the highest income. If VOCT were to be gender specific in policy implications, the value might be higher for women than for men in two-earner households.     

Evolution of latent modal captivity and mode choice patterns for commuting trips: A longitudinal analysis using repeated cross-sectional datasets

This paper presents an investigation of the temporal evolution of commuting mode choice preference structures. It contributes to two specific modelling issues: latent modal captivity and working with multiple repeated crossectional datasets. In this paper latent modal captivity refers to captive reliance on a specific mode rather than all feasible modes. Three household travel survey datasets collected in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) over a ten-year time period are used for empirical modelling. Datasets collected in different years are pooled and separate year-specific scale parameters and coefficients of key variables are estimated for different years. The empirical model clearly explains that there have been significant changes in latent modal captivity and the mode choice preference structures for commuting in the GTHA. Changes have occurred in the unexplained component of latent captivities, in transportation cost perceptions, and in the scales of commuting mode choice preferences. The empirical model also demonstrates that pooling multiple repeated cross-sectional datasets is an efficient way of capturing behavioural changes over time. Application of the proposed mode choice model for practical policy analysis and forecasting will ensure accurate forecasting and an enhanced understanding of policy impacts.     

Car use,commuting and urban form in a rapidly growing city: evidence from Beijing

The links between urban form and travel behaviour have been widely studied in the field of travel demand management. However, the existing literature is dominated by case studies from the developed countries. A study of a city in a developing and industrialising country can add some fresh evidence to the debate on the impacts of urban form on travel patterns. Using household survey data from Beijing, this paper finds that aspects of urban form have significant effects on workers' car use and the duration of travel by car in journeys to work, while controlling for socio-economic factors and households’ preferences related to residential location. The sprawling patterns of land development play a negative role in reducing motorised commuting trips and shortening vehicle hours travelled in the current processes of rapid urban expansion and motorisation. Since urban sprawl is greatly influenced by growing market forces, the findings in this paper reveal the negative effects of regulation–liberation of land development management on travel behaviour modification.