Influence of land use on travel behavior in Santiago, Chile

In an attempt to expand the research base on the land use-transport link in the developing world, a microeconomic model developed in the industrialized world context is adopted. The analysis focuses on the influence of three gross measures of urban form on travel behavior in Santiago, Chile. Controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors, the analysis attempts to demonstrate the influence of population density, relative share of commercial and service land uses, and relative share of vacant land on an individual's propensity to make home-based, nonwork, non-school (HB NWNS) walking trips. Consistent with intuition, the model results suggest that the relative share of land devoted to commercial and service uses in the zone of trip origin increases the likelihood of making HB NWNS walking trips, whereas the relative share of vacant land decreases the probability. Somewhat surprisingly, population density in the zone of origin has no significant effect.