Empirical analysis of travel and housing expenditures in the greater Toronto, Canada, area

An empirical investigation of household annual travel and housing expenditures within the greater Toronto area (GTA), Canada, during the period 1986-1996 is presented. The analysis is based on data obtained from local travel surveys, the Canadian census, and the Toronto Real Estate Board, which were combined with transportation network assignment models and travel cost models for the GTA to compute average annual travel and housing expenditures by zone within the region. Key findings include the following: (a) both travel and housing expenditures tend to increase as one moves away from the city center; (b) the city of Toronto is much more "efficient" than the surrounding suburban regions in that it has lower combined average travel plus housing expenditures; and (c) combined housing plus travel expenditures have increased over time within the region (principally because of increased housing expenditures), with the result that GTA households on average spent just over a third of their total income on travel plus housing in 1996.