Consumer behavior and travel mode: An exploration of restaurant, drinking establishment, and convenience store patrons

Many cities are making investments in nonautomobile infrastructure, but few rigorous studies have examined the implications of potential modes shifts on local businesses. This article examines the relationship between mode of access, consumer spending, and frequency of patronage at 78 restaurants, drinking establishments, and convenience stores in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Multiple regression models were estimated to investigate the factors influencing customer expenditures per trip. Mode choice was not a significant predictor of spending per trip, and nonautomobile customers were more frequent patrons, on average, than customers who arrived via automobile. Although limited to the three land-uses studies, findings of this analysis do not support the notion that customers who arrive by automobile are more competitive consumers than those traveling by other modes, and build support for the notion that more environmentally sustainable transportation modes are also economically viable.