Browsing by Subject "Toronto"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    The evolution of choice set formation in dwelling and location with rising prices: A decadal panel analysis in the Greater Toronto Area
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Hawkins, Jason; Nurul Habib, Khandker
    Home location choice is based on both the characteristics of the dwelling (e.g., size, style, number of bedrooms) and the location (e.g., proximity to work, quality of schools, accessibility). Recent years have seen a steep increase in the price of housing in many major cities. In this research, we examine how these price increases are affecting the types of dwelling and locations considered by households. A large sample of real estate listings from 2006 and 2016 from the Greater Toronto Area is used to develop the empirical models. Two recently developed discrete choice models are used in the study: a nested logit model with latent class feedback (LCF) and a semi-compensatory independent availability logit (SCIAL) model. A method of alternative aggregation is proposed to overcome the computational hurdle that often impedes the estimation of choice set models. We find a significant increase in the probability of larger households considering townhouses and apartments over detached single-family dwellings between 2006 and 2016.
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    Past and present of active school transportation: An exploration of the built environment effects in Toronto, Canada from 1986 to 2006
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Mitra, Raktim; Papaioannou, Elli M.; Nurul Habib, Khandker M.
    The health benefits of walking and cycling to and from school, also called active school transportation (AST), are well documented. In the context of a declining trend in AST across the Western world, this paper examines school-travel behavior of 11-year-old children in Toronto, using multiple cross-sectional data from 1986, 1996, and 2006 Transportation Tomorrow Surveys. Results from binomial logit models suggest that school-travel distance and neighborhood built environment indeed explain some variation in the odds of AST between 1986 and 2006, and that the correlates of AST may have changed over time. Higher neighborhood block density correlated with walking/cycling in 1986. In contrast, household automobile ownership was negatively associated with AST in 2006; the effect of the built environment was relatively weak for that year. In addition, fewer children walked/cycled in 2006 compared to 1986, even when distance to school was short (<0.8 kilometers). Policy and programs should recognize the potentially changing role of travel distance to school and automobile ownership on a child’s school travel outcome. Interventions in neighborhoods with high automobile ownership should specifically focus on education and encouragement to increase AST rates.
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    Temporal transferability of models of mode-destination choice for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2014) Fox, James; Daly, Andrew; Hess, Stephane; Miller, Eric
    Transport planning relies extensively on forecasts of traveler behavior over horizons of 20 years and more. Implicit in such forecasts is the assumption that travelers’ tastes, as represented by the behavioral model parameters, are constant over time. In technical terms, this assumption is referred to as the "temporal transferability" of the models. This paper summarizes the findings from a literature review that demonstrates there is little evidence about the transferability of mode-destination models over typical forecasting horizons. The literature review shows a relative lack of empirical studies given the importance of the issue. To provide further insights and evidence, models of commuter mode-destination choice been developed from household interview data collected across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in 1986, 1996, 2001, and 2006. The analysis demonstrates that improving model specification improves the transferability of the models, and in general the transferability declines as the transfer period increases. The transferability of the level-of-service parameters is higher than transferability of the cost parameters, which has important implications when considering the accuracy of forecasts for different types of policy. The transferred models over-predict the key change in mode share over the transfer period—specifically, the shift from local transit to auto driver between 1986 and 1996—but under-predict the growth in commuting tour lengths over the same period.