Existing literature suggests that mixed land-use developments have the potential to
reduce traffic by “capturing” some trips internally and providing a pedestrian-friendly
environment to facilitate walking for some trips. However, these elements which are meant to
provide the traffic-reducing benefits also reduce the overall cost of travel, thereby increasing the
total amount of travel. This “induced” travel has implications for the site planning process,
which assumes that all internal trips are replacing trips on the external street network.
In this investigation, travel survey data were analyzed to determine the nature and extent
of induced travel at mixed-use developments. The study site was a 75-acre suburban infill
mixed-use development in Plano, Texas. Features of the study site included a diverse land-use
mix, a grid-style street layout, and pedestrian-oriented streetscapes. The travel survey was
administered as an interview of persons exiting buildings at the site and gathered information
about two trips made by the respondent, including whether the trip made at the time of the
interview was induced. A trip was considered induced if the respondent would not have made
the trip if it had required travel outside of Legacy Town Center.
Analysis found that in the morning, four percent of all trips at the study site were
induced; in the afternoon, about one-quarter of all trips were induced. Induced trips accounted
for one-eighth of internal trips in the morning and forty percent of internal trips in the afternoon.
Most internal trips made in an automobile were replacements for off-site travel while most trips
made on foot were induced. Based on this study, it is evident that some internal trips at mixeduse
developments are not “captured” from external streets, but represent additional trips, induced
by travel cost savings in the mixed-use environment. However, it is demonstrated that, even
with this additional travel, mixed-use developments still contribute to a reduction in overall
vehicle-miles of travel. Stakeholders are encouraged to consider these findings when evaluating
new land-use policies or the traffic impacts of proposed mixed-use developments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2695 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Sperry, Benjamin Robert |
| Contributors | Burris, Mark W. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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