摘要: |
This study represents a first attempt to answer a few of the questions that have arisen concerning multimodal transportation investments and the impacts of mode shifts on the business community. This research aims to merge the long history of scholarly work that examines the impacts of the built environment on non-work travel with the relatively new interest in consumer spending by mode of travel. This empirical study of travel choices and consumer spending across 89 businesses in the Portland metropolitan area shows there are important differences between the amounts customers spend on average at various businesses by their mode of travel. However, these differences become less pronounced when we control for demographics of the customer and other attributes of the trip. This study of consumer spending and travel choices has some compelling findings that suggest some key spending and frequency differences by mode of travel that will likely invigorate the discussion of the economic impacts of these modes. Key findings are: 1) Bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders are competitive consumers: When demographics and socioeconomics are controlled for, mode choice does not have a statistically significant impact on consumer spending at convenience stores, drinking establishments and restaurants. When trip frequency is accounted for, the average monthly expenditures by customer modes of travel reveal that bicyclists, transit users and pedestrians are competitive consumers and, for all businesses except supermarkets, spend more on average than those who drive and 2) The built environment matters: We support previous literature and find that residential and employment density, the proximity to rail transit, and the amount of automobile and bicycle parking are all important in explaining the use of non-automobile modes. In particular, provision of bike parking and bike corrals are significant predictors of bike mode share at the establishment level. |