The role of personal values, urban form, and auto availability in the analysis of walking for transportation.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association of personal values, the built environment, and auto availability with walking for transportation.


METHODS
Participants were drawn from 11 U.S. metropolitan areas with good transit services.


METHODS
865 adults who had recently made or were contemplating making a residential move.


METHODS
Respondents reported if walking was their primary mode for nine trip purposes. "Personal values" reflected ratings of 15 variables assessing attitudes about urban and environmental attributes, with high reliability (ot = 0.85). Neighborhood form was indicated by a three-item scale. Three binary variables were created to reflect (1) personal values, (2) neighborhood form, and (3) auto availability.


METHODS
The association with walking was reported for each of the three variables, each combination of two variables, and the combination of three variables. An analysis of covariance was applied, and a hierarchic linear regression model was developed.


RESULTS
All three variables were associated with walking, and all three variables interacted. The standardized coefficients were 0.23for neighborhood form, 0.21 for autos per person, and 0.18 for personal values.


CONCLUSIONS
Positive attitudes about urban attributes, living in a supportive neighborhood, and low automobile availability significantly predicted more walking for transportation. A framework for further research is proposed in which a factor representing the role of the automobile is examined explicitly in addition to personal values and urban form.
Coogan
Matthew A
MA
New England Transportation Institute, 898 Clay Road, White River Junction, VT 05001, USA. cooganmatt@aol.com
Karash
Karla H
KH
Adler
Thomas
T
Sallis
James
J
D001336:Automobiles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D040241:Social Marketing; D012945:Social Values; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States; D014504:Urban Health; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*