RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND USE, LAND VALUE, AND TRANSPORTATION: ESSAYS ON ACCESSIBILITY, CARLESS HOUSEHOLDS, AND LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL

During the last two decades, a large body of empirical research has focused on the relationship between land use and travel behavior, and also on the impacts of transportation accessibility on land value. However, significant gaps remain in our understanding of these relationships. In this dissertation, I present three essays on accessibility, carless households, and long-distance travel that will enhance our understandings of the relationships between land use, land value, and transportation.

In my first essay, I provide empirical evidence about the magnitude of the value of transportation accessibility as reflected by residential rents in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. Results of my SARAR (spatial autoregressive model with spatial-autoregressive disturbances) model show a small but statistically significant capitalization of accessibility. Results of this study should be useful for planning transportation infrastructure funding measures in least developed country cities like Rajshahi City.

In my second essay, I assess the joint effects of various socio-economic, residential, and land use variables on the likelihood that a household is carless, voluntarily or not, by analyzing data from the 2012 California Household Travel Survey (CHTS). Results of my binary logit models show the importance of land use diversity and of good transit service to help households voluntarily forgo their vehicles, and downplay the impact of population density and pedestrian-friendly facilities. Results of this study should help planners and policy makers formulate policies to curb automobile dependency and help promote sustainable urban transportation.

My third essay analyzes long-distance data from the 2012 CHTS to understand the influence of different socio-economic, land use, and land value variables on the likelihood that a household commutes long-distance in California. Results of my Generalized Structural Equation Model (GSEM) show that long-distance commuting is negatively associated with mixed density and residential home values (around commuters’ residences), but positively related with households’ car-ownership. My results also confirm the presence of residential self-selection. The empirical evidence of this study should help formulate land use planning strategies to curb long-distance commuting and thus help reducing vehicle-miles traveled, which is one way of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases from transportation.