Traffic Safety Perception, Attitude, and Feeder Mode Choice of Metro Commute: Evidence from Shenzhen

Investigating factors affecting university students' use of subway before and after COVID-19 outbreak: A case study in Tehran

Identifying and examining factors affecting the use of the subway is critical for developing countries as they struggle with high levels of auto use and resulting congestion, noise and air pollution. In this research, we surveyed students of a top-ranked university in the capital of Iran before and after the COVID-19 outbreak to identify the factors affecting their use of the subway. Chi-square tests show that gender, level of education, and being the only child of the family have the highest impact on using a private car. These variables had no significant influence on students' mode choice to university before the COVID-19 pandemic, when students' mode choice was only a function of their residence location. However, the pandemic has affected priorities for mode choice. For instance, hygiene and social distancing, which were previously insignificant to students, are now among their top criteria, and travel time and cost are less important for students than in the past. As a result, subway use has significantly decreased. Based on the results of the research, when making relevant policies, more attention should be paid to the groups of women, undergraduate students and single children that are more likely to use private cars.

Exploring built environment factors on e-bike travel behavior in urban China: A case study of Jinan

E-bike, characterized as a low-carbon and health-beneficial active travel mode, is gradually becoming popular in China. Although built environment factors are considered to be key parameters that can facilitate or hinder active transportation, such as cycling or walking, few studies have explored the impact of built environment on e-bikes. To fill this gap, this study was the first to explore the relationship between e-bike usage and built environment factors based on population level travel survey in central Jinan, China. Both macro and micro levels of built environment were measured using multi-source data. We employed ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models to explore the aggregation patterns of e-bike trips. Besides, the local Moran's I was employed to classify the aggregation patterns of e-bike trips into four types. The results from OLS model showed that eye-level greenery, building floor area, road density and public service POI were positive significantly related to e-bike trips, while open sky index and NDVI had negative association with e-bike trips. The usage of GWR model provided more subtle results, which revealed significant spatial heterogeneity on the impacts of different built environment parameters. Road density and public service POI posed positive effects on e-bike travel while NDVI and open sky index were found mainly pose negative impacts on e-bike travel. Moreover, we found similar coefficient distribution patterns of eye-level greenery, building floor area and distance to bus stop. Therefore, tailored planning interventions and policies can be developed to facilitate e-bike travel and promote individual's health level.

Construction and Evaluation of a Safe Community Evaluation Index System-A Study of Urban China

A community is the basic unit of a city. Scientific and effective evaluations of the construction effect of safe communities can improve the construction capacity of community disaster prevention and mitigation; it is also the basis for improving urban public safety and realizing stable and sustainable urban operation. First, following the development framework of a safe community and taking two typical communities in Xi'an, China, as examples, based on the literature and expert opinions, the initial indicators of a safe community are determined. Second, based on existing data, the literature and expert opinions, a questionnaire is designed, and the reliability and validity of the questionnaire are tested by exploratory factor analysis. Third, the indicators for evaluating the construction ability of a safe community are selected. Finally, an evaluation model of the construction ability of safe communities is constructed by using the comprehensive weighting technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS), which is applied to the actual evaluation of eighteen representative communities in Xi'an. The main findings are as follows. (1) The sense of community security is the collective consciousness of community residents. It includes not only the security and feelings of community residents themselves, but also the cognition of the impact of social policies at the macro and micro-levels on community residents, their families, and even the whole community. (2) From the three levels of consciousness, technology, and policy as the starting points for the construction of the theoretical model of a safe community, organizational resilience, accessibility resilience, social environmental resilience, and capital resilience are found to be the main influencing factors in the construction of a safe community. (3) Using questionnaires and expert interviews to preliminarily screen evaluation indicators and using the comprehensive weighting TOPSIS method to build an evaluation model can effectively avoid the defects of traditional empirical research on the validity and reliability of methods. (4) The ranking of the eighteen representative communities in the empirical analysis is basically consistent with the selection results of the national comprehensive disaster reduction demonstration community, which indicates the effectiveness and accuracy of the indicators and algorithms.

Influences of the Built Environment on Rural School Children's Travel Mode Choice: The Case of Chengdu

Since the reform and opening up of China, the rural built environment has changed dramatically. There is a need to understand how such changes have impacted rural children’s school travel mode choice to design the built environment and plan schools accordingly. This paper combines field measurement methods and questionnaires to obtain data on rural children’s school travel behavior and uses the multinomial logit (MNL) model to investigate the impacting factors. The results show the following insights: Age has a significant positive impact on children’s choice of bicycles and buses. The improvements in road layout and facility conditions are significantly and positively associated with children’s choice of electric bicycles for school. There is a significant positive correlation between a good and safe public environment and children’s choice of cycling. Furthermore, distance from home to school has a significant impact on the choice of children’s school travel mode: the greater the distance to school, the higher the probability that children will choose motorized modes of travel such as buses and private cars. This study provides empirical data and evidence in designing rural transport systems for school children based on their preferences concerning built environment factors.

Associations among perceived built environment, attitudes, walking behavior, and physical and mental state of college students during COVID-19

Owing to strict access control implemented on university campuses during COVID-19, college students experienced increased isolation, resulting in several physical and mental health issues. This study investigates the relationships among perceived built environment, walking attitudes, walking behavior, physical and mental state, and the impact of COVID-19. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate students (N = 429) at Dalian University of Technology, China, on September 20 (Sunday) and 21 (Monday), 2020. The survey questionnaire included questions related to socio-demographic factors, perceived environment (accessibility, road condition and safety, and aesthetics), walking attitudes, walking behavior (number of walking trips), physical and mental state, and the impact of pandemic. Subsequently, two structural equation models (SEMs) were developed to analyze the proposed conceptual framework. The empirical results indicated that the SEMs fit the data well, thereby validating the conceptual framework. Perceived environment (especially accessibility), attitudes, and walking behavior significantly influenced physical and mental state. Perceived environment mediated the effects between attitudes and walking behavior and physical and mental state. The pandemic negatively impacted attitudes and physical and mental state. The effect of perceived accessibility on walking behavior and that of walking behavior on physical and mental state were stronger on weekends, whereas the effects of attitudes and the pandemic on physical and mental state were stronger on weekdays. The findings indicate that universities should implement appropriate strategies to improve the objective and subjective built environment, especially accessibility, and cultivate positive attitudes among students to promote walking and improve physical and mental health during COVID-19.

Livelihood Capital Effects on Famers' Strategy Choices in Flood-Prone Areas-A Study in Rural China

The global climate change has resulted in huge flood damages, which seriously hinders the sustainable development of rural economy and society and causes famers’ livelihood problems. In flood-prone areas, it is imperative to actively study short and long-term strategies and solve farmers’ livelihood problems accordingly. Following the sustainable development analysis framework proposed by the Department for International Development (DFID), this study collects empirical data of 360 rural households in six sample villages in the Jialing River Basin of Sichuan Province, China through a village-to-household field questionnaire and applies the Multinominal Logit Model (MNL) to explore the influence of farmer households’ capital on livelihood strategy choice. Research results show that: (1) In human capital category, the education level of the household head has a significant positive impact on the livelihood strategies of farmers’ families; (2) In physical capital category, farmer households with larger space have more funds to choose among flood adaptation strategies; (3) In natural capital category, house location and the sale of family property for cash have the greatest negative impact on farmers’ livelihood strategies; (4) Rural households with more credit opportunities in financial capital are more willing to obtain emergency relief funds; (5) Farmers’ families helped by the village for a long time will probably not choose to move to avoid floods, but are more likely to choose buying flood insurance. This study provides an empirical reference for effective short and long term prevention and mitigation strategies design and application in rural in flood-prone areas.

A Cluster Analysis of University Commuters: Attitudes, Personal Norms and Constraints, and Travel Satisfaction

Higher education institutions are recognised as settings where the community's awareness of sustainable mobility can be strengthened or reshaped. The first objective of the present study was to identify groups of commuters based on their modal choice in a large higher education institution in Italy. The second objective was to compare the groups on socio-demographic and psychosocial variables, specifically attitudes, personal norms, personal constraints, and travel satisfaction. The cluster analysis revealed five different types of commuters: car-oriented, two-wheeled urban users, pedestrians, long-distance commuters, and regular bus users. Attitudes, personal constraints and norms, and satisfaction differed in the five groups of commuters. The present study provides insights for behavioural change programmes and organizational policies on sustainable mobility.