Planning for Human Wellbeing: New Research Evidence in Built Environment, Travel Behavior, and Physical Activity

Abstract

This dissertation is a collection of research on built environment, travel behavior, and physical activity, with an emphasis on understudied populations, behaviors, and urban spaces. It consists of three studies. The first study assessed how transit stop amenities (e.g. shelter, real-time information system, etc.) as combinations of design elements, affect stop-level ridership using a quasi-experiment design and conditional inference tree models. The second study constructed and validated a state-wide walkability index and an estimated percentage of walking for all K-8 schools in Washington State using student travel survey. The third study examined whether income relates to the wealth of where people walk using Global Positioning System (GPS), accelerometry, and travel dairy data. The three studies tackle important yet unresolved domains in built environment, travel behavior, and physical activity studies, including: • the collinearity of built environment elements, • the interaction between different populations and built environment, and • the measurement of exposure to built environment. As a whole, this dissertation adds to the understanding of the environment-behavior relation and generates evidence that supports equitable urban design and planning interventions targeting mobility and wellbeing.