Environmental correlates of travel behavior from a destination attractiveness and activity timing perspectives

In this study, we approach environmental correlates of travel behavior from a place attractiveness and timing of activity participation perspectives. Conventional accessibility metrics are too coarse for this task and do not represent accurately the heterogeneity of opportunities in space. Opportunities for non-mandatory activities are particularly problematic since they concentrate along major corridors that are often used as dividers of spatial units and therefore leading to biased correlations. We experiment here with a method that creates three different types of spatial anchors/commercial centers based on business establishment types. Then we use an activity place-based diary survey to identify significant differences in timing and duration of work, shopping, dining, and entertainment activities in these commercial centers in the Los Angeles metropolis. Work activity shows the usual daily regularity and all the other activities show substantial spatio-temporal heterogeneity.