How the relationship between socio-demographics, residential environments and travel influence commuter choices

Individual socio-demographic characteristics influence the composition of residential environments, employment considerations and transport-dedicated resources, all of which influence individual travel behaviours. To analyse these interrelationships, we employ generalised structural equation modelling using individual-level data from the 2016 Irish Census on workers across the Republic of Ireland alongside highly spatially disaggregated residential built and social environment data. This allows us to consider the non-linear relationships between multiple variables known to influence travel behaviours and provide direction for future policymaking. We find that regardless of socio-demographic compositions, increased developmental compactness and infrastructure quality are associated with increased public and active travel.