benefits of compact, mixed use development

This Portland area study found that population density and land use mix do not affect the number of vehicle trips taken per household, but do reduce vehicle miles travelled (VMT). The authors used a use mix model from research performed by Kara Maria Kockelman (“Travel Behavior as Function of Accessibility, Land Use Mixing, and Land Use Balance,” 1997) and considered population, residential, and employment density. Data was primarily retrieved from Metro FTP’s 1994 Portland Activity-based Travel Survey, and was supplemented with additional data requested from Metro FTP. Multiple models were used to determine how these variables are related to VMT, and a multilinear regression analysis was employed to differentiate between VMT and vehicle trips.