An activity pattern – destination land use choice model of low income households of informal settlements – Case study of Delhi

• Travel characteristics of low income households significantly differ other households.
• Dependence on walking for travel.
• Travel times and costs have a significant negative impact on the choice to travel.
• Rehabilitation adversely affects inhabitants of informal settlements.

Various transportation studies carried out in India, while estimating the travel demand, do not take into consideration the travel characteristics of different income groups. The conventional transportation travel demand model lacks the ability to address the travel needs of the urban poor. This paper explores the factors influencing the travel destinations of urban poor living in informal settlements and finds that travel times have a significant negative impact on the choice to travel and influences the choice of the destinations. The study also finds that the inhabitants of informal settlements are adversely affected by urban policies that displace them and rehabilitate them far from their employment opportunities and that the travel characteristics of low income households living in informal settlements are significantly different from higher income households.