Exploring the connections among residential location, self-selection, and driving: Propensity score matching with multiple treatments

A large number of studies have investigated the association between the built environment and travel behavior. However, most studies did not explicitly quantify the contribution of residential self-selection to the connection. Using the 2006 data collected from a regional travel diary in Raleigh, NC, this study applies propensity score matching to explore the effects of the regional location of individuals’ residences on their vehicle miles driven. We found that residential location plays a more important role in affecting driving behavior than residential self-selection; and that the self-selection effect is non-trivial when we compare driving behavior between urban residents and people living in other areas. Therefore, for such comparisons, the observed influence of residential locations on driving should be appropriately discounted when we evaluate the causal impacts of the built environment on travel behavior.

Research highlights
► Regional residential location plays a key role in determining individuals’ driving distance.
► Urban residents, to a large extent, select to live in urban areas instead of suburbs and drive less.
► Residential location has a more important impact on driving than residential self-selection.
► The magnitude of the impact of residential location on driving distance is sizable.