A study of acceptable trip distances using walking and cycling in Bangalore

Location characteristics such as distance play a significant role in the promotion of sustainable modes like walking and cycling. The present study tries to elicit the existing distance characteristics using walking and cycling in terms of an acceptable trip distance. Household travel data of Bangalore city, for the year 2009, are used in the study. First, a description and a statistical analysis of the walking and cycling trip distance data across the subcategories of socio-demographic and regional factors is done. Secondly, an acceptable distance is computed from the cumulative trip length distribution based on the results of the statistical analysis. The socio-demographic and regional factors used in the study include purpose, age, gender, educational level, occupational status, and motor vehicle ownership. The major results include a significant difference between the mean trip distances on foot for the subcategories of variables such as gender, whether the respondent owned a private vehicle, and whether the trip was made inside the CBD. One of the major implications of this study pertains to requirement of a separate acceptable distance planning guideline for deciding the location aspect of settlements categorized on the ownership of vehicles.