Do suburban residents prefer the fastest or low-carbon travel modes? Combining public participation GIS and multimodal travel time analysis for daily mobility research

Sustainability of urban transportation and residents' daily mobility is increasingly important for the future of urban regions. In this paper, we present a novel methodology combining mapped survey responses (gathered using public participation GIS) and sophisticated multimodal routing analysis to understand patterns of suburban residents' daily mobility. Our particular focus is on residents' mode choices and their optimality in terms of travel time. We also examine the carbon-intensity of potential mode choice mismatches where a comparatively slower travel mode is chosen for a particular trip. This paper shows how the combination of the two data sources create new possibilities for analysing daily mobility by enabling the comparison of self-reported, geographically referenced mobility patterns and modelled, objectively “optimal” patterns. Our case study results from a rapidly growing metropolitan area, Greater Helsinki in Finland, indicate that people have rather sustainable daily mobility practices. Their daily trips are typically short (median 1.8 km), and non-motorised travel modes are the most popular. Also the share of car travel is significant. While public transport clearly has the lowest modal share, it is frequently used on longer trips to destinations where public transport connections are good (particularly the city centre). In 44% of trips, the respondents choose the fastest travel mode. When a comparatively slower travel mode is chosen, it most often produces less CO2 emissions than the fastest mode. However, particularly on shopping trips - the most commonly reported type of trip - car driving dominates as the fastest means of transportation. When a slower mode is chosen on a shopping trip, it is typically more carbon-intensive than the fastest mode would have been in that case. The methodology presented here can be used to support local decision making, particularly when daily services and transport infrastructure are planned or reorganised.