ABSTRACT

Past decades have seen a ‘peak car’ phenomenon which is indicated by a decline in vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) in many countries. Although the determinants of VKT have been widely discussed, the theoretical arguments remain unresolved, particularly on the role of transport policies, socioeconomic factors and the built environment. This paper aims to contribute to new evidence for these arguments by examining an auto-dependent city, Wellington, New Zealand. A new bottom-up approach is applied to examine the VKT per capita in terms of its four decomposed main elements: trips (T), travel mode (V), travel distance (K), and car ownership (C) based on micro-level regressions. The results of the analysis show VKT per capita is significantly affected by parking supply, public transport quality and the built environment. These effects vary between trip type and population groups. Changing lifestyles are now major factors in the decrease of VKT.

摘要

在过去的几十年中，出现了“高峰汽车”现象，这在许多国家/地区已行驶的车辆公里数（VKT）有所降低。尽管已经对VKT的决定因素进行了广泛讨论，但仍未解决理论上的争论，特别是在运输政策，社会经济因素和建筑环境方面。本文旨在通过考察新西兰惠灵顿一个自动依赖的城市，为这些论证提供新的证据。我们采用了一种新的自下而上的方法，以从四个方面分解的主要要素来检验人均VKT：出行（T），出行方式（V），出行距离（K）和基于微型汽车的汽车拥有量（C）水平回归。分析结果表明，人均VKT受停车供应，公共交通质量和建筑环境的影响很大。这些影响在旅行类型和人群之间有所不同。现在，生活方式的改变是VKT下降的主要因素。