Gender differences in commute time and accessibility in Sofia, Bulgaria: a study using 3D geovisualisation

Much research on human activity-patterns and accessibility to date has been conducted largely in Western European and North American countries, where the private vehicle is the main means for commuting. As a result, most studies to date focused largely on car-based activity patterns and accessibility, and relatively little is known about countries in other regions of the world. Based on an activity-travel dataset collected in Sofia, Bulgaria and using 3D geovisualization, this study attempts to fill this gap through examining gender differences in commute time and potential access to urban opportunities. The results reveal important gender differences in the distribution of commute time and individual accessibility. Among the surveyed participants, women tend to spend more time on their commute trips and have a more restrictive spatial reach to urban opportunities when compared to men, largely a result of their reliance on public transit as their primary mode of transport. The commute time density surfaces developed and used in the study are a powerful tool for uncovering gender differences in the geographic distribution of commute time of commute, which conventional quantitative methods cannot reveal.

KWAN Mei-Po;  KOTSEV Alexander Alexandrov; 

2014-05-02

WILEY-BLACKWELL

JRC80812

0016-7398,   

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/geoj.12080/,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC80812,   

10.1111/geoj.12080,