Are People from Households with Children More Likely to Travel by Car? An Empirical Investigation of Individual Travel Mode Choices in Shanghai, China

China is expected to have more children now that its family planning policy has been relaxed, and the influence of children on transportation and sustainability should not be neglected. This study uses econometric methods to explore the impact that the presence of children has on household car ownership, car-travel behavior of family members, and variability in their car-use frequency across weekdays and weekends. Models are estimated using multi-day travel patterns imputed from GPS-enabled smartphone data collected in Shanghai, China. Results indicate that: (1) households with children have more private cars than those without children, and the presence of preschoolers and pupils both increase families’ demand for car ownership; (2) travel behavior of people from households with children is influenced subtly by the children’s presence, which leads them to prefer to travel by car, although the presence of retired or unemployed household members can weaken that influence; and (3) car-travel frequency of individuals is significantly different between weekdays and weekends, with the presence of pupils in the household diminishing that variability and the presence of preschoolers enlarging it. Policymakers and transportation planners should be concerned about these issues and take appropriate measures