Analyzing heterogeneity and substitution in trip-making propensity to urban parks : a mixed logit model

The aim of this study is to describe and predict residents’ trip making propensity to urban parks. The parks are classified in four categories: local parks, neighborhood parks, district parks and city parks. Specifically, a mixed multinomial logit model is estimated from data collected from a sample of 991 households (1107 members) in the Eindhoven region in the Netherlands in 2002. The effects of household and individual characteristics and temporal aspects such as time of day, day of week and season are examined. The mixed logit model accommodates for individuals’ differences in trip making propensity to the various urban parks. Furthermore, a pattern of correlation across urban park types, and hence substitution is obtained. Results indicate that residents prefer the smaller, local and neighborhood, parks to the larger, district and city, parks for their leisure trips. In addition, there is heterogeneity in trip making propensity to the particular parks types, specifically with regard to the district parks. Moreover, the local and neighborhood parks are substitutes of each other while they are complements of the district park in terms of residents’ leisure trip behavior