On the distance travelled for woodland leisure via different transport modes in Wallonia, south Belgium

Based on an extensive survey of woodland visitors in Wallonia, south Belgium, we examined a widerange of individual-, residential- and destination-level variables for their associations with the distancetravelled for woodland leisure on foot, by bicycle and by car. For each transport mode, explanatorybivariate analyses were conducted firstly to identify potential correlates of the distances travelled. Then,cross-classified multilevel analysis was performed to build estimation models for the trip distance. Theresults showed that, amongst the multilevel variables selected, walking trip distance was only associatedwith individual trip behaviour, while cycling and car-borne trip distance could also be associated withindividual socio-economic profile as well as a large range of residential and destination attributes onland use, land cover and visitor support services. The final estimation model for (i) walking trip distanceincluded trip duration as the only explanatory variable, for (ii) cycling trip distance included variables ontrip duration, proportion of woodland area at residence and presence of service facilities at destination,and for (iii) car-borne trip distance included variables on trip duration, visitor’s employment status,whether the trip is on weekend or in summer, proportion of woodland area at residence and remotenessof destination from urban area. Despite being simple in form, all multilevel estimation models showa satisfactory explanatory power and a better performance than the ordinary single-level models. Ourresults add new empirical evidences on the key factors associated with the transport mode-specific traveldistance, in particular, for woodland leisure. The cross-classified multilevel analysis used in our studyprovides new methodological insights for the estimation of individual trip distance, which could benefitfuture modelling of woodland recreation demand