An Empirical Analysis of the Influence of Urban Form on Travel Behavior in Different Urban Neighborhoods of Shiraz

Urban form and neighborhood design have important roles in the choice of travel vehicle and travel distance. Density, mixed land use, distance from CBD (Central Business District) and walking time to public transport stations are important factors of urban form which affect the travel behavior. Patterns with high density and mixed land use increases travel efficiency, walking and using bicycle instead of car. Also, with increasing urban sprawl and distance from CBD, travel distance increases and the use of private vehicles is extended. The purpose of this paper is to examine and explain the factors that have important roles in travel behavior of Shiraz households. The present paper emphasizes the characteristics of urban form. This research is conducted with analytic and descriptive method, based on empirical observations. With assuming statistical relationship, the relation between travel behavior and urban form variables in three urban neighborhoods of Shiraz metropolitan area, with various physical characteristics, have been tested.  Information about urban form variables have been extracted from GIS maps of Shiraz and data of household travel behavior and car ownership are extracted from questionnaires. Number of questionnaires in the research is 260. To examine the relationship between urban form variables and travel behavior and car ownership, correlation analysis is used. Results of this study can be stated as follows: - Car ownership has a direct relation with distance from CBD and walking time to public transport variables, and inverse relation with density. - With increasing distance from the CBD, travel distance is increased. However travel is reduced with high density and mixed-land use. - With increasing distance from the CBD, travel time is increased. While travel time is reduced with increasing density and land use mix. The significant point is that the present results are related to samples of this study and changing samples can introduce different results. Urban form has a dramatic effect on households travel behavior and car dependence. Changes in urban form can affect travel behavior and fuel consumption of households in transportation sector.  Reduced consumption of fossil fuels is one of the most important objectives of sustainable development. The present article expresses the findings of an empirical research as follows: - Households close to CBD are spending less time and distance to travelling purpose. - Households living in denser neighborhoods with high land use mix are spending less time and distance to the travelling purposes. Also, households living in denser neighborhoods use private vehicles less. Other factors, except for the urban form variable, those studied in this paper, affect travel behavior which can be noted as household`s socio-economic characteristics, quality of public transportation system, resident    `s culture, travel utility, etc.