Auto ownership and automobile use are common indicators that determine transportation choice and travel behavior. Households with no automobiles tend to have individuals that have high levels of walking for utilitarian transportation. Auto ownership is one component used to determine automobile costs, along with vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which comprises an important determinant of transportation costs. This measure provides the modeled number of automobiles per household.
DATA DEVELOPMENT
The data for the auto ownership measure is derived from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The automobile ownership measure is the average number of vehicles per household.
Formula:
- Auto ownership = number of vehicles per household for regional median family income.
INDICATOR CALCULATION
This indicator was calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (U.S. HUD), and U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) using data from the sources listed below.
DATA SOURCES
- · U.S. HUD, and U.S. DOT Location Affordability Index, 2013.
- · U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 5-Year Estimates, 2012.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
- Frank, L.D., Schmid, T.L., Sallis, J.F., Chapman, J.E., & Saelens, B.E. Linking Objectively Measured Physical Activity with Objectively Measured Urban Form. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2, Supplement 2), 117-125.
- Frank, L.D., Bradley, M., Kavage, S., Chapman, J.E. & Lawton, T.K. (2008). Urban Form, Travel Time, and Cost Relationships with Tour Complexity and Mode Choice. Transportation 35(1), 37-54.
- Zhang, L., Hong, J., Nasri, A. & Shen, Q. (2012). How Built Environment Affects Travel Behavior: A Comparative Analysis of the Connections Between Land Use and Vehicle Miles Traveled in US Cities. Journal of Transport & Land Use, 5(3), 40-52.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
