Exploring Sense-of-Place Attitudes as Indicators of Travel Behavior

Researchers in travel behavior have explored attitudes as important determinants since the 1980s and are now broadening the use of attitudinal data in models to explain behavior. Much of the application, however, has focused on attitudes about entities such as lifestyles and attributes of different transport modes. Little attention has been given to attitudes related to places and attributes of human–place interaction. There has been much theorizing in the past 40 years about this human–place interaction, which has been formalized into a multivoiced theory of sense of place. Quantification of this theory and implementation of this attitudinal information into travel behavior modeling are discussed. A survey was conducted in Santa Barbara, California, to measure sense of place and to estimate models of travel behavior. Patrons of two outdoor shopping malls in Santa Barbara were interviewed about place attitudes, sociodemographic information, and details regarding their activity and travel on that day. Regression models were then used with their data to examine differences between the two study locations, the use of mode for arrival, and the timing of the activity, showing the value of the sense-of-place construct as a determinant of travel behavior.