Generation Y's Travel Behavior and Perceptions of Walkability Constraints

The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between urban environment and walking to school and how teenagers’ perceptions of walkability (i.e., how friendly an area is to walking) constraints affected their mode choice. An advanced hybrid mode choice model was developed in which the utilities of the alternative modes depended on the mode characteristics, teenagers’ socioeconomic characteristics, weather conditions, and built environment characteristics, as well as a latent variable referring to walking constraints. The indicators of the latent variable included perceptions regarding the existence of stray animals, poor lighting, narrow sidewalks, parked cars that obscure visibility, unsignalized intersections, and probability of attack and safety en route. A questionnaire survey that took place at high schools of three distinct geographic areas in Greece (an urban area, a rural area, and an insular area) during 2011–2012 was the basis for a case study; 1,988 high school students aged 12 and 18 years old participated in the survey. Adolescents in rural areas walked a greater distance than did urban and insular adolescents. Model estimation results showed that teenagers from each geographical area were affected in different ways by weather conditions and they also perceived the built environment in different ways; this perception indicates how significant the sense of place is. The incorporation of the latent variable enhanced the explanatory power of the model, and the results of the study provide insights on policies that may help Generation Y to keep walking.