Temporal Trends of Intraurban Commuting in Baton Rouge 1990-2010

TL;DR

This study examines how commuting patterns in Baton Rouge evolved from 1990 to 2010, revealing increasing distances, changing times, and the influence of land use, with improved calibration methods for accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a Monte Carlo simulation approach to more accurately calibrate commute distances and analyzes temporal trends in urban commuting patterns.

Findings

Average commute distance increased over time.

Commute time rose initially then slightly declined.

Urban land use strongly predicts commuting patterns.

Abstract

Based on the 1990-2010 CTPP data in Baton Rouge, this research analyzes the temporal trends of commuting patterns in both time and distance. In comparison to previous work, commuting length is calibrated more accurately by Monte Carlo based simulation of individual journey-to-work trips to mitigate the zonal effect. First, average commute distance kept climbing in 1990-2010 while average commute time increased in 1990-2000 but then slightly dropped toward 2010. Secondly, urban land use remained a good predictor of commuting pattern over time (e.g., explaining up to 90% of mean commute distance and about 30% of mean commute time). Finally, the percentage of excess commuting increased significantly in 1990-2000 and stabilized afterwards.