Activity-Trip Chaining Behavior of Urban Low-Income Populations in Nanjing, China: A Structural Equations Analysis

Abstract

This paper analyzes the activity-trip chaining behavior of urban low-income populations in Nanjing, China, based on a specific travel survey of low-income residents of Nanjing city (2010), and the database of residents travel survey of Nanjing city (2009). Individual’s information of activity participation and trip chains is extracted from the daily travel diary and matched with individual and household characteristics. On top of correlation analysis and normalization process, using the software AMOS, two structural equation models are formulated to analyze the relationship among individuals’ sociodemographics, activity duration, and trip chains of low-income populations and non-low-income populations, respectively. Seven household characteristics and six individual characteristics are chosen as the exogenous variables, while 4 indices of activity duration and 4 indices of trip chains are sleeted as the endogenous variables. The result shows that the activity-travel behavior of urban low-income populations is quite unique, which offers promising insights into activity-trip chaining behavior of the poor and extends the need to crafting effective transportation policies specifically for urban low-income populations in developing countries.