Do People Desire to Walk More in Commuting to Work? Examining a Conceptual Model Based on the Role of Perceived Walking Distance and Positive Attitudes

While transportation planning professionals are interested in exploring ways to increase walking in daily travel, it would be interesting to know whether people desire to walk more or not. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by designing a conceptual framework in which it was hypothesized that commuters' perception of the walking distance and their attitudes towards walking take a central role in forming their desire to walk more in traveling to/from work while considering the effect of various objective travel/environmental characteristics and individual/socioeconomic characteristics. Using data collected in 2015 from 432 working commuters in the city of Rasht, Iran, a structural equation model using an observed endogenous variable approach was applied to examine the conceptual framework of the study. Results showed that, as the perceived walking distance increases, the desire to walk more decreases. The total travel time to/from work, as an objective measure of travel, was found to have the greatest effect on someone's perception of the walking distance. Results show that individuals with positive attitudes towards walking desired to walk more. Having positive attitudes towards walking also modified the negative effect of perception as individuals with higher positive attitudes towards walking also perceived the walking distance between their homes and work to be shorter. Among various factors, having at least one walking trip in traveling to/from work was found as the main determinant of commuters' desire for more walking.