Gender-based Differences in the Relationships among Socio-demographics, Time-use Pattern and Travel Mode Choice in China

摘要

Activity-travel behavior differs between women and men because they have the burden ofdifferent social and household responsibilities. Previous researches dealing with genderdifferences mainly pay attention to the travel itself, but few focus on the interactions betweentime allocation and travel mode choice. Based on the activity-travel survey data of Suzhou,China, data processing, gender-based descriptive analysis and rigorous significance tests areconducted. Then, multi-group structural equation modeling is adopted to explore the complexinteractions among socio-demographics, time-use pattern and mode choice with a special focuson gender differences. The results indicate that socio-demographics causing gender differences inactivity-travel behaviors include preschool children’s number, annual household income,employment status and age. For example, older women use less non-motorized mode than theyoung, while older men use more non-motorized mode than the young. Besides, genderdifferences exist in the relationship between activity duration and travel time. More subsistenceactivity duration may restrain men’s travel time but it encourages women who prefer to stay athome make more trips out. In addition, the influence of activity duration on mode choice isdifferent across gender. Generally, women’s travel mode choice is affected by activity durationsmore significantly than men’s. Furthermore, men use less non-motorized mode than womenwhen travel time increases. Private motorized mode usage is not so easier to be affected by traveltime compared with other modes. These results contribute to urban transportation planning byproviding some dedicated policies and strategies.