The determinants of mode of transport to work in the Greater Dublin Area

Rapid economic and demographic change in the Greater Dublin Area over the last decade, with associated increases in car dependence and congestion, has focused policy on encouraging more sustainable forms of travel. In this context, knowledge of current travel patterns and their determinants is crucial. Here we concentrate on travel for a specific journey purpose, namely the journey to work. We employ cross-section micro-data from the 2006 Census of Population to analyse the influence of travel and supply-side characteristics, as well as demographic and socio-economic characteristics on the choice of mode of transport to work in the Greater Dublin Area

The Determinants of Mode of Transport to Work in the Greater Dublin Area. ESRI WP268. December 2008

Rapid economic and demographic change in the Greater Dublin Area over the last decade, with associated increases in car dependence and congestion, has focused policy on encouraging more sustainable forms of travel. In this context, knowledge of current travel patterns and their determinants is crucial. Here we concentrate on travel for a specific journey purpose, namely the journey to work. We employ cross-section micro-data from the 2006 Census of Population to analyse the influence of travel and supply-side characteristics, as well as demographic and socio-economic characteristics on the choice of mode of transport to work in the Greater Dublin Area

Car Ownership and Mode of Transport to Work in Ireland

Rapid economic and demographic change in Ireland over the last decade, with associated increases in car dependence and congestion, has focused policy on encouraging more sustainable forms of travel. In this context, knowledge of current travel patterns and their determinants is crucial. In this paper, we extend earlier Irish research to examine the joint decision of car ownership and mode of transport to work. We employ cross-section micro-data from the 2006 Census of Population to estimate discrete choice models of car ownership and commuting mode choice for four sub-samples of the Irish population, based on residential location. Empirical results suggest that travel and supply-side characteristics such as travel time, costs, work location and public transport availability, as well as demographic and socio-economic characteristics such as age and household composition have significant effects on these decisions.

Employment sub-centres and the choice of mode of travel to work in the Dublin region

Travel-to-work mode choice patterns are analysed for a number of key employment sub-centres in the Dublin region. Geographical Information System (GIS) visualisations and regression analysis are used to identify a small number of employment sub-centres using a large sample of travel-to- work data from the 2002 Census of Population, modified with travel-specific data by the Dublin Transportation Office. The journey to work is then analysed across these employment sub-centres in the context of a travel mode choice model. The estimation results illustrate the varying effects that travel attributes such as travel time and travel cost have on the choice of mode of travel across employment destinations highlighting the role of trip destination as a main driver of travel behaviour in the Dublin region.

GET SUBJECT SPORT -The Games We Used to Play An Application of Survival Analysis to the Sporting Life-course. ESRI WP272. January 2009

In the absence of longitudinal data, recall data is used to examine participation in sport. Techniques of survival analysis are adapted and applied to illuminate the dynamics of sporting life. The likelihood of participation has a distinct pattern across the life-course, rising to a peak at 15 years of age, falling sharply in late teenage years and more gradually during adulthood. Logistic regressions and Cox regressions reveal strong effects on participation of gender, cohort and socioeconomic status, which vary over the life-course and by type of sport. The findings add significantly to previous work and have implications for policymakers wishing to increase physical activity

A Hedonic Analysis of the Value of Parks and Green Spaces in the Dublin Area [on housing market]. ESRI WP331. November 2009

We use a hedonic house price model to estimate the value of green spaces and parks to homeowners in the Dublin area. Using a dataset of house sales between 2001 and 2006 and combining it with available data on the location of green spaces in Dublin it is possible to assess the different values assigned to green areas by homeowners. We find that the value of green space depends first of all on how far from the property it is located. We also find a difference in the values assigned to open access parks and green spaces. For every 10% increase in the share of green space and park area near a house, its average price increases by 7% to 9%. We also attempted to identify different individual parks and rank them according to their value, however due to spatial multicollinearity the results were mixed

A Code of Practice for Grocery Goods Undertakings and An Ombudsman: How To Do A Lot of Harm By Trying To Do A Little Good. WP320. October 2009

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in its August 2009 Consultation Paper, Code of Practice for Grocery Goods Undertakings, argues that a Code governing grocery supplier/retailer relations, enforced by an Ombudsman, should be introduced. The Code constrains the behaviour of the retailer with respect to certain practices that, for example, shift risk from the retailer to the supplier as well as those result in unexpected costs to suppliers. The rationale for the Code appears to be that due to the devaluation of sterling, combined with the recession, retailers are able to put increased pressure on local suppliers for lower prices, which in turn squeezes suppliers’ margins. The paper argues that the Consultation Paper does not present a sound rationale for the Code, in reality the Code is a form of protectionism occasioned by the inflow of lower priced imports. Local suppliers should adapt through developing better products and becoming more efficient, rather than seeking shelter from market forces. The impact of the Code will likely be to lead to: higher consumer prices lowering consumer welfare and thus inconsistent with the declared aim of the Code; increased costs of doing business with local suppliers thus leading to an incentive for retailers to use more imports; and, perhaps, a less competitive grocery sector. It is argued that the Consultation Paper should be withdrawn and reissued, but in a manner consistent with the government’s better regulation agenda which is currently ignored. To the extent that the issue of concern is excessive buyer power of retailers then that should be addressed directly: by liberalising the Retail Planning Guidelines as the Competition Authority has been arguing for sometime; and/or sponsoring entry of new retailers; and/or amending competition law, if a problem exists and can be demonstrated to exist, but retain the competition test. The answer, based on the evidence presented in the Consultation Paper, is not the Code

Exploring the potential for cross-nesting structures in airport-choice analysis: A case-study of the Greater London area

The analysis of air-passengers’ choices of departure airport in multi-airport regions is a crucial component of transportation planning in many large metropolitan areas, and has been the topic of an increasing number of studies over recent years. In this paper, we advance the state of the art of modelling in this area of research by making use of a Cross-Nested Logit (CNL) structure that allows for the joint representation of inter-alternative correlation along the three choice dimensions of airport, airline and access-mode. The analysis uses data collected in the Greater London area, which arguably has the highest levels of inter-airport competition of any multi-airport region; the authors of this paper are not aware of any previous effort to jointly analyse the choice of airport, airline and access-mode in this area. The results of the analysis reveal significant influences on passenger behaviour by access-time, access-cost, flight-frequency and flight-time. A structural comparison of the different models shows that the cross-nested structure offers significant improvements over simple Nested Logit (NL) models, which in turn outperform the Multinomial Logit (MNL) model used as the base model

Car Ownership and Mode of Transport to Work in Ireland

Rapid economic and demographic change in Ireland over the last decade, with associated increases in car dependence and congestion, has focused policy on encouraging more sustainable forms of travel. In this context, knowledge of current travel patterns and their determinants is crucial. In this paper, we extend earlier Irish research to examine the joint decision of car ownership and mode of transport to work. We employ cross-section micro-data from the 2006 Census of Population to estimate discrete choice models of car ownership and commuting mode choice for four subsamples of the Irish population, based on residential location. Empirical results suggest that travel and supply-side characteristics such as travel time, costs, work location and public transport availability, as well as demographic and socio-economic characteristics such as age and household composition have significant effects on these decisions

A hedonic analysis of the value of parks and green spaces in the Dublin area

We use a hedonic house price model to estimate the value of green spaces and parks to homeowners in the Dublin area. Using a dataset of house sales between 2001 and 2006 and combining it with available data on the location of green spaces in Dublin it is possible to assess the different values assigned to green areas by homeowners. We find that the value of green space depends first of all on how far from the property it is located. We also find a difference in the values assigned to open access parks and green spaces. For every 10% increase in the share of green space and park area near a house, its average price increases by 7% to 9%. We also attempted to identify different individual parks and rank them according to their value, however due to spatial multicollinearity the results were mixed