The influence of land use and mobility policy on travel behavior : a comparative case study of Flanders and the Netherlands

Numerous transportation studies have indicated that the local built environment can have an important effect on travel behavior; people living in suburban neighborhoods travel more by car than people living in urban neighborhoods. In this paper, however, we will analyze whether the regional land use has an important influence on travel behavior by comparing two regions with a varying land-use pattern: Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands. The different land-use pattern seems to have influenced travel behavior in both regions. An active spatial planning policy in the Netherlands, clustering activities in urban surroundings, appears to have realized a sustainable travel behavior, as a substantial share of residents frequently walk, cycle or use public transportation. The rather passive spatial planning in Flanders, resulting in urban sprawl, seems to stimulate car use. The applied mobility policy also has an impact on the travel behavior and land use of the Flemings and the Dutch. Infrastructure is concentrated in Dutch urban environments, whereas Flanders has a more widespread network of infrastructure and cheap public transportation, resulting in a further increase of suburbanization

Mapping of cell nuclei based on contour warping

The dynamics of genome regions are associated to the functional or dysfunctional behaviour of the human cell. In order to study these dynamics it is necessary to remove all perturbations coming from movement and deformation of the nucleus, i.e. the container holding the genome. In literature models have been proposed to cope with the transformations corresponding to nuclear dynamics of healthy cells. However for pathological cells, the nucleus deforms in an apparently random way, making the use of such models a non trivial task. In this paper we propose a mapping of the cell nucleus which is based on the matching of the nuclear contours. The proposed method does not put constraints on the possible shapes nor on the possible deformations, making this method suited for the analysis of pathological nuclei

The road to happiness : from mood during leisure trips and activities to satisfaction with life

Over the past years an increasing number of studies have investigated the link between travel and subjective well-being (SWB), often focussing on the effects of trip characteristics on satisfaction with particular trips. Two elements not frequently addressed in this research domain are (i) how trip satisfaction affects the mood during – and the evaluation of − the activity at the destination of the trip and (ii) how travel can affect long-term well-being. As engagement in out-of-home activities can improve eudaimonic well-being − referring to meaning of life, self-development and social relationships − it is possible that travel (satisfaction) does not only affect the overall evaluation of people’s lives (i.e., life satisfaction), but also eudaimonic well-being, through activity participation and satisfaction. In this study we will analyse the effect of satisfaction with leisure trips on the satisfaction with the leisure activity at the destination of the trip and look at how satisfaction with these short-term activity episodes affect both eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction. Results of this study applying a structural equation modelling approach on 1,212 respondents from the city of Ghent (Belgium) indicate that spill-over effects exist from trip satisfaction on leisure activity satisfaction and that both these short-term satisfactions affect eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction, whether directly or indirectly

Results of the 2023 UCL travel survey

The UCL travel survey is a newly developed survey trying to capture travel patterns of UCL students and staff. The survey is led by the Bartlett School of Planning and UCL Sustainability. The main goal of the survey is to get better insights into how UCL students and staff travel and how they experience it, in order to make travel generated by UCL more sustainable and convenient. Data from this research will also be used by the Bartlett School of Planning for travel behaviour research. The first part of the survey focuses on how people travel to campus, how convenient this travel is, how accessible the campus is perceived, and what the general attitudes towards travel are. The last part of the survey focuses on (attitudes towards) academic travel. The survey (see Appendix 1) is composed of five parts: 1) Socio-demographics; 2) Travel attitudes and convenience; 3) Travel to UCL campus; 4) Your most recent trip to UCL; and 5) Academic travel. The survey took about 15 minutes to complete, and was designed using the online survey platform Qualtrics

The effect of COVID-19 and subsequent social distancing on travel behavior

The spread of the COVID-19 virus has resulted in unprecedented measures restricting travel and activity participation in many countries. Social distancing, i.e., reducing interactions between individuals in order to slow down the spread of the virus, has become the new norm. In this viewpoint I will discuss the potential implications of social distancing on daily travel patterns. Avoiding social contact might completely change the number and types of out-of-home activities people perform, and how people reach these activities. It can be expected that the demand for travel will reduce and that people will travel less by public transport. Social distancing might negatively affect subjective well-being and health status, as it might result in social isolation and limited physical activity. As a result, walking and cycling, recreationally or utilitarian, can be important ways to maintain satisfactory levels of health and well-being. Policymakers and planners should consequently try to encourage active travel, while public transport operators should focus on creating ways to safely use public transport

Towards happy and healthy travellers : A research agenda

Well-being and health are two important elements contributing to people's quality of life. Although well-being and health have been analysed for many decades, an increased attention since the beginning of this century can be noticed, partly due to new ways of measuring people's subjective well-being and the rapid growth of obesity and obesity-related diseases. Over the past ten years studies have started analysing the link between travel and well-being, mainly focussing on aspects explaining people's satisfaction with travel. However, the role of travel satisfaction has not yet been fully explored, as it can also impact people's travel attitudes, travel behaviour and residential location choice. Previous studies on travel and health have mainly focussed on traffic safety, air pollution and recently also on physical activity. These studies have indicated that physical activity − and as a result overall health levels − are affected by people's residential neighbourhood and travel behaviour (e.g., mode choice). However, a clear picture on how physical activity, the built environment, attitudes and travel behaviour are linked to each other is missing. Furthermore, it is also possible thatphysical activity obtained by travel (e.g., by walking or cycling) can affect people's well-being and satisfaction with travel. In this paper, a research agenda aiming at a better understanding of the links between well-being, health and travel behaviour is presented. Three objectives can be distinguished: (i) the role of travel satisfaction in explaining travel behaviour, travel attitudes and residential location (choice), (ii) creating new insights into the link between travel and health, and (iii) linking well-being and health in a travel-behaviour context

The influence of attitudes on Transit-Oriented Development: an explorative analysis

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), where compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods are being realized around existing or new public transit stops, is a promising tool to restrict urban sprawl and stimulate sustainable travel modes. However, TODs are not always as easy to implement at every location. In high-density city centres a TOD is relatively easy to implement, since density and diversity are already high and most residents have a positive stance toward car alternatives due to self-selection processes. In more low-density suburbs, however, the situation is more difficult. There is not only the problem of adapting the built environment, but also the problem that most initial residents have a preference for car use, since they chose their neighbourhood based on the physical characteristics of the initial neighbourhood. In this viewpoint we will look at how travel-related attitudes and residential self-selection can affect the success rate of TODs in three different situations. It seems that taking into account attitudes is especially important for the realization of TODs in low-density neighbourhoods