A influência da forma urbana no comportamento de viagem das pessoas: estudo de caso em Uberlândia, MG

Abstract

The city s transportation system has been a big problem in urban planning, due to constant increasing of vehicles fleet, absence of road network monitoring, air pollution, and conflicts between pedestrian and car. Therefore the development of alternatives that encourage the sustainable travel modes realization, as non-motorized modes and public transportation becomes necessary, reducing, consequently, the number of trips by car. In order to assist urban planning process on the sustainable transportation modes preference and to contribute to better urban spaces for citizens, the objective of this study is to analyze the existent relations between urban form of six traffic zones in Uberlândia city, Minas Gerais State and its urban transportation system, defining how physical features of a certain region influences people traveling behavior. Urban form variables defined as important to this study and analyzed on traffic zones level were: urban density; diversity of land use; quality of favorable places to nonmotorized transportation; availability of public transportation; routes design and connectivity; city topography. To determine the urban form influence on travel behavior different discreet choice models, multinomial logit type, were calibrated. First of all, the models were calibrated using only travelers socio-economic variables and then variables that characterize urban form were included. Results indicated that urban form variables don't have significant influence on the modal choice process in trips in the city, not being, therefore, determinant to define that transport mode must be used. Socio-economic variables, in special, the income and the trip distance were the most determinative factors for the transport mode choice.