Publication - 5

 

Changing Travel Behavior to Preserve Quality of Life: The City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

 

Abstract

The new millennium represents a challenge to today’s cities in achieving a healthy and sustainable quality of life. Travel patterns that encourage an efficient balance of transport modes contribute to improved quality of life. The city of Arriyadh, through its history of rapid urban growth, is experiencing a decline in livability and quality of life because of the domination of automobile travel. This paper examines the results of two major household surveys conducted for Arriyadh in 1986 and 1996 and analyses the effect of socio-economic and land use factors on travel behavior and trip making patterns.

The paper shows that socio-economic characteristics of Arriyadh’s residents have exerted a strong influence on its personal and vehicular trip making patterns. Meanwhile, the distribution of land use at the city and the zonal level has encouraged the extensive utilization of the automobile for urban mobility. It concludes for the need to a proper planning intervention to balance the distribution of land use activities and develop a well-structured public transportation system to enhance quality of life in Arriyadh.