Retail travel behavior across socio-economic groups: a cluster analysis of Brisbane household travel survey data

Retail travel comprises about a quarter of all trips made in Australian cities, however these trips gain far less attention in transport planning than do journeys to work/ school. Accessibility is a major factor affecting travel behaviour, but socio-demographic characteristics are also important given research on factors influencing mode-choice. This paper explores retail travel behaviour in Brisbane, Australia, to identify differences in the influence of socioeconomic characteristics. The study uses the 2009 South East Queensland Travel Survey (SEQTS) 7-day household travel survey conducted in Brisbane to illustrate the quantity and characteristics of retail travel for different socioeconomic groups. The sample data has been divided into groups using cluster analysis techniques, which help inductively identifying meaningful subgroups (Hair et al., 1995). The data is analysed to show the major travel characteristics including: trip frequency; trip complexity; destination choice; and the mode share for each subgroup, allowing for comparative analysis. The results show that retail travel is the most unsustainable travel in terms of the proportion of car trips involved. Walking and public transport accounts for very few trips, but the number of these trips are subject to variations based on accessibility, type of trip, day of the week and socio-demographic characteristics. Shopping centres and supermarkets capture almost 50 percent of all shopping trips suggesting special attention on them is needed in terms of their function and location in the city. Low socioeconomic groups travel more frequently by walking and public transport to retail destinations. Young adults and families make significant numbers of trips to major shopping malls. This research underlines the role that retail form, urban form and socioeconomic characteristics play in determining retail travel behaviour. The results highlight notable differences in retail travel by subgroup. The implications are that interventions seeking to encourage sustainable retail travel behaviour, including spatial interventions and social marketing programs, should be carefully crafted to respond to these behaviours.