The Built Environment and Motor Vehicle Ownership & Use: Evidence from Santiago de Chile

This paper examines the role that the built environment – both micro-scale “neighborhood” design characteristics and meso-scale relative location – play in influencing motor vehicle ownership and use in a rapidly motorizing, developing city context: Santiago de Chile. The paper first answers the question, what role, if any, do factors such as dwelling unit density, land use mix, street design, and proximity to public transportation stations play in determining household motor vehicle ownership? The question is answered by specification and estimation of a multinomial logit model of vehicle choice. The paper then turns to a second-stage question: what role does the built environment play on household automobile use? This question will be answered by specification and estimation of an ordinary least squares regression model, predicting the amount of total household automobile use (measured by distances traveled on a given day). The two models are explicitly linked via the use of the “selectivity bias correction factor.” The implications of the findings for planning and design are discussed.