The influence of education level and job type on work-related travel patterns within rural metro-adjacent regions: The case of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Inmaculada Mohino

Department of City and Regional Planning, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

José M. Ureña

University of Castilla La Mancha

Eloy Solís

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2019.1219

Keywords: Commuting and Business Travel, Polycentric urban structures, Rural metro-adjacent regions, Metropolitan influence, State Re-scaling


Abstract

Contemporary functional linkages and their relationships with the underlying settlement structure have been widely explored within polycentric urban configurations, but little attention has been paid to their adjacent rural regions. This paper examines the spatial patterns of commuting versus business travel in rural metro-adjacent regions to explain their reconfigured urban structures. These travel patterns are compared by considering workers’ education levels and occupations to investigate how rural metro-adjacent regions offer different opportunities for highly and non-highly skilled workers. Based on two surveys conducted by the authors in 2012, this work focuses on Castilla-La Mancha (CLM, Spain), a rural region under the influence of Madrid. The empirical results demonstrate the effectiveness of considering different functional linkages when explaining the underlying urban network. In particular, the results reinforce the idea of consolidating the polycentric spatial organization of urban centers in CLM, although this concentration is greater for commuting travel purposes and for highly skilled professionals. Conversely, the openness of CLM to other Spanish regions (including the adjacent metropolitan region) is greater for business travel than for commuting. The results also illustrate that the level of engagement, both in commuting and in business travel, increases with education. Finally, the results show that business travel occurs over longer distances than commuting does for all workers residing in rural metro-adjacent regions, regardless of education.

References

Aguilera, A. (2005). Growth in commuting distances in French Polycentric metropolitan areas: Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Urban Studies, 42(9), 1537–1547.

Aguiléra, A. (2008). Business travel and mobile workers. Transportation Research A, 42, 1109–1116.

Aguiléra, A., Massot, M. H., & Proulhac, L. (2009). Exploring the relationship between work and travel behavior on weekdays. An analysis of the Paris Region Travel Survey over 20 years. Transportation Research Record, 2135, 69–77.

Aguilera, A., & Proulhac, L. (2015). Socio-occupational and geographical determinants of the frequency of long-distance business travel in France. JTRG, 43, 28–35.

Albertos, J. M., Noguera, J., Pitarch, M. D., & Salom, J. (2007). La movilidad diaria obligada en la Comunidad Valenciana entre 1991 y 2001: Cambio territorial y nuevos procesos. Cuadernos de Geografía, 81-82, 93–118.

Beaverstock, J. V., Derudder, B. Faulconbridge, J., & Witlox, F. (Eds). (2010). International business travel in the global economy. Farnham, England: Ashgate.

Bernard, J., Kostelecký, T., & Patočková, V. (2014). The innovative regions in the Czech Republic and their position in the international labor market of highly skilled workers. Regional Studies, 48(10), 1691–1705.

Bijker, R. A., Haartsen, T, & Strijker, D. (2015). How people move to rural areas: Insights in the residential search process from a diary approach. Journal of Rural Studies, 38, 77–88.

Blumen, O. (1994). Gender differences in the journey to work. Urban Geography, 15(3), 223–245.

Boarnet, M. G., & Sarmiento, S. (1998). Can land-use policy really affect travel behavior? A study of the link between non-work travel and land-use characteristics. Urban Studies, 35(7), 1155–1169.

Boyle, P., Cassidy, S., Duke-Williams, O., Rees, P., Stokes, G. & Turner, A. (2001). Commuting patterns in rural areas. Cheltenham, England: Countryside Agency.

Brown, B. & O’Hara, K. (2003). Place as a practical concern of mobile workers. Environment and Planning A, 35,1565–1587.

Burger, M. J, de Goei, B., van der Laan, L., & Huisman, F. J. M. (2011). Heterogeneous development of metropolitan spatial structure: Evidence from commuting patterns in English and Welsh city-regions, 1981-2001. Cities, 28, 160–170.

Burger, M. J, Meijers, E., & van Oort., F. G. (2014). Multiple perspectives on functional coherence: Heterogeneity and multiplexity in the Randstad. Tijdschriftvoor Economischeen Sociale Geografie, 105(4), 444–464.

Cebrián, F., & Cebrián, A. (2000). Los desequilibrios en la estructura urbana de Castilla La Mancha. Papeles Geografía, 32, 42–59.

Cervero, R., & Kockelman, K. (1997). Travel demand and the 3Ds: density, diversity, and design. Transportation Research D, 3, 199–219.

Champion, A. G. (2001). A changing demographic regime and evolving polycentric urban region: Consequences for the size, composition and distributions of city populations. Urban Studies, 38, 657–677.

Champion, T. (2009). Urban-rural differences in commuting in England: A challenge to the rural sustainability agenda? Planning Practice & Research, 24(2), 161–183.

Champion, T., Coombes, M., & Brown, D. L. (2009). Migration and longer-distance commuting in rural England, Regional Studies, 43(10), 1245–1259.

Clark, W. A. V., & Kuijpers-Linde, M. (1994). Commuting in restructuring urban regions. Urban Studies, 3, 465–483.

Dargay, J. M., & Stephen, C. (2012). The determinants of long distance travel in Great Britain. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 46, 576–587.

De Goei, B., Burger, M., van Oort, F., & Kitson, M. (2010). Functional polycentrism and urban network development in the greater south east UK: Evidence from commuting patterns. Regional Studies, 44, 1149–1170.

Derudder, B., Devriendt, L., van Nuffel, N.,& Witlox, F. (2010). Geographies of business air travel in Europe. In J. V. Beaverstock, J. B. Derudder, J. Faulconbridge, & F. Witlox (Eds). International business travel in the global economy (pp. 31–56). Farnham, England: Ashgate.

Denstadli, J., Julsrud, T., & Hjorthol, R. (2012). Videoconferencing as a mode of communication: A comparative study of the use of videoconferencing and face-to-face meetings. Journal of Business & Technical Communication, 26(1), 65–91.

Derudder, B., Hoyler, M., Taylor, P., & Witlox, F. (2012). International handbook of globalization and world cities. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar.

Dieleman, F. M., Dijst, M., & Burghouwt, G. (2002). Urban form and travel behavior: Micro-level household attributes and residential context. Urban Studies, 39, 507–527.

Dieleman, F., & Faludi, A. (1998). Randstad. Rhine-Ruhr and Flemish Diamond as one polynucleated macro-region? Tijdschriftvoor Economische en Sociale Geograie, 89, 320–327.

ESPON. (2006). Urban-rural relations in Europe (final report). Helsinki: Center for Urban & Regional Studies, Helsinki Univ. of Technology.

Faulconbridge, J. R., Beaverstock, J., Derudder, B., & Witlox, F. (2009). Corporate ecologies of business travel in professional service firms: Working towards a research agenda. EURS, 16(3), 295–308.

Figueroa, M. J., Nielsen, T. A. S., & Siren, A. (2014). Comparing urban form correlations of the travel patterns of older and younger adults. Transport Policy, 35, 10–20.

Findlay, A., Stockdale, A., Findlay, A., & Short, D. (2001). Mobility as a driver of change in rural Britain: An analysis of the links between migration, commuting and travel to shop patterns. International Journal of Population Geography, 7(1), 1–15.

Florida, R., Gulden, T., & Mellander, C. (2008). The rise of the mega-region, Cambridge J. Regions, Economy & Society, 1, 459–476.

Frändberg, L., & Vilhelmson, B. (2011). More or less travel: Personal mobility trends in the Swedish population focusing gender and cohort. JTRG, 19(6), 1235–1244.

Gallo, M. T., Garrido, R., & Vivar, M. (2010). Cambios territoriales en la Comunidad de Madrid: Policentrismo y dispersion. EURE, 36(107), 49–65.

García-Palomares, J. C. (2008). Incidencia en la movilidad de los principales factores de un modelo metropolitano cambiante, EURE, 34(101), 5–24.

García-Palomares, J. C. (2010). Urban sprawl and travel to work: The case of the metropolitan area of Madrid. JTRG, 18, 197–213.

Garmendia, M. (2008). Cambios en la estructura urbana y territorial facilitados por la alta velocidad ferroviaria. La línea Madrid-Sevilla a su paso por la provincia de Ciudad Real. Thesis dissertation. CR: UCLM.

Garmendia, M., Ureña, J. M., & Coronado, J. M. (2011). Cambios en la estructura territorial debidos a nuevas conexiones de alta velocidad en territorios aislados: La provincia de Ciudad Real en España. EURE, 37(110), 89–115.

Giuliano, G., & Dargay, J. (2006). Car ownership, travel and land use: A comparison of the US and Great Britain. Transport. Research A, 40, 106–124.

Giuliano, G., & Small, K. A. (1993). Is the journey to work explained by urban structure? Urban Studies, 9, 1485–1500.

Giuliano, G., & Gillespie, A. (1997). Research issues regarding societal change and transport. JTRG, 5(3), 165–176.

Green, A. E., Hogarth, T., & Shackelton, R. E. (1999). Longer distance commuting as a substitute for migration in Britain: A review of trends and implications. International Journal of Population Geography, 5(1), 49–67.

Grimes, S. (2000). Rural areas in the information society: Diminishing distance or increasing learning capacity? Journal of Rural Studies, 16(1), 13–21.

Gordon, P., Kumar, A., & Richardson, H. W. (1989) Gender differences in metropolitan travel behavior. Regional Studies, 23(6), 499–510.

Gustafson, P. (2012). Managing business travel: Developments and dilemmas in corporate travel management. Tourism Management, 33, 276–284.

Hall, P., & Pain, K. (2006). The polycentric metropolis. London: Earthscan.

Hanson, S., & Johnston, I. (1985). Gender differences in work trip lengths: Implications and explanations. Urban Geography, 6(3),193–219.

Harris, S., Alasia, A., & Bollman, R. D. (2008). Rural commuting: Its relevance to rural and urban Labor markets. Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin, 7(6). Catalogue No. 21-006-XIE. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Harsman, B., & Quigley, J. (1988). Education, job requirements and commuting: An analysis of network flows. In M. J. Beckman, B. Johansson, F. Snickars, and R. Thord (Eds.). Knowledge and networks in a dynamic economy (pp. 261-272). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

Haselkorn M., Spyridakis, J., Conquest, L, & Barfield, W. (1989). Surveying commuter behavior as a basis for designing motorist information systems. Paper presented at the First Vehicle Navigation and Information Systems Conference, IEEE, Toronto, Canada. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=98746

Hermelin, B., & Trygg, K. (2012). New geographies of work: A case study from Sweden. Urbaniizziv, 23(1),126–134.

Hincks, S., & Wong, C. (2010). The spatial interaction of housing and labor markets: Commuting flow analysis of North West England. Urban Studies, 47(3), 620–649.

Huber, P. (2014). Are commuters in the EU better educated than non-commuters but worse than migrants? Urban Studies, 51(3), 509–525.

INE. (1981). Censo de Población y Viviendas 1981. Madrid: INE.

INE. (2011). Censo de Población y Viviendas 2011. Madrid: INE.

Jara-Díaz, S. R., & Videla, J. (1989). Detection of income effect in mode choice: Theory and application. Transportation Research Part B, 23(6), 393–400.

Jones, A. (2013). Conceptualizing business mobilities: Towards an analytical framework. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 9, 58–66.

Kakihara, M., & Sørensen, C. (2004). Practicing mobile professional work: Tales of locational, operational, and interactional mobility. The Journal of Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunication, Information and Media, 6(3), 180–187.

Kilpatrick, S., Johns, S., Vitartas, P., Homisan, M. (2011). Mobile skilled workers: Making the most of an untapped rural community resource. Journal of Rural Studies, 27,181–190.

Kim, C, Sang, S., Chun, Y., & Lee, W. (2012). Exploring urban commuting imbalance by jobs and gender. Applied Geography, 32, 532–545.

Kloosterman, R. C., & Musterd, S. (2001). The polycentric urban region: Towards a research agenda, Urban Studies, 38, 623–633.

Kwan, M. P. (1999). Gender, the home-worklink, and space-time patterns of non-employment activities. Economic Geography, 75(4), 370–394.

Lee, B. S., & McDonald, J. F. (2003). Determinants of commuting time and distance for Seoul residents: The impact of family status on the commuting of women. Urban Studies, 40(7), 1283–1320.

Limtanakool, N., Dijst, M., & Schwanen, T. (2005). On the participation in medium- and long-distance travel: A decomposition analysis for the UK and the Netherlands. Tijdschriftvoor Economische and Sociale Geografie, 97(4), 389–404.

Limtanakool, N., Dijst, M., & Schwanen, T. (2007). A Theoretical framework and methodology for characterizing national urban systems on the basis of flows of people: Empirical evidence for France and Germany. Urban Studies, 44(11), 2123–2145.

Limtanakool, N., Dijst, M., & Schwanen, T. (2009). Developments in the Dutch urban system on the basis of flows. Reg. Studies, 43(2),179–196.

Lowe, J. C. (1998). Patterns of spatial dispersion in metropolitan commuting. Urban Geography, 19(3), 232–253.

Lyons, G., & Chatterjee, K. (2008). A human perspective on the daily commute: Costs, benefits and trade-offs. Transport Reviews, 28(2), 181–198.

Lyons, G. (2013). The social practices surrounding meetings. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 9, 50–57.

Malmberg, G. (1997). Time and space in international migration. In T. Hammar, G. Brochmann, K. Tamas & T. Faist (Eds.) International migration, immobility and development: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (pp.1-19). NY: Berg.

Manaugh, K., Miranda-Moreno, L. F., & El-Geneidy, A. M. (2010). The effect of neighborhood characteristics, accessibility, home-work location, and demographics on commuting distances. Transportation, 37(4), 627–646.

Martínez-García, E., Ferrer-Rosell, B., & Coenders, G. (2012). Profile of business and leisure travelers on low cost carriers in Europe. Journal of Air Transport Management, 20,12–14.

Mason, K. J. (2002). Future trends in business travel decision making. Journal of Air Transportation, 7(1), 47–68.

Milbourne, P. (2007). Re-populating rural studies: Migrations, movements and mobilities. Journal of Rural Studies, 23(3), 381–386.

Milbourne, P., & Kitchen, L. (2014). Rural mobilities: Connecting movement and fixity in rural places. Journal of Rural Studies, 34, 326–336.

Millard-Bell, A., & Schipper, L. (2011). Are we reaching peak travel? Trends in passenger transport in eight industrialized countries. Transport. Reviews, 31(3), 357–378.

Mohino, I, Ureña, J. M., & Solis, E. (2016). Transport infrastructure and territorial cohesion in rural metro-adjacent regions: A multimodal accessibility approach. The case of Castilla-La Mancha in the context of Madrid (Spain). JTRG, 57, 115–133.

Mohino, I., Solis, E., & Ureña, J. M. (2017). Changing commuting patterns in rural metro-adjacent regions: The case of Castilla-La Mancha in the context of Madrid, Spain. Regional Studies, 51(7), 1115–1130.

Naess, P. (2006). Accessibility, activity participation and location of activities: Exploring the links between residential location and travel behavior. Urban Studies, 43(3), 627–652.

Nelson, D., & Niles, J. (2000). Observations on the causes of non-work travel growth. 79th Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January 9-13, Washington, DC.

OECD. (2011). Defining and describing regions, in OECD regions at a glance 2011. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/reg_glance-2011-4-en

Öhman, M., & Lindgren, U. (2003). Who is the long-distance commuter? Patterns and driving forces in Sweden. Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography, 243. Retrieved from http://cybergeo.revues.org/4118

Ortiz-Guerrero, C. E. (2013). The new regionalism. Policy implications for rural regions. Cuadernos Desarrollo Rural, 10(70), 47–67.

Parr, J. B. (2005). Perspectives on the city-region. Regional Studies, 39, 555–566.

Pinjari, A. R., Pendyala, R. M., Bhat, C. R., & Waddell, P.A. (2007). Modeling residential sorting effects to understand the impact of the built environment on commute mode choice. Transportation, 34, 557–573.

Pillet, F., Cañizares, M. C. , Ruiz, A. R., Martinez, H. S., Plaza, J., Santos, J. F. (2014). Applying the European spatial development perspective in low-density regions: A methodology based on mobility and labor market structure. Urban Studies, 51(3), 577–595.

Piorr, A., Ravetz, J., & Tosics. I. (2011). Peri-urbanization in Europe: Towards a European policy to sustain urban-rural futures. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, Academic Books Life Sciences.

Prashker, J., Shiftan Y., & Hershkovitch-Sarusi, P. (2008). Residential choice location, gender and the commute trip to work in Tel Aviv. JTRG, 16, 332–341.

Punpuing, S. (1993) Correlates of commuting patterns: A case-study of Bangkok, Thailand. Urban Studies, 30(3), 527–546.

Ramli, M. I., Oeda, Y., Sumi, T., & Matsunaga, C. (2011). Accommodating flexible daily temporal constraint on a continuous choice model of departure time for urban shopping travel. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 15, 215–233.

Räsänen, M., Moberg A., Picha, M., & Borggren, C. (2010). Meeting at a distance: Experiences of media companies in Sweden. Technology in Society, 32, 264–273.

Ravetz, J., Fertner, C., & Sick-Nielsen, T. (2013). The dynamics of periurbanization. In K. Nilsson, S. Pauleit, S. Bell, C. Aalbers, & T. A. Sick-Nielsen (Eds.), Peri-urban futures: Scenarios and models for land use change in Europe (pp. 1344). The Netherlands: Springer.

Renkow, M., & Hoover, D. (2000). Commuting, migration, and rural-urban population dynamics. J. Reg. Science, 40(2), 261–287.

Rouwendal, J., & Rietveld, P. (1994). Changes in commuting distances of Dutch households. Urban Studies, 31(9), 1545–1557.

Russo, G., Teschi, F. Reggiani, A., & Nijkamp, P. (2014). Commuter effects on local labor markets: A German modelling study. Urban Studies, 51(3), 493–508.

Sandow, E. (2008). Commuting behavior in sparsely populated areas: Evidence from northern Sweden. JTRG, 16, 14–27.

Sandow, E., & Westin, K. (2010). Preferences for commuting in sparsely populated areas. The case of Sweden. Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2(3/4), 87–107.

Sassen, S. (1999). Globalization and its discontents: Essays on the new mobility of money and people. NY: Free Press.

Schofer, J. L. (2002-June). National Household Travel Survey, letter report to the Committee to Review the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Survey Programs. In Measuring Personal Travel and Goods Movement: A Review of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Surveys—Special Report 277 (2003), (pp. 54–78). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10837.

Schwanen, T., Dieleman, F. M., & Dijst. M. (2001). Travel behavior in Dutch monocentric and polycentric urban systems. JTRG, 9, 173–186.

Sick-Nielsen, T. A., & Harder Hovgesen, H. (2008). Exploratory mapping of commuter flows in England and Wales. Journal of Transport Geography, 16, 90–99.

Singell, L., & Lillydahl, J. (1986). An empirical analysis of the commute to work patterns of males and females in two-earner households. Urban Studies, 2, 119–129.

Sioui, L., Morency, C., & Trepanier, M. (2013). How car-sharing affects the travel behavior of households: A case study of Montreal, Canada. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 7, 52–69.

Solis, E., Ureña, J. M., & Ruiz-Apilánez, B. (2012). Transformación del sistema urbano-territorial en la región central de la España peninsular: La emergencia de la región metropolitana policéntrica madrileña. Scripta Nova, 16. Retrieved from http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/ScriptaNova/article/view/14782

Solis, E., Mohino, I., & Ureña, J. M. (2014). Global metropolitan-regional scale in evolution: Metropolitan intermediary cities and metropolitan cities. EPS, 23(3), 568–596.

Stockdale, A. (2006). Migration: Pre-requisite for rural economic regeneration? Journal of Rural Studies, 22, 354–366.

Stopher, P., Greaves, S., & Xu, M. (2005). Using national data to simulate metropolitan area household travel data. Journal of Transportation and Statistics, 8(3), 83–95.

Sultana, S. (2002). Job/housing imbalance and commuting time in the Atlanta metropolitan area: Exploration of causes of longer commuting time. Urban Geography, 23(8), 728–749.

Susilo, Y. O., & Maat, K. (2007). The influence of built environment to the trends in commuting journeys in the Netherlands. Transportation, 34, 589–609.

Titheridge, H., & Hall, P. (2006). Changing travel to work patterns in South East England. JTRG, 14, 60–75.

Trendle, B., & Siu, J. (2005). Commuting patterns of Sunshine Coast residents and the impact of education. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, 13(2), 221–230.

Ureña, J. M., & Muruzábal, J. J. (2006). Sostenibilidad y eficiencia económica en el transporte de la Comunidad de Madrid: Evolución de la última década. Revista del Instituto de Estudios Económicos 1&2, 191–222.

van Acker, V., & Witlox, F. (2011). Commuting trips within tours: How is commuting related to land use? Transportation, 38, 465–486.

van de Coevering, P., & Schwanen, T. (2006). Re-evaluating the impact of urban form on travel patterns in Europe and North-America. Transport Policy, 13(3), 229–239.

van Winden, W., van den Berg, L., & Pol, P. (2007). European Cities in the knowledge economy: Towards a typology. Urban Studies, 44(3), 525–549.

Verhoeven, M., Arentze, T. A., Timmermans, H. J. P., & van der Waerden, P. (2007). Examining temporal effects of lifecycle events on transport mode choice decisions. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 11, 1–13.

Wang, F. (2001). Explaining intraurban variations of commuting by job accessibility and workers’ characteristics. EPB, 28, 169–182.

Watts, M. J. (2009). The impact of spatial imbalance and socioeconomic characteristics on average distance commuted in the Sydney Metropolitan area. Urban Studies, 46, 317–339.

White, M. J. (1986). Sex differences in urban commuting pattern. American Economic Review, 75(2), 368–372.