The Professional Geographer

Volume 59 Issue 2 Page 193-208, May 2007

To cite this article: Selima Sultana, Joe Weber (2007)
Journey-to-Work Patterns in the Age of Sprawl: Evidence from Two Midsize Southern Metropolitan Areas*
The Professional Geographer 59 (2), 193-208.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9272.2007.00607.x

Among others, one commonly identified negative consequence of urban sprawl is an increase in the length
of the journey to work. However, there has been more discussion of this than serious scrutiny, hence
the relationship between urban sprawl and commuting patterns, especially at the intraurban level, remains
unclear. Using the 2000 Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) data for two Southeastern metropolitan
areas, this research investigates the extent to which workers living in sprawl areas commute farther to
work than those living in higher density areas. The analysis of variance confirms that workers commuting from
sprawl areas to urban areas experience a longer commute in terms of time as well as mileage, though this varies
when workplace and home locations are taken into account. However, multivariate statistical results suggest that
there are limits to the utility of sprawl as a predictor of travel behavior compared to workers’ socioeconomic
characteristics, as other factors appear to be equally or more important.