A New Method for Analyzing Outdoor Recreation Trip Data

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Abstract
This paper contains the results of an application in Southern Ontario of a new two-stage methodology for estimating certain parameters of outdoor recreation travel. Specifically, Stage I extracts systematic population center and park effects (called emissiveness and attractiveness, respectively) from outdoor recreation trip-making data by the use of an analysis of covariance technique. In addition, a location or distance effect is isolated. Stage II of the analysis attempts to account for differences in estimated population center (i.e., emissiveness) and park (i.e., attractiveness) effects by use of multivariate analyses. The second stage uses the results from Stage I as input together with data on selected characteristics of population centers and parks. The goal is to identify in a systematic way those population center characteristics (e.g., population magnitudes, income, age, etc.) and those park characteristics (e.g., size, selected facilities, etc.) that appear to best account for observed variations in aggregate outdoor-recreation trip-making behavior. The results of this application lend support to the use of size-related measures such as population and park acreage as surrogates for emissiveness and attractiveness, respectively, in park visitation models. Ways in which the results of this study can be put to practical uses are emphasized.

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