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This paper investigates the relationship between modal accessibility and the home-work spatial configuration of two-commuter households in an urban area. The home-work spatial configuration is captured by: a) total commuting distance of the two commuters (from home to work); and b) the angle between the two work locations (as measured from the common home location). 2011 household travel survey data of the National Capital Region (NCR) is used for the empirical investigation. Empirical investigation reveals that higher modal accessibility increases the angle and reduces total commuting distance. This investigation also reveals that certain two-commuter households are not able to optimize their home location in terms of widening the angles and reducing total distances. A correlation between total commuting distance and angle between work locations is observed such that angle decreases as the distance between home location and the Central Business District (CBD) increases. We infer that twocommuter households located far from the CBD live in predominantly residential areas that lack employment centers. As such, land use policies should guide development in areas far from the CBD towards mixed land uses. These findings are useful for urban transportation and land use planning since the proportion of two-commuter households is increasing in many urban areas.

The rising cost of fossil fuel is a recognized phenomenon, but its impact at the household level is still widely unknown. Understanding how the socioeconomic impacts of rising fuel prices might be distributed across urban areas is a critical issue that is necessary for sustainable urban transportation planning. This study has refined the vulnerability index for petrol expense rises (VIPER) framework [previously proposed by Dodson and Sipe Urban Stud 44(1):37-62, (2007)] by incorporating travel survey data to better represent households' car dependence. Through this modified VIPER framework, we seek to understand how the socioeconomic impact of rising fuel costs will be distributed across the greater toronto area.

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This research investigates the commuting trade-offs between individuals in two-worker households with home and work locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). A commuting trade-off occurs when a home relocation results in one worker incurring a higher commute distance for the other worker to work closer to the home location. This research uses stated preference data and multilevel modeling to demonstrate that two-worker households adjust their home–work spatial configuration which results in commuting trade-offs between individuals. This research uses the angle between the two workplaces, measured at the home location, as a variable in its empirical model. This variable is a descriptor of the home–work spatial configuration and a predictor of total household commute distance. The modeling results indicate an inverse relationship between total household commute distance and the difference between individual commutes. This suggests that individuals in two-worker households trade off their individual commute distances and, in that process, reduce total household commute distance. A key policy implication arising from this research relates to the jobs–housing balance within a catchment area. Two-worker households have been regarded as a hindrance to achieving jobs–housing balance as the two work locations present a constraint in relocating the home near both work locations. However, as this research shows, workers will trade off their individual commute distances such that a home relocation results in a shorter commute distance for one worker and longer commute distance for the other.