Marchetti's Constant

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Marchetti's Constant is a term for the average amount of time spent travelling each day, which is approximately one and a half hours. Developed by Venetian physicist Ceasere Marchetti[1], he claims that although forms of urban planning and transport may change, and although some live in villages and others in cities, people gradually adjust their lives to their conditions (including location of their homes relative to their workplace) such that the average travel time stays approximately constant.[2] Even since Neolithic times, people have kept the time at which they travel per day the same, even though the distance may increase.

Activist, consultant and author Peter Newman often makes reference to Marchetti's Constant in his arguments for sustainable urban planning and transport.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Marchetti's Constant, Michael A. Cleverly, 2005 (accessed Feb 10, 2008).;
  2. ^ Toward green mobility: the evolution of transport, Jesse H. Ausubel, Cesare Marchetti and Perrin Meyer, 1998 (accessed Nov 6, 2006).; The Evolution of Transport, April/May 2001, Jesse H. Ausubel and Cesare Marchetti. Includes observations on historical cities.
  3. ^ Why we're reaching our limits as a one-hour city Peter Newman, Sydney Morning Herald, April 26, 2004 (accessed Nov 6, 2006)
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