Where to park? A behavioural comparison of bus Park and Ride and city centre car park usage in Bath,UK

Integrating car parking facilities with public transport in Park and Ride (P&R) facilities has the potential to shorten car trips, contributing to more sustainable mobility. There is an ongoing debate about the actual effects of P&R on the transport system at the subregional level. A key issue is the relative attractiveness of city centre car parks (CCCP), P&R and public transport. The paper presents the findings of a comparative empirical case-study based on a field survey of CCCP and P&R users conducted in the city of Bath, UK. Spatial and statistical analyses are applied. Radial distance to parking, availability of P&R sites in the direction of travel, gender, age, income and party-size are found to be important factors in a binary logistic regression model, explaining the revealed-preference of parking type. Stated analysis of foregone parking alternatives suggests more use of public transport and walking/cycling would likely occur without first-best parking alternatives. The policy implications and possible planning alternatives to P&R at the urban fringes for achieving greater sustainability goals are also discussed.     

Inter-regional and inter-temporal analysis of travel behaviour for Asian metropolitan cities: Case studies of Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Nagoya

The unprecedented demand for travel experienced in Asia, in conjunction with the economic development of the1980s, has resulted in a number of detrimental effects on urban systems. Economic development has certainly intensified per capita income enhancing personal mobility. In Asia, private vehicle ownership and usage have continued to be recognised as an obligatory element of travel for many. Undoubtedly there is a direct relationship between vehicle ownership and public transport usage. Inter-regional and inter-temporal investigations of travel behaviour in Asian cities are therefore necessary to develop an understanding of the future transportation system including suitability and the role of public transport. Since travel data are scarce in Asian countries, inter-regional or inter-temporal travel behaviour investigations do not exist to date. Several travel demand models are developed using discrete choice modelling techniques and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Nagoya as case studies. Estimation results of the mode choice models are successfully incorporated to compare travel behaviour trends in selected cities in Asia. The developed models are tested for spatial and temporal transferability.     

Spatial competition between parking garages and downtown parking policy

This paper looks at optimal parking policy in dense urban districts (“downtown”), where spatial competition between parking garages is a key feature, from the perspective of economic theory. The paper has four parts. The first looks at the “parking garage operator's problem”. The second derives equilibrium in the parking garage market when there is no on-street parking, compares the equilibrium to the social optimum, and examines optimal parking policy in this context. Since parking garage operators have market power, the spatial competition equilibrium is generally inefficient, and parking policy can be used to mitigate the distortion. The third adds on-street parking and considers how its underpricing affects second-best parking policy. The fourth adds mass transit, and considers how economies of scale in mass transit interact with minimum and maximum off-street parking standards.Preliminary draft: Please do not cite or quote without the permission of the author.     

Commuting patterns of employees in the Information Technology and traditional manufacturing sectors of Bangalore, India

Rapid growth of the Information Technology (IT) sector in Bangalore, India, has transformed the city’s urban-industrial landscape since the liberalization of India's economy in 1991. The city's IT sector is closely integrated with a global system of production and caters largely to a global clientele. Apart from the impact of these developments on urban form, there are indications that they are causing uneven growth patterns and socio-economic polarization, which has resulted in different travel patterns in the work force. This paper compares the commuting patterns of employees in two types of firms, an IT multinational corporation and a traditional public-sector-unit (PSU), using data from a survey. Regression models show that there is a significant increase in travel cost as income rises for a sample of employees of the IT sector, even though travel distance is not influenced by income. The reverse holds true for a sample of employees of the PSU—rising income significantly increases distance though income does not affect travel cost. Behavioral choice models also show that with increasing income IT employees are more likely to choose two-wheelers and cars for commuting while PSU employees are more likely to choose public buses or walk to work. The paper suggests that Bangalore's services-oriented IT economy is magnifying differences in work commuting patterns relative to those in the traditional manufacturing economy. The IT economy is also transforming travel behavior in terms of work travel mode choices among socio-economic groups.     

The role of ICTs in everyday mobile lives

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are permeating modern lifestyles, shaping and colouring the undertaking of activities and travel. This article reports on a qualitative diary and interview study that explored the ways in which ICTs are being used by students aged 18-28 and part-time working mums. Study participants were selected on the basis of being ‘informal experts’ - reflecting their affinity for engagement with ICTs. Through an exploration of the interview findings, it becomes clear that relatively new technological devices and applications have quickly become embedded into the participants’ everyday travel and communications. Changes in social practice at the level of the individuals are not visibly dramatic, but at the same time, there is evidence of a cumulative influence of ICTs on their daily lives. Technologies are enabling the participants to better accommodate the uncertainties in activity and travel scheduling and yet also contributing to a ‘fluidity’ in time-space co-ordination of activities. They are also allowing the juggling of life roles in time and space leading to apparent fragmenting of activities. The article reflects upon the travel behaviour consequences of ICTs in their influence on everyday life.     

Entering the regime of automobility: car ownership and use by novice drivers in Iceland

This article investigates how young individuals access the regime of automobility. Instead of looking at the systemic nature of automobility, the article concentrates on its human component. Access to cars by young people in the greater Reykjavík area, and the shift in modal choice that occurs when they start driving, was investigated with a survey among high school students that yielded 553 answers. The results show that young residents in the capital area are fully aware of the costs of car-based automobility. Their near-universal move to cars when they enter driving age reflects the conditions of this regime. Yet they are also ambivalent about their position within the regime. While most previous studies of novice drivers have centred on road safety issues, this study shows the need to consider the cultural and social aspects of young people driving. This can lead to a deeper understanding of the modal shift that perpetuates car-based automobility, which is an important issue for transport planning.     

Forecasting the demand for an employee Park and Ride service using commuters' stated choices

This paper uses Stated Choice (SC) data to forecast the demand for an employee Park and Ride service. Since it is well known that SC data contain sources of variation not present in Revealed Preference data we pay special attention to the scaling of the SC model. The results show that the modal shift away from parking-on site will be small unless the new service is accompanied by measures aimed at making parking on-site less attractive such as introducing parking charges.     

Linking expected mobility production to sustainable residential location planning: some evidence from Flanders

Based on a set of spatial proximity characteristics this paper develops a model that estimates for every neighbourhood in Flanders (Belgium) the amount of traffic that would be generated by an additional residential unit when socio-economic variables are held constant. The results show that residential density, land use diversity and proximity of facilities influence daily travelled distances when these variables are measured in the immediate vicinity of the residential location of the respondent (within a radius of 1 km). When aggregating these variables at a larger geographical scale, in most cases the impact proves no longer significant. Variables based on the spatial distribution of jobs, or on the global accessibility of the entire population in the study area, do not show any significant effects on the travel distance.Despite the statistical significance only a fraction of the observed variance in reported distances is explained by characteristics of spatial proximity. However, we can assume that the importance of spatial structure in the genesis of mobility patterns will increase in case the cost of transport would rise (cf. peak oil). For this reason, the application of the mapped results of the proposed model could contribute to the practice of sustainable spatial planning.     

The choice of air carrier, flight, and fare class

This paper reports the development and interpretation of air traveler choice models to gain insights into the tradeoffs air travelers make when they choose among different carriers, flights, and fare classes. Such insights can be used to support carrier decisions on flight scheduling, pricing, seat allocation, and ticket restrictions. This paper develops a conceptual framework and applies it to the choice of carrier, flight, and fare class as a basis for analyzing air travel demand in a competitive market. Model estimation results are used to quantify the importance of carrier preferences, market presence, quality of service, frequent flyer program membership, schedule convenience, and fares on carrier travel demand. The empirical results provide measures of the premium that business and leisure travelers are willing to pay to avoid schedule delays, to choose a carrier in which frequent-flyer program they participate, and to obtain the amenities and freedom from travel restrictions associated with higher fare classes.     

Catalysts and magnets: Built environment and bicycle commuting

What effects do bicycle infrastructure and the built environment have on people’s decisions to commute by bicycle? While many studies have considered this question, commonly employed methodologies fail to address the unique statistical challenge of modeling modes with small mode shares. Additionally, personal characteristics that are not adequately accounted for may lead to overestimation of built environment impacts.This study addresses these two key issues by using an ordered probit Heckman selection model to jointly estimate participation in and frequency of commuting by bicycle, controlling for demographics, residential preferences, and travel attitudes. The findings suggest a strong influence of attitudinal factors, with modest contributions of bicycle accessibility. Bicycle lanes act as “magnets” to attract bicyclists to a neighborhood, rather than being the “catalyst” that encourages non-bikers to shift modes. The results have implications for planners and policymakers attempting to increase bicycling mode share via the strategic infrastructure development.     

Inter-city travel behaviour adaptation to extreme weather events

Increased attention has been paid to travel behaviour in circumstances of extreme weather conditions that are expected with climate change, and the analyses usually address intra-city travel. There is lack of assessments on inter-city travel which has less redundancy and is more exposed to extreme weather threats. In addition, much of the research has been carried out in developed countries. This paper provides new perspectives by investigating how people adapt their inter-city travel behaviour to flooding impacts in Bangladesh. With an orthogonal design of three flooding scenarios, questionnaire data were collected in 14 coastal and inland areas. Results of the statistical analyses identify the significant impacts of flooding on people’s inter-city travel and reveal significant differences in attitudes and responses to flooding and extreme weather in coastal compared to inland locations. The main factors significantly affecting travel behaviour choice are road disruption, isolation by flood water, and flood frequency. These factors are felt differently in coastal and inland locations. The most common responses are cancelling trips or changing destinations. It is recommended that when making flooding adaptation decisions, it is important to protect road infrastructure and guarantee accessible routes in coastal areas, while offering more flood adaptation education to the inland people.