Gendered key events in the life course: effects on changes in travel mode choice over time

This paper studies changes in travel mode specific trip rates after life course (and accessibility) related key events from a gender perspective. It is theoretically informed by the mobility biographies approach, and by gender/travel studies. The data used is the German Mobility Panel (GMP) 1994 to 2010 in which households and their members are asked three times in three subsequent years to report the trips they made over a week. The changes reported are regressed to key events over the life course, cohort effects and period effects, while sociodemographics and spatial context attributes are controlled. A cluster–robust regression approach is used to account for the non-independent character of panel observations. Significant effects were found for some key events, including the birth of a child, entry into the labour market, and changes in spatial context, accessibility and mobility. Some effects differed distinctly between men and women, suggesting that men and women are differently affected by life course events. However, taken together the associations found, as well as their gender differences are rather limited. Hence, key events over the life course seem to be only loosely associated with travel mode specific trip rates.     

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.     

Congestion tolls and parking fees: A comparison of the potential effect on travel behavior

This paper presents a comparison of attitudes towards congestion and parking tolls and explores their effect on travel behavior. The findings indicate that drivers are sensitive mainly to congestion tolls and are willing to change their travel habits to avoid these tolls. The major effect of a congestion toll is the shifting of the time of the journey. High levels of demand elasticity (−1.8 for congestion tolls and −1.2 for parking fees) were found. The readiness to pay parking fees is greater; thus, the effectiveness of congestion tolls in reducing demand is higher during the times the tolls apply.     

Passenger airline choice behavior for domestic short-haul travel in South Korea

When the Seoul-Busan line of South Korea's high-speed rail system, dubbed the Korea Train Express (KTX), entered service in November 2010, it was expected that this line would compete with air transport services for short-haul domestic journeys. Therefore this is a study about passengers' choice behavior when traveling short-haul domestic routes in South Korea. It utilizes MNL and NL logit models with selected variables, and the data required for the analyses were gathered through Stated Preference (SP) Techniques. The main SP survey was conducted for three weeks at departure lounges in Incheon International Airport in May 2012. The results reveal that fare, access time and journey time are significantly important with respect to passenger choice. The results further indicate that business travelers are more willing to pay than non-business travelers to reduce access and journey time. It is also noteworthy that reducing access time is more important than reducing journey time for short-haul domestic travelers. The conclusion is that it is significantly important for airline planners or local authorities that want to increase their local market share to invest in relatively fast access modes.     

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.     

Estimating social travel demand of senior citizens in the Netherlands

Like many other countries, the Netherlands is experiencing a sharp rise in the ageing population. As age increases, people’s mobility may decrease. However, older people have more leisure time compared to their younger (working) counterparts, and potentially spend more time on social activities. Therefore, this group can possibly increase social travel demand. However, to date, the travel demand for social activities of senior citizens has received only little attention. This paper studies trip-making for social purposes, with a special focus on the demographic ageing factors. Using social activity diary data, models are estimated to predict the number of social trips, the travel distance and mode of transport for social trips. The results indicate that the elderly of today seem to be as mobile as their younger counterparts with respect to the number of social trips. High education and involvement in clubs on average result in more social trips and full time work is found to result in fewer social trips. With regard to trip distance the results show that the average travel distance does not decrease as people get older. Full time work is found to result in longer social trips. Shorter trips were found for people in urban as well as rural areas. Trips for the purpose of visiting or joint activities tend to be longer than average. With regard to transport mode choice the results indicate that older seniors (75+) are less likely to choose the bicycle, relative to driving. No other significant age effects were found. Significant effects were found for gender, household structure, education level, car ownership, having a disability, urban density, distance and the purpose of the social activity.     

The impact of company-car taxation policy on travel behavior

This paper explores the impact of company car taxation on travel behavior. It focuses on a nationwide case study in Israel, which experienced a massive growth in the extent of company cars and which has implemented various policy changes in the taxation of company cars. A survey of 400 employees who have a company car and 230 employees who have only a privately owned car clearly points out the significant impact exerted by company cars on travel behavior, negatively affecting sustainable transportation development. The practice of and taxation policy in regard to the company car result in considerable extra mileage and encourage car usage by the employee's entire household. Changes in the taxation of a company car as well as in employer's policy toward company car usage may bring about a significant change in drivers' decisions regarding the willingness to have a company car and their travel behavior.     

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.     

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.     

Relationships between transport emissions and travel patterns in Britain

This paper explores the relationship between transport emissions and various measures of passenger travel patterns in Britain. The paper uses original data from the 1989/91 National Travel Survey and identifies a method for incorporating a range of vehicle operating conditions into calculations of vehicle emissions and energy consumption for each journey recorded in the National Travel Survey data. The paper shows that travel distance is a reasonable proxy for vehicle energy consumption and emissions of most pollutants. Travel distance per person is therefore a simple and readily available environmental indicator for transport. This indicator has potential application in the assessment of current transport policies and programmes and in the development of future policies and programmes.     

How highway safety regulations and enforcement activities affect subcategories of motor vehicle fatalities

This paper uses seemingly unrelated regression analysis and annual Ohio data for 1975–2000 to estimate a model for six different types of motor vehicle fatalities: car occupants, light truck occupants, large truck occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and pedalcyclists. It finds that while certain government highway safety regulations (e.g., speed limits) and enforcement activities (e.g., drunk driving arrests) have life-saving effects, not all groups are beneficiaries.     

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.     

Predicting the impact of Trans Java Toll Roads on demand for intercity air travel in Indonesia

This paper aims to explore the factors influencing a potential air passenger shift to autos due to the completion of the Trans Java Toll Road and an increase in airfares. The study focuses on intercity trips for nonbusiness purposes. A face-to-face interview survey of 751 air passengers was conducted in three main airports on Java Island, Indonesia. Both the theory of planned behavior and the discrete choice model were applied to understand the factors for influencing toll road use among air passengers. The empirical results reveal that psychological factors, consisting of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived moral obligations significantly influenced intentions to use the toll road. Meanwhile, perceived control of external resources was essential for airline passengers in their intention to use toll roads. Sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, income, frequency of airplane use, travel time, and cost also significantly influenced the decision to drive. Female, older passengers, high-income passengers, and frequent flyers were more likely to continue flying. The finding confirms that the Trans Java Toll Road affected a decline in air demand on Java Island. However, traveling with family members, rather than airfare hikes, became a more substantial reason for air passengers to switch to driving the toll roads. This research found that air passengers were inelastic related to changes in travel time, while 6% were willing to switch due to airfare increases of 10%.     

Time use, travel behavior, and the rural-urban continuum: results from the Halifax STAR project

This paper considers variations in time-related aspects of travel behavior along the urban-rural continuum, using the four categories of inner city, suburbs, inner commuter belt (ICB), and outer commuter belt (OCB). It employs geo-coded and GPS-validated data from the STAR survey conducted in the county-sized regional municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Many significant inter-zonal differences are identified, and most travel variables are characterized by progressive urban-to-rural gradients, with large differences between inner-city and outer-commuter values. A clear break between city and country is seldom evident, however. Inner-city residents make most trips, but have trips of shortest duration, and spend least time in travel. Residents of the commuter belts spend most time in travel, and have trips of longest duration. While long trips and much driving were expected in commuter zones, there are significantly fewer trips in the OCB, which we attribute to lack of need, lack of opportunities, and adjustments in discretionary behavior.     

Happiness and travel mode switching: Findings from a Swiss public transportation experiment

We present results from a recent experiment conducted in Switzerland that studies the effects of a temporary change in the mode of travel to work on travel happiness and mode switching. The primary aim is to study the dynamics in travel satisfaction ratings obtained before and after the intervention. Two behavioral mechanisms driving the change in satisfaction ratings are analyzed. The first one is that satisfaction ratings are influenced by reference points. The second mechanism is that satisfaction ratings are affected by cognitive awareness, whereby the disruption of routine travel conditions makes people think more fully about their travel happiness with different modes of transportation.It is found that the measure of satisfaction with the commute by car obtained right after the temporary intervention is significantly different from the measure obtained before the intervention, and both behavioral hypotheses are supported by the pattern of change in satisfaction ratings. The policy and modeling relevance of different well-being measures obtained at different points in time is discussed.As to mode switching, none of the 30 participants switched completely to public transportation after the intervention but a number of them continued to commute occasionally by public transportation. The relationship between mode switching and satisfaction and the implications of this intervention for public transportation agencies and other organizations interested in behavioral modification are discussed.     

Response to cash outs for work place parking and work place parking charges

Free work place parking has long been considered to have a strong influence on whether or not individuals use their car for their trips to work. A survey of local authority employees was conducted to examine their potential responses to the removal of free work place parking spaces, how they would respond to parking cash-out policies and to work place parking charges, and finally their responses to specific values of cash out payments. It was found that as age increases individuals are less likely to accept any form of cash out. When individuals have one or more cars available they are more likely to opt for a cash out scheme. Females are more likely to opt for the various cash out schemes than males. The results seem to suggest that if an individual has a higher income it does not necessarily mean they will opt to keep their space.     

Constraints affecting mode choices by morning car commuters

In New Zealand as elsewhere, there is an increasing interest in alleviating congestion on the road transport network to improve economic productivity, reduce pollution, and to use the transport network more effectively. Governments enact various policies to encourage car drivers to change their behaviour, but often find that the full impact is not reached. We propose that car drivers have constraints influencing their mode choice for the morning peak period trip (e.g. needing to transport children, needing a car for work during the day). A stated preference experiment conducted in the three largest New Zealand urban areas not only quantifies the likely impact of a wide range of policy tools (both ‘sticks’ discouraging car use, and ‘carrots’ encouraging alternative modes) for each area, but also identifies many significant constraints.     

Economic geography and transportation conditions with endogenous time distribution amongst work, travel, and leisure

This study examines possible effects of transportation conditions upon economic growth and geography. The paper proposes a model of economic growth with travel time and cost, housing, residential distribution, amenity, and endogenous time distribution amongst work, travel, and leisure. It deals with a dynamic interaction among capital accumulation, land use, housing market, environmental change, and transportation conditions in a linear economy. Although transportation systems are simple in this paper in the light of contemporary literature in transportation research, the paper demonstrates a way to integrating some important models in the literature in transportation research, economic growth theory and urban economics so that the significance of transportation systems upon economies can be properly analyzed.     

Revealing travel patterns and city structure with taxi trip data

Delineating travel patterns and city structure has long been a core research topic in transport geography. Different from the physical structure, the city structure beneath the complex travel-flow system shows the inherent connection patterns within the city. On the basis of taxi-trip data from Shanghai, we built spatially embedded networks to model intra-city spatial interactions and to introduce network science methods into the analysis. The community detection method is applied to reveal sub-regional structures, and several network measures are used to examine the properties of sub-regions. Considering the differences between long- and short-distance trips, we reveal a two-level hierarchical polycentric city structure in Shanghai. Further explorations of sub-network structures demonstrate that urban sub-regions have broader internal spatial interactions, while suburban centers are more influential on local traffic. By incorporating the land use of centers from a travel-pattern perspective, we investigate sub-region formation and the interaction patterns of center–local places. This study provides insights into using emerging data sources to reveal travel patterns and city structures, which could potentially aid in developing and applying urban transportation policies. The sub-regional structures revealed in this study are more easily interpreted for transportation-related issues than for other structures, such as administrative divisions.