A MODEL SYSTEM OF INDIVIDUAL TRAVEL BEHAVIOR FOR A BRAZILIAN CITY

This paper presents results from an urban travel research project in Brazil. The overall aims of the project were to conduct in-depth policy analysis of urban travel conditions in a range of Brazilian cities and to develop improved methods of urban transportation planning in that country and other developing nations. The focus of this paper is on the development of the travel demand models. The reported results are based on survey data collected in 1977 in a medium-sized city of the poverty-stricken North East of Brazil. A complete disaggregate model system was estimated to provide responsive tools for policy analysis (specifically policies related to urban fuel consumption, traffic congestion and mobility levels of urban poor). The research effort has demonstrated the importance of using disaggegate demand models that systematically account for taste variations in the population through market segmentation and a rich variety of socio-economic variables at the individual or household level. The unique features of this study also include the investigation of the impact of work and non-work accessibility on automobile ownership; detailed treatment of school travel; and the modelling of a full daily pattern of work travel rather than individual trips, or single tours. Many substantive conceptual and modelling issues that have arisen during the course of this study highlight fundamental differences between developed and developing countries in terms of travel demand. Specifically, the need to explain behavior in a highly constrained economic environment points out the need for further research into (1) the probabilistic nature of individual choice set formation vis-a-vis theories of probabilistic choice and (2) the mechanisms of household (or small group) decision-making and the allocation of group tasks and resources to individuals within the household. The need to shift emphasis in data collection efforts is also broached, both in terms of benefits for improved models as well as cost/effective urban transportation planning and policy studies. (Author/TRRL)

  • Corporate Authors:

    Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

    P.O. Box 566
    The Hague,   Netherlands 
  • Authors:
    • Swait, J D
    • Kozel, V J
    • Barros, R C
    • Ben-Akiva, Moshe
  • Publication Date: 1984

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00394357
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM