DIRECT COMPARISON OF COMMUTERS' INTERESTS IN USING DIFFERENT MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

Interest in express bus service and carpooling was low (10 to 20%) among commuters surveyed in a western suburb of Honolulu, and the potential time savings of high-occupancy-vehicle lanes offered little incentive for creating the latter. Interest in both alternatives rose in response to increasing parking costs. Interest in rail transit was 36% higher than interest in local bus service at a comparable fare (50 cents), and rail transit appears to be equally attractive to people who now carpool and to many solo drivers, as well. But car commuters that explicitly object to carpooling (34.6% of all commuters) as being too time-consuming and unreliable also resist using rail, and interest in rail drops to 21% among all commuters if the one-way fare is raised to $1. The most widely preferred alternative among all commuters was paratransit that provides better service and a guaranteed seat. Interest reached 91% for door-to-door service at a $1 fare; substantially lower interest was exhibited for rail transit than paratransit, regardless of fare or access. These results suggest that if paratransit served the same area as a rail system, it could take at least two to four times more cars off the road than rail would. Because paratransit can serve wider areas at considerably less cost than rail--possibly at a profit--it is recommended that private providers be permitted to establish such service. The time has come to consider market solutions to transportation problems.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1991/1321/1321-013.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=DIRECT+COMPARISON+OF+COMMUTERS%27+INTERESTS+IN+USING+DIFFERENT+MODES+OF+TRANSPORTATION&author=K.+Flannelly&author=M.+McLeod+Jr&author=L.+Flannelly&author=R.+Behnke&publication_year=1991
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1321, Rideshare Programs: Evaluation of Effectiveness, Trip Reduction Programs, Demand Management, and Commuter Attitudes 1991. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Flannelly, Kevin J
  • McLeod Jr, Malcolm S
  • Flannelly, Laura
  • Behnke, Robert W
• Publication Date: 1991

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 90-96
• Monograph Title: Rideshare programs: evaluation of effectiveness, trip reduction programs, demand management, and commuter attitudes, 1991
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1321
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Carpools; Commuters; Data collection; Door to door service; Express buses; Fares; High occupancy vehicle lanes; High occupancy vehicles; Paratransit services; Pay parking; Railroad transportation; Surveys; Traffic lanes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Parking costs
• Geographic Terms: Honolulu (Hawaii)
• Old TRIS Terms: Reserved lanes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Railroads; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00621513
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309051592
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 30 1992 12:00AM