COMMUTING STRESS, RIDESHARING, AND GENDER: ANALYSES FROM 1993 STATE OF THE COMMUTE STUDY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

A stressful nature of exposure to traffic congestion in automobile commuting has been demonstrated in previous quasiexperimental research that has been measurement-intensive but conducted with relatively small samples. Commuting stress in automobile travel is examined with a large representative sample (N=2,591) in Southern California through a telephone survey. Commuting stress was found to be significantly associated with distance and duration of the commute, controlling for age and income. As predicted, the stressful effects of long-distance commutes (greater than 20 mi) were further moderated by gender, as women in such commutes perceive much greater commuting stress spillover to work and home. Some hypothesized stress-mitigating effects of ridesharing were found, as full-time ridesharers were significantly less bothered by traffic congestion and more satisfied with their commutes than solo drivers. In analyses of prospective adoption by solo drivers of alternative commuting modes, it was found that the perception of one's commute as having a negative impact on family life had a very significant effect on the inclination to try carpooling and rail, beyond the effect associated with distance itself. Commuting stress is discussed as an external cost of traffic congestion that is internalized by the solo driver. Marketing strategies for alternative modes of commuting might increase their effectiveness by highlighting stress consequences, especially negative impacts on family life.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1994/1433/1433-022.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=COMMUTING+STRESS%2C+RIDESHARING%2C+AND+GENDER%3A+ANALYSES+FROM+1993+STATE+OF+THE+COMMUTE+STUDY+IN+SOUTHERN+CALIFORNIA&author=R.+Novaco&author=C.+Collier&publication_year=1994
• Availability:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1433, Public Transportation: Bus, Rail, Ridesharing, Paratransit Services, and Transit Security. 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:
  • Novaco, Raymond W
  • Collier, Cheryl
• Publication Date: 1994

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 170-176
• Monograph Title: Public transportation: bus, rail, ridesharing, paratransit services, and transit security
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1433
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile drivers; Commuting; Data collection; Driving; Gender; Marketing; Ridesharing; Single occupant vehicles; Stress (Psychology); Surveys; Time duration; Traffic congestion; Traffic mitigation; Travel modes; Trip length
• Uncontrolled Terms: Duration; Mitigation
• Geographic Terms: Southern California
• Old TRIS Terms: Solo driving; Travel modes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00667634
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309055105
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 7 1994 12:00AM