FACTORS THAT AFFECT AND/OR CAN ALTER MODE CHOICE

This project uses data about individuals, their characteristics, the trips they make, and the costs and benefits of travel modes, to identify factors that can be used in models for travel mode choice. In Delaware, for the past eight years, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) has sponsored the DelDOT Household Survey. Approximately 200 people of the age of 16 or older are called on the telephone and asked to describe the trips they have taken in the previous day. Trip origins and destinations are geo-coded to a small geographic unit (modified grid), and information is obtained for trip time, purpose, incidental stops, travel preferences, demographic data, vehicle occupancy, travel mode, and other information. This is a wealth of information very suited to the modeling goals of this project. The modeling of transit use was a focus in this project. Automobiles offer large advantages over transit in convenience, flexibility, and travel time. A particular level of service of transit is necessary to have people choose to use transit over a car when they have the choice. Factors that reflect the transit level of service are necessary in any model, and level of service factors certainly significantly influence mode choice. A review of the literature indicates many types of service factors that have been used in mode choice models. Level of service is often very difficult to quantify. This project employed road network models and optimum routing algorithms as available in geographical information systems to estimate travel times and service factors for trips taken by individuals. This project is the first part in a two part modeling effort. Once mode choice is modeled at the individual and trip level, a study will be done on how travel mode split can be modeled at the smaller levels of geography like traffic zones for use in route planning and travel demand forecasting.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Delaware, Newark

  Delaware Center for Transportation
  Newark, DE  United States  19716

  Delaware Department of Transportation

  800 Bay Road
  Dover, DE  United States  19903
• Authors:
  • Racca, D P
  • Ratledge, E
• Publication Date: 2003-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 43 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile travel; Choice models; Consumer preferences; Demographics; Level of service; Mode choice; Origin and destination; Persons and personal characteristics; Public transit; Travel surveys; Travel time; Trip purpose; Vehicle occupancy
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00975819
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: DCT 159
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 2 2004 12:00AM