WHAT DOES A ONE-MONTH FREE BUS TICKET DO TO HABITUAL DRIVERS?`

Travel mode choice depends on psychological factors such as beliefs, attitudes and habits that may be influenced by the service level of the transportation mode. This paper hypothesizes that if a temporary change in public transportation service level induces lasting psychological changes, travel mode choice also may permanently change. An experiment targeting 43 drivers was conducted, in which a one-month free bus ticket was given to 23 drivers in an experimental group but not to 20 drivers in a control group. Attitudes towards, habits of and frequency of using automobiles and buses were measured immediately before, immediately after and one month after the one-month long intervention. Results showed that attitudes toward bus were more positive, frequency of bus use increased, and the habit of automobile use decreased from before the intervention, even one month after the intervention period. Furthermore, the increase in habitual bus use had the largest effect on the increase in the frequency of bus use. The results indicate a temporary structural change does seem to have the potential to change habit, attitude and travel mode choice, making it an effective candidate as a travel demand management tool.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00494488
• Corporate Authors:

  Kluwer Academic Publishers

  P.O. Box 17
  Dordrecht,   Netherlands 
• Authors:
  • FUJII, S
  • Kitamura, R
• Publication Date: 2003-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 81-95
• Serial:
  • Transportation (Netherlands)
  • Volume: 30
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
  • ISSN: 0049-4488

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Automobile travel; Bus transit; Drivers; Free fares; Level of service; Modal shift; Mode choice; Psychological aspects; Travel behavior; Travel demand management
• Uncontrolled Terms: Habits
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00939629
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 19 2003 12:00AM