Examination of Student Travel Mode Choice

This paper examines the travel behavior of students at Texas A&M University. A total of 42,000 students enroll in a typical semester, approximately 78 percent of those students live off campus and the rest live on campus. The available travel mode options for off-campus Texas A&M University students include walking, biking, driving alone, carpooling and taking a bus. To collect information on factors affecting the mode choice of students, a cost-effective travel survey was developed and administered to University students over the internet. After scrutinizing the collected data, descriptive statistical tests were performed to better understand the different characteristics of travelers by mode and to determine variables to be incorporated in mode choice model. The results of the survey analysis and the mode choice model showed that travel time, travel cost, income, expenses, household type, number of hours in school, gender and ethnicity were important factors in the student’s choice of mode. Automobile travel was found to be the predominant mode of travel, however the parking permit fee was one of the major reasons why some students did not travel by personal vehicle. The observed value of time for Texas A&M University students was $2.18/hour.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Mahlawat, Maneesh
  • Rayan, Selvaraj
  • Kuchangi, Shamanth
  • Patil, Sunil
  • Burris, Mark W
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2007-1-21 to 2007-1-25
• Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 24p
• Monograph Title: TRB 86th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycling; Bus transportation; Carpools; College students; Driving; Mode choice; Travel behavior; Travel surveys; Travel time; Universities and colleges; Walking
• Identifier Terms: Texas A&M University
• Geographic Terms: Texas
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Motor Carriers; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01046188
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 07-2616
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 18 2007 7:18AM