MOTORISTS' CHOIDE OF ROUTE-A STUDY CONDUCTED IN VASTERAS

IN THIS STUDY THE ROUTES CHOSEN BY MOTORISTS BETWEEN GIVEN POINTS ARE COMPARED WITH THE ALTERNATIVE CONSTITUTING THE SHORTEST ROUTE BETWEEN THESE POINTS. THE REASONS BEHIND THE CHOICE OF ROUTE HAVE BEEN SOUGHT AMONG PROPERTIES OF THE WHOLE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES (E. G. THEIR LENGTH) AND AMONG PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STREET NETWORK. THE LENGTH OF THE JOURNEY INVOLVED APPEARS TO BE A FACTOR OF MAJOR SIGNIFICANCE WHEN CHOOSING THE ROUTE. IT WAS ESTABLISHED THAT FOR 45% OF ALL TRIPS UNDERTAKEN THE SHORTEST ROUTE HAD IN FACT BEEN CHOSEN. NO DIFFERENCES HAVE BEEN FOUND BETWEEN THE CHOICE OF ROUTE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF JOURNEY. ONE HYPOTHESIS WHEREBY JOURNEYS TO WORK ARE ASSUMED TO KEEP MORE CLOSELY TO THE SHORTEST ROUTE THAN OTHER TYPES (E. G., SHOPPING TRIPS OR PLEASURE OUTINGS) RECEIVED NO SUPPORT WHATSOEVER FROM THE MATERIAL. AS ONLY EXTREMELY SLIGHT CORRELATIONS COULD BE DISCERNED BETWEEN THE LENGTH OF ROAD LINKS MAKING UP THE ROUTE AND OTHER PROPERTIES OF THESE ROADS, WE CONCLUDE THAT MOTORISTS TRY TO TAKE THE ROUTE INVOLVING AS FEW INTERSECTIONS AS POSSIBLE. GRADUAL LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS WAS USED IN TRYING TO ESTABLISH WHICH VARIABLES EXPLAIN THE VARIATION IN THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT ROAD LINKS. ALTOGETHER, THE SEVEN "BEST" VARIABLES EXPLAINED ONLY 17% OF THE VARIATION IN THE ATTRACTIVENESS VARIABLE. THE LINEAR CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF A LINK AND A NUMBER OF VARIABLES PERTAINING TO THE PROPERTIES OF LINKS PROVED TO BE SMALL. A CLEAR CORRELATION COULD, HOWEVER, BE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN DEGREE OF ATTRACTIVENESS AND CERTAIN VALUES OF VARIABLES. NO ASSUMPTIONS CAN BE VENTURED REGARDING THE SPECIFIC EFFECT OF INDIVIDUAL VALUES OF VARIABLES ON CHOICE OF ROUTE. ONE CAN, HOWEVER, SPECIFY THAT LINKS WITH CERTAIN PROPERTIES ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN LINKS WITH OTHER PROPERTIES.

• Corporate Authors:

  Nat Swedish Inst Building Research

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Wallden, M
  • Dalborg, B
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Issue Number: 3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Drivers; Route choice; Variables
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00228351
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 12 1973 12:00AM