Differences in Trip Chaining by Men and Women

Men's and women's commuting behavior continues to be distinctly different. The difference may be more apparent in the tendency to tripchain--that is, to link short stops in the trip to or from work. As more women entered the workforce and went from higher education to professional careers, it was widely assumed that aspects of women's and men's travel behavior would converge. However, research has found persistent gender differences in distance to work, mode of travel, and automobile occupancy and in the propensity to trip-chain. This study examines whether trends in trip-chaining behavior show convergence or the continued persistence of gender differences. Trends show that trip chaining during the commute increased from 1995 to 2001, and men's trip chaining increased nearly twice as much as women's. The growth in men's trip chaining is robust, but a large amount of that growth is for stops to get a meal or coffee on the way to work, called the Starbucks effect. Clarifying trends in the incidence of trip chaining and, more important, the details in terms of the direction, time of day, and purpose of the stops during commuting helps in the understanding of the persistence of gender roles in travel behavior. Such an understanding is vital to policy directives that aim to change travel behavior to ease congestion, reduce emissions, and save fuel.

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  • Authors:
    • McGuckin, Nancy
    • Nakamoto, Yukiko
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  • Publication Date: 2005

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 49-56
  • Monograph Title: Research on Women's Issues in Transportation, Report of a Conference, Volume 2: Technical Papers
  • Serial:

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01016518
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309093945
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Jan 31 2006 2:04PM