Classification of Tours in the U.S. National Household Travel Survey through Clustering Techniques

Tours are increasingly being considered as an appropriate unit of observation of mobility behaviors and are one of the key ideas underpinning contemporary activity-based modeling approaches. Identifying typologies of tours would benefit both modelers and decision makers, striving to set up more tailored actions aimed at promoting environmentally benign travel choices. Different a priori classifications based on activity kinds have been proposed, none of which seems clearly preferable on empirical grounds. This paper takes a complementary approach and defines a data-driven segmentation through a cluster analysis of tours that were derived from the trip records from a United States national survey. The socioeconomic characterization of each cluster is finally carried out to link travelers’ profiles with specific kinds of tours. Four main tour clusters have thus been identified: nonwork tours for compulsory activities done by young individuals, tours done by elder or retired persons, short and secondary tours within the travel day, and tours dominated by the working activity. Their relevance on a modeling and policy viewpoint is discussed.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)TE.1943-5436.0000845
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/8674831
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
• Authors:
  • Pirra, Miriam
  • Diana, Marco
• Publication Date: 2016-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: 04016021
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transportation Engineering
  • Volume: 142
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0733-947X
  • Serial URL: https://ascelibrary.org/journal/jtepbs

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Activity choices; Cluster analysis; Decision making; Mobility; Tourism; Travel behavior; Travel surveys
• Uncontrolled Terms: Activity based modeling
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01595624
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ASCE
• Created Date: Mar 2 2016 3:06PM