Influence of Personal Concerns About Travel on Travel Behavior

This study estimated unobservable personal travel concerns using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach and investigated recursive and complex relationships among travel concerns, travel behavior and individual socioeconomic status. The model was developed using 54,552 individual survey responses obtained from the 2009 US National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). The unobservable concerns about travel were categorized into cost-concerns and safety-concerns and estimated by using measurable indicators that specify the most important transportation issue to the survey respondents. Travel behavior for auto and public transit trips were represented by daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and public transit usage, respectively. Results showed that people who have higher safety concerns more likely reduced their daily VMT while those who have higher cost concerns tended to use more public transit. State level models with the four most populated states in the U.S., – California, Texas, Florida and New York – were further compared to consider geographical impacts on travel concerns and travel behavior. The most influential concerns and their impact on travel behavior varied amongst the states, implying that the transportation environment in different geographic regions influences psychological characteristics on travel behavior.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB10 Standing Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Jeong, Kyungsoo
  • Hyun, Kyung (Kate)
  • Ritchie, Stephen G
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Households; Psychological aspects; Public transit; Safety; Socioeconomic factors; Structural equation modeling; Travel behavior; Travel surveys; Vehicle miles of travel
• Geographic Terms: California; Florida; New York (New York); Texas
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01626154
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-06826
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 16 2017 9:10AM