Applications of Information-Processing Theory to the Analysis of Urban Travel Demand

Abstract

A brief introduction to Anderson's information integration theory is provided and its application to transportation mode choice is outlined. A similar discussion is provided for the "policy capturing" approach to information processing in judgment. The two approaches are compared and contrasted. Their application to transportation problems is illustrated in a series of four laboratory experiments in which student subjects evaluated different bus systems according to their likelihood of using them. In the first experiment, subjects judged bus systems described by different fares, headways, and walking distances arranged in a factorial design. In the second experiment, subjects judged systems described by different fares, headways, reliabilities, parking costs, and travel time differences arrayed in a fractional factorial design. In the third experiment, subjects judged bus systems with different fares, gasoline prices, reliabilities, and headways. In the last experiment, subjects judged bus systems with different values of fare, walking distance, length of service, stops along the route, and travel purposes. In all experiments, subjects were found to act "as if" they processed the bus system information by means of a multiplicative strategy. Implications of the multiplicative strategy are discussed for system design.