Empirical Analysis of Commuters’ Nonwork Stop-Making Behavior in Beijing, China

Abstract

This paper presents a mathematical model to determine both a worker’s decision to participate in a nonwork activity and the decision about whether to include it in the basic home–work–home commute. By using household travel survey data from Beijing, China, this paper presents an empirical analysis framework to examine commuters’ nonwork stop-making behavior in a highly urbanized environment in a developing country. To account for the censored nature of the decision about whether to include a nonwork stop in the commute tour, a bivariate probit selection model was used. To enhance the behavioral basis for the model, extensive statistical tests were performed on model specifications and assumptions. The empirical results provide useful insights into the effects of individual/household sociodemographics, transportation measures, work schedule, and mode choice on commuters’ nonwork stop-making propensity. This study also provides methodological evidence that could lead to an approach for predicting the changes in commuters’ nonwork stop-making behavior as a result of the changes in sociodemographics and transportation scenarios.