Gender-Based Analysis of Work Trip Mode Choice of Commuters in Suburban Montreal, Canada, with Stated Preference Data

Abstract

Transportation literature suggests that men and women differ in their commuting patterns and in their propensity to switch between travel options. In North America, it is expected that women will have an increasing impact on travel demand. As such, differences in female responses to travel demand management strategies are likely to become increasingly important as governments try to curtail travel demand. This paper uses a 1994 stated preference survey of suburban commuters in Montreal, Canada, to determine whether there is evidence for differences between men and women in the factors that affect work trip choices, to quantify those differences, and to suggest what the differences imply for travel demand management in the future in Montreal. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows. First, women and men should be modeled separately for work trip mode choice. Second, three main differences appear from the econometric models: women are less likely to choose public transit than men; women are more likely to choose to rideshare; and women are less time-sensitive in regard to commuting than men are.