How people get to work at night. A discrete choice model approach towards the influence of nighttime on the choice of transport mode for commuting to work

Abstract

Nighttime mobility differs in many respects from typical mobility during the daytime. Poorer lighting conditions, the reduced availability of public transport, and an increased feeling of insecurity are just some of the factors potentially influencing and complicating the planning and organizing of nighttime trips. Importantly, the act of commuting to and from work during the night tends to be more significantly impacted by the above factors. In contrast to leisure or errand trips at night, commutes to work are often associated with fixed working hours and can therefore be arranged less freely and flexibly. The aim of the current study is to determine to what extent and under what conditions nighttime influences the choice of transport mode for commuting to work. For this purpose, several multinomial logit models including interaction terms were constructed based on a representative dataset from the nationwide survey, Mobility in Germany 2017. The resultant analysis demonstrated that nighttime significantly increased the likelihood of choosing the car instead of another mode of transport. In addition, the results of the interaction terms demonstrated that this nighttime effect is significantly related to gender, the degree of urbanity of the commuter's place of residence, and the weather. Study results thus confirm that nighttime is a significant factor influencing the choice of means of transport for commuting to work. The insights gained in this paper may help in both optimizing future transportation choice models and in improving the overall work of transportation and urban planners.