Interrelationships between Mode Choice and Trip-chain Choice decisions: A case of Mumbai Metropolitan Region

Abstract

Mumbai is one of the major cities in India, where the traffic volume is constantly being increased because of urbanization trend and changes in the socio-economic status of the society. These conditions not only influence commuter’s travel behaviour but also making it too complex. Mode choice and trip-chain choice are the two critical factors influencing this complex travel behaviour. In practice, different activity-based models are using different relationship patterns due to lack of consensus and proper empirical evidence. A few studies focus on the directionality of the trip-chain and mode choice decisions. Hence, this study investigates the hierarchical relationship between these two choice decisions including the influences of socio-demographic characteristics on them. This study uses Structural Equation Models for capturing this multidirectional relationship. This study uses a 15-day activity-travel data and activity-travel information obtained from the survey for defining the choice set. Two separate models are estimated for weekdays and weekends. From the model results, it was observed that the mode choice precedes trip-chain choice during weekdays and mode choice and trip-chain choice decisions are simultaneous during weekends. A number of socioeconomic characteristics also play major roles in influencing the relationships. The model results presented in this study are based on the individual level observations. Hence, for future research, it is necessary to incorporate household interactions and to study the relationship between these choices at the household level.