Investigating the Influence of Environmentalism and Variety Seeking on Mode Choice

Abstract

In the transport modeling community, there is a growing consensus that socioeconomic attributes alone will not suffice to characterize travelers and make forecasts about their travel behavior. Therefore, an increasing number of recent studies have integrated latent variables representing attitudes, perceptions, and preferences into choice models. Because it is impossible to measure latent variables directly, psychometric scales are used as indicators. For the study presented in this paper, psychometric scales for environmentalism and variety seeking were developed and tested in a mail-back survey that included a 1-day travel diary and a questionnaire about socioeconomic characteristics. A factor analysis was carried out to establish predominant attitudinal factors, which were then used as latent variables in a mode choice model. The results of the estimated choice models show that the three latent variables investigated—awareness of environmental problems, denial of environmental issues, and desire for variety in one's daily routine—influenced the mode choices of the study participants in different ways that may be attributable to other socioeconomic characteristics of the participants. This finding indicates that the scales developed for this study are suitable for capturing attitudes that are relevant to transport behavior research.