Towards systematic measurement of travel problems: A pilot study in the greater Tel Aviv area

Abstract

There is rich evidence of the various problems people may experience in accessing destinations due to a poorly functioning transport system. Since providing access to destinations is a key purpose of transport systems, it should be important to systematically measure to what extent people experience travel problems. Yet, while some travel problems, such as travel time delays, are measured regularly, data collection on other problems is patchy at best. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a survey instrument to systematically determine the prevalence and severity of a broad range of travel problems among a population. The survey distinguishes between three problem types: difficulties related to actual trip-making (e.g., high travel costs), reliance on others for trip-making (e.g., being dropped off for lack of another option), and forgoing trips (e.g., forgoing a family visit for lack of suitable transport). The instrument is tested in a large-scale survey (n = 1430 valid responses) in four areas in the Tel Aviv region. Confirmatory factor analysis largely corroborates the importance of distinguishing between the three types of travel problems. The resulting latent constructions are then used for cluster analysis. Results show that travel problems are concentrated among a small portion of the population (6% of respondents), who regularly relied on others for trip making and frequently forwent trips. Further analysis showed this group to have low car ownership, below-average income, and a low educational level. The paper ends with suggestions for further improvement of the developed questionnaire and its relevance for transport planning and policy.