Abstract

Travel behaviour research indicates that travel decisions are usually influenced by accessibility as well as characteristics of the transport systems. Factors such as travel times, travel costs, waiting times, walking times have the most significant contributions in mode choice and travel decisions. In the case of developing countries however, the most influencing factors for travel behaviour and decisions are the social factors. This is very important for transport modellers and decision makers to realise in order to achieve appropriate design and implementations of various transport policies. The influence of social and economic factors on travel behaviour are discussed and investigated in this paper. In Saudi Arabia, a randomly selected sample of 1220 households was interviewed in the Tabuk city of the Saudi Arabia and data on their socio-economic and trip-making behaviour was obtained. The relative impact of socioeconomic variables on household travel behaviour was discussed and discrete choice models were calibrated. These types of studies can be useful in the development of plans, programs and policies for the improvement of transportation systems in urban areas of the Saudi Arabia and other similar countries in the region. The findings show that the social factors have the most important impact on travel behaviour in Saudi Arabia.

Highlights

  • Unsustainable travel behaviour and global greenhouse gas emissions are growing and due to the perceived indispensable nature of personal travel, shifts to more sustainable modes remain a challenge (Howarth, Polyviou 2012)

  • Limtanakool et al (2006) reported land use attributes and travel time considerations as important factors in explaining the variation in mode choice for medium- and longer-distance travel when controlling for the socioeconomic characteristics of travellers

  • The relative impact of the socio-economic variables on household travel behaviour was discussed and compared between household traits in Riyadh and in the U.S The results were useful in the development of plans, programs and policies for the improvement of transportation systems in urban areas of the Saudi Arabia

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Summary

Introduction

Unsustainable travel behaviour and global greenhouse gas emissions are growing and due to the perceived indispensable nature of personal travel, shifts to more sustainable modes remain a challenge (Howarth, Polyviou 2012). Their study provided an analytical framework to examine how traffic safety and cultural norms may relate to children’s travel behaviour, and investigated impacts that other factors have on the perception of safety. The relative impact of the socio-economic variables on household travel behaviour was discussed and compared between household traits in Riyadh and in the U.S The results were useful in the development of plans, programs and policies for the improvement of transportation systems in urban areas of the Saudi Arabia. The paper investigates and models travel behaviour and attitudes of households of Tabuk city in Saudi Arabia and evidence of responses to sustainable travel behaviour This current investigation is very important in order to identify the particular factors and issues which controls travel behaviour and choices. Discrete choice analysis and models have been calibrated and discussed for the main two modes of travel; cars and car sharing

Study Area and Data Collection
Mode of Travel to Work
Family Structure
Work Sector
Factors Affecting Mode Choice and Attitudes to Sustainability
Discrete Choice Analysis
Modelling Results
Conclusions and Recommendations

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