Understanding cycling dissonance in travel mode choice for work trip chains: The role of modality styles

Abstract

Nearly 15 percent of workers in Australia live within a cyclable distance of their workplace but commute by private vehicles. Adopting the concept of cycling dissonance, we investigate the role of modality styles alongside built environment characteristics on commuters’ travel mode choice for work trip chains. Using travel survey data and employing latent class choice modelling, results reveal two modality styles: (1) driving and walking oriented commuters; and (2) multimodal commuters. Commuters in the first modality style are mostly those who are aged 20 and above, have dependent children, own a motor vehicle(s), and are insensitive to trip chain complexity. The second modality style captures those who are younger, relatively inelastic to mode-specific travel time, and prefer sustainable transport including cycling for non-complex trip chains. High population density around home residences encourages the choice of cycling for commuters falling within the second modality style, indicating that they are the most likely candidates to undergo a mode shift from motorised transport to cycling. Findings enable us to distinguish commuters by their latent modal preference and better identify the spatial concentrations of candidate commuters with a greater potential for a mode shift, which may be helpful for prioritising cycling-supportive investment in policymaking.