Activity-travel Behavior Research Articles

Examining tourists' long-distance transportation mode choices using a Multinomial Logit regression model

Modeling of transportation mode choices has in the past primarily dealt with everyday short-distance travel and long-distance business travel. The present paper adds to this research in examining the long-distance transportation mode choices of tourists. The empirical setting is the domestic tourism market in Norway, and the analyses refer to Norwegians' winter vacation trip. Using survey data tapping actual travel behavior and a Multinomial Logit (MNL) regression model, the study shows how travel distance in kilometers and hours, a number of trip-related characteristics and certain socio-demographic variables all affect transportation mode choices. The results show that travel distance variables and trip-related characteristics are the most vital determinants of the transportation mode choices of Norwegian tourists.

A29 Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) – a pan-European web-based survey on determinants of active travel behaviour using an opportunistic sampling approach

Abstract Background Active travel (AT), i.e. walking and bicycling, is a promising approach to increase physical activity (PA). Research on determinants of AT is growing and health impact models (HIM) demonstrate benefits of AT. However, substantial research gaps remain. The PASTA project (www.pastaproject.eu) is a broad study of determinants of AT including safety, measures to promote AT, and HIM. It integrates planning, travel behavior and health research, policy and practice. Methods PASTA is a 4-year project (2013-2017) involving 7 European cities (Antwerp, Barcelona, Oerebro, Rome, Vienna, Zurich). A longitudinal web-based survey which consists of a substantial baseline questionnaire (on average 120 data points) and bi-weekly short (14) and a monthly long (21) follow-ups was launched in November 2014. Survey contents were defined based on a comprehensive conceptual framework which combines a rationalist mode choice, a socio-geographical and a socio-psychological perspective. In addition it includes PA (adapted GPAQ separating walking and cycling) and health related items. Participants experiencing crashes fill out an additional questionnaire. Participants are recruited opportunistically on a rolling basis (target sample size: 2000 per city) and sample characteristics are monitored on an ongoing basis. Parts of the sample will be recruited randomly. Subsamples are used to evaluate AT measures (pre-post) and to collect objective data as part of add-on modules (GPS tracking, accelerometry, air pollution exposure). Results To date, 1802 participants have been recruited, mainly in Antwerp (1168) and Barcelona (300). Preliminary data suggests drop-out rates of 20-25% for short and approximately 50% for long follow-up questionnaires. Questionnaire completion rate (80% of average data input) are above 80% for baseline, above 90% for short and 85% for long follow-up questionnaire. Users report on average 1.4 trips per day in travel diary. 54% of participants are women. 65% report walking and 12% report biking daily or almost daily. Conclusions The PASTA survey promises to provide insights on variation in travel and physical activity behavior over time, which is important for HIM and various other issues in AT research. Survey implementation has passed a first test of practicality and monitoring features to optimize sample distribution and recruitment strategies are in place. Early results are promising with regards to representative sample distribution and how extraordinary user burden of frequent follow-ups is handled. By July we will be able to report more reliable participation statistics including additional cities and participant attributes, as well as comparisons with the target populations.

Urban form, car ownership and activity space in inner suburbs: A comparison between Beijing (China) and Chicago (United States)

Accompanied by higher levels of car ownership, suburbanisation in Western countries has a significant impact on motorised travel and long-distance trips. Chinese cities share some of the suburbanisation trends and patterns of the United States as well as an increasing number of cars, while there are still great contextual variations. Through a comparative study of activity space in two inner suburban areas with different built environments, Beijing in China and Chicago in the US, this paper examines how suburbanisation influences individuals’ activity-travel behaviour. The results indicate that changing urban form has a significant impact on activity space. However, the determinants of activity space in Beijing are quite different from those in Chicago. In Beijing, increasing car ownership leads to more differentiation among suburban residents. In Chicago, encouraging high-density land use patterns may lead to more localised activity space.

Tradeoffs between in- and out-of-residential neighborhood locations for discretionary activities and time use: do social contexts matter?

Individuals’ decisions about where to spend time and conduct their daily activities have significant implications for trip generation and travel demand. Factors that may influence such decisions, including individuals’ socio-demographics and the built environment of their residential place, have been examined in previous studies. However, characteristics of personal social networks and the social environment of residential neighborhoods have not received much attention. We argue that these social context factors may determine the tradeoffs between choosing a residential neighborhood or other places for daily activities, especially discretionary activities. Using data from an activity–travel diary survey conducted in Beijing in 2013, we examine and model the importance of personal social networks and residential neighborhood social environment variables in the choice of location and time allocation for discretionary activities. Our findings suggest that the size, nature and spatial ordering of personal social networks significantly influence individuals’ tradeoffs between activities and time use in and out-of residential neighborhoods. This study will contribute to the growing literature on social network and activity–travel behavior.

Effects of task complexity and time pressure on activity-travel choices: heteroscedastic logit model and activity-travel simulator experiment

This paper derives, estimates and applies a discrete choice model of activity-travel behaviour that accommodates potential effects of task complexity and time pressure on decision-making. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that both factors (task complexity and time pressure) are jointly captured in a discrete choice model. More specifically, our heteroscedastic logit model captures potential impacts of task complexity and time pressure through the scale of the utility of activity-travel options. We collect data using a novel activity-travel simulator experiment that has been specifically designed with the aim of testing our model. Results are in line with expectations, in that higher levels of task complexity and time pressure are found to result in a smaller scale of utility. In other words, higher levels of task complexity and time pressure lead to more random choice behaviour and as a consequence to less pronounced differences in choice probabilities between alternatives. An empirical illustration suggests that choice probability-differences between models that do and those that do not capture these effects, can be very substantial; this in turn suggests that failing to capture the effects of task complexity and time pressure in discrete choice models of activity travel decision-making might lead to serious bias in forecasts of the effects of transport policies.

Quantifying the impact of accessibility on preventive healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa using mobile phone data.

Poor physical access to health facilities has been identified as an important contributor to reduced uptake of preventive health services and is likely to be most critical in low-income settings. However, the relation among physical access, travel behavior, and the uptake of healthcare is difficult to quantify. Using anonymized mobile phone data from 2008 to 2009, we analyze individual and spatially aggregated travel patterns of 14,816,521 subscribers across Kenya and compare these measures to (1) estimated travel times to health facilities and (2) data on the uptake of 2 preventive healthcare interventions in an area of western Kenya: childhood immunizations and antenatal care. We document that long travel times to health facilities are strongly correlated with increased mobility in geographically isolated areas. Furthermore, we found that in areas with equal physical access to healthcare, mobile phone-derived measures of mobility predict which regions are lacking preventive care. Routinely collected mobile phone data provide a simple and low-cost approach to mapping the uptake of preventive healthcare in low-income settings.

Neighbourhood preferences, active travel behaviour, and built environment: An exploratory study

In the current study we investigated the extent to which neighbourhood preferences could be used as a base to group people in order to explore their residential and travel choices. The basic idea of this study was that the preferences people would have for their residential and travel choices might be a robust predictor of their actual travel behaviour, and that the neighbourhood preferences might distinguish people in terms of the characteristics of their living environment. We used a moderation model to test whether the effect of built environment on travel behaviour varied in terms of resident’s type. A total of 3403 inhabitants of the city of Tampere in Finland participated in the study. A web-based public participation GIS survey combining the questionnaires with a map (SoftGIS technique) was used to collect the data. We identified two distinct groups of residents in terms of general neighbourhood preferences. The findings showed that clustering residents based on neighbourhood preferences moderated the association between some features of density measures and travel behaviour. We found significant differences between the two clusters in both the frequencies and the distance of pedestrian and bike travel. The findings revealed that inhabitants of neighbourhoods with a larger percentage of green surroundings had a greater perception of neighbourhood stability than did the residents of neighbourhoods with a smaller percentage of green surroundings.

Simulating choice set formation processes in a model of endogenous dynamics of activity-travel behavior: The effect of awareness parameters

Models of activity-travel behavior can be a useful tool in order to predict the direct or secondary effects of various spatial, transportation or land-use policies. Whereas existing activity-based models of travel demand focus on a static, typical day, dynamic models simulate behavioral response to endogenous or exogenous change, along various time horizons. The current study focuses on modelling endogenous dynamics of activity-travel behavior. Endogenous dynamics are triggered by stress, which is regarded as dissatisfaction with current habits. It is assumed that people try to alleviate stress by conducting short-term changes, within or beyond their current choice sets. If these attempts prove to be unsuccessful, they may also consider long-term changes, such as moving to a new residence, and buying a car. In this study, this self-improvement process, which can result in both short and long-term adaptations, is modeled. In the proposed framework, choice set formation and the key concepts of aspiration, activation, awareness and expected utility are integrated, while both rational and emotional mechanisms are taken into account. Numerical simulations are conducted in order to check the face validity of the model, as well as the impact of awareness parameters on choice set formation and on the overall system behavior.

Does parental accompaniment when walking or cycling moderate the association between physical neighbourhood environment and active transport among 10-12 year olds?

To assess whether associations between neighbourhood environmental features and frequency of children's active trips per week are moderated by frequency of parental accompaniment when walking/cycling. Cross-sectional survey Children aged 10-12 years (n=677) were recruited from 19 schools in Melbourne, Australia. Parents reported the number of walking/cycling trips/week usually made by their child to eight local destinations. Environmental variables (i.e. number of cul-de-sacs, intersections, public open spaces (POS) defined as reserves or parks, sport and recreation POS, sport options, population density, length of busy roads and length of walking/cycling tracks) within an 800m buffer around participants' homes were objectively assessed with a Geographic Information System. Associations between neighbourhood features and frequency of active trips were assessed using multilevel linear regressions. Moderating effects of regular parental accompaniment when walking/cycling were examined. Parental co-participation in walking and cycling was positively associated with frequency of overall walking/cycling trips. Number of intersections, sport and recreation POS, sport options and population density were positively associated with walking/cycling trips. Only one significant interaction was found; a positive association was found between intersection density and walking/cycling trips among children whose parents did not cycle with them while it was not associated among others. Building supporting and safe neighbourhood environments is needed to support children's active travel behaviours to improve real and perceived safety concerns and provide relevant infrastructure and destinations, regardless of whether or not parents accompany children during walking and cycling. Although little evidence of moderation was found, future research should include co-participation in a broader range of walking behaviours.

Walking to school in Scotland: Do perceptions of neighbourhood quality matter?

A decrease in active travel has been observed over the past years in many Western countries including Scotland. A large part of this is likely due to the greater travel distances. However, previous research has suggested that perceptions of one's neighbourhood may also affect walking levels. If parents fear crime or traffic levels, or feel that their neighbourhood is of low quality they may not let their child walk. These perceptions are subjective and may be interlinked to each other. It is important to understand which perceptions matter more than others, in order to design the most suitable policy to promote more active travel behaviour among children. Using the Scottish Household Survey, this study investigates how or whether 48 different perceptions of neighbourhood quality or 11 reasons for having chosen their house affect children walking to school. A variable attrition method was used to reduce the number of variables for modelling. When walking distance, household characteristics, and built environment are included in a binary regression model only two perceptions were found to be significant: good local shops and slow/safe traffic. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Built Environment Towards Active Transport and Health Improvements

Arrangement and distribution of land use activities in an urban district is known as one of the potential ways influencing the patterns of urban mobilities. Providing facilities and services for residents in the vicinity of their living areas can minimize the needs for long distance travels and increase the chance of having active travels. Hence, transport policy makers, urban planners and health practitioners have been recently turning towards promoting physical activities by environmental solutions. Melbourne as a metropolitan area has encountered the risk of increasing car dependency and subsequent health problems among residents. This paper aims to investigate the association between the built environment features and active travel behaviour. Socioeconomic factors have been also considered for their important influence on transportation mode choice. Data used in this study has been provided from Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA). Statistical analysis including Multi-Nominal Logistic (MNL) regression used to explore the relationship between variables. Promoting healthy behaviours and active commuting can be achieved by understanding current levels of physical activities as well as transport network and accessibility to various uses.

Empirical examination of neighborhood context of individual travel behaviors

In recent years, recognition of the importance of neighborhood context has produced a growing body of geographic research. When making their activity–travel decisions, individuals are restricted in different ways. In particular, individual choice behavior is often influenced by a neighborhood environment and a built environment. This study using the 2010 household trip survey demonstrated the effectiveness of incorporating multilevel mechanisms in various contexts of activity–travel behavior by comparing with traditional models. The analysis shows that one individual's activity participation patterns with respect to mode choice, trip count, trip distance, and trip time, under a variety of spatio-temporal constraints, tend to be affected by shared characteristics of neighborhoods. The results also imply that neighborhood travel behaviors are significantly influenced by neighborhood characteristics requiring policy makers to consider not only individual characteristics but surrounding environment.

Towards a microeconomic framework for modelling the joint choice of activity–travel behaviour and ICT use

The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has been argued to affect time use patterns in a variety of ways, with consequent impacts on travel behaviour. While there exists a significant body of empirical studies documenting these effects, theoretical developments have lagged this empirical work and in particular, microeconomic time allocation models have not to date been fully extended to accommodate the implications of an increasingly digitised society. To address this gap, we present a modelling framework, grounded in time allocation theories and the goods–leisure framework, for joint modelling of the choice of mode of activity (physical versus tele-activity), travel mode and route, and ICT bundle. By providing the expression for a conditional indirect utility function, we use hypothetical scenarios to demonstrate how our framework can conceptualise various activity–travel decision situations. In our scenarios we assume a variety of situations such as the implications of severe weather, the introduction of autonomous vehicles, and the interaction between multiple decision makers. Moreover, our approach lays the microeconomic foundations for deriving subjective values of ICT qualities such as broadband speed or connection reliability. Finally, we also demonstrate the means by which our framework could be linked to various data collection protocols (stated preference exercises, diaries of social interactions, laboratory experiments) and modelling approaches (discrete choice modelling, hazard-based duration models).

An analysis of activity time use on vehicle usage rationed days

Vehicle usage rationing, as a travel demand management policy, has been implemented in several large cities, but the actual travel behavior on rationed days has received limited attention in the literature. Under long term vehicle usage rationing, travelers may choose to reschedule their weekly activity time allocation and undertake flexible activities on non-rationed days. To better understand this behavioral response, this paper investigates car owners’ variability in time use on rationed days and non-rationed days using data from a 7-day GPS based activity travel survey in Beijing, China. Results from descriptive analysis and two structural equation models suggest that there is a high proportion of intra-personal variability for maintenance and discretionary activities on rationed vs non-rationed days. Specifically, the proportion of the intra-personal variability is 51.5 % for subsistence activities, but increases to 62.1 and 69.3 % for maintenance and discretionary activities, respectively. Furthermore, socioeconomic demographic variables such as age and bike ownership have significant impacts on time use patterns under rationing. These findings provide evidence of the variability in time use between rationed and non-rationed days, and suggest that the behavioral response of travelers in rescheduling activities between rationed and non-rationed days should be taken into consideration when analyzing the effects of rationing policy.

The prevalence of context-dependent adjustment of activity-travel patterns in energy conservation strategies: results from a mixture-amount stated adaptation experiment

People’s adaptive behaviour to increasing energy prices has been studied at length in transportation research. Prior research however has not addressed research questions concerning the contribution of travel-related changes in more encompassing energy conservation strategies. Moreover, context-dependency and choice under constraints has not been studies at any length. In this paper, we therefore report the results of a context-dependent elaboration of a mixture amount choice experiment to measure context-dependent responses to accumulative energy charges under budget constraints. Accounting for consumer heterogeneity in adaptive response behaviour, mixed logit analysis is used to analyse the extent and nature of adaptations of activity-travel behaviour and resource allocation in response to increasing energy costs. The results indicate that individuals are inclined to compensate for increased expenditures on energy due to price increases. Moreover, results show the existence of significant heterogeneity among respondents in terms of their adaptation strategies to various energy-saving choices.

THE EFFECT OF STRESS TOLERANCE ON DYNAMICS OF ACTIVITY–TRAVEL BEHAVIOR: NUMERICAL SIMULATION RESULTS

The primary and secondary effects of various spatial and transportation policies can be evaluated with models of activity–travel behavior. Whereas existing activity-based models of travel demand simulate a typical day, dynamic models simulate behavioral response to endogenous or exogenous change, along various time horizons. The current study aims at developing a model of endogenous dynamics of activity–travel behavior. Endogenous dynamics are induced by stress, which is regarded as dissatisfaction with current habits. It is assumed that people try to alleviate stress by trying short-term changes, within the options known to them or by exploring new options. If these explorations prove to be unsuccessful, they will consider long-term changes, such as moving to a new residential location, buying a car, etc. Therefore, this self-improvement process can result in both short and long-term adaptations. In the proposed framework, choice-set formation is modeled, the key concepts of aspiration, activation, awareness and expected utility are integrated, while both rational and emotional mechanisms are taken into account. Numerical simulations are conducted in order to check the face validity of the model, as well as the impact of stress tolerance parameters on system performance.

Is change in environmental supportiveness between primary and secondary school associated with a decline in children׳s physical activity levels?

Using a sample of English schoolchildren, we evaluate whether a change in school local area environmental supportiveness between primary and secondary school is associated with changes in active travel behaviours and physical activity levels. Participant׳s activity levels and travel behaviours were recorded for a week during their primary school final year and secondary school first year. Environmental supportiveness was evaluated using a Geographical Information System. Children attending both a primary and secondary school with a more supportive local environment were more likely to maintain active travel behaviours than those with less supportive environments. However, no trends were apparent with change in school supportiveness and change in physical activity. Policies that focus on the maintenance and uptake of active travel behaviours may help maintain children׳s physical activity levels into adolescence.

Special section: Innovations in location choice modeling underlying activity-travel behavior

This special section of the Journal of Transport and Land Use focuses on location choice modeling underlying activity-travel behavior and includes five manuscripts that were originally presented in Toronto, Canada at the Thirteenth International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research, organized by the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR).

An integrated analysis of workers’ physically active activity and active travel choice behavior

Using Texas add-on sample data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey, this study examines adult workers’ daily active choice decisions in the context of physical activity and attendant health benefits. The study looked at workers’ two choice behaviors: active activity and active travel. The first choice behavior, active activity, is developed as an ordered-response model based on the number of physically active recreational activities pursued during the workday. The second choice behavior, active travel, is developed as a binary-response model that examines workers’ active travel choices—whether or not the worker used any active mode of travel during the same workday. The study improves the understanding and knowledge of observed factors influencing workers’ physically active activity-travel behavior. The study also provides several observations regarding the role (and constraints) of employment in individuals’ active choices. Using a flexible copula modeling methodology, we explore the true correlation (or dependence) between the two behavior choices that could occur due to the presence of unobserved factors, suggesting a simultaneously low or simultaneously high propensity for being physically active across workers. The study findings suggest that transportation and public health policy makers can mutually benefit from encouraging workers to be physically active (from an activity and/or travel perspective). Overall, the study draws attention to the integrated nature of the public health and transportation fields, thereby providing a distinct view of active/inactive choice behavior. To our knowledge, this is the first study exploring a rich variety of components for workers’ active activity-travel behavior through a robust copula approach.

Social networks and joint/solo activity–travel behavior

The social dimension of activity–travel behavior has recently received much research attention. This paper aims to make a contribution to this growing literature by investigating individuals’ engagements in joint activities and activity companion choices. Using activity–travel diary data collected in Hong Kong in 2010, this study examines the impact of social network attributes on the decisions between solo and joint activities, and for joint activities, the choices of companions. Chi-square difference tests are used to assess the importance of social network variables in explaining joint activity behavior. We find that the inclusion of social network attributes significantly improves the goodness-of-fit of the model with only socioeconomic variables. Specifically, individuals receiving emotional support and social companionship from family members/relatives are found to more likely undertake joint activities with their family members/relatives; the size of personal social networks is found to be a significant determinant of companion choices for joint activities; and activity companions are found to be significant determinants of travel companions. The findings of this study improve the understanding about activity–travel, especially joint activity–travel decisions.