Trip Frequency Research Articles

Honey bees increase their foraging performance and frequency of pollen trips through experience

Honey bee foragers must supply their colony with a balance of pollen and nectar to sustain optimal colony development. Inter-individual behavioural variability among foragers is observed in terms of activity levels and nectar vs. pollen collection, however the causes of such variation are still open questions. Here we explored the relationship between foraging activity and foraging performance in honey bees (Apis mellifera) by using an automated behaviour monitoring system to record mass on departing the hive, trip duration, presence of pollen on the hind legs and mass upon return to the hive, during the lifelong foraging career of individual bees. In our colonies, only a subset of foragers collected pollen, and no bee exclusively foraged for pollen. A minority of very active bees (19% of the foragers) performed 50% of the colony’s total foraging trips, contributing to both pollen and nectar collection. Foraging performance (amount and rate of food collection) depended on bees’ individual experience (amount of foraging trips completed). We argue that this reveals an important vulnerability for these social bees since environmental stressors that alter the activity and reduce the lifespan of foragers may prevent bees ever achieving maximal performance, thereby seriously compromising the effectiveness of the colony foraging force.

Spatial accessibility to public transport in a medium sized city using the example of Sanok

The aim of the study is to assess the spatial accessibility of public transport within a medium sized city using the example of Sanok. In particular, the focus was on pedestrian access to bus stops, especially in terms of the distribution of housing and population, as well as the frequency of trips. In addition, an additional objective is to determine the feasibility of using data sources available in Poland, such as the Topographical Objects Database, Open Street Map or the 2011 Census, to study the accessibility of public transport in medium-sized cities. The results should form the basis for further benchmarking of such cities. The analysis showed that the vast majority of the population of Sanok has access to public transport from their places of residence, but the number of available courses varies considerably from one area to another and is divided into working days, Saturdays and Sundays. In most cases, the number of courses serving stops corresponds to the characteristics of their accessibility areas in terms of population or location of important destinations. It also identified built-up areas with relatively low accessibility or lacking good accessibility to public transport. The data sources used in the study, available throughout the whole country, as well as the procedures applied for their preparation and presentation allow for more extensive comparative research in the future in the area of many cities.

Propensity Score Weighting with Generalized Boosted Models to Explore the Effects of the Built Environment and Residential Self-Selection on Travel Behavior

Many studies have examined the association between the built environment, residential self-selection, and travel behavior. However, few studies have quantified the relative contribution of the built environment itself. Using the 2012 Nanjing Household Travel Survey data, this study applied hierarchical clustering and propensity score weighting to study the effects of the built environment and residential self-selection on travel behavior. First, residents’ household locations were classified into four built environment patterns using hierarchical clustering based on six built environment variables by loosely following the “5Ds” (i.e., density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit). Second, a powerful machine learning method, generalized boosted model (GBM), was employed to obtain propensity scores. Propensity score weighting, which is more effective for multiple treatments than matching or stratification, was used to control for residential self-selection. Lastly, the observed effect (OBE), the average treatment effect on the population (ATE), and the built environment proportion (BEP) were calculated for the walking trip frequency, bicycle trip frequency, public transit trip frequency, and vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) of six pairs of built environment patterns. The results show that a high-density, mixed-use, walkable, and transit-accessible built environment is associated with more walking trips and lower VKT but has no impact on bicycle trips and has an inconsistent impact on public transit trips. The effects of some built environment variables on bicycle and public transit trips are tangled. The residential self-selection effect has the greatest impact on VKT (BEP: 48%–77%), followed by the walking trip frequency (BEP: 62%–74%) and the public transit frequency (BEP: 90%–107%).

Segmentation, Classification, and Determinants of In-Store Shopping Activity and Travel Behaviour in the Digitalisation Era: The Context of a Developing Country

The influence of digital technologies in the current era has substantially affected the way individuals engage with in-store shopping activities and travels. To prepare a transport policy with sustainable orientations, it is important to investigate factors that determine in-store activity-travel patterns. In particular, knowledge about how in-store activities and travels interact with other forms of activities and travels should be updated, since the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) may be substantial to create new patterns of activity and travel. It is believed that shopping travel and activity behaviours may indicate the increase or decrease of physical travels, which is crucial for carbon emission measures in transportation sector. While numerous studies about this issue have been recently carried out based on the context of developed countries, little is known for the context of developing countries. To offer a better understanding of the nature of in-store shopping travels and activities in the digitalisation era, a household survey was conducted in Bandung, Indonesia. This survey tends to acquire data from respondents as a representation of developing countries on their shopping behaviour, travel characteristics, and spatial attributes that represent the conditions of their built environment. The results from the survey show that individuals in a developing country are still having interest in in-store grocery shopping even though their daily life has a close connection with digital life. The results of the analysis show that grocery shoppers in a developing country simultaneously consider shopping activity, other activities, modes of transport, and shopping expenses. This manifests in the form of trip-chaining activities and affects decisions on the modes of transport used. The results indicate a significant portion of trip frequency for in-store shopping travel with motorised modes. Since motorised modes are the main contribution for carbon emission production in transportation sector, the results of this study are critical for developing transport demand measures and setting relevant policy schemes to improve the sustainability of transportation system, especially for the context of developing countries.

Combining actual and contingent behaviour data to estimate the value of coarse fishing in Ireland

The use of contingent behaviour style questions enables the presentation of scenarios that extended beyond previous experience, making it a valuable tool for the examination of a change in policy or management practices. This study uses anglers’ responses to contingent behaviour survey questions, in combination with actual trip frequencies, to examine the effects of a change in fish quality on users and non-users of Garadice, an Irish coarse fishing site. Respondents, from an onsite and online survey, were asked how many more days they would spend fishing at Garadice if the number of specimen fish increased by 25% or 50%, or if the quantity of fish increased by 25% or 50%. Estimates indicate that the average consumer surplus for a day spent fishing is €93 per day. The marginal benefits from the contingent behaviour changes range from €50.86 for a 25% increase in the quantity of fish to €89.01 for a 50% increase in the quantity of fish.

The influence of leisure and travel experiences on the school enjoyment of adolescents: a panel analysis

ABSTRACTThis research note examines the influence of experiential activities and family travel experiences on the school enjoyment of adolescents by applying a panel regression analysis. The authors used data from the Korean Children & Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) for data analysis and performed a one-way fixed effect regression and a feasible generalized least square (FGLS) regression analyses. The findings reveal that 1) higher levels of satisfaction in experiential activities could enable adolescents to better enjoy their school lives and 2) the frequency of family and group trips had a positive impact on adolescents’ school enjoyment. However, the frequency of experiential activities was negatively associated with adolescents’ school enjoyment. This research discusses the implications with regard to the influence of leisure and family travel experiences on the school enjoyment of adolescents based on the findings.

Perception of inconvenience costs: Evidence from seven ferry services in Norway

Transport projects are assessed mainly by cost-benefit analysis (CBA). Despite its wide use, this method has some weaknesses, such as using simulated traffic volumes as an input. These traffic volumes for future projects are estimated according to user travel patterns based on the new generalised costs (GC), which include travel time, distance, and direct costs. Nevertheless, many large transport projects dramatically change accessibility; thus, other factors could play important roles in the process. Notably, ferry replacement projects reduce travel times, eliminate waiting times, and provide a reliable and flexible connection 24/7. Some of these changes, known as inconvenience costs (IC), are not included in the GC.This study contributes to the scarce literature on the IC concept and relates IC to the factors that different users value. The results, which are based on 9,878 answers from onboard ferry surveys in 2011 and 2016, revealed that inconvenience factors, such as trip planning and the lack of accessibility to family/friends, leisure activities and a broader labour market, are important. Thus, projects that improve these factors might trigger additional changes in user travel patterns. Four partial proportional odds models were estimated to relate the inconvenience factors to the trip and the socioeconomic features of users. The results showed that the waiting time, frequency of trips via the connection, trip purpose, gender, age and income played important roles in the perception of different factors. In addition, a quantification of the differences in the perceptions among the categories of the variables was described based on the average marginal effects (AME).

A comparison of the personal and neighborhood characteristics associated with ridesourcing, transit use, and driving with NHTS data

The opportunity to conduct an overarching national study to examine the characteristics of ridesourcing users and their neighborhoods was absent until the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) dataset was released in 2018. As the 2017 NHTS combines ridesourcing with taxi and limo in the trip file, ridesourcing trip characteristics cannot be separately analyzed. Thus, the paper examines the characteristics of users and neighborhoods associated with ridesourcing trip frequency from the person file, defined as the number of rides taken in 30 days. Because the public-use NHTS dataset includes only limited information about the neighborhoods where the respondents live, additional data from the NHTS DOT files were analyzed so that the characteristics of the neighborhoods could be fully comprehended. In an effort to examine the proximity of those neighborhoods to public transit stations and stops, GIS data on transit stations and stops were analyzed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the US Department of Homeland Security. A zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model was used to identify the variables associated with ridesourcing trip frequency. Two similar models were used to identify the variables associated with public transit trip frequency and annual vehicle miles driven. The analysis showed that the direction of the effects of the personal and neighborhood characteristics on ridesourcing and transit trip frequency is mostly similar, but often dissimilar to their effects on miles driven. A significant finding of this research is that people living near transit stations/stops use ridesourcing more frequently.

Macro-level traffic safety analysis in Shanghai, China

Continuing rapid growth in Shanghai, China, requires traffic safety to be considered at the earliest possible stage of transport planning. Macro-level traffic safety studies have been carried out extensively in many countries, but to date, few have been conducted in China. This study developed a macro-level safety model for 263 traffic analysis zones (TAZs) within the urban area of Shanghai in order to examine the relationship between traffic crash frequency and road network, traffic, socio-economic characteristics, and land use features. To account for the spatial correlations among TAZs, a Bayesian conditional autoregressive negative binomial model was estimated, linking crash frequencies in each TAZ to several independent variables. Modeling results showed that higher crash frequencies are associated with greater populations, road densities, total length of major and minor arterials, trip frequencies, and with shorter intersection spacing. The results from this study can help transportation planners and managers identify the crash contributing factors, and can lead to the development of improved safety planning and management.

An econometric investigation of the influence of transit passes on transit users’ behavior in Toronto

The paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of the influence of transit pass ownership on daily transit service usage behavior under a flat fare system. The transit system of the City of Toronto is investigated to evaluate the factors that influence the choice of owning a transit pass and at the same time whether or not a pass ownership influences different transit ridership behavior. Data from a household travel survey are used to estimate a joint econometric model of the choice of owning a transit pass as a function of benefits/utility drawn from daily transit usage (trip rate and distance travel) along with different socio-economic and land-use variables. Results clearly show that a transit pass has a profound and segmenting influence on ridership behavior in terms of the daily frequency of transit trips and the total distance travel by transit. Non-pass owners seem to draw higher utility from daily transit usage than the pass owners. Pass owners seem to have utility of owning a pass over and above the utility drawn from the daily use of the transit service. A transit pass is often considered as a mobility tool, but this investigation clearly shows an empirical evidence of it. The results suggest that it works for small-size families, people with work/student status, high income and places where compact development makes transit service competitive to other modes of transportation. Empirical results show the influence of different variables can be exploited to cater to various policies that may encourage higher pass ownership rate and thereby reduce demand for private automobiles.

Determinants affecting ferry users’ waiting time at ferry terminals

The paper develops a model to examine how different factors influence ferry users’ waiting time at the terminals. The estimations are based on interviews of 10,952 Norwegian ferry travellers just after they boarded the ferries. The interviews were conducted in 2013 at 16 of the most important ferry connections in Norway. The average headway and waiting time at the terminals were 52 and 15 min, respectively. By comparison, average sailing time at the services in question was 38 min, indicating that waiting-time costs at the terminals make up a large proportion of ferry users’ time costs. The model’s results show that the users’ waiting time at the terminals increases concavely with the ferries’ headway and distance travelled to the terminals, that is, the marginal effects of these factors diminish when their values increase. The first result indicates that the proportion of ferry users arriving randomly at the terminals decreases with the ferries’ headway. The model also reveals that a large proportion (20%) of the waiting times at the terminals is due to the travellers being unable to board their desired departure because of the ferries’ capacity restrictions. Other variables, like the mode of transport travellers’ used to get to the terminals, their income, and how often they used the service, influence waiting time significantly in the hypothesised directions, even though some (e.g. income and trip frequency) have very moderate influences on waiting time.

Analysis of E-bike Trip Duration and Frequency by Bayesian Duration and Zero-inflated Count Models

E-bike trip duration and frequency are two essential variables to identify factors affecting e-bike travel demand. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting e-bike trip duration and frequency. The Bayesian hazard-based duration models with random effect were developed to investigate the contributing factors to the travel time of e-bike trip. The random effect was included to capture the unobserved heterogeneity. Estimation results showed that trip purpose, traffic volume, population, departure time, age and occupation are the main contributing factors to e-bike trip duration. And the factors affecting travel time of e-bike trip are distinct between males and females. The validation results indicated that the predictive performance of the developed duration models are satisfactory. The Bayesian zero-inflated count models with random effect were then used to investigate the contributing factors to the e-bike trip frequency. The zero-inflated count model assumes that the frequency of e-bike trip is generated by two states, including zero-frequency state which determines whether people use e-bikes for travel, and negative binomial state which determines e-bike trip frequency.

The role of positive word of mouth on the success of convenience store loyalty programs

Customer loyalty programs are designed to create, develop, and preserve customer loyalty. The cost benefits, cash back, rebate schemes, and discounts encourage customers to purchase products that they might not otherwise buy. This study examines how far customer satisfaction with customer loyalty programs effects the spread of 'positive word of mouth' and how that impacts business at convenience stores. Numerous consumer shopping behaviours impact the customer loyalty programs that are developed by convenience stores. These include frequency of trips to the store, distance that is travelled, price sensitivity, commitment, and word of mouth of the store's customers. Potential customers actively seek information from other customers. Positive customer feedback for a product or retail store starts by positive word of mouth transferred by a customer to close family members and friends. Any positive, or negative, feedback runs throughout the specific community. Positive word of mouth is the only customer relationship marketing tool that requires no financial investment to attract new customers or retain existing ones.

The role of positive word of mouth on the success of convenience store loyalty programs

Customer loyalty programs are designed to create, develop, and preserve customer loyalty. The cost benefits, cash back, rebate schemes, and discounts encourage customers to purchase products that they might not otherwise buy. This study examines how far customer satisfaction with customer loyalty programs effects the spread of 'positive word of mouth' and how that impacts business at convenience stores. Numerous consumer shopping behaviours impact the customer loyalty programs that are developed by convenience stores. These include frequency of trips to the store, distance that is travelled, price sensitivity, commitment, and word of mouth of the store's customers. Potential customers actively seek information from other customers. Positive customer feedback for a product or retail store starts by positive word of mouth transferred by a customer to close family members and friends. Any positive, or negative, feedback runs throughout the specific community. Positive word of mouth is the only customer relationship marketing tool that requires no financial investment to attract new customers or retain existing ones.

A Study on Factors That Influence Variation in Bikeshare Adoption and Frequency of Trip Making

A Study on Factors That Influence Variation in Bikeshare Adoption and Frequency of Trip Making

Analyzing users’ attitudes and behavior of free-floating bike sharing: an investigating of Nanjing

Abstract Free-floating bike sharing (FFBS) is an innovative mode of bicycle operation that has grown rapidly in China. This paper studies the attitude and travel behavior of free-floating bike sharing in Nanjing. Questionnaires were sent by field survey. Investigators go on streets, subway stations, shopping malls, campus to distribute questionnaires. A total of 700 questionnaires were issued, and data from 453 users were analyzed. The data of the questionnaire were analyzed to find out the attraction of free-floating bike sharing for the citizens of Nanjing, including the travel time and distance characteristics of free-floating bike used by the people of Nanjing. The clustering analysis of the data shows the identity characteristics of four types of people and the travel characteristics of using free-floating bike. The results show that:(1) The major cyclists of FFBS in Nanjing are college students and enterprise’s staff, aged between 18 and 40. (2) Among the respondents, 71.52% of FFBS users recognized it as the mainstream mode of short-distance travel, and 43.05% of users are willing to use FFBS companies’ long-term service such as mobike and ofo. (3) FFBS has an impact on utilization rate of public transportation and private car trip frequency, particularly on short distance public transport trips. The conclusions of this paper can be referenced by urban management departments to formulate policies and free-floating bike sharing enterprises to provide better service.

Convenience, savings, or lifestyle? Distinct motivations and travel patterns of one-way and two-way carsharing members in Vancouver, Canada

Carshare membership in North America has grown approximately 25% per year over the past decade. Some have attributed this to pro-environmental values and low-impact lifestyles of millennials, the primary users of carsharing. Many municipal governments have adopted this belief and support carsharing through various accommodations and subsidies. Results from a survey in Vancouver, Canada (which has the highest level of carsharing in North America) showed that one-way and two-way carsharing members have different motivations for carsharing and travel patterns. One-way members, primarily millennials, self-report that they carshare for convenience, using shared vehicles twice as frequently and private vehicles three times as frequently as two-way members. Two-way members choose carsharing for financial savings and a more efficient lifestyle. They tend to walk and bike more often than one-way members and the overall Vancouver population. These trip mode and frequency differences are consistent across age, gender, income, and geography. Perhaps as a consequence of the above, we also found that while one-way members are on average younger and wealthier, two-way members self-report as having more affordable lifestyles. These findings point to two-way carsharing members adhering to more efficient, sustainable lifestyles. Municipalities may consider these differences in motivations and trip patterns between one-way and two-way members of relevance in their carsharing policies.

Compensatory leisure travel? The role of urban structure and lifestyle in weekend and holiday trips in Greater Copenhagen

Compact urban development is considered a paradigm for sustainable development. However, compact cities are also characterised by high densities that implicate trade-offs such as limited access to green spaces or nature areas, or reduced air quality. People living in compact urban areas might respond to these trade-offs by ‘compensatory activities’ such as higher amounts of leisure travel. In this study, we compare the leisure travel patterns of people living in a central urban district in Copenhagen, Denmark, with those of people living in a small town in the commuter belt.The study uses a questionnaire survey, which was conducted in spring 2016, to examine the relationship between the urban structure of people’s residential location and their leisure travel patterns, and whether this relationship reveals compensatory travel activities.The study applies ordinal logistic regression to investigate the influence of a set of parameters on frequency of longer weekend trips (max. 3 overnight stays), holidays (>3 overnight stays) and total number of private plane trips over the course of one year.The results show that city dwellers go more frequently on longer weekend, holiday and plane trips and choose more distant destinations compared to small town dwellers. Access to a second home and related weekend trips appear as some sort of compensatory behaviour among city dwellers; however, lifestyle and related residential choice turn out to be stronger determinants of city dwellers’ leisure travel patterns.

Socio-structural and psychological factors behind car use: Comparing Northern and Eastern Europe

This study explores cross-cultural differences in car travel behaviour in a northern and an eastern European country, namely Sweden and Estonia. We assess the role of country-specific socio-structural circumstances, and the influence of individual motivations, including social values, perceived seriousness of environmental problems associated with car use, and car use reduction intentions, in shaping the frequency of car use for different purposes. The results show that compared to Swedish people, people in Estonia are more dependent on cars in their everyday travel. Our study shows that higher social position is associated with higher frequency of car trips in more stratified Estonian society, but not necessarily where socio-economic differences are less pronounced, as in Sweden. Regarding the relative significance of values and intentions next to socio-economic determinants, values and intentions have a greater explanatory power of car use frequency in Estonia, compared to Sweden. That values and preferences play a smaller role in car travel frequency in the socio-economically more secure Sweden, indicates that car travel is a basic habit, which is not easily discernible through individual values and attitudes in more affluent societies. Differences in car travel frequencies between the respondents from different settlement types in Estonian but no differences between settlement types in Sweden, shows that a country’s broader approach to managing the economic and social viability of its regions, may shape car travel needs and opportunities. The results of this study may have implications in terms of ways of curbing emissions from transportation in different parts of Europe.

Indigenous patient experiences of returning to country: a qualitative evaluation on the Country Health SA Dialysis bus

BackgroundRates of End-Stage Kidney Disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians in remote areas are disproportionately high; however, haemodialysis is not currently offered in most remote areas. People must therefore leave their ‘Country’ (with its traditions and supports) and relocate to metropolitan or regional centres, disrupting their kinship and the cultural ties that are important for their wellbeing. The South Australian Mobile Dialysis Truck is a service which visits remote communities for one to two week periods; allowing patients to have dialysis on ‘Country’, reuniting them with their friends and family, and providing a chance to take part in cultural activities. The aims of the study were to qualitatively evaluate the South Australian Mobile Dialysis Truck program, its impact on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous dialysis patients, and the facilitators and barriers to using the service.MethodsFace to face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 Indigenous dialysis patients and 10 nurses who had attended trips across nine dialysis units. Realist evaluation methodology and thematic analysis established patient and nursing experiences with the Mobile Dialysis Truck.ResultsThe consequences of leaving Country included grief and loss. Barriers to trip attendance included lower trip frequencies, ineffective trip advertisement, lack of appropriate or unavailable accommodation for staff and patients and poor patient health. Benefits of the service included the ability to fulfil cultural commitments, minimisation of medical retrievals from patients missing dialysis to return to remote areas, improved trust and relationships between patients and staff, and improved patient quality of life. The bus also provided a valuable cultural learning opportunity for staff. Facilitators to successful trips included support staff, clinical back-up and a co-ordinator role.ConclusionsThe Mobile Dialysis Truck was found to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous patients who have had to relocate for dialysis, and build positive relationships and trust between metropolitan nurses and remote patients. The trust fostered improved engagement with associated health services. It also provided valuable cultural learning opportunities for nursing staff. This format of health service may improve cultural competencies with nursing staff who provide regular care for Indigenous patients.