Exploring the Positive Utility of Travel and Mode Choice

Traditionally, travel is considered a disutility to be minimized, and travel demand is derived from activity demand. Recently, scholars have questioned these axioms, noting that some people may like to travel, use travel time productively, find other benefits in traveling, or travel for non-utilitarian reasons. These are instances of “the positive utility of travel” (PUT). In this dissertation, the project conceptually and empirically investigate PUT, its determinants, and its impacts on travel behavior. Using a questionnaire survey of commuters in Portland, Oregon, the project collect primary data on PUT for use in a three-pronged analysis. First, the project construct a measurement model of PUT and its various components. Second, the project uncover traveler characteristics associated with PUT factors. Third, the project tie everything together and examine the effects of PUT on commute mode choice. This study is one of the first to examine all components of PUT (travel activity and travel experience factors) at multiple levels (general, mode-specific, and trip-specific). It is also one of the first to analyze PUT’s impacts on mode choice. The project research also has important implications for transportation planning and policy, by improving knowledge of influences on (and forecasting of) sustainable modes and anticipating potential behavioral shifts with autonomous vehicles.

• Record URL:
  http://trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1005/Exploring_the_positive_utility_of_travel_and_mode_choice

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $15000
• Contract Numbers:

  NITC 1005

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Portland State University

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 751
  Portland, OR  United States  97207

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  TREC at Portland State University

  1900 SW Fourth Ave, Suite 175
  P.O. Box 751
  Portland, Oregon  United States  97201
• Project Managers:

  Hagedorn, Hau

• Performing Organizations:

  Portland State University

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 751
  Portland, OR  United States  97207
• Principal Investigators:

  Singleton, Patrick

• Start Date: 20160401
• Expected Completion Date: 20170430
• Actual Completion Date: 20170801
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile drivers; Commuters; Mode choice; Surveys; Transportation planning; Travel behavior; Travel demand; Travel time; Utility theory
• Geographic Terms: Portland (Oregon)
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01607661
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Institute for Transportation and Communities
• Contract Numbers: NITC 1005
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 16 2016 7:16PM