FACTORS INFLUENCING TRIP MODE CHOICE

This research project, undertaken on behalf of the Highways Agency and the Strategic Rail Authority, was designed to improve understanding of the reasons for mode choice for long-distance and regular medium-distance journeys, and indicate how mode choice might be influenced by various types of development in public transport services. Some 2800 travellers, living in seven study areas, were questioned about recent journeys and reasons for mode choice. The public transport alternatives available to car users were also examined and compared with travel by car. This analysis provided a means of explaining current mode choice in terms of individual travel needs, preferences and constraints. Some 600 of these then took part in further interviews, including Transfer Value and Stated Preference exercises, to establish how they might react to possible future changes in public transport services. This led to the development of mode choice models. Finally, these models were used to compare the relative effectiveness, in terms of mode shifts from car travel to public transport, of different possible types of improvement in transport systems. (A)