Study of the stability and variability of mobility behaviour

SVI2001/514

Partners of the IVT

büro widmer, Frauenfeld

IVT Staff

M. Löchl
K.W. Axhausen
S. Schönfelder

Client

Strassenforschung UVEK

Duration

12.2002 - 06.2006

Abstract

This report presents the results and methods used in the research project 2001/514 Untersuchung der Stabilität des Verkehrsverhaltens of the Swiss Association of Transport Engineer (SVI).

Within the project, a six week travel survey has been conducted among 230 persons from 99 households in Frauenfeld and the surrounding areas in Canton Thurgau from August until December 2003. The design built on the questionnaire used in the German project Mobidrive, but developed the set of questions further. All trip destinations of the survey have been geocoded. Moreover, route alternatives for private motorised transport and public transport have been calculated.

Moreover, the collected data has been compared with the National Travel Survey 2000 (Mikrozensus zum Verkehrsverhalten 2000), whereas differences in terms of sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents and particularly their travel behaviour couldn't be observed except for an higher proportion of GA and Halbtax ownership. For example, the average trip frequency per person and day is almost the same.

In order to check for possible fatigue effects of the amount of reported trips, several GLM (Generalised Linear Model) and poisson regression models have been estimated besides descriptive analysis. No fatigue effects could be observed in the data set.

The continuous support to the respondents and the increasing routine of the self responsible reporting of the respondents were consequently sufficient to restrain potential fatigue effects in the multi-week, longitudinal travel survey. Besides descriptive analysis of the data set, the focus has been on analysis of temporal stability and variability of travel behaviour by hazard models.

The analyses of the variability and of the rhythms as well as that of the innovation have revealed that travel behaviour is highly conditioned by habits and routines. Nevertheless, new trip destinations are added continuously, particularly for leisure travel. The majority of trips have been planned at least one or more days in advance. Moreover, it could be shown that the rhythms and therefore the temporal structure are partly dependent on the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, although it is just one determinant within the demand structure. The activities themselves can be divided into groups with daily, bi-daily and weekly rhythms and without a temporal structure.

In addition, the spatial dimension and distribution of trip destinations as well as the extent of activity spaces over the reporting period has been analysed through confidence ellipses, a two-dimensional version of the well-known confidence interval, and kernel density estimates of activity density.

The data base generated within the project is an important prerequisite to better understand and model the complex connection of transport supply, activity planning and execution as well as destination, mode and route choice. With this knowledge it is possible to better assess the effects of measures, particularly those which have a direct impact on daily routines.

Final report

• Löchl, M., S. Schönfelder, R. Schlich, T. Buhl, P. Widmer and K.W. Axhausen (2005) Untersuchung der Stabilität des Verkehrsverhaltens, final report, SVI 2001/514, Schriftenreihe, 1120, Bundesamt für Strassen, UVEK, Bern. Download

Publications

• Axhausen, K.W., M. Löchl, R. Schlich, T. Buhl and P. Widmer (2007) Fatigue in long-duration travel diaries, Transportation, 34 (2) 143-160.
• Greeven, P., S.R. Jara-Diaz, M.A. Munizaga and K.W. Axhausen (2005) Calibration of a joint assignment and mode choice model system, Arbeitsberichte Verkehrs- und Raumplanung, 299, IVT, ETH Zürich, Zürich.
• Löchl, M., K.W. Axhausen and S. Schönfelder (2005) Analysing Swiss longitudinal travel data, Conference Paper, STRC, Monte Verità, March 2005, Arbeitsberichte Verkehr- und Raumplanung, 276, IVT, ETH Zürich, Zürich.
• Machguth H. and M. Löchl (2004) Geokodierung 6-Wochenbefragung Thurgau 2003, Arbeitsberichte Verkehrs- und Raumplanung, 219, IVT, ETH Zürich, Zürich.
• Machguth, H., M. Löchl und M. Bürgle (2004) Berechnung von Routen- und Verkehrsmittelalternativen für den Datensatz Thurgau 2003, Arbeitsberichte Verkehrs- und Raumplanung, 231, IVT, ETH Zürich, Zürich.
• Chalasani, V.S., Ø. Engebretsen, J.M. Denstadli und K.W. Axhausen (2004) Precision of geocoded locations and network distance estimates, Arbeitsbericht Verkehrs- und Raumplanung, 256, IVT, ETH Zürich, Zürich.

Further Information

• Metadata
• SVI2001/514