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Exploring the positive utility of travel and mode choice
Principal Investigator:
Patrick Singleton, Portland State University
Summary:
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, I ...
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, I conceptually and empirically investigate PUT, its determinants, and its impacts on travel behavior. Using a questionnaire survey of commuters in Portland, Oregon, I collect primary data on PUT for use in a three-pronged analysis. First, I construct a measurement model of PUT and its various components. Second, I uncover traveler characteristics associated with PUT factors. Third, I 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. My research also has important implications for transportation planning and policy, by improving our knowledge of influences on (and forecasting of) sustainable modes and anticipating potential behavioral shifts with autonomous vehicles.
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Project Details
| Project Type: | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Project Status: | Completed |
| End Date: | April 30, 2017 |
| UTC Funding: | $15,000 |
Downloadable Products
- Exploring the Positive Utility of Travel and Mode Choice (FINAL_REPORT)
- Travel Modes Offer Benefits Beyond the Destination (PROJECT_BRIEF)
Other Products
- Conceptualizing and Measuring the Positive Utility of Travel (PRESENTATION)
- Conceptualizing and measuring the positive utility of travel (PRESENTATION)
- Reviewing concepts, measures, and evidence of the positive utility of travel (PRESENTATION)
- Exploring the positive utility of travel and mode choice (PRESENTATION)
- Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2430(2430):47-58 · December 2014 \DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2430-06 (PUBLICATION)
- (PUBLICATION)
- Exploring the positive utility of travel and mode choice (PRESENTATION)
- Measuring subjective well-being from the commute (PRESENTATION)
- Singleton, P. A. Multimodal travel-based multitasking during the commute: Who does what? International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. doi:10.1080/15568318.2018.1536237 (PUBLICATION)
- Singleton, P. A. (2018). How Useful is Travel-Based Multitasking? Evidence from Commuters in Portland, Oregon. Transportation Research Record, 2672(50), 11-22. doi:10.1177/0361198118776151 (PUBLICATION)
- Singleton, P. A. (2019). Validating the Satisfaction with Travel Scale as a measure of hedonic subjective well-being for commuting in a US city. Transportation Research Part F-Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 60, 399-414 (PUBLICATION)
- Singleton, P. A. (2019). Walking (and cycling) to well-being: Modal and other determinants of subjective well-being during the commute. Travel Behaviour and Society, 16, 249-261. (PUBLICATION)
- Humagain, P., & Singleton, P. A. (2020). Investigating travel time satisfaction and actual versus ideal commute times: A path analysis approach. Journal of Transport & Health, 16. doi:10.1016/j.jth.2020.100829 (PUBLICATION)