Modelling Route Choice Decisions of Car Travellers Using Combined GPS and Diary Data

The aim of this research is to identify the relationship between activity patterns and route choice decisions. The focus is twofold: on the one hand, the relationship between the purpose of a trip and the road categories used for the relocation is investigated; on the other hand, the relationship between the purpose of a trip and the deviation from the shortest path is studied. The data for this study were collected in 2006 and 2007 in Flanders, the Dutch speaking and northern part of Belgium. To estimate the relationship between the primary road category travelled on and the corresponding activity-travel behaviour a multinomial logit model is developed. To estimate the relationship between the deviation from the shortest path and the corresponding activity-travel behaviour a Tobit model is developed. The results of the first model point out that route choice is a function of multiple factors, not just travel time or distance. Crucial for modelling route choices or in general for traffic assignment procedures is the conclusion that activity patterns have a clear influence on the road category primarily driven on. Particularly, it was shown that the likelihood of taking primarily through roads is highest for work trips and lowest for leisure trips. The second model shows a significant relationship between the deviation from the shortest path and the purpose of the trip. Furthermore, next to trip-related attributes (trip distance), also socio-demographic variables and geographical differences play an important role. These results certainly suggest that traffic assignment procedures should be developed that explicitly take into account an activity-based segmentation. In addition, it was shown that route choices were similar during peak and off-peak periods. This is an indication that car drivers are not necessarily utility maximizers, or that classical utility functions in the context of route choices are omitting important explanatory variables.

[1]  Shlomo Bekhor,et al.  Evaluation of choice set generation algorithms for route choice models , 2006, Ann. Oper. Res..

[2]  Italo Meloni,et al.  Behavioral Analysis of Choice of Daily Route with Data from Global Positioning System , 2011 .

[3]  J. Jucker,et al.  An Empirical Study of Travel Time Variability and Travel Choice Behavior , 1982 .

[4]  J. Scheiner.  Social inequalities in travel behaviour: trip distances in the context of residential self-selection and lifestyles , 2010 .

[5]  Dominik Papinski,et al.  Exploring the route choice decision-making process: A comparison of planned and observed routes obtained using person-based GPS , 2009 .

[6]  Shauna L. Hallmark,et al.  Accuracy Issues with Route Choice Data Collection by Using Global Positioning System , 1999 .

[7]  Geert Wets,et al.  Changes in Travel Behavior in Response to Weather Conditions , 2010 .

[8]  J. Prashker,et al.  Violations of Expected Utility Theory in Route-Choice Stated Preferences: Certainty Effect and Inflation of Small Probabilities , 2004 .

[9]  P. Toint,et al.  A Model of Weekly Labor Participation for a Belgian Synthetic Population , 2012 .

[10]  K. Nagel,et al.  Behavioral Calibration and Analysis of a Large-Scale Travel Microsimulation , 2012 .

[11]  Zhong-Ren Peng,et al.  Using Global Positioning System Data to Understand Variations in Path Choice , 2000 .

[12]  Donald W. Marquardt,et al.  Comment: You Should Standardize the Predictor Variables in Your Regression Models , 1980 .

[13]  Randall Guensler,et al.  Analysis of Morning Commute Route Choice Patterns Using Global Positioning System–Based Vehicle Activity Data , 2005 .

[14]  Shlomo Bekhor,et al.  Applying Branch-and-Bound Technique to Route Choice Set Generation , 2006 .

[15]  A. El-geneidy,et al.  The Minimum Circuity Frontier and the Journey to Work , 2009 .

[16]  André de Palma,et al.  Route choice decision under travel time uncertainty , 2005 .

[17]  Hainan Li.  Investigating Morning Commute Route Choice Behavior Using Global , 2004 .

[18]  Hani S. Mahmassani,et al.  Comparability and Transferability of Commuter Behavior Characteristics between Cities: Departure Time and Route-Switching Decisions , 1996 .

[19]  Zhen Qian,et al.  A Hybrid Route Choice Model for Dynamic Traffic Assignment , 2012, Networks and Spatial Economics.

[20]  Andrew Hale,et al.  Why safety performance indicators , 2009 .

[21]  Michael Scott Ramming,et al.  NETWORK KNOWLEDGE AND ROUTE CHOICE , 2002 .

[22]  D. Levinson,et al.  Accessibility, Network Structure, and Consumers' Destination Choice: A GIS Analysis of GPS Travel Data and the CLUSTER Simulation Module for Retail Location Choice , 2012 .

[23]  Mohamed Abdel-Aty,et al.  Exploratory Spatial Analysis of Expressway Ramps and its Effect on Route Choice , 2004 .

[24]  David M Levinson,et al.  Network Structure and Spatial Separation , 2012 .

[25]  J. Tobin.  Estimation of Relationships for Limited Dependent Variables , 1958 .

[26]  David M Levinson,et al.  Determinants of Route Choice and Value of Traveler Information , 2006 .

[27]  Satish V. Ukkusuri,et al.  Dynamic User Equilibrium Model for Combined Activity-Travel Choices Using Activity-Travel Supernetwork Representation , 2010 .

[28]  Gary Smith,et al.  A Critique of Some Ridge Regression Methods , 1980 .

[29]  Carlo Giacomo Prato,et al.  Closing the gap between behavior and models in route choice: The role of spatiotemporal constraints and latent traits in choice set formation , 2012 .

[30]  Geert Wets,et al.  Investigating the Variability in Daily Traffic Counts through use of ARIMAX and SARIMAX Models , 2009 .

[31]  Joel Freedman,et al.  Synthesis of first practices and operational research approaches in activity-based travel demand modeling , 2007 .

[32]  Robert V. Brill,et al.  Applied Statistics and Probability for Engineers , 2004, Technometrics.

[33]  Martin Wachs.  RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DRIVERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD ALTERNATE ROUTES AND DRIVER AND ROUTE CHARACTERISTICS , 1967 .

[34]  Conrad L Dudek,et al.  SURVEY OF MOTORIST ROUTE-SELECTION CRITERIA (ABRIDGMENT) , 1977 .

[35]  Shanjiang Zhu,et al.  The roads taken: theory and evidence on route choice in the wake of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse and reconstruction. , 2010 .

[36]  Ryuichi Kitamura,et al.  Recurrence of Daily Travel Patterns , 2007 .

[37]  Robert A. Moffitt,et al.  The Uses of Tobit Analysis , 1980 .

[38]  G. Wets,et al.  Assessing the Impact of Weather on Traffic Intensity , 2010 .

[39]  J R Duffell,et al.  EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF CAR DRIVER ROUTE CHOICE IN HERTFORDSHIRE , 1988 .

[40]  Pavithra Kandadai Parthasarathi,et al.  Network structure and travel. , 2011 .

[41]  E. Murakami,et al.  Can using global positioning system (GPS) improve trip reporting , 1999 .

[42]  David M Levinson,et al.  The Hierarchy of Roads, the Locality of Traffic, and Governance , 2010 .

[43]  Geert Wets,et al.  Assessing the Impact of Public Holidays on Travel Time Expenditure , 2010 .

[44]  Woodrow Barfield,et al.  Statistical analysis of commuters' route, mode, and departure time flexibility , 1994 .

[45]  Davy Janssens,et al.  Field Evaluation of Personal Digital Assistant Enabled by Global Positioning System , 2008 .

[46]  Mohamed Abdel-Aty,et al.  USING STATED PREFERENCE DATA FOR STUDYING THE EFFECT OF ADVANCED TRAFFIC INFORMATION ON DRIVERS' ROUTE CHOICE , 1997 .

[47]  Srinivas Peeta,et al.  A Hybrid Model for Driver Route Choice Incorporating En-Route Attributes and Real-Time Information Effects , 2003 .

[48]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  Multinomial and conditional logit discrete-choice models in demography , 1988, Demography.

[49]  Nadine Rieser-Schüssler,et al.  Route choice sets for very high-resolution data , 2013 .

[50]  T. Amemiya.  Tobit models: A survey , 1984 .

[51]  R W McNees,et al.  HUMAN FACTORS REQUIREMENTS FOR REAL-TIME MOTORIST INFORMATION DISPLAYS. VOLUME 6. QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF MOTORIST ROUTE SELECTION CRITERIA , 1978 .

[52]  Qingquan Li,et al.  Finding Reliable Shortest Paths in Road Networks Under Uncertainty , 2013 .

[53]  Douglas C. Montgomery,et al.  Applied Statistics and Probability for Engineers, Third edition , 1994 .

[54]  Harry J. P. Timmermans,et al.  Route Choice under Uncertainty , 2008 .

[55]  Carlo G. Prato,et al.  Route choice modeling: past, present and future research directions , 2009 .

[56]  Jianhe Du,et al.  Modeling Stated and Revealed Route Choice: Consideration of Consistency, Diversion, and Attitudinal Variables , 2006 .