Attitudes, mode switching behavior, and the built environment: A longitudinal study in the Puget Sound Region

Carpooling in the US has a storied history. After experiencing a peak 20% mode share in 1980, the current share of carpooling for work trips is about 10% and the majority of these carpooling trips are made by intra-household members. Casting the choice between SOV and carpool as a social dilemma in which SOV is a noncooperative choice and carpool is a cooperative one, we propose to test two hypotheses. First, the switch from SOV to carpool and the reverse choice are attributed to different factors—structural factors, or those factors altering the objective features of a decision scenario such as travel time and travel cost, play a dominant role in the switch from carpool to SOV while psychosocial factors (attitudes and beliefs) play a critical role in the switch from SOV to carpool. Second, the two choices are underlay by different behavioral mechanisms. In particular, we expect self-justification by carpool-to-SOV switchers—after they switch from carpool to SOV, they adjusted their attitudes toward carpool accordingly to match their behavior. The analysis of the first three waves of the Puget Sound Transportation Panel supports these two hypotheses. Our study results recommend developing programs and policies that aim at influencing people’s subjective assessments of carpooling, in addition to the existing ones that mostly focus on incentivizing carpooling, and differentiating between programs seeking to encourage SOV users to switch to carpool and those aiming to maintain existing carpoolers.

[1]  Frank S. Koppelman,et al.  Attitudinal Analysis of Work/School Travel , 1981 .

[2]  J. D. Hunt,et al.  Stated-Preference Examination of Attitudes Toward Carpooling to Work in Calgary , 1997 .

[3]  H. Mahmassani.  In Perpetual Motion: Travel Behaviour Research Opportunities and Application Challenges , 2002 .

[4]  Lothlorien S. Redmond,et al.  The positive utility of the commute: modeling ideal commute time and relative desired commute amount , 2001 .

[5]  David J. Reibstein,et al.  The Direction of Causality Between Perceptions, Affect, and Behavior: An Application to Travel Behavior , 1980 .

[6]  Maria Johansson,et al.  The effects of attitudes and personality traits on mode choice , 2006 .

[7]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Choice of Travel Mode in the Theory of Planned Behavior: The Roles of Past Behavior, Habit, and Reasoned Action , 2003 .

[8]  J. Dargay.  The Effect Of Income On Car Ownership: Evidence Of Asymmetry , 2001 .

[9]  David J. Reibstein,et al.  Structural models for the analysis of traveler attitude-behavior relationships , 1978 .

[10]  Tracy McMillan,et al.  The relative influence of urban form on a child’s travel mode to school , 2007 .

[11]  Thomas F. Golob,et al.  Joint Models of Attitudes and Behavior in Evaluation of the San Diego I-15 Congestion Pricing Project , 1999 .

[12]  Ming Zhang.  The Role of Land Use in Travel Mode Choice: Evidence from Boston and Hong Kong , 2004 .

[13]  Joan L. Walker,et al.  Integration of Choice and Latent Variable Models , 1999 .

[14]  Michel Bierlaire,et al.  Demand for public transport services: Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods , 2010 .

[15]  Andrew Daly,et al.  Mixing of Behavioral Processes: A Modeling Framework and Three Case Studies , 2011 .

[16]  Kenneth Train,et al.  Consumer Attitudes and Voluntary Rate Schedules for Public Utilities , 1987 .

[17]  Peter M. Chisnall,et al.  Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement , 1993 .

[18]  P. V. Lange,et al.  How a structural solution to a real-world social dilemma failed: A field experiment on the first carpool lane in Europe , 1996 .

[19]  Dennis L. Christiansen,et al.  IDGH-OCCUPANCY VEIDCLE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES , 1990 .

[20]  E. Ferguson.  The rise and fall of the American carpool: 1970–1990 , 1997 .

[21]  Bruce Brown,et al.  High-Occupancy-Vehicle User Survey: Washington State Freeway HOV System , 2008 .

[22]  G. Giuliano.  Transportation Demand Management: Promise or Panacea? , 1992 .

[23]  P. V. Lange,et al.  Car Versus Public Transportation? The Role of Social Value Orientations in a Real‐Life Social Dilemma1 , 1995 .

[24]  J. S. Long,et al.  Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables , 1997 .

[25]  A. N. Oppenheim,et al.  Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement , 1992 .

[26]  A E Pisarski.  CARPOOLING: PAST TRENDS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS , 1997 .

[27]  Satoshi Fujii,et al.  What does a one-month free bus ticket do to habitual drivers? An experimental analysis of habit and attitude change , 2003 .

[28]  M A Kocis,et al.  FACTORS AFFECTING RIDESHARING BEHAVIOR , 1979 .

[29]  Kalidas Ashok,et al.  Extending Discrete Choice Models to Incorporate Attitudinal and Other Latent Variables , 2002 .

[30]  H. Lund.  Testing the Claims of New Urbanism: Local Access, Pedestrian Travel, and Neighboring Behaviors , 2003 .

[31]  Michael N. Bagley,et al.  The impact of residential neighborhood type on travel behavior: A structural equations modeling approach , 2001 .

[32]  Irwin P. Levin,et al.  Ride Sharing: Psychological Factors , 1977 .

[33]  Chandra R. Bhat,et al.  WORK TRAVEL MODE CHOICE AND NUMBER OF NON-WORK COMMUTE STOPS , 1997 .

[34]  L. Festinger,et al.  A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance , 2017 .

[35]  M. Burris,et al.  Who Chooses to Carpool and Why? , 2007 .

[36]  Abraham D. Horowitz,et al.  RIDE SHARING TO WORK: AN ATTITUDINAL ANALYSIS , 1977 .

[37]  Moshe Ben-Akiva,et al.  Discrete Choice Analysis: Theory and Application to Travel Demand , 1985 .

[38]  R. Ewing,et al.  The built environment and obesity. , 2007, Epidemiologic reviews.

[39]  Paul A. M. Van Lange,et al.  Being Better but Not Smarter than Others: The Muhammad Ali Effect at Work in Iterpersonal Situations , 1991 .

[40]  P. Schmidt,et al.  Theory‐Driven Subgroup‐Specific Evaluation of an Intervention to Reduce Private Car Use1 , 2001 .

[41]  P. Mokhtarian,et al.  Modeling the Desire to Telecommute: The Importance of Attitudinal Factors in Behavioral Models , 1997 .

[42]  E. Ferguson,et al.  Travel Demand Management and Public Policy , 2000 .

[43]  Vesela Dimitrova Grozeva.  Dynamic competition with customer recognition and switching costs: theory and application , 2010 .

[44]  P. L. Mokhtartan,et al.  How derived is the demand for travel? Some conceptual and measurement considerations , 2004 .

[45]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Travel and the Built Environment: A Synthesis , 2001 .

[46]  Kara M. Kockelman,et al.  Travel Behavior as Function of Accessibility, Land Use Mixing, and Land Use Balance: Evidence from San Francisco Bay Area , 1997 .

[47]  Jillian Anable,et al.  'Complacent Car Addicts' or 'Aspiring Environmentalists'? Identifying travel behaviour segments using attitude theory , 2005 .

[48]  Joan L. Walker,et al.  Generalized random utility model , 2002, Math. Soc. Sci..

[49]  Ryuichi Kitamura,et al.  Panel Analysis in Transportation Planning: An Overview , 1990 .

[50]  Loretta J. Mester,et al.  Consumer Behavior and the Stickiness of Credit Card Interest Rates , 1994 .

[51]  Susan L Handy,et al.  Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California , 2005 .

[52]  D. McFadden.  The Choice Theory Approach to Market Research , 1986 .

[53]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  What type of vehicle do people drive? The role of attitude and lifestyle in influencing vehicle type choice - eScholarship , 2004 .

[54]  D T Hartgen.  RIDESHARING BEHAVIOR: A REVIEW OF RECENT FINDINGS , 1977 .

[55]  C. Morency.  The ambivalence of ridesharing , 2007 .

[56]  M. Burris,et al.  Reaction to the Managed Lane Concept by Various Groups of Travelers , 2007 .

[57]  Robert Cervero,et al.  Factors influencing commuting choices in suburban labor markets: A case analysis of Pleasanton, California , 1988 .

[58]  Debbie A. Niemeier,et al.  Accessibility and Mode-Destination Choice Decisions: Exploring Travel in Three Neighborhoods in Puget Sound, WA , 2003 .

[59]  R. Küller,et al.  Travel behaviour and environmental concern , 2000 .

[60]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  What Affects Commute Mode Choice: Neighborhood Physical Structure or Preferences Toward Neighborhoods? , 2005 .

[61]  W F Velicer,et al.  Component Analysis versus Common Factor Analysis: Some issues in Selecting an Appropriate Procedure. , 1990, Multivariate behavioral research.

[62]  David H Ungemah,et al.  Examining Incentives and Preferential Treatment of Carpools on Managed Lane Facilities , 2007 .

[63]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  When is getting there half the fun? Modeling the liking for travel - eScholarship , 2005 .

[64]  R. Kitamura,et al.  A micro-analysis of land use and travel in five neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area , 1997 .

[65]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[66]  M. Horner.  Spatial Dimensions of Urban Commuting: A Review of Major Issues and Their Implications for Future Geographic Research* , 2004, The Professional Geographer.

[67]  J. Fleury,et al.  Predictive ability of social cognitive theory in exercise research: an integrated literature review. , 1999, The online journal of knowledge synthesis for nursing.

[68]  Susan L Handy,et al.  The Influences of the Built Environment and Residential Self-Selection on Pedestrian Behavior: Evidence from Austin, TX , 2005 .

[69]  J. Barnsteiner,et al.  The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing. , 1993, Reflections.

[70]  R. Gorsuch.  Common Factor Analysis versus Component Analysis: Some Well and Little Known Facts. , 1990, Multivariate behavioral research.

[71]  Martin Wachs,et al.  Attitude-Behaviour Relationships in Travel-Demand Modelling , 1977 .

[72]  Cynthia Chen,et al.  Role of the built environment on mode choice decisions: additional evidence on the impact of density , 2008 .

[73]  R. Cervero,et al.  TRAVEL DEMAND AND THE 3DS: DENSITY, DIVERSITY, AND DESIGN , 1997 .

[74]  R. Teal.  Carpooling: Who, how and why☆ , 1987 .

[75]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action , 1986 .

[76]  G Tertoolen,et al.  FREE TO MOVE...?! PSYCHOLOGICAL RESISTANCE AGAINST ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE PRIVATE CAR USE , 1998 .

[77]  Timothy J. Tardiff,et al.  Causal inferences involving transportation attitudes and behavior , 1977 .