FAMILY REACTIONS TO ENERGY CONSTRAINTS

Response to Energy and Activity Constraints on Travel (REACT), a game developed by the New York State Department of Transportation's Planning Research Unit to study how families deal with energy constraints is described. The game, similar to those developed by Burnett, Jones, and Brog, is easily constructed at low cost. It is used to determine household reactions to a variety of policies by jointly showing activity locations, time schedules, travel adjustments, role reallocation, and family decision making. REACT was applied to data from 12 households in Albany, New York, concerning reactions to the 1979 gasoline shortage. Results indicated that two-car households would cut discretionary travel up to and beyond a 20 percent shortfall but would circumvent a no-drive-day policy by shifting travel to the other available car. One-car households, however, carpooled and shifted trip timing and destinations to adjust to both policies. (Author)