Can Psychological Traits Help Predict the Use of Priced Managed Lanes

This research examined the impact of several personality traits (conscientiousness, general locus of control, personal need for structure, risk tolerance (financial), driving risk perceptions, risky driving style, and careful driving style) on survey respondents’ travel choices on managed lanes (ML). To begin, the survey was pilot tested using a sample of 24 graduate and 231 undergraduate students at Texas A&M University. The pilot test confirmed internal consistency reliability of the psychological measures and demonstrated that the pattern of relationships between the constructs was consistent with their hypothesized associations. The survey was then administered online to travelers in San Diego, Miami, and Denver. Mode choice models were developed using the mixed logit modeling method based on the 664 respondents from the three cities. The models found that several variables, particularly travel time, toll, gender and income, were better predictors of ML usage than the psychological variables. However, a couple of psychological variables were significant in a couple of the models: (1) respondents with a higher risky driving style score were less likely to choose the carpooling on the GPLs. This seems reasonable since many of the risky driving style questions dealt with faster travel – which MLs allow. (2) respondents with high conscientiousness scores were less likely to choose carpooling on the GPLs. This seems reasonable as those with high conscientiousness liked structure and both carpooling and the GPLs were the least structured options. Therefore, this research found that some psychological variables have the expected relationships with a traveler’s mode choice. However, the impact was minimal based on the models developed here.