A comparative assessment of synthetic indices to measure multimodality behaviours

ABSTRACT The study of how people jointly use different travel means is one of the key issues in contemporary transport research. However, measuring multimodality behaviours presents some intricacies that deserve more attention in order to come up with an instrument that is effective both on a modelling and on a policy viewpoint. The present work considers some methods that have been proposed in different disciplinary ambits to measure diversity and assesses to what extent they are useful to measure multimodality. A broad set of indices is then analysed, ranging from welfare economics (Gini, Dalton and Atkinson indices) to information theory and ecology (entropy, Herfindahl index). Theoretical investigations and empirical experiments on the properties of such indices show that there is not a measure of multimodality that consistently outperforms all the others in any circumstance. On the other hand, it emerged that some methods are clearly preferable for specific problem instances, as discussed in the conclusions.

[1]  Akshay Vij,et al.  Incorporating the influence of latent modal preferences on travel mode choice behavior , 2013 .

[2]  Frank S. Koppelman,et al.  An examination of the determinants of day-to-day variability in individuals' urban travel behavior , 1986 .

[3]  J. O'keeffe,et al.  Measuring Biological Diversity , 2004 .

[4]  Tobias Kuhnimhof,et al.  Travel trends among young adults in Germany: increasing multimodality and declining car use for men , 2012 .

[5]  Philip M. Dixon,et al.  Bootstrapping the gini coefficient of inequality , 1987 .

[6]  Ralph Buehler,et al.  An examination of recent trends in multimodal travel behavior among American motorists , 2016 .

[7]  G. Currie,et al.  Using Lorenz Curves to Assess Public Transit Equity , 2011 .

[8]  Ta Theo Arentze,et al.  Activity pattern similarity : a multidimensional sequence alignment method , 2002 .

[9]  J. Weiner,et al.  Describing inequality in plant size or fecundity , 2000 .

[10]  Tobias Kuhnimhof.  Measuring and Modeling Multimodal Mode Use in the Longitudinal Section , 2009 .

[11]  Claudia Nobis.  Multimodality , 2007 .

[12]  A. Magurran,et al.  Measuring Biological Diversity , 2004 .

[13]  Susan Hanson,et al.  Repetition and Variability in Urban Travel , 2010 .

[14]  M. Clarke,et al.  The significance and measurement of variability in travel behaviour , 1988 .

[15]  Franklin Farell.  Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area: Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system , 2014 .

[16]  Yiping Le,et al.  Modified Herfindahl–Hirschman Index for Measuring the Concentration Degree of Container Port Systems , 2010 .

[17]  Benjamin Smith,et al.  A consumer's guide to evenness indices , 1996 .

[18]  Kay W. Axhausen,et al.  How routine is a routine?: An analysis of the day-to-day variability in prism vertex location , 2005 .

[19]  Pavlos S. Kanaroglou,et al.  Driving out of choices: An investigation of transport modality in a university sample , 2013 .

[20]  Bastian Chlond.  Making People Independent from the Car – Multimodality as a Strategic Concept to Reduce CO2-Emissions , 2012 .

[21]  Anders Karlström,et al.  Behavioral adjustments and equity effects of congestion pricing: Analysis of morning commutes during the Stockholm Trial , 2009 .

[22]  Kay W. Axhausen,et al.  Repetitions in individual daily activity–travel–location patterns: a study using the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index , 2014 .

[23]  Christian A. Klöckner,et al.  Explaining stability in travel mode choice: An empirical comparison of two concepts of habit , 2013 .

[24]  Marco Diana,et al.  Studying travel-related individual assessments and desires by combining hierarchically structured ordinal variables , 2009, Transportation.

[25]  Marshall Hall,et al.  Measures of Concentration , 1967 .

[26]  Peter J. Lambert,et al.  Inequality aversion and the natural rate of subjective inequality , 2003 .

[27]  Kelly Clifton,et al.  Capturing and Representing Multimodal Trips in Travel Surveys , 2012 .

[28]  Marco Diana,et al.  From mode choice to modal diversion: A new behavioural paradigm and an application to the study of the demand for innovative transport services , 2010 .

[29]  F. Koppelman,et al.  An examination of the determinants of day-to-day variability in individuals' urban travel behavior , 1986 .

[30]  Guillaume Burghouwt,et al.  The geography of the Spanish airport system: spatial concentration and deconcentration patterns in seat capacity distribution, 2001–2008 , 2011 .

[31]  Ralph Buehler,et al.  The multimodal majority? Driving, walking, cycling, and public transportation use among American adults , 2015 .

[32]  Jukka Pirttila,et al.  A ‘Leaky Bucket’ in the Real World: Estimating Inequality Aversion Using Survey Data , 2007 .

[33]  Peter Nijkamp,et al.  Assessment of New Hub‐and‐Spoke and Point‐to‐Point Airline Network Configurations , 2007 .

[34]  A. Solow,et al.  Measuring biological diversity , 2006, Environmental and Ecological Statistics.

[35]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  Travelers’ segmentation based on multimodality behaviors and attitudes - eScholarship , 2008 .

[36]  H. Tuomisto.  An updated consumer’s guide to evenness and related indices , 2012 .

[37]  K. Axhausen,et al.  Habitual travel behaviour: Evidence from a six-week travel diary , 2003 .

[38]  A. Sumalee,et al.  Efficiency and equity comparison of cordon- and area-based road pricing schemes using a trip-chain equilibrium model , 2007 .

[39]  K. Axhausen,et al.  Structures of Leisure Travel: Temporal and Spatial Variability , 2004 .

[40]  Kay W. Axhausen,et al.  Stability in individual daily activity-travel-location patterns , 2007 .

[41]  E. Heinen,et al.  The same mode again? An exploration of mode choice variability in Great Britain using the National Travel Survey , 2015 .

[42]  Hans Huber,et al.  Spatial structure and network behaviour of strategic airline groups: A comparison between Europe and the United States , 2009 .

[43]  Adam J. Pel,et al.  Model Complexities and Requirements for Multimodal Transport Network Design , 2014 .

[44]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  Desire to change one’s multimodality and its relationship to the use of different transport means , 2009 .

[45]  P. Goodwin,et al.  Habit and Hysteresis in Mode Choice , 1977 .