Travel pattern transitions

Travel pattern transitions: A study on the effects of life events on changes in travel patterns

De Haas, M.C.

Chorus, C.G. (mentor)

Technology, Policy and Management

Transport, Infrastructure & Logistics

2016-09-22

In this thesis the relatively new method of latent transition analysis is applied within the mobility biographies framework to assess how life events influence changes in travel behaviour. Using transition analysis, it is assessed how people switch between different travel patterns over time. Data from the first three waves of the Netherlands Mobility Panel (MPN) is used to reveal different travel patterns and analyse transitions between these patterns over time. Six different meaningful travel patterns are used to asses transitions between these patterns over time. Four exogenous variables and six life events within the household-, employment- and residential biography are included to assess their effect on people’s transitions between the travel patterns. For all life events significant effects are found, indicating that there might indeed be ‘windows of opportunity’ to change travel behaviour when a life event occurs. The results show that, on average, people who only use a single mode are less likely to change their travel pattern compared to people who show a travel pattern that includes multiple modalities. In addition, the effects of life events and exogenous variables depend on initial travel pattern membership. For example, strict car users are generally less affected by life events than the other travel patterns. This indicates that it is important to include past travel behaviour within mobility biographies studies.

Latent class analysis
Latent transition analysis
Travel patterns
Life events
Mobility biographies
Travel behaviour

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:53a1d5c0-6f2b-4c58-982d-910df3f1a271

2016-09-22

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2016 De Haas, M.C.