Reducing Numbers of Vehicle Trips and Vehicle Miles of Travel Through Customized Travel Options

Abstract

A new application was implemented to help reduce total vehicle trips and vehicle miles of travel (VMT) by means of encouraging use of trip chaining and substitution for all types of trips. Travel diaries were provided to employees of a local YMCA for measurement of travel behavior before and after provision of customized travel suggestions. An analysis of covariance was conducted on the average contributed VMT and contributed vehicle trips, with the use of the second period results as the dependent variable. The provision of suggestions had a statistically significant effect on vehicle miles and trips contributed. Overall, it was shown that the provision of travel information would reduce VMT. Further research should be conducted in order to indicate the extent to which such information must be customized. Further research should also be conducted on the durability and sustainability of the impacts of the information.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Rose

and Ampt

. Reducing Car Travel Through an Individual Action Program. Presented at 76th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 1997.

Stopher

P. R.

, and Metcalf

H. A.

. NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 236: Methods for Household Travel Surveys. TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1996.

CATS Household Travel Survey, Vol. 1. Chicago Area Transportation Study, Chicago, 1989.

Lord

F. M.

Elementary Models of Change. In Problems in Measuring Change ( Harris

C. M.

, ed.), University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1967.

Tertoolen

, van Kreveld

, and Verstraten

. Psychological Resistance Against Attempts to Reduce Private Car Use. Transportation Research, Vol. 32, No. 3, 1998, pp. 171–181.