Community-based Engineering research: Why aging New Zealanders Living in rural need better transport service

With the increased population of the elderly, providing more active public transportation for an older population is a global issue. This study investigates the travel behaviour and mode choice attitudes of people aged 65 and older and improves transport accessibility by proposing a demand responsive transport (DRT) service in New Zealand (NZ) rural areas and small towns. A case study was conducted at the Thames, Waikato to investigate the travel behaviour of the elderly and explore the presence of heterogeneity in transport mode choice. Thames is located at the Thames-Coromandel District with a high proportion (27.1%) of people aged 65 and older. Due to the popularity of Thames for people aged 65 and over, the population of this age group in Thames is increasing and predicted to increase to 43% in the year 2043. Therefore, the demand for alternative modes of transport, especially once owning or driving a private motor vehicle is no longer a viable option. This study explores the existing problems that the elderly face regarding transportation in Thames and investigates possible public transport improvements to help keep the people aged 65 and over able to travel locally within Thames. To achieve the objective of this study, a revealed preference survey was examined for exploring various types of elderly’s travel behaviour and mode choice. A rank-ordered logit model was adopted using data analysis on the choices of individuals over various mode choice options and the critical components of effective DRT service implementation for older people in NZ rural areas and small cities. The results show that as age increases the number of people using their vehicles for transport around Thames decreases and reliance on family or friends. This travel behaviour is especially the case in the major areas of Thames further away from the Thames CBD and shops where walking, cycling or mobility scooters are not a viable option due to long walking distance and need to carry groceries. The destinations that the elderly visit dictates to some extent the type of transport chosen. For example, from the results revealed that the majority of elderly make weekly trips for shopping but modes of transport such as the bus, walking, cycling and mobility scooters are not favourable for shopping in all cases due to the limit on weight, size and quantity that can be physically carried using these transport options. The results are also supporting a DRT service in NZ rural areas and small towns. For further research into a DRT service is justified where the elderly life also restricts the mode of transport used due to travel distance and topography

Modelling multimodal passenger choices with stated preference data

Redland Shire Council has recently started the implementation of an Integrated Local Transport Plan (ILTP) that aims to reduce the car dependency by enhancing the usage of alternative modes of transport. A multi mode choice model is required that can forecast the travel behaviour across the region in order to achieve the targets set in ILTP. This paper presents the findings of a state-of-the-art literature review done on mode choice modelling and outlines the development and calibration of a model to investigate the travel behaviour of Redlands’ residents. The present study attempts to develop a nested logit model and calibrate it using data obtained from a stated preference (SP) survey to be conducted in the Shire. The model development will consider all the vital attributes of the travelling modes used in the study area including various public transit access modes. The possibility of combining SP and revealed preference (RP) data to calibrate the model using joint-estimation method will be further assessed. It is expected that the outcomes of the research will assist policy makers in the areas of public transport planning and the development of network for public transport access modes including walkways and cycleways

Travel Behaviour Response to Major Transport System Disruptions: Implications for Smarter Resilience Planning

No abstract available

Assessing the Value of Time Travel Savings – A Feasibility Study on Humberside.

It is expected that the opening of the Humber Bridge will cause major changes to travel patterns around Humberside; given the level of tolls as currently stated, many travellers will face decisions involving a trade-off between travel time, money outlay on tolls or fares and money outlay on private vehicle running costs; this either in the context of destination choice, mode choice or route choice. This report sets out the conclusions of a preliminary study of the feasibility of inferring values of travel time savings from observations made on the outcomes of these decisions. Methods based on aggregate data of destination choice are found t o be inefficient; a disaggregate mode choice study i s recommended, subject to caveats on sample size

From mode choice to modal diversion: A new behavioural paradigm and an application to the study of the demand for innovative transport services

We analyse past research efforts that focus on modal diversion in the transport sector, as opposed to the classical mode choice concept, showing the added value of this alternative framework that emerges from the existing scientific literature. The modal diversion paradigm is then used to assess the relative importance of the technical performances of transport services on one hand and of the subjective factors of its potential users on the other, when forecasting the use of a new means among a group of white-collars working in a French research institute. We quantitatively show that multimodal habits and cognitive attitudes have an importance that is in general not negligible for this group, compared to that of the transport services performances, even if only these latter are routinely considered by engineers and planners. Beyond this, we find that the role of self-related factors further increased when the group was less familiar with the technological background and the subsequent operation of the new system, such as in the case of demand responsive transport service

Unveiling E-bike potential for commuting trips from GPS traces

Common goals of sustainable mobility approaches are to reduce the need for travel, to facilitate modal shifts, to decrease trip distances and to improve energy efficiency in the transportation systems. Among these issues, modal shift plays an important role for the adoption of vehicles with fewer or zero emissions. Nowadays, the electric bike (e-bike) is becoming a valid alternative to cars in urban areas. However, to promote modal shift, a better understanding of the mobility behaviour of e-bike users is required. In this paper, we investigate the mobility habits of e-bikers using GPS data collected in Belgium from 2014 to 2015. By analysing more than 10,000 trips, we provide insights about e-bike trip features such as: distance, duration and speed. In addition, we offer a deep look into which routes are preferred by bike owners in terms of their physical characteristics and how weather influences e-bike usage. Results show that trips with higher travel distances are performed during working days and are correlated with higher average speeds. Usage patterns extracted from our data set also indicate that e-bikes are preferred for commuting (home-work) and business (work related) trips rather than for recreational trips

Segmentation of the Travel Market in London: Estimates of Elasticities and Values of Travel Time.

This paper reports background research carried out for an ESRC funded research project entitled "Assessing the Benefits and Incidence of Road Pricing in London". The first two stages of this work are reported here. The first stage was to segment the market for car use in Central and Inner London according to the salient characteristics of users. The second stage was to make estimates of the range of probable values of time and elasticities for each segment of the market using secondary data. A thorough literature search was undertaken and we have liaised with other relevant work in progress. The results of our distillation of what we have found/borrowed are given in section 3. Own price elasticities of demand are presented disaggregated by mode and journey purpose. In the case of car, latest evidence emerging from the DoT study of road pricing in London has been included, showing how elasticities might be expected to rise as the toll is increased radically such as to have severe `income effects'. Values of Time are presented disaggregated by mode, journey purpose and household income group. There is a difficulty, however, in using these values in mode choice transport models and this is discussed in Section 4. Section 5 presents conclusions and discusses application of the results of this paper in the ESRC project. Section 6 lists references and Section 7 is an Appendix containing brief highlights from many of the source articles consulted in our literature review