A Copula-Based Joint Model of Commute Mode Choice and Number of Non-Work Stops during the Commute

At the time of publication A. Portoghese, E. Spissu, and I. Meloni were at University of Cagliari, and C.R. Bhat and N. Eluru were at the University of Texas at Austin.In this paper, in the spirit of a tour-based frame of analysis, we examine the commute mode choice and the number of non-work stops during the commute. Understanding the mode and activity stop dimensions of weekday commute travel is important since the highest level of weekday traffic congestion in urban areas occurs during the commute periods. The paper employs a copula-based joint multinomial logit – ordered modeling framework in which commute mode choice is modeled using a multinomial logit formulation and the number of commute stops is modeled using an ordered response formulation. The data used in this study are drawn from the “Time use” multipurpose survey conducted between 2002 and 2003 by the Turin Town Council and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) in the Greater Turin metropolitan area of Italy. The results highlight the importance of accommodating the inter-relationship between commute mode choice and commute stops behavior. The results also point to the stronger effect of household responsibilities and demographic characteristics in the Italian context compared to the US context.Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

Measuring soft measures within a stated preference survey: The effect of pollution and traffic stress on mode choice

The objective of this research is to study the extent to which information on pollution and individual stress has on the choice to shift from private car to Park and Ride. A Stated Preference experiment was built where the reduction of CO2 and stress are attributes of the experimental design. Results showed that the utility to Park and Ride increases with the level of awareness, 2) the more individuals consider receiving information about stress useful, the more they tend to behave sustainably, 3) aspects associated with stress appear to have a greater influence on travel choice than environmental aspects

A hybrid discrete choice model to assess the effect of awareness and attitude towards environmentally friendly travel modes

The need to reduce private vehicle use has led to the development of soft measures aimed at re-educating car users through information processes that raise their awareness regarding the benefits of environmentally friendly modes, encouraging them to voluntarily change their mode choice behaviour (level-of-service characteristics being equal). It has been observed, though not scientifically demonstrated, that these measures can produce changes, being the result of mindful decisions. However, in some cases, as demonstrated by numerous environmental psychology studies such measures are not sufficient to overcome the effect of cognitive dissonance, one of the main factors hindering change. In fact it is not unusual to find discrepancies between attitudes and behaviour in travel behaviour research. The objective of the present work is to understand the relationship between awareness, attitude and behaviour in the context of mode choice and to measure the effect of awareness after the implementation of a soft measure after controlling for individual environmental attitudes. Using a dataset gathered in two weeks, before and after individuals are informed of the benefits of using park and ride (P&R) instead of their car, we estimated a hybrid mode choice model

Estimating Route Choice Models from Stochastically Generated Choice Sets on Large-Scale Networks Correcting for Unequal Sampling Probability:Correcting for Unequal Sampling Probability

Route choice is one of the most complex decision-making contexts to represent mathematically, and the most frequently used approach to model route choice consists of generating alternative routes and modeling the preferences of utility-maximizing travelers. The main drawback of this approach is the dependency of the parameter estimates from the choice set generation technique. Bias introduced in model estimation has been corrected only for the random walk algorithm, which has problematic applicability to large-scale networks. This study proposes a correction term for the sampling probability of routes extracted with stochastic route generation. The term is easily applicable to large-scale networks and various environments, given its dependence only on a random number generator and the Dijkstra shortest path algorithm. The implementation for revealed preferences data, which consist of actual route choices collected in Cagliari, Italy, shows the feasibility of generating routes stochastically in a high-resolution network and calculating the correction factor. The model estimation with and without correction illustrates how the correction not only improves the goodness of fit but also turns illogical signs for parameter estimates to logical signs

Studio di un S.I. per la gestione delle emergenze in seguito a eventi calamitosi in Sardegna

La simulazione di situazioni di rischio derivanti da eventi calamitosi estesi è necessaria al fine di individuare le più rapide vie di accesso all'area colpita da parte dei mezzi e delle squadre di soccorso a terra e di indicare alle autorità preposte le vie di fuga ed evacuazione rapida delle persone verso zone sicure. Vi sono però alcune tipologie di incidenti, come ad esempio gli incendi o le emissioni tossiche, per le quali risulta difficoltoso stabilire a priori strategie generali di intervento, a causa della dipendenza da una moltitudine di fattori determinabili solo al momento dell'evento. In questi casi, un importante contributo allo studio di scenari di rischio può essere dato dall'impiego di modelli di evacuazione che forniscano una base preliminare, svincolata da eventi specifici, tesa a evidenziare le zone più critiche in funzione della distribuzione della popolazione e delle caratteristiche delle infrastrutture. Viene presentato un caso di studio relativo all'area industriale di Predda Niedda (Sassari).The simulation of disasters arising from hazardous events is necessary in order to identify the fastest access routes to the affected zones and to provide indications on the possible safety routes. However, there are several types of accidents, such as firestorms or toxic spills, for which the a priori definition of general emergency strategies appears problematic, due to dependence on many factors which can be assessed only at the time of the event. In such cases, an important support in the analysis of accident scenarios can be given by the use of community evacuation models independent of any hazard or zone, which can be employed to identify the spatial variation in evacuation difficulty taking into account only the distribution of the population and the existing infrastructure. The model described has been applied to a case study for the industrial area of Predda Niedda (Sassari)

La condizione di insularità nell’Unione Europea: accessibilità e incidenza del trasporto marittimo

Questo paper esamina gli aspetti relativi all’accessibilità delle isole, così come definite dall’U.E., in ambito Europeo. L’accessibilità, nell’Unione Europea (in accordo con lo studio ESPON "Atlas" del 2006) è stata legata al concetto di “cuore” del territorio Europeo e di “periferia”; in questo modo l’ubicazione geografica e la distanza fisica sono divenuti i parametri significativi in relazione all’accessibilità in termini di infrastrutture e di sistema di trasporti. L’obiettivo del seguente studio è quello di indagare in che modo l’insularità possa essere analizzata, caratterizzata e misurata in relazione alle peculiarità endogene ed ai requisiti strutturali e funzionali del sistema dei collegamenti ed in che modo questa misura possa garantire un confronto quantitativo, semplice da interpretare, dell’accessibilità con realtà e regioni della terraferma, anche periferiche. In particolare, vengono proposti una serie di indicatori che descrivono l’accessibilità delle isole in riferimento al sistema dei trasporti marittimi, attraverso la specificazione di una serie di attributi dell’accessibilità che fanno riferimento ai parametri di lontananza (distanza reale), isolamento e discontinuità geografica (frequenza e tempi di attesa), parametri che caratterizzano le realtà insulari

Development of a Technological Platform for Implementing VTBC Programs

n/

Mobility and land-use system in the sport mega-events. The case of the Cagliari stadium (Sardinia, Italy)

The evaluation of the mobility of the Sport infrastructures associated with Mega Events (SMEs), as football stadiums, and, in particular, the modal choices adopted by participants, are the focus of this study. Mobility, geographical aspects and urban planning that characterize a city hosting the SME are the main fields of investigation. In particular, in Italy there is a limited collaborative convergence among technical and scientific principles and the rules expressed by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), to which an obsolete regulation for the accessibility of sports facilities refers. The progressive awareness of the communities on the fundamental role of sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, reduction of air pollution, also deriving from the impulse of the 2030 objectives, highlights how it is illusory to think of reaching them without gradual changes in the lifestyle of the communities themselves through political rules of urban development. Furthermore, the pandemic and the recent energy crisis highlighted the need to develop integrated systems - considering geographical, urban and regional planning, transport and mobility issues capable of innovating to improve planning activities and the quality of urban life

Propensity for Voluntary Travel Behavior Changes: An Experimental Analysis

In this paper we analyze individual propensity to voluntary travel behavior change combining concepts from theory of change with the methodologies deriving from behavioral models. In particular, following the theory of voluntary changes, we set up a two-week panel survey including soft measure implementation, which consisted of providing car users with a personalized travel plan after the first week of observation (before) and using the second week to monitoring the post-behavior (after). These data have then been used to estimate a Mixed Logit for the choice to use a personal vehicle or a light metro; and a Multinomial Logit for the decision to change behavior. Results from both models show the relevance of providing information about available alternatives to individuals while promoting voluntary travel behavioral change

Studi per il Piano Generale della Mobilità Ciclistica

This paper presents the early outcomes of the studies carried out in the domain of the institutional collaboration between the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport, the University of Cagliari and the Politecnico di Torino, in view of the Piano Generale della Mobilità Ciclistica established by the law no. 2/2018. The study proposes a systemic approach to the strategic planning of the national cycleways network, integrated with the territory and with other forms of soft mobility. The increasing diffusion of cycling tourism and the need for new mobility models, also highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, poses the challenge of activating a physical, "soft", "inclusive", and widespread national infrastructure aimed at triggering new opportunities for economic growth as well as the relaunch of internal areas and the promotion of a sustainable bike-oriented tourism