Free left-turn lanes are common at major signalized intersections of Delhi to create additional capacity, and to facilitate continuous flow to left-turning traffic. The present study aims at examining the pedestrians’ risk and road crossing behavior at free left-turns. Two most used binary probabilistic models, namely Logistic and Probit, were fitted to the data-set. Pedestrians cross the free left-turn when gaps are available within the traffic flow. Analysis of the data suggests that pedestrians’ waiting time prior to the crossing of free left-turn is very less. Gap size is a significant parameter. Pedestrians’ characteristics and type of conflicting vehicle do not influence their crossing behavior. Most of the pedestrians cross the free left turns with the gap size less than the adequate gap size. Both the univariate binary response Logistic and Probit regression models have been found to give similar results for the selected case.

View full abstract

Motorcycle taxis have been emerging in developing countries, especially developing Asian countries, as an informal public transport service. It could provide a fast, flexible, and cheap transport service to the general public. At the same time, it may also be main sources of income for the urban poor. Unfortunately, wider socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the service have never been understood fully. Regulations on the service have been lacking as well. This study aims to understand the main characteristics of the service, explore its broader impacts, and identify its possible roles in the future urban transport system. Questionnaire surveys were conducted in Hochiminh City, Vietnam in 2012 that covered 400 users, 100 operators or drivers, and 20 stakeholders. Based on the results, the study suggests necessary changes in the service business model and regulatory measures to improve the image and the quality of the service.

View full abstract

This paper discusses the inception of the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP)which is expected to create anew paradigm shift in the region’s automotive ecosystem. The discussion encompasses several key topics concerning NCAPin the region: (1) the rationale of having a proactive approach to cater the issues other than casualties for the Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs); (2) an overview of theASEAN NCAPhistory and rating structure; (3)the role of NCAP in the automotive ecosystem; (4) the status quo of users’ perception on vehicle safety from a public survey in four ASEAN countries; and (5) the key challenges inmaterializingtheobjective and future undertakingsof NCAP in the ASEAN region.

View full abstract

This study focused on the intra-modal equity of urban rail fare policy and passenger overload delay. A framework for evaluating equity of a fare policy is proposed, and used to make a macroscopic comparison among several urban rail fare policies. It was found that there is a trade-off between horizontal and vertical equity. A new passenger overload delay equity index is also proposed based on the theory of relative deprivation. The study also examined the case in Metro Manila where urban rail fares have been kept constant since 2000 amidst inflation and increase of non-rail public transport fares. This entailed estimations of station O-D matrix using gravity model and passenger waiting time using queuing theory. It was found that although it is commendable in terms of fare affordability, it appears that the very low rail fares have increased rail demand beyond capacity, thus bringing about inequity in passenger overload delay.

View full abstract

This manuscript shows the development of trade facilitation indices for both imports and exports at seven international ports in Thailand by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) the results of questionnaires from freight forwarders. The indices consist of four elements: port infrastructure; port management; customs procedures; and equity in customs law enforcement. The data from 42 major freight forwarder companies were used to analyze their satisfaction about port services and customs operations, as well as to calculate indices’ subcomponent weights. The indices show that most ports just passed their existing expectation and need improvements to facilitate future demand according to ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. Next, future scenarios indices for predicting how ports can facilitate trade according to port and customs development plan and AEC scenarios were estimated. These indices can point out components that would be improved and lead to suggestions for port development for better trade facilitation.

View full abstract

JICA has been conducting urban transportation master plan studies in more than 50 cities in developing countries, which established comprehensive traffic database including person trip, traffic volume, and users’ stated preference. This paper analyzes the relationship between urban socio-economic indicators and traffic patterns particularly in the cities of developing countries and identifies their urban transportation characteristics based on the above traffic database. Special attention is paid on the “two-wheeler cities” in Asia which have different trend from global tendencies. The criteria to introduce urban mass transit system are also identified in conjunction with level of socio-economic development of cities.

View full abstract

This paper proposes a map matching algorithm using Bayesian belief network for GPS traces to generate the spatial-temporal information of individuals. The algorithm incorporates the road network topology, distance from trace nodes to road segments, the angle between two lines, direction difference, accuracy of measured GPS log point, and position of roads. The GPS data collected in the Eindhoven region, The Netherlands, was used to examine the performance of this algorithm. Results based on a small sample show that the algorithm has a good performance in both processing efficiency and prediction accuracy of correctly identified instances. Even with a small sample, the overall prediction accuracy reaches 87.02%.

View full abstract

Vehicle Kilometer of Traveled is one of most meaningful indicators to represent road transport in particular area. It is an essential data in order to observe vehicle usage and estimate amount of CO2 emissions from road transport. Especially, in developing cities, estimation of CO2 emission based on VKT is the applicable approach. However, it is not sufficiently available in Thailand. Therefore, in this study, VKT by vehicle types were measured by applying method based on records of odometer and conducting driver’s interview survey in Khon Kaen City, Thailand, as case study. Results revealed that accumulated VKT has high positive relation with vehicle age but annual VKT have high negative relation with vehicle age. Moreover, the study surveyed fuel consumption per distance to develop fuel consumption rate by vehicle type. Results revealed that fuel efficienciess of Sedan and Van & Pickup Truck are higher than twice of Motorcycle.

View full abstract

Traffic congestion is a re-current problem in densely populated cities. To alleviate congestion, many countries/cities have developed advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) to provide the latest traffic information to road users. However, the traffic information such as instantaneous journey time and traffic speed provided by ATIS is difficult to be validated. In particular, instantaneous journey time reflects the current traffic condition in terms of travel time at different road segments at the same instant. No single driver can normally experience the instantaneous journey time except for travelling on a very short section of road under light trafficked condition. This paper proposes a methodology for validating the instantaneous journey times and traffic speeds with independent observed data. The results show that the proposed method can validate the instantaneous journey time and traffic speed estimates satisfactorily with adequate sample sizes at a significant level statistically.

View full abstract

Flooding is viewed by many as a natural phenomenon, which is necessary for biodiversity. However, with the anthropogenic activities brought about by changes in land-use and climate, floods are observed to be more frequent and severe. In order to avert the negative impacts of flood, preparedness measure such as evacuation is increasingly necessary. This review is conducted to identify recent advances on evacuation research in the view of behavioral science, risk analysis and transportation modeling. The elements of the evacuation process such as decisions, warning, withdrawal, shelter and reentry with relevance to transportation planning constitutes the framework and emphasis of this review. Future uptakes for research include travel behavior that covers decision to evacuate and reentry, and in-depth consideration of the flood hazard, its associated risk and shelter information to evacuation transportation demand modeling.

View full abstract

Evacuation decision during flood disasters indicates the choice of households to evacuate or stay from area at risk. This may be viewed as simple decision but involves complex behavioral and other external factors. Evacuation decision serves as key input to transportation planning in the event of flood, hence, careful consideration of the factors that determine this decision should be done. Such factors include broadly the characteristics of households and their capacity as well as risk-related factors. This review identifies the factors by bringing together findings from viewpoint of evacuation managers and social scientists as well as transportation planners. Further research is needed to identify the interrelationships of these factors for consideration in evacuation transportation planning and modeling.

View full abstract

Flooding is a reoccurring natural disaster in Thailand and profoundly affects people’s livelihood and economy. Understanding evacuation behavior is very important for flood preparedness planning. This paper aims to investigate the behaviors of urban inhabitants in traveling and evacuating before, during, and after the flooding. The questionnaire survey was conducted to interview the affected inhabitants in Hat Yai municipality as a case study. Applying logistic regression technique, the interview data are then used to develop two flood evacuation models, including evacuation decision model and evacuation mode choice model. The results reveal that gender, the number of adults and disabled persons are three significant factors influencing the decision making and the majority of evacuees prefer using private vehicles during the evacuation. The authors believe that the results would be helpful for local agencies in flood preparedness planning, and the concept of this study can be more rigorously applied to other areas.

View full abstract

Improved disaster preparedness can help save life, reduce the suffering of survivors, and enable communities to restart normal life more quickly. Vulnerability of road network is a crucial issue in planning of disaster response operations as it strongly impacts the response time. It is important for planners to take into account the possibility of road network disruption due to disaster as well as its recovery. This paper, therefore, proposes a model to evaluate and improve disaster response plans, considering impact of the possible degradation of road network due to disaster and its possible day-to-day recovery. The empirical data from the aftermath of the previous earthquakes is utilized. The model is applied to analyze and evaluate the Aichi prefecture’s current plan of the first week to response to the most likely Tokai-Tonankai earthquake disaster. Countermeasures to improve the current operation plans are also discussed in this paper.

View full abstract

Firms are incorporating self-service technologies into their operations, which result cost savings. But the cost savings cannot be accomplished unless customers embrace and use these new services. Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) collaborated with 7-Eleven for the self-ticketing system-ibon. But the utilization was not as expected. Thus, this study was exploring the factors which influence THSR passenger’s acceptance toward ibon ticketing system. We apply and extend the technology acceptance model (TAM) to determine the external variables of intention to use self-ticketing system. We added four key constructs (two related to perceived benefits and two related to perceived costs) as external variables to the TAM. Further apply structural equation modeling to test the predictions, the research results showed that the perceived benefits (monetary benefits and non-monetary benefits) and perceived costs (monetary costs and non-monetary costs) had influence on the intention to use ibon. This study also proposed some managerial implications and suggestions for future research.

View full abstract

Truck-only toll (TOT) can help reduce traffic congestion and improve traffic flow on highways. Except implementing congestion price on roads, this study focuses on establishing a pricing model with TOT lanes, which adopt a call option from the perspective of transportation option. In the model, we particularly consider a guaranteed mechanism in contract, which provides compensation by different boundaries for the road users who bought a call option from government. Stakeholders in road can apply this model to solve their problems. Freight industries can also acquire hedge benefit from the risk of congestion. Also, this model can be used to control traffic flow and capacity on highways for government.

View full abstract

This paper reviews the pricing of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and finds that 1) existing dynamic pricing adjusts every 3-15 minutes according to such parameters as speed, density, and/or volume, 2) tolls increase progressively with traffic to ensure free flow HOT lanes, 3) for multi-zone HOT lanes, tolls tend to be determined by the most congested zone, 4) the reaction of motorists to toll adjustments is either unspecified or oversimplified, and 5) a toll boundary is essential to mediate extreme fluctuations. Based on values of time savings and reliability, a novel toll scheme was proposed as a function of speed of general-purpose lanes; tolls in a selected 10-mile HOT corridor varied between $0.77 and $12.64 per use, of which the value of reliability accounted for 24% to 44% while that of time savings accounted for the remainder. The proposed toll scheme can be applied to time-of-day or dynamic HOT pricing.

View full abstract

It is well acknowledged that gas price negatively affects traffic volume while GDP may have the contrary effect. To gain in-depth understandings of such relationships, this paper collects monthly time series data of freeway traffic, gas price and GDP of Taiwan to examine short- and long-term causal relationships by Granger causality test and cointegration test, respectively. Results show that gas price Granger causes large-vehicle (truck and bus) and trailer traffic, but not small-vehicle traffic. However, there is no statistically significant finding on long-term equilibrium relationship neither between gas price and freeway traffic nor between GDP and freeway traffic.

View full abstract

As there are limited space and hardware equipments of Port Container Yard, export containers have to queue outside for entry if the container yard reaches its capacity saturation. Therefore, some containers probably could not be completed the loading preparation on time, which would cause great damage to the shipper. In order to solve this problem, this research establishes a queuing pricing model for port container yard. After implementation of this toll scheme, it will be effective in dispersing containers’ arriving time, and so as to eliminate the queuing phenomenon outside the entrance of container yard.

View full abstract

Many countries have been adopting Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme for financing infrastructure as it is considered it will accelerate infrastructure development and ease fiscal constraint. However, worldwide financial crises tighten loan availability in the financial market, whilst demand for PPP funds is growing. Depending on the maturity level, many countries have adopted the rationale on the basis of value for money (VfM) in the PPP assessment. For most ASEAN countries, for example, it is still not sufficiently clear how VfM is incorporated in the assessment framework. Bad project preparation was frequently found as one of the foremost impediments in PPP program, apart from financing, institution and regulatory issues. This research will focus on PPP feasibility at preparatory stage. Some existing assessment methods will be reviewed, PPP framework variation amongst countries will be outlined and finally procedure for PPP standard assessment will be proposed.

View full abstract

The Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Access MRT System, a large scale transportation project, is under construction in Taiwan and expected be partially in service from 2015. However, the official report of the impact analysis of the project is based on traditional mechanisms for project evaluation and doesn’t consider the interaction between land use and transportation behaviors. Furthermore, the official report includes some inappropriate indexes for project evaluation.
This study establishes a framework of an interaction model of land use and transportation model, called the computable urban economic (CUE) model and uses it to review the original cost-benefit analysis of the Airport MRT project. In addition, the CUE model explicitly considers the usage of scooters, which plays an important role in commuting, private and business trips in Taiwan and other Asian developing countries, as a mode of transport.

View full abstract

This study proposes a hybrid MCDM model to analyze the transport policy decision-making process and the various perspectives from stakeholders and scholars are discussed in detail. DEMATEL is employed to construct NRM, ANP is adopted to evaluate the weights of criteria, and VIKOR is used to select the best transport mode. The empirical results reveal that stakeholders are most concerned about Feasibility & Execution and Political Climate. The three criteria with the strongest impact levels are Economic Development, Social Security, and Environmental Protection. Social Security, Equity & Justice, and Environmental Protection have the highest weights. The main concerns of scholars are Political Climate and Environmental Protection. The three criteria with the greatest impact are Feasibility & Execution, Equity & Justice, and Political Climate, while Social Security, Environmental Protection, and Equity & Justice have the highest weights. Railway is the best choice among the four transport modes for stakeholders and scholars.

View full abstract

In this paper, a quasi-dynamic SCGE model that can evaluate the time-series social and economic impact of high-speed railway development on regions along the route quantitatively is developed and the model is applied to the Chuo Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya (286km) which adopts the maglev linear motor car system and is expected to commence in 2027. As results of the simulation, it is indicated that the development of the Chuo Shinkansen will cause the population of the Tokyo metropolitan area to decrease, while the population of the Kofu and Nagoya metropolitan areas will increase, thus having the potential to resolve overpopulation problems in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

View full abstract

The introduction of rental two-wheeled vehicles, specifically electric bicycles and electric motorcycles, is examined for improving mobility and increasing the level of vitality in the central area in the city of Tokushima. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was distributed in Tokushima prefecture and then the effects of the introduction were analyzed. When rental two-wheeled vehicles are introduced, the effects on expansion of the movable field of people, the increase in the interaction opportunities with local residents, the increase in the availability of urban facilities, and the number of local residents to these facilities can be clarified. The results provide valuable information for examining the project of introduction of rental two-wheeled vehicles.

View full abstract

The study uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to establish a measurement model of towing performance of illegally parked vehicles. As the model can simultaneously deal with performance indicators with multiple input cost items and multiple output benefit items, it is a more objective performance evaluation model. Besides, using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and through the weights of the various input items and output items determined by experts and scholars, the paper sets the weight ratio of the original DEA model. In order to explore the practicability and effectiveness of the model developed, the paper carries out a case study of the towing operation of illegally parked vehicles in Taipei City. The analytic results can be referential for making comparison of towing performance of illegally parked vehicles amongst different impound lots.

View full abstract

Korea implemented railway reform in 2005 through vertical separation. At present, a state-owned railway, Korail, operates trains by accessing the nation-wide railway network owned by Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA). Nevertheless, the government has plans to introduce on-rail competition on its high-speed network in the near future. Whilst there are some examples of on-rail competition in Europe, the effects and implications of this reform have not yet been fully determined, particularly in the passenger sector. In addition, there are many tasks and issues to be considered and addressed in order to introduce on-rail competition among railway operators. This paper discusses the issues regarding on-rail competition in the passenger railway sector through comparisons with railway operations in Japan and Europe. As the introduction of on-rail competition significantly changes railway operation and management, sufficient preparation and investigation should be made by the government before delivering its reform plans.

View full abstract

Due to serious increase of vehicle ownership in Metro Manila, number coding scheme (NCS) was introduced as travel demand management (TDM) measure to control the use of vehicles especially during rush hours. The scheme works by employing the last digit of vehicle’s plate number to restrict them from running the streets. This study seeks to investigate and explore the possible effects of NCS on commuter’s travel pattern, both the use of private and public transport for daily trips. Interview survey was conducted in early 2011 to gather the pertinent data used in the analysis. From the empirical investigation, the results reveal that during number coding scheme day, when their car is banned from plying the streets, commuter would still use their car in expense of extending their total activity time - meaning car use is not necessarily reduced but shifted to other times of the day.

View full abstract

In Taiwan, a distance-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system will be implemented to replace the manual collection of freeway tolls at tollbooths. For improving the service satisfaction and increasing the usage rate of the ETC, this study discusses the effects of service recovery after ETC service failure on drivers’ satisfaction and usage intention. The critical incident technique (CIT) is applied to explore incidents of service failure and service recovery in relation to ETC. Statistical methods are used to discuss the intentions and preferences of drivers for service recovery via scenarios. A survey conducted using a questionnaire designed through the stated preference approach is utilized to investigate Western Taiwan freeway corridor users. The analytical results should assist the responsible managerial and operational agencies to develop better marketing strategies enhancing the usage rate of the ETC system.

View full abstract

Many studies on the development, on-road compatibility, and market potential of personal mobility vehicles have been conducted in recent years. This study focuses on the social acceptability of personal mobility vehicles by the general public, which is a key factor in the future introduction and implementation of these vehicles. Using survey data collected from 124 respondents from the city of Toyota, this study empirically explores the attitudes of the general public toward self-balancing two-wheeled vehicles and differences in the public’s acceptance of such vehicles before and after using them. Potential uses of these vehicles include tourism and excursions, short-distance trips in downtown areas, and traversing within buildings. Causal relationships between the acceptability of self-balancing two-wheeled vehicles and attitudes toward various characteristics of these vehicles are also analyzed in this study. The empirical results indicate that attitudes toward self-balancing two-wheeled vehicles increase after using the vehicles. The causal relationships between the acceptability of and attitudes toward self-balancing two-wheeled vehicles are identified using structural equation modeling.

View full abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of land use mix on travel frequency of individuals. Gini.Simpson Index and Dispersion Index are used for the land use mix indexes. Daily activity episode of individuals was collected through an interview-based local survey in the Jakarta metropolitan area, while the land use data for grid zones of 250 m by 250 m was prepared with the estimation of land use patterns using the existing official database. Seven categories of land use patterns are used for the empirical analysis. Then, ordered logit models are estimated, in which the dependent variable is the daily travel frequency of individuals and the independent variables are the thresholds of travel frequency, land use mix indexes, and individual and household attributes. The results show that higher-income females living in areas with mixed land use patterns composed of a few land use categories travel more frequently from home.

View full abstract

This paper reports on the investigation conducted on the existing bridges in Vietnam. The evaluation approach included visual inspections and non-destructive tests of concrete structures, personal interviews of site engineers in the field, and reviews of available publications from public media and literature. The diagnostic confirmed that the concrete was of low quality and showed many shortcomings such as failure, damage, local defects and premature aging. A series of diversified maintenance strategies is proposed to focus on both tactical and strategic levels. It is necessary to rectify current problems of concrete structures, to prevent the such collapse in future, and to enhance physical and serviceable conditions of the existing bridges in Vietnam.

View full abstract

Recently, the heavy pollution from motorcycles prompts the trend to promote electric motorcycles (EMs) with no emission and higher efficiency. This research represents people’s stated responses to different policy interventions and technological innovations of EMs, from the perspective of human choice behavior, in Vientiane, Laos. Based on a stated preference (SP) survey, a dogit model with parameterized captivity functions was adopted to examine the important influential factors to the choice of EMs by accommodating people’s heterogeneous captivity to different alternatives in a choice set. Simulations under different policy-related and technology-related scenarios were conducted, as well. Based on the analysis results, it is found that the preferred distance to charge station is 0.8 km - 1.0 km and people are more likely to choose EMs when the cruising range is longer, operation cost is lower, and the diffusion rate is lower.

View full abstract

This paper develops a discrete-continuous model to examine the ownership and usage of electric vehicles in the household. The impact of the ownership and usage of ordinary vehicles is taken into consideration. 5766 stated preference data concerning purchasing electric vehicles in the Chukyo region in Japan are utilized as the research sample. The monthly mileages of ordinary and electric vehicles are measured by a Tobit model, respectively. The ordinary vehicle ownership is measured by an ordered probit model, while the electric vehicle ownership is measured by a binary probit model. Gibbs sampler algorithm is used to estimate four jointed equations. The result shows that there is a substitution effect between two types of vehicles in the ownership and usage. The price, capacity, range and charging rate in the gas station impact both the ownership and usage of electric vehicles. Meanwhile, charging time does not affect either the ownership or usage.

View full abstract

This study determines the factors, especially the transport-related factors, affecting the choice of destination of Guimaras tourists. Logit models were developed to determine the utility of the agritourism tourist spots, and the variables affecting the preference of tourists. The inclusion of agritourism sites in the current tour package of Guimaras tourists was assessed using showcards through a stated preference survey. The socio-demographic and travel attributes of the tourists and characteristics of a destination are related to the choice made by the decision-makers in picking an agritourism site they would want to explore in Guimaras Province.

View full abstract

Probe Person (PP) survey with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and web diary enable us to collect much higher resolution data in real time. The new method of travel behavior expected to be fused with Questionnaire type travel survey which has been the basis of travel demand data in transportation planning. In the conventional questionnaire based survey, the problem of missing trips and activities is pointed out that caused non-response bias. This study considers the mechanism of missing activities in Person Trip (PT) surveys and proposes a combined estimation method using a sample selection model. The method contributes to correcting the bias of missing data by data fusion of PP data and PT data. The empirical results show that several personal attributes and contexts of the activities are found to be significant factors of missing of activities in paper-based PT surveys.

View full abstract

This study aims to address trade-off effects among fares and fences by using sampling data from an intercity bus corporation. We first regard departure time, booking time, pay time, percentage of refund, and prices as major attributes that passengers bare in minds while making their ticket choices. 400 stated-preference questionnaires are distributed on bus while passengers are having their trips. We utilize mixed logit model to verify the importance of the proposed five attributes. The results show that all variables except pay time are significant at 95% confidence level. We further calculate willingness-to-pay of attributes to reveal their monetary value. Departing during peak hours is the first priority for passengers while buying tickets following by advanced booking and percentage of refund. For the managerial application, this study suggests a demand-oriented fare table considering three fences and generating eight different classes of tickets.

View full abstract

Predicting net induced demand can be helpful for better feasibility study before investigating transportation infrastructure. The net induced demand can be defined as newly generated trips, but not shifted trips, by some improvements in transportation systems. This study only focused on the net induced demand rather than any other concepts belong to the general term “induced demand”. The net induced demand is quite related to the trip generation model because it refers to purely increased trips in frequency due to transportation improvement that would not be occurred without the improvement. The study analyzed trip production models with accessibility measure for each traffic analysis zone. Multiple linear regressions were adopted as the production models in the study. The study’s basic hypothesis on trip generation was that number of generated trips per day will be statistically different at different level of accessibility for each production zone. In the estimated regression model, the study considered that the parameter for accessibility, as an independent variable, can be interpreted as unit change of the net induced demand by changes of a unit of accessibility measure. This study tried to show empirically that the number of production trips was varied depending on level of accessibility for a specific traffic analysis zone with real data of household survey. The study used the 2010 household travel survey data of Daegu Metropolitan Area in South Korea with 68,398 traveler’s data. As the results, the regression analysis showed that accessibility for a specific zone significantly affected net induced demand especially for optional trip purpose. The study also showed the way how estimating quantitatively the increased net induced demand with an example.

View full abstract

One of the most pressing problems in today’s urban transportation environment is the ever-increasing number of private motor vehicles. To tackle this problem, many researchers start looking for factors that lead to travel behavioral changes. While most early studies in Taiwan take a cross-sectional approach and show a somewhat inconsistent result regarding the relationship between car and motorcycle ownership, this study assumes, arguably, that a longitudinal approach is necessary for better understanding of the problem. Based on empirical results of longitudinal analyses, this study finds that: 1) there is a positive association between life stages of honeymooner and crowded nester and the alternative of increasing a motorcycle; 2) the experience of exposure to motorcycle early in life have a positive effect on motorcycle acquirement and motorcycle replacement decision later in life; 3) households already owning motorcycle(s) are more likely to buy a car.

View full abstract

Effectively managing inter-island travel is critical to the unified economic position of a country, especially for archipelagos like the Philippines, where inter-island travel directly affects the local economy, its capacity for development, and even its basic functions. To efficiently manage a transport network, it is important to understand how the travelling population makes their travel mode choices, just as much as the operating characteristics of the network itself. This can be done by conducting a mode choice analysis of the travel network. This study covers the development of a logit choice model, based on revealed preferences of the Iloilo-Negros Occidental travelling population. It was found that the main factors affecting travel mode choice are total time spent travelling on land and cost per unit time spent during the travel. It was also found that age and income class affect the behavior of the traveller as well.

View full abstract

Variable Message Signs (VMS) are typically utilized to display traffic information and are expected to help motorists plan and make better decision for their travel. The objective of this study is to evaluate motorist’s awareness and decision regarding text message and color-coded traffic information on the VMS display. Samples are taken from Bangkok motorists by means of questionnaire surveys. Results from ordered discrete modeling reveal that altering various message types on the VMS has no effect on driver’s route choice at 95 percent confidence level. However, the color-coded traffic information can significantly influence driver’s decision. Others significant variables include driving frequency, daily distance traveled, and awareness of pre-trip traffic information. The current findings could help developing appropriate contents for VMS display that are useful, correct, and consistently meet motorist’s demand.

View full abstract

Loyalty is a preeminent concept for a company to get a higher share of customers. However, there are a few studies on loyalty within bus service context. One possible reason for the low focus on bus user loyalty is that there are different views among researchers on the concept of loyalty. To address the issue, this paper proposes a model to express the concept of loyalty in which loyalty has been decomposed into three main phases including attitudinal loyalty, conative loyalty and action loyalty. The difference between the proposed model and conventional models is that attitudinal loyalty was represented in a formative construct. In addition, an excavation on attitudinal facet of loyalty leads to a suggestion that there is a need to add up implicit loyalty as a new aspect of attitudinal loyalty. Furthermore, the study provides an empirical examination on impacts of social norm and habit toward attitudinal-behavioral relationship.

View full abstract

This study reports the results of a local survey of carsharing in four Japanese cities which includes the two cities having carsharing. The survey focused on respondents’ awareness and expected actions regarding car ownership, and stated choice of carsharing membership. The survey was implemented in February to April, 2010. No carsharing users are included in the respondents. After the data was gathered, the modal and carsharing membership choices were empirically analyzed. The survey results indicate the following: car owners are more aware of carsharing than non-owners, non-owners consider using carsharing more often than car owners, 30-40 percent of the surveyed individuals would choose to forego car ownership if they were a member of a carsharing service, individuals seem to make rational decisions regarding membership under different hypothetical cases, and the availability of carsharing services and public transportation, trip distance, and household income influence whether one participates in carsharing.

View full abstract

This study developed a model to describe the relationship between the agents of socialization, personal norm of using environment friendly traveling mode, and private vehicle usage reduction in response to fuel price rise. An empirical study was conducted by using the measurement data collected from 209 participant automobile drivers and 565 participant motorcycle riders. The study results show that the models for automobile drivers and motorcycle riders are different and should be estimated individually. The private vehicle usage reduction is found to be significantly determined by personal norm for both automobile drivers and motorcycle riders, and agents of socialization have different influences on personal norm for automobile drivers and motorcycle riders. Automobile drivers consistently have higher willingness than motorcycle riders to reduce their private vehicle usage reduction on the trips for all activities in response to fuel price rise. Some suggestions were derived from study results to reduce the vehicle usage for automobile drivers and motorcycle riders.

View full abstract

Structural equation modeling has been widely used in various research studies and has been incorporated into many software programs such as Mplus, CALIS, EQS, LISREL, Amos and so on. At the meantime, the diversity, instability of the analysis results or no solutions has been found in some analysis models. Several problems on the numerical analysis such as the constraints of residual variance, initial values and the different solutions by software in use have also been found in SEM analyses. This paper discusses the reliability and stability on the numerical analysis in structural equation modeling by using four kinds of SEM programs and three kinds of sample data. The study will introduce an application of the optimized calculation of genetic algorithms (GA) in structural equation modeling in order to see elaborately what is going on with these issues and also to examine the goodness-of-fit, validity, stability and reliability of structural model. Furthermore, the empirical analysis is presented to discuss the above issue in the questionnaire survey data about drunken driving behavior in Bangkok.

View full abstract

The multi-class dynamic user equilibrium (MDUE) model can be adopted in the lower level of a bi-level formulation of dynamic network design problems to predict heterogeneous travelers’ path choices in response to transportation authority’s decisions in the upper level. While a number of previous studies have devoted to the finite-dimensional MDUE (FMDUE) problem with a given number of user classes, the infinite-dimensional MDUE (IMDUE) problem was rarely addressed. This work proposes a column generation-based algorithm that solves the IMDUE problem as a series of FMDUE sub-problems. Each sub-problem is formulated as a nonlinear minimization program via a gap function and solved by a feasible descent direction method that is able to circumvent the needs to calculate partial derivatives for determining search direction, while maintaining the mechanisms of searching along feasible descent directions. Numerical results show our approach is superior to the algorithm based on the method of successive averages.

View full abstract

This paper has two goals. One is to offer a new way to analyze traveler behaviors of choice of different transportation services based on the conception of marginal rate of substitution (MRS) and the other is to propose a method to calculate MRS with travel demand functions instead of marginal utility which is difficult to obtain. The MRS can be used to describe how much a traveler is willing to substitute one transportation service for one unit of another service while maintaining his/her originally achieved utility. This methodology applies to all substitution relationships among different trip modes, time periods, etc. An example is given to illustrate the calculation of the MRS between transit and private car services and the impacts of each variable or parameter on MRS are analyzed. The proposed methodology can help analyze travel behaviors of choice of transportation services and evaluate policies for travel demand management.

View full abstract

A concert activity, one kind of planned special event, frequently causes congestion and unexpected delays for travelers The purpose of this study is to investigate concert participants’ behaviors regarding mode and arrival time choices. A multinominal logit model is estimated to explore the most effective factors in their travel choices. A personal interview survey with 1008 respondents was conducted at Taipei Arena. The results show that significant explanatory variables of this travel choices model include total travel cost, total travel time, gender, age, household income, total number of motorcycles owned by a household, trip origin, fan seniority, expected time of arrival relative to the concert start time, single-stop trip or not, and first-time visiting or not. Our research results can assist in predicting time-dependent travel demands of each mode of concert participators in the case of planned special events.

View full abstract

A recent trend in transport demand modeling with a focus on potential users emphasizes the understanding on the human decision-making process. Among various theories studying the process, loyalty-based theory has the closest relationship with the concept of potential users. However, conventional loyalty frameworks are insufficient for demand modeling. To address the issue, the present study proposed a psychological demand model based on a loyalty framework considering both service-quality-related and non-service-quality-related factors. The proposed model is able to quantify potential users and to measure maximum values of bus patronage respect to different service scenarios. Based on the proposed model, an increase of 18.05% on the group of car drivers could be expected to be at the highest priority for pushing up bus patronage in term of improving service quality. In contrast, a little increase was found on the group of non-car drivers with only 3.81% even an ideal service was provided.

View full abstract

Synthetic population generator is the core component of the microsimulation in activity-based travel demand model. Typically, synthetic population is used in the way that their decisions on activity-travel pattern are simulated. Traditionally, household sample survey data is used to synthesize the population. The estimated results can be biased due to such as low-sampling size and inaccurate household sample data. To deal with this issue, a statistical maximum-likelihood method to calibrate synthetic population using the roadside observations (link counts) is proposed. Statistical performances of the proposed method are evaluated on the illustrative network and real network with census and household sample survey data. Multiday link counts are simulated from (true) activity-based model parameters and synthetic population. Tests are carried out assuming different number of observations and observation variations. The results illustrate the efficiency of the model calibration based on link counts and its potential for large and complex applications.

View full abstract

we present a methodology of estimating dynamic link flows and origin-destination matrices using lower polling frequency probe vehicle data (e.g. one point every 30-60s). Link travel time is first obtained from map-matched probe points using a method of proportional allocation. A derived speed-density function is then fitted for different types of roads. A Bayesian method that carefully incorporates prior information is used to estimate dynamic link flows from link travel speed. A bi-level generalized least-square (GLS) estimator is formulated so as to estimate dynamic OD matrices from estimated link flows. A traffic simulator in VISSIM is developed for a median size urban network using an open data set. The results validate the advantages of the proposed method for lower polling frequency probe vehicle data.

View full abstract

This research formulates the time-dependent origin-destination (O-D) matrix estimation problem as a system of linear equations and solves this problem by using the conditional inverse matrix theory. One of the unique aspects of the adopted matrix inverse method is that it provides a generalized matrix inverse procedure even if the target matrix is either singular or non-squared. Due to the multiple solutions problem when solving the O-D matrix estimation problem, the path flow proportion method is developed in the present study and the unique solution of the O-D matrix estimation problem can be obtained. In the numerical analysis, the developed model framework and solution algorithm are evaluated based on a simplified network. The numerical analysis result reveals that the time-dependent O-D demand estimates given by the proposed models and adopted solution algorithm can be estimated exactly.

View full abstract