Beyond time and cost: exploring the importance of factors in travel mode choices

This study explores the factors affecting travel mode choices and the relative importance of those factors. Based on two nationwide consumer surveys in 2019 in the US, the objective of this study is to measure and explain heterogeneity in the self-reported importance ratings of eight specific types of factors—time, cost, convenience, safety, health, emotions, environment, social—in travel mode choice decisions. To help investigate the relative importance people attributed to the factors, respondents were clustered into groups using a hierarchical clustering algorithm based on their modality styles (mode use frequencies). Next, we fit two seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models: one for each survey dataset, with the eight importance factors as the dependent variables. The independent variables consisted of respondents’ demographic characteristics carefully selected based on previous research. The results reveal interesting similarities between the two datasets. For instance, non-white respondents assigned greater importance to safety considerations in their mode choice than did white respondents. Also, people from higher-income households cared more about the convenience of their trip when selecting a mode. More educated people tended to care more about the environmental effects of their travel mode. Individuals who drive almost every day but rarely use public transit placed lower importance on factors related to health, emotions, the environment, and social relationships; other factors like convenience, travel time, and cost were more important to them. These findings extend prior literature by suggesting that greater attention ought to be paid to measuring and including subjective factors (in addition to instrumental considerations) in mode choice analyses.