This document discusses research into new transportation services and modes that could help reduce urban congestion by attracting solo drivers. It aims to study whether options like shared taxis, express minibuses, real-time transit information, park-and-ride with children services, and electric car rentals could appeal to drivers accustomed to private vehicle use. The research is currently conducting stated choice experiments and focus groups to help design a survey to evaluate the potential impact of these alternatives on congestion levels.
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Innovation in transport modes and services in urban areas and
their potential to fight congestion
José Manuel Viegas, João de Abreu e Silva, Rafaela Arriaga
CESUR - Instituto Superior Técnico
viegas@civil.ist.utl.pt, joao.abreu@civil.ist.utl.pt, rarriaga@civil.ist.utl.pt
Phone/ fax numbers: 00 351 218409705 - 00 351 218409884
Abstract
In the fight against congestion in urban areas, repeated appeals have been made by public
authorities for car drivers to shift to public transport. This has found little success in most
cases, as those drivers have made long‐term decisions (namely housing location, schools of
their children and even work / leisure lifestyle) which were based on the assumption of regular
use of their private car and would imply very high adaptation costs in case of a shift to public
transport, given the need for multiple transfers and limitations of the operating times with
good frequency of service. The purpose of this project is to research to what extent new
services and transport modes ‐ largely based on existing vehicles but with different
organization models and much stronger use of real time information ‐ can be attractive
enough to the former car driver. These could include collective taxis, real time dispatch of
passengers and regular buses, one‐way car rentals, park‐and‐ride systems with a tutored
delivery of children to their schools, variable price congestion pricing, etc. The expectation is
that a combination of these new solutions, combined with the right price signals, could attract
an interesting proportion of solo drivers into formulas of higher efficiency in the use of road
space, so providing good congestion relief. The project is currently in the empirical research
phase, with the preparation of stated choice experiments, being administered through the
Web and through interviewers, by phone and in person.
Keywords: innovation; transport modes; urban congestion
1 Introduction
Despite continuous and repeated appeals made by public authorities for car drivers to shift to
public transport, the levels of urban congestion and car use have been amounting in last
decades. The reasons for this lack of success are several and include among others the fact
that drivers tend to make long term decisions regarding house location and other anchors of
daily life (working place, schools of their children and other facilities visited on a daily basis)
and also leisure and lifestyle preferences. These decisions are made based on the assumption
of regular car use. Also other factors like the increasing complexity of task allocation and
sharing in household leads people towards higher levels of car use (Clerk and Vries, 2000).
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One expects that these new services and solutions, combined with the right price signals, could
attract an interesting group of solo drivers, thus contributing to a reduction of congestion and
car use levels.
This project is currently in the empirical research phase. Three Focus Groups were made with
the aim of helping to design a stated choice experiment. This stated choice is at the moment
having its questionnaire being defined in order to start its implementation, first with a pilot
survey and then based on its results made some minor adjustments and launch the final
survey.
This paper is organized in the following way. First a brief literature review is presented and
then the Focus Groups results are presented and discussed. The literature review focuses on
the definitions of captive versus choice users of modes and also on the definitions of
automobile dependence. Then a brief description about needs attitudes and perceptions
towards transport is made. Within this section different aspects affecting explaining attraction
or repulsion towards different modes of transportation are presented.
2 Literature review
2.1 Captives and choice riders
Users of public transport and of private car can be classified in two different types: captives
and choice riders (Krizek and El‐Geneidy, 2007).
Captive users of one or other mode are the ones which rely almost exclusively on one
transportation mode and are very unwilling or unable to change modes of transportation. This
due to several different reasons, on the side of public transport, captives are usually
considered as people “who do not have a private vehicle available or cannot drive” (Krizek and
El‐Geneidy, 2007), for example, don´t possess a drivers license. The car captives are usually
people who sense that the car is only alternative available (for example because there is no
public transport service connecting their trip ends, due to scheduling limitations and need to
carry large objects, among others) (Beimborn et al, 2003). People who usually have access to
car or parking space provided by their employer could be also considered as car captives.
Other interesting definition is the automobile dependence, which is very often presented as a
synonym of high levels of car use per capita and land use patterns that limit other transport
alternatives (Litman and Laube, 2002).
Zhang (2002) advances one alternative definition of automobile dependence which is
anchored on a disaggregated perspective and based on a utility maximization framework. This
means that for automobile dependent individuals the car is the only choice in their choice set.
Automobile dependence could exist due to different factors, either external or idiosyncratic
aspects (Zhang, 2002):
• Car using costs related with the available income;
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• There is no other alternative for the trips commonly undertaken (commuting trips, for
example);
• Family commitments (need to drive relatives to other places, kindergarten for
example);
• Insufficient knowledge about other transport alternatives (sometimes believing in the
inexistence of alternatives);
• Negative (mis)perception of service quality, safety and reliability of other modes, thus
excluding them from their group of available alternatives;
• Social status, which means that alternatives believed as inferior and demeanors of
one’s social status are excluded;
• Attitudinal aspects, people who simply enjoy driving.
2.2 Needs attitudes and perceptions about transport
Winters et al (2001) has established a transportation hierarchy of needs based on the
Hierarchy of Needs presented by Maslow in 1943. Maslow, stated that human behavior could
be understood and explained by the process in which needs are satisfied (Perone et al, 2005).
This hierarchy comprised several specific needs which include:
• Physiological needs – They are the lowest level of the hierarchy and comprise all the
needs necessary for human subsistence (oxygen for breading, food, water, sleep, etc).
When these needs are not satisfied humans experiment physical discomfort, so they
are on top of priorities;
• Safety needs – They are in the second lowest level and include the necessity of keeping
oneself out of danger, thus living in a secure environment is a top priority when
physiological needs are met;
• Belongingness needs – After all the previous needs are met humans focus their
attention on the needs related with social interactions, which can include the sense of
belonging and acceptance from others and the avoidance of solitude or being
alienated from society
• Esteem needs – these type of needs which rank second in Marlow’s hierarchy include
self‐respect and achievement (considered as internal esteem needs) and attaining a
high social status, good reputation and positive recognition (external esteem needs);
• Self actualization needs – When all the other needs are fulfilled humans are motivated
to seek things less palpable like truth, knowledge, wisdom and justice.
The five levels proposed by Winters et al (2001) were
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• Safety and security which include personal safety and security, familiarity with route
mode and destination;
• Time which is related with the trip´s efficiency in terms of time
• Societal acceptance which is related with personal and society attitudes towards the
modes of transportation;
• Cost, related with fixed and variable costs of transportation;
• Comfort and Convenience which is related with the travel experience in terms of
comfort, reliability and access.
Figure 1 – Transportation hierarchy of needs, based on Maslow
Source: (Perone et al, 2005)
In the field of psychology it has become clear that Maslow was correct in stating that some
needs take precedence over others, although it is not clear how this hierarchy motivates
behavior in the exact same manner as Maslow has stated (Perone et al, 2005).
Based on Maslow´s theory but also on Alderfer´s Existence, Relatedness and Growth Theory of
Needs (ERG) Perone et al (2005) proposed a Transportation Hierarchy of Levels. In Alderfer´s
theory, which had the advantage of being able to be empirically tested, the three levels could
be related to the ones defined by Maslow:
• Existence which comprise the two first levels of Maslow theory – physiological and
safety needs, describes the general human concern with material existence;
• Relatedness, which is related with the human desire for having and maintaining
interpersonal relationships. This level encompasses Maslow´s belongingness and
esteem needs, thus being a more general category;
• Growth this term describes the innate desire for personal development and
encompasses self actualization as defined by Maslow
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Perone et al (2005) use the same three levels defined by Alderfer but contextualizes them
within the transport sector:
Growth ‐ The attributes found in the Growth category are luxury amenities and altruistic
behaviors involving transportation:
• Aesthetic amenities
• Cost
• Convenience
• More altruistic reasons for using a certain mode
• Promoting alternative modes to help social justice
Relatedness ‐. Relatedness was categorized into the following:
• Reciprocity, consistency, social proof, authority, and liking
• If mode choice is accepted by important others
• Belongingness while using a certain transportation mode (Seethaler & Rose, 2003).
Existence level of transportation needs:
• Concern about victimization during travel
• Being able to have comfortable accommodations./shelter from the elements
• Relative safety of roadway and facilities by mode
• Ease of way finding/navigation in the system
• Ease of use of transit system, bike facilities, pedestrian facilities, or roadway
Perone et al (2005) discusses which persuasion principle is most effective in changing transit
behavior. Principles that originate from lower level in the hierarchy of needs, would have a
greater effect on changing transit behavior. The latter statement is, unfortunately, not yet
proven or disproven.
2.3 Aversion and Attraction Factors
Zhou et al (2004) undertook a market analysis of transit user in the San Mateo County Transit
District aimed at understanding customer attitudes and perceptions and create market
segments that reflect and account for traveler attitudes. This work recognizes and quantifies
the impact of socio‐economic characteristics, service attributes, and communication channels
on the formation of travelers’ perceptions and ultimately on their choice of mode and the
demand for transit. A factor analysis step was performed and resulted in eight attitudinal
factors:
• Factor One Privacy and Comfort. This reflects respondents’ preference for privacy;
• Factor Two corresponds to travelers’ Productive Use of Time. This factor reflects
travelers’ desire to make productive use of their time during the travel, even if they
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• Personal characteristics, related with age and the how long the respondent uses the
bus service.
To the car users a similar procedure was used which uncovered the following eleven factors:
• Aspects related with safety and comfort;
• Aspects and issues related with transit drivers attitudes;
• Amenities levels of service and fulfillment of special requests;
• Commuting characteristics(distance, travel time, distance to nearest bus stop, etc);
• Reliability;
• Location and type of transit service;
• Travel cost, related with the parking and transit costs;
• Children, related with the need to transport children to school or kindergarten;
• Travel time, comparing bus travel time with other modes;
• Personal characteristics, related with social status aspects.
Both of these groups where then segmented (using cluster analysis) in groups of captives and
people who could choose between modes, and these two groups segmented in regular and
irregular commuters, and the differences between them where highlighted, allowing the
discovery of trends that could attract more users for public transport.
Hine and Scott (2000), used several Focus Groups and in‐depth interviews techniques of both
public transport users and non users in Scotland to examine the effects of interchange on
mode choice. Their results pointed to problems of reliability related with bus services, lack of
information and also lack of perceived security.
Regarding interchanges, the need for coordination between operators, namely for connections
and ticketing, was considered of vital importance. The need to plan in advance a transit trip
with interchanges is seen as a major deterrent for car users. Reliability, comfort and the need
to cope with unforeseen problems were other deterrents for car users. For them the car was
strongly associated with flexibility and convenience, being that the transit characteristics were
generally the antonyms of those used to describe the car.
An explorative analysis was undertaken by Steg (2005) and aimed at examining dimensions
underlying the attractiveness of positive aspects related to car use revealed that respondents
make a clear distinction between instrumental motives for car use on the one hand, and
symbolic and affective motives on the other. This study validates the significance of non‐
instrumental factors. Thus we shall, briefly, present these two types of motives below:
Instrumental Versus Non‐instrumental ‐ Symbolic and Affective
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• Instrumental Motives are defined as the convenience or inconvenience caused by car
use. Example: speed, flexibility, safety. Aspects influencing travel behavior within this
type of motive could be related to such adjectives: cheap, comfortable, easy,
environmentally friendly or fast.
• Non‐instrumental – Symbolic Motives refer to the fact that people can express
themselves and their social position by means of (the use of) their car, they can
compare their (use of the) car with others and to social norms. Aspects influencing
behavior within this type of motive could be related to power, social status or self‐
esteem.
• Non‐instrumental – Affective Motives refer to emotions evoked by driving and which
in turn can be categorizes in two dimensions: pleasure and arousal. Aspects influencing
behavior within this type of motive could be related to sensations, feeling of power or
superiority1
Symbolic and affective aspects significantly contribute to the positive utility of driving
(Mokhtarian and Salomon, 2001). Attitudinal surveys such as the one presented by Handy et al
(2004) suggest that a notable share of driving is by choice rather than by necessity. The former
includes reasons for driving separating intentional and unintentional ones. The reasons given
as a conscious choice are: value of driving in itself, value of activities while driving and variety
seeking. The unintentional reasons are divided into two categories:
• Lack of conscious thought, which includes habit and poor planning;
• Unconscious influence, which includes misperceptions and lack of information.
3 Methodology and results
3.1 Methodology description
The approach used in this study was based on a Focus Group which is part of a larger data
collection scheme including a web administered survey (is questionnaire is being finalized and
awaits a pilot phase, prior to its administration) which includes one group of questions
describing actual travel behavior, a stated preference experience and a group of attitudinal
questions.
This first qualitative research technique was used with three complementary objectives. The
first one was to find aspects of public transport, car and the new alternative services that could
act as attraction or repulsion factors. The second objective was to identify attributes
characterizing the new services that could be used in a stated preference experience aimed at
estimating demand levels for them. The third and last objective was to identify potential
attitudinal aspects that should be included in the web survey.
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Three scales were used for both categories: 1) pleasure: angry versus happy; unsatisfied versus
satisfied; annoyance versus pleasure. 2) Arousal: tense versus relaxed; hurried versus peaceful; aroused
versus calm.
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• The number of bus lanes is seen as insufficient and buses suffer a lot from abusive use
of them by drivers. The levels of enforcement are low;
• Public transport is expensive, especially for infrequent users. When two or more
people do the same trip the car tend to be a more economic alternative.
The positive aspects of public transport reported by the respondents were:
• For the bus economical and fast, if there are bus lanes available;
• For the tram: economical fast in routes where there are specific lanes available,
environmental friendly
• For the Metro very fast and effective, comfortable (except at rush hour),
economical and environmental friendly
• For the train fast, comfortable (except at rush hour), economical and
environmental friendly
The taxi is seen as being expensive and as last resource. The other problems associated with
this mode are the lack of courtesy by the drivers and the fact that lots of taxis are in poor
shape. On the positive side the taxi is seen as convenient, practical, fast, comfortable and safe.
The evaluation related to the car presented positive aspects related with a sense of privacy,
security, convenience, liberty and autonomy. The car was also considered as offering a direct
trip without the need of interchanges.
The negative aspects related with the car were its high cost of use, congestion, parking
difficulties and the cost of parking.
Generally non users of public transport tended to evaluate it in a more negative way and
didn´t had a clear notion about the public transport services existent. In one of the group
interviews this led sometimes to some car user giving examples of trips that he/she would use
public transport was available and being contradicted by one of public transport users showing
examples of public transport services (mainly buses and tram) that served both trip ends.
Respondents were also asked about which kind of measures would make them use public
transport more often instead of the car and possible solutions for the transport problems
within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Regarding the first question the answers were: having a
more ubiquitous metro network, better interfaces, more and better information about
schedules, more bus lanes and higher frequencies during longer periods (periods outside the
main demand peaks). Possible solutions for the transport problems within the Lisbon
Metropolitan Area included, besides the ones referred before, better coordination among
different public modes, more parking near interfaces, extending public transport service to
areas with poor accessibility, better interfaces within the metro network, more tram lines and
introducing other light rail projects, collective transport services for companies, special
services (based on taxis) at the neighborhood level to pick and drop children at school and
fomenting the use of non motorized modes, particularly bicycles.