Hybrid Choice Model to Investigate Effects of Teenagers' Attitudes toward Walking and Cycling on Mode Choice Behavior

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to develop an advanced stated preferences (SP) survey customized to capture teenagers' behaviors and to estimate models of hybrid mode choices, in which the utilities depend on both the attributes of the mode and the latent variable willingness to walk or cycle. The SP scenarios include four alternative modes for the trip to school—car (escorted by parents), bus, bicycle, and walk—while the attributes are travel time; travel cost; walking time to the bus station; availability of bike paths, sidewalks, and parking places; and weather conditions. The data are drawn from a survey that took place in all the high schools of Cyprus in 2012. The sample consists of 4,174 teenagers (ages 12 to 18) and covers 8.7% of the total high school population. For the model estimations, 8,348 SP observations are used. It was found that the existence of bike paths and wide pavements significantly affect the choice of active transport. The latent variable enters significantly into the specification of the choice model to assure that unobserved variables should be implemented in the choice process. Willingness to walk and to cycle has a positive effect on the choice of those alternatives and a negative effect on the choice of a car. Moreover, parents' level of education and mode use patterns and habits influence the development of attitudes toward mode choice. The results of the study provide insights on policies and campaigns that may help the next generation develop greener travel behavior.