The Effect of Travel Information on Travelers’ Choice of Travel Modes and Routes: A Case Study of the Travel between the Campuses

Abstract

The traffic state of the urban road network is determined by travelers’ choices of travel modes and routes. With the development of science and technology, people tend to have more travel choices and their distinctive temperaments often lead to different choices even in the same situation. Therefore, a study of different factors that may affect people’s travel choices plays a crucial role in the optimization of the traffic system. Focusing on the four major travel modes between Minhang campus and Xuhui campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in Shanghai, China, this paper tries to gather the information of the factors that affect travel choices and the extent of such effects both in general cases and when prior information is given by means of questionnaires. Based on data processing, the paper draws pie charts on the travel choices under different circumstances and makes a qualitative analysis of the influential factors. Then, a quantitative analysis is made by using the models of utility function and linear programming. Finally, in contrast with the results, the paper finds out the extent of the effect of travel information on the choice of travel modes and routes of the travelers with different temperaments.