An examination of recent trends in multimodal travel behavior among American motorists

Abstract

According to national statistics 87% of all trips in the U.S. are by automobile and 90% of commuters typically get to work by car. Statistics for individual trips or the main mode of commuting do not capture variability in individual travel behavior over time. This paper uses the 2001 and 2009 National Household Travel Surveys to analyze recent trends in the share of multimodal motorists who use a car and also walk, bicycle, or ride public transport during a day or week. This paper identifies trends of multimodal behavior among car users in the U.S. and provides profiles of these multimodal motorists.During a typical day about 14% of American car users make at least two trips by foot, bicycle, or public transport, while during a typical week about 25% of motorists make at least 7 trips by means of transport other than the car. Results from a bivariate analysis and logistic regressions suggest significant shifts toward more multimodal behavior among motorists between 2001 and 2009. Multimodal motorists tend to be younger, educated beyond high school, in households without cars, and live in high-density neighborhoods with access to a rail system. Results suggest that planning for walking, Downloaded by [University of Pennsylvania] at 12:10 17 August 2015 2cycling, and public transport benefits a larger proportion of the U.S. population than suggested by traditional trip based analysis.

Carless or Car Later?: Declining Car Ownership of Millennial Households in the Puget Sound Region, Washington State

“…Transit data from the American Public Transportation Association indicate that between 2004 and 2014, transit passenger miles increased by 21%, whereas population and highway VMT increased by 9% and 2%, respectively. Several studies of the National Household Travel Survey suggest that increasing multimodal behaviors-increased transit use and walk or bike trips-are more significant for the millennial cohort (2,12). Census and American Community Survey data also show that the commuting share by alternative modes has increased since 2000 for young workers.…”

Examining the effect of life course events on modality type and the moderating influence of life stage

“…Multimodal travel more accurately describes actual travel patterns than does a simple analysis of mode split. For instance, about 25% of car users in the US make at least seven trips during a typical week by means of transport other than car according to the 2009 US National Household Travel Survey (Buehler and Hamre 2016).…”

Does a high level of multimodality mean less car use? An exploration of multimodality trends in England

“…The number of days has been shown to have a large effect on whether an individual can be considered multimodal or not (e.g. Buehler and Hamre 2016). In general, the longer the measurement of travel behaviour, the more likely there is some variation in mode choice.…”

“…Finally, Buehler and Hamre (2016) explored the changes in individual-level multimodality in the USA based on the National Household Survey from 2001 and 2009. They investigated multimodality on the levels of trip chains, days, and weeks.…”

“…Only a limited number of studies have focussed on trends in multimodality (Kuhnimhof et al 2011;Buehler and Hamre 2016;Kuhnimhof et al 2012aKuhnimhof et al , 2012bStreit et al 2015). The surveillance of trends over time is important to understand the incidence of multimodality, to understand whether multimodality is increasing or decreasing, and to reveal whether the distribution is changing.…”