This Is AuburnElectronic Theses and Dissertations

Identification of Factors Contributing to Geographic Scale and Mode Choice of Long-Distance Travel

Date

2014-07-11

Author

Bacon, Benjamin

Type of Degree

thesis

Department

Civil Engineering

Abstract

As long-distance travel increases it is emerging as an increasingly important consideration in transportation planning. Not only is this in response to an increase in magnitude but also in recognition that such trips possess a greater per person effect on the systems they utilize. However, as planning organizations begin to respond accordingly for such travel they have been confronted with the prospect of accounting for such travel with methodologies and data developed for daily travel. Unfortunately the behavior of long-distance travel differs drastically from that of daily travel and available data and procedures are often unable to provide the necessary means to develop meaningful models. Therefore, this paper develops a technique for long-distance travel analysis by developing a geographic scale and mode choice multinomial logit model. Use of this model, through the context of geographic scale, will provide a better understanding of the factors that influence long-distance trip making. Specifically, this study uses detailed long-distance trip diaries from the 2008 New Zealand Domestic Travel Survey to look at how household, travel party, trip characteristics, and scale affect where and how individuals make long-distance trips. Utilizing this approach, the transportation planning community will be able to better forecast travel trends and the demands placed on systems due to long-distance travel.