Abstract

Recent research has indicated convincing evidence of a link between characteristics of the built environment and travel behavior. However, few land use – travel behavior studies include cognitive factors (such as attitudes, perceptions, and environmental norms) that have been found to affect travel mode choice in the social psychology literature. This dissertation develops and empirically tests a theoretical framework called the Perception-Intention-Adaptation (PIA) model that brings land use and attitude-behavior theory together in order to address gaps in the travel behavior literature. Following a detailed description of the PIA model, the dissertation is comprised of three empirical essays. The analyses in these essays are based on cross-sectional and panel data collected during the Expo Line Study, the first experimental-control, before-and-after evaluation of a rail transit investment in California. The first essay evaluates the predictive power of the core socio-psychological constructs of the PIA (attitudes, norms, and control beliefs) in combination with a comprehensive set of built environment and socio-economic measures. Regression models of transit use are used to analyze cross-sectional data obtained before the opening of the Exposition light rail line in Los Angeles. The analysis indicates that two PIA constructs, attitudes toward public transportation and concerns about personal safety, significantly improve the model fit and were robust predictors of transit use, independent of built environment factors. The second essay uses panel data collected before and after the opening of the Exposition light rail line to examine changes in travel behavior. A quasi-experimental approach with experimental (within ℗ư mile of an Expo station) and control (beyond ℗ư mile) households is used to evaluate the travel effects of the opening of the Expo line at the household level. The results show a statistically significant reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the experimental group, though overall transit ridership and travel-related physical activity did not change significantly. The final essay uses the before and after opening panel data to examine socio-psychological aspects of travel behavior change in response to the Expo Line opening. Random effects models of transit use, car driver trips, and active travel trips all show that the socio-psychological constructs hypothesized in the PIA model do have a significant impact on travel behavior. In addition, cross-lagged models designed to examine the attitude-behavior relationship show an apparent causal pathway from attitudes to behavior for all three travel outcomes.

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on the integration of the Household Activity Pattern Problem (HAPP) with various locational decisions considering both supply and demand sides. We present several methods to merge these two distinct areas—transportation infrastructure and travel demand procedures—into an integrated framework that has been previously exogenously linked by feedback or equilibrium processes. From the demand side, travel demand for non-primary activities is derived from the destination choices that a traveler makes that minimizes travel disutility within the context of considerations of daily scheduling and routing. From the supply side, the network decisions are determined as an integral function of travel demand rather than a given fixed OD matrix.

First, the Location Selection Problem for the Household Activity Pattern Problem (LSP-HAPP) is developed. LSP-HAPP extends the HAPP by adding the capability to make destination choices simultaneously with other travel decisions of household activity allocation, activity sequence, and departure time. Instead of giving a set of pre-fixed activity locations to visit, LSPxviii HAPP chooses the location for certain activity types given a set of candidate locations. A dynamic programming algorithm is adopted and further developed for LSP-HAPP in order to deal with the choices among a sizable number of candidate locations within the HAPP modeling structure. Potential applications of synthetic pattern generation based on LSP-HAPP formulation are also presented.

Second, the Location – Household Activity Pattern Problem (Location-HAPP), a facility location problem with full-day scheduling and routing considerations is developed. This is in the category of Location-Routing Problems (LRPs), where the decisions of facility location models are influenced by possible vehicle routings. Location-HAPP takes the set covering model as a location strategy, and HAPP as the scheduling and routing tool. The proposed formulation isolates each vehicle’s routing problem from those of other vehicles and from the master set covering problem. A modified column generation that uses a search method to find a column with a negative reduced price is proposed.

Third, the Network Design Problem is integrated with the Household Activity Pattern Problem (NDP-HAPP) as a bilevel optimization problem. The bilevel structure includes an upper level network design while the lower level includes a set of disaggregate household itinerary optimization problems, posed as HAPP or LSP-HAPP. The output of upper level NDP (level-ofservice of the transportation network) becomes input data for the lower level HAPP that generates travel demand which becomes the input for the NDP. This is advantageous over the conventional NDP that outputs the best set of links to invest in, given an assumed OD matrix. Because the proposed NDP-HAPP can output the same best set of links, a new OD matrix and a detailed temporal distribution of activity participation and travel are created. A decomposed xix heuristic solution algorithm that represents each decision makers’ rationale shows optimality gaps of as much as 5% compared to exact solutions when tested with small examples.

Utilizing the aforementioned models, two transportation sustainability studies are then conducted for the adoption of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs). The challenges in adopting AFVs are directly related to the transportation infrastructure problems since the initial AFV refueling locations will need to provide comparable convenient travel experience for the early adopters when compared to the already matured gasoline fuel based transportation infrastructure. This work demonstrates the significance of the integration between travel demand model and infrastructure problems, but also draws insightful policy measurements regarding AFV adoption.

The first application study attempts to measure the household inconvenience level of operating AFVs. Two different scenarios are examined from two behavioral assumptions – keeping currently reported pattern and minimizing the inconvenience cost through HAPPR or HAPPC. From these patterns, the personal or household inconvenience level is derived as compared to the original pattern, providing quantified data on how the public sector would compensate for the increases in travel disutility to ultimately encourage the attractiveness of AFVs.

From the supply side of the AFV infrastructure, Location-HAPP is applied to the incubation of the minimum refueling infrastructure required to support early adoption of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs). One of the early adoption communities targeted by auto manufacturers is chosen as the study area, and then three different values of accessibility are tested and measured in terms of tolerances to added travel time. Under optimal conditions, refueling trips are found to be toured with other activities. More importantly, there is evidence xx that excluding such vehicle-infrastructure interactions as well as routing and scheduling interactions can result in over-estimation of minimum facility requirement.