A stated preference examination of time of travel choice for a recreational trip

Abstract

A stated prcference experiment was performed in Calgary in Canada to exaininc how peoplc are influenced in the selection of a departure time for a hypothetical trip to see a movie. A total of 635 complete obscrvations were obtaincd.In each observation the rcspondent was presented with a set of possible departure time scenarios and asked to indicate the order of preference for these scenarios. Each scenario was dcscribed by specifying the automobile travel time, the expected arrival time relative to the movie start time, the parking cost, the probability of being at least ten minutes late for the movie and the length of time the movie had been running. This f o r c d the respondent to trade off between conditions regarding these attributes. Age, gender and frequency of movie attendance were also recorded. The observations thus obtained were used to estimate the parameter values for a range of alternative utility functions in logit models rcpresenting this choice behaviour. The results indicate that all of the attributes included have significant effects on departure time choice in the situation being considered. They also indicate that travellers are prepared to arrive roughly two minutes early for each minute of travel time saved; that the money value of driving time for trips to recreational activities is about half that for trips to work; that one additional percent in the probability of arriving late is equivalent to roughly 0.20 Canadian dollars or 1.93 minutes drive time; and that there is a preference for a Ron-zero expected early arrival time regardless of the associated probability of arriving late. Some of these results are novel and others are consistent with findings for work trips in work done by others, which is seen to add credence to the approach being used here. KEY WORDSdeparture time choice bchaviour; recreational trips; stated preference; conjoint analysis; logit choice modelling; scnsitivity to probahility of being late J.D.

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