Demand For Park Shuttle Services--A Stated-Preference Approach

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2006

Subject Area

planning - history, ridership - mode choice, ridership - demand, mode - bus

Keywords

Williamsburg (Virginia), Stated preferences, Shuttle service, Shuttle buses, National parks, National Park Service, Mode choice, Modal choice, History, Discrete choice, Colonial National Historical Park (Virginia), Choice of transportation, Automobile use, Automobile usage, Automobile travel

Abstract

This paper shows the potential of various shuttle bus services in Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia to reduce auto use on park roads. The purpose of these services would be to provide new opportunities in presenting the park�s history, relieve visitors of the burden of finding their way, and possibly reduce roadway maintenance and environmental impacts. This study uses a stated-preference survey and discrete choice model to quantify the effect of various service characteristics on visitors� mode choice and on reducing car travel in the parks. For the parkway shuttle, it was found that visitors are more sensitive to auto in-vehicle time than to out-of-vehicle time, in contrast to most urban and intercity mode choice models. For the Parkway Shuttle, only live interpretation was found to be meaningful for visitors, while for the loop, live and tape interpretation had almost the same benefit. The authors conclude that the model used can serve as a powerful policy tool to help decision makers in implementing appropriate policies to reduce private car usage in National Parks.

Comments

Journal of Transport Geography home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09666923

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