Commuter benefits programs: Impacts on mode choice, VMT, and spillover effects

Eun Jin Shin

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2020

Subject Area

place - north america, ridership - behaviour, ridership - commuting, ridership - mode choice, economics - subsidy, planning - surveys

Keywords

Commuter benefits, Vehicle miles traveled, Spillover effects, Transit subsidies, Parking benefits

Abstract

Using the 2014 Puget Sound Regional Travel Survey, this study investigates how the availability of different types of commuter benefits, such as employer-sponsored parking benefits and transit subsidies, is associated with workers' travel behavior. In addition to examining the effects of commuter benefits on the mode choice and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) of workers' commutes, this study focuses on their spillover effects at both the individual and household levels. The results show that access to commuter parking and transit benefits not only increases the likelihood of workers using the subsidized travel mode to commute but also affects workers' non-commute trips as well as their household members’ travel behavior. This study provides important policy implications by demonstrating that commuter benefits for transit use are more effective in reducing VMT than expected, after accounting for the spillover effects.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transport Policy Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0967070X

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