Central to the development of transport infrastructure and energy plans are forecasts of automobile utilisation. The mutual dependence of vehicle use on vehicle demand suggests their joint modelling, with the further recognition that the demand for vehicles and fuel are derived from the demand for household services, embodied in the intensity of utilisation. In this paper the authors outline a model of vehicle use and its theoretical integration with vehicle choice, based on an economic theory of individual choice behaviour, which is operationalised using data from a household-based data set. The authors' model covers households with one, two, three, and four or more vehicles. It examines elasticities of fuel and other costs that vary with distance travelled, and the possibility of transfer to use of another vehicle within the household.(Author/publisher).
Abstract