Suburban commute trip-chaining findings, part of a broader studyto assist in the design of transportation demand management (tdm) strategies at an emerging transportation management association, are presented. Data were collected from 42 employer sites and 1, 845 employees (48% response rate), using a self-administered questionnaire. Travel pattern data revealed that the suburban employees rely heavily on their vehicles to gain access to everyday services. Because this creates a present and future deterrent to ridesharing, the resultsindicate the need for greater attention to the entire commute trip in the form of new rideshare support services and better land use patterns. Employees exhibited a legitimate need for access to a vehicle during the day. The data defined a full work trip as including stops for meals, shopping, and daycare. The study found that the employees were twice as likely to make stops on their way home form work as they were during the morning; predominant morning chaining was to get gas (45.2%), To go to the bank (22.7%), To go to the dry cleaners (19.4%) And to eat (16.4%). After work, travel behavior is to get gas (63%), to shop (55.8%), To go to the bank (49.6%), And to go to the dry cleaners (31.5%). Therefore, even if the need for gas is eliminated by forming a rideshare arrangement, access must also be provided to convenience shopping and banking and dry cleaning services to fully support the ability to regularly use a shared-ride mode. Policy recommendations are made for minimizing the negative impact of linked trips on the effective implementation of shared-ride services.These include a better mix of land uses and the delivery of services to employer sites. In summary, a complex system of incentives and personalized attention that rewards behavioral changes in trip making will be required to lessen suburban travel demand. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1321, Rideshare programs: evaluation of effectiveness, trip reduction programs, demand management, and commuter attitudes 1991.
Abstract