Despite attempts to introduce smaller cars in the united states, americans still preferred larger cars. Passenger cars produced since 1956 show large changes in characteristics affecting the comfort of occupants. Measures of physiological stress and subjective discomfort were taken in a laboratory environment representing the extremes in comfort represented by current car designs. Twenty-five male subjects between the ages of 18 and 39 were used. Noise and temperature were the main variables examined. Significantly different physiological consequences were discovered and also noticeable differences in the subjective acceptability of the environments. Evidence was found to suggest that if cars became less comfortable (for example, if energy constraints necessitated the design of less comfortable cars) drivers might prefer to decrease the duration of trips. This effect might be the most noticeable for vacation trips and least for work trips. It was concluded that the concept of stress could not easily be incorporated into travel forecasting models and that reactions to laboratory tests may well be different from those experienced under actual driving conditions.
Abstract