A home interview study was carried out in order to investigate the relationships between the reasons drivers cite for choosing a particular route rather than an alternate for a trip and the characteristics of the drivers and those of the alternatives. In examining a battery of constrained responses in which people cited reasons for choosing a particular route for a trip various reasons differs with the purpose of the trip. Next, principal components factor analysis was used to determine whether responses about different reasons for route choice were measuring the same or different underlying values. The attitudes Which people articulated were then examined to determine whether they were influenced most strongly by the socioeconomic characteristics of the people or by the performance characteristics of the routes. Statistical explanation of the attitudes, in terms of driver and route characteristics was approached by three methods: canonical correlation, multiple regression, and grouping techniques. The results of these analysis are presented, and conclusions are drawn regarding the dependence of attitudes toward route choice upon person and route characteristics.
Abstract