Transport policy often desires to alter the transport system to encourage or discourage the use of particular components of the system. These changes may not produce the desired effect if they are not noticed by the target population or they do not represent a significant change from the previous situation. Thresholds of awareness and acceptance have often been mentioned in the transport literature in this context. However few studies of transport related decisions have incorporated them into a modelling framework. In this paper the role of thresholds in transport choice models is discussed. The paper opens with a review of threshold types and their presence in several study areas. It then presents a discussion on the components of the transport decision process highlighting the possible roles of thresholds and their contribution to understanding decision making. The paper also outlines the historical development of the incorporation of thresholds into choice models. The breadth of application and the performance of these models, when compared with traditional choice models, is highlighted.(a) for the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 290118.
Abstract