Can choice travellers be seduced? A choice traveller is someone that can make a trip both by car or by train. In 1998/1999 in peak hours 45% of the people that travelled by train between Rotterdam and Dordrecht were choice travellers (40% in off-peak hours). It is expected that the share of choice travellers who chose to travel by train will grow in time, especially within the Randstad conurbation in the west of the Netherlands. The effects of an improved train product on the shift between train and car is further studied within a thought model. It became clear that even though travellers shift from car to train, the traffic jams only decrease little because of the amount of new car drivers. But train travellers do profit from the improved train product, even though this effect does not show clear. The outcomes of the thought model were tested during the strikes of the train personnel in 2001. This test showed that choice travellers did chose to make their trip by car if train travelling is not available. Some remarks about the thought model can be made. In practice, when the train product improves, travellers do not shift directly from car to train. This effect of the improvement shows later in time in practise than within the thought model. The model is also applied on a average rail and highway corridor, which results in a lower modal shift than observed in practise. Conclusion: choice travellers can be tempted to use the train instead of the car. This is not a direct temptation, but occurs when travellers as a result of a change in their live pattern orientate on other transport modes. (Author/publisher)
Abstract