As part of a study of the use of cars in peak periods, staff at an isolated rural workplace were surveyed to determine how they travelled to work. The survey concentrated on the choice between driving alone and car-pooling in which two or more people travel together, taking it in turns to drive their own car and give a lift to the other(s). Information was obtained in two ways: a questionnaire (90+ per cent response), and a follow-up telephone survey of car-poolers. Car-poolers came predominantly from urban areas and travelled medium distances (5-25 km) to work - for short journeys the inconvenience of car-pooling is greater than the saving, and at long distances people are unlikely to live close enough together to form a convenient car-pool. The survey results were modelled using a logit model to try to quantify the factors involved. This showed that diverting 1 km was perceived to be about as undesirable as driving an extra 5 km. However, all the model results should be treated with caution as they are subject to large errors and based on data from only one site. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting