New Options for Urban Transportation How Paratransit Could Affect the Use of Private Cars

Date of Award

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Coe, Richard

Keywords

Transportation, Economics, Paratransit

Area of Concentration

Economics

Abstract

For most of the last century, urban transportation mode choices have been shifting away from public transit and toward the private automobile. This increase in private vehicle use has had many consequences, including traffic congestion and environmental degradation. While many attribute this shift largely to public policies that have favored automobiles, empirical studies have shown the characteristics of private automobile travel to be considered far superior to those of other existing modes of transport. As a result, changing the cost of driving has been found to have little impact on individuals' decisions to drive. The aim of this research is to determine the effects of alternative forms of transit, which possess more car-like attributes, on decisions to use private vehicles. Using the attribute-analysis model of consumer preference and existing survey data on the relative importance of particular attributes, paratransit services such as jitneys are shown to provide a much closer substitute to auto use than other transport alternatives. As a result, the availability of such services, combined with increases in the costs of private automobile ownership, may suffice to cause a modal shift away from private auto use.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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