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Household-level commuting mode choices, car allocation and car ownership level choices of two-worker households: the case of the city of Toronto

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Abstract

The paper presents a comprehensive investigation on household level commuting mode, car allocation and car ownership level choices of two-worker households in the City of Toronto. A joint econometric model and a household travel survey dataset are used for empirical investigations. Empirical models reveal that significant substitution patterns exist between auto driving and all other mode choices in two-worker households. It is revealed that, female commuters do not prefer auto driving, but in case of a one car (and two commuters with driving licenses) household, a female commuter gets more preference for auto driving option than the male commuter. Reverse commuting (commuting in opposite direction of home to central business district) plays a critical role on household level car allocation choices and in defining the stability of commuting behaviour of two-worker households. Two worker households in higher income zones and with longer commuting distances tend to have higher car ownership levels than others. However, higher transit accessibility to jobs reduces household car ownership levels. The study reveals that both increasing two worker households and reverse commuting would increase dependency on private car for commuting.

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Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges funding from an NSERC Discovery Grant and MEDI Early Research Award. The author is also indebted to the Data Management Group for allowing the use of TTS survey data and Dr. Ahmed El-Geneidy for generating transit accessibility indicators for the study area as part of another project. The author also acknowledges the comments and suggestions of four anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Khandker Nurul Habib

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  1. Khandker Nurul Habib
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Correspondence to Khandker Nurul Habib.

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Habib, K.N. Household-level commuting mode choices, car allocation and car ownership level choices of two-worker households: the case of the city of Toronto. Transportation 41, 651–672 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-014-9518-5

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