IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v183y2024ics096585642400106x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lognormal distribution of daily travel time and a utility model for its emergence

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Weiying
  • Osaragi, Toshihiro

Abstract

Understanding the nature of human movement is important in many fields, such as transportation management, urban planning, and epidemiology. In this study, we focus on travelers who are grouped by their travel modes in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Notably, for each group of travelers, the distribution of daily travel time follows a lognormal distribution. For any travel mode, the distributions of normalized travel time for different years (1968–2008) and distances to the city center converge to a curve, although the average travel time and share of travel modes vary. By employing the concept of utility, we developed a disaggregate model wherein an individual maximizes utility from traveling (=benefit - cost) by modifying daily travel time. This model theoretically explained the observed distributions of travel time. The model was further used to demonstrate travel mode choices. The model parameters were estimated using the distribution of travel time, travel mode share, and manageable assumptions. These results provided interesting interpretations of the perceptual utility of the daily travel time of a population. Moreover, the obtained curves of utility versus time are similar to the shapes of the overall benefits assumed in previous studies. Overall benefit is a concept that has been developed and examined since the 1980s, and our study provides a mathematical foundation for this idea.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Weiying & Osaragi, Toshihiro, 2024. "Lognormal distribution of daily travel time and a utility model for its emergence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:183:y:2024:i:c:s096585642400106x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2024.104058
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096585642400106X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104058?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Golob, Thomas F., 1990. "The Dynamics of Household Travel Time Expenditures and Car Ownership Decisions," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt1676t0bp, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Kitamura, Ryuichi & Fujii, Satoshi & Pas, Eric I., 1997. "Time-use data, analysis and modeling: toward the next generation of transportation planning methodologies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 225-235, October.
    3. Schafer, Andreas & Victor, David G., 2000. "The future mobility of the world population," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 171-205, April.
    4. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Chen, Cynthia, 2004. "TTB or not TTB, that is the question: a review and analysis of the empirical literature on travel time (and money) budgets," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(9-10), pages 643-675.
    5. Schmid, Basil & Molloy, Joseph & Peer, Stefanie & Jokubauskaite, Simona & Aschauer, Florian & Hössinger, Reinhard & Gerike, Regine & Jara-Diaz, Sergio R. & Axhausen, Kay W., 2021. "The value of travel time savings and the value of leisure in Zurich: Estimation, decomposition and policy implications," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 186-215.
    6. Golob, Thomas F., 1990. "The Dynamics of Household Travel Time Expenditures and Car Ownership Decisions," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2t18b4q9, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. David Levinson & Ajay Kumar, 1995. "Activity, Travel, and the Allocation of Time," Working Papers 199505, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    8. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Ausubel, Jesse H. & Marchetti, Cesare & Meyer, Perrin S., 1998. "Toward green mobility: the evolution of transport," European Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 137-156, May.
    10. Wang, Wenjun & Pan, Lin & Yuan, Ning & Zhang, Sen & Liu, Dong, 2015. "A comparative analysis of intra-city human mobility by taxi," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 420(C), pages 134-147.
    11. Robert Kölbl & Martin Kozek, 2021. "A physiological model of human mobility: A global study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Chen, Cynthia, 2004. "TTB or not TTB, that is the question: a review and analysis of the empirical literature on travel time (and money) budgets," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(9-10), pages 643-675.
    2. Christy Collins & Arianne De Blaeij, 2005. "Trends in commuter and leisure travel in The Netherlands 1991-2001 - Mode choice and travel time," ERSA conference papers ersa05p615, European Regional Science Association.
    3. Chen, Cynthia & Mokhtarian, Patricia, 2008. "A Review and Discussion of the Literature on Travel Time and Money Expenditures," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt51d696jh, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    4. Yves Crozet & Iragaël Joly, 2004. "Travel Time Budgets: Facing the paradoxical management of the "scarcest good" [Budgets temps de transport : les sociétés tertiaires confrontées à la gestion paradoxale du " bien le p," Post-Print halshs-00068933, HAL.
    5. Metin Senbil & Ryuichi Kitamura & Jamilah Mohamad, 2009. "Residential location, vehicle ownership and travel in Asia: a comparative analysis of Kei-Han-Shin and Kuala Lumpur metropolitan areas," Transportation, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 325-350, May.
    6. Meng Zhou & Donggen Wang, 2019. "Investigating inter-generational changes in activity-travel behavior: a disaggregate approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1643-1687, October.
    7. Chen, Cynthia, 2005. "Feasible Activity and Travel Time Allocations with a Discrete Choice Model: An Exploratory Study," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 44(2).
    8. Chen, Cynthia & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2000. "Modeling Individuals' Travel Time and Money Expenditures," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt2mx2q8dk, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    9. Longden, Thomas, 2016. "The Regularity and Irregularity of Travel: an Analysis of the Consistency of Travel Times Associated with Subsistence, Maintenance and Discretionary Activities," ET: Economic Theory 243150, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    10. Chen, Cynthia & Mokhtarian, Patricia L, 2005. "An Exploratory Study Using an AIDS Model For Tradeoffs Between Time Allocations to Maintenance Activities/Travel and Discretionary Activities/Travel," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt2wr907nc, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    11. Lundevaller, Erling Häggström, 2009. "The effect of travel cost on frequencies of shopping and recreational trips in Sweden," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 208-215.
    12. Joly, I., 2011. "Test of the relation between travel and activities times : different representations of a demand derived from activity participation," Working Papers 201103, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    13. Peter R. Stopher & Asif Ahmed & Wen Liu, 2017. "Travel time budgets: new evidence from multi-year, multi-day data," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 1069-1082, September.
    14. Iragaël Joly, 2006. "The role of travel time budgets – Representation of a demand derived from activity participation," Post-Print halshs-00181431, HAL.
    15. Toepoel, V. & Das, J.W.M. & van Soest, A.H.O., 2008. "Relating Question Type to Panel Conditioning : A Comparison between Trained and Fresh Respondents," Discussion Paper 2008-4, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    16. Vincent Viguié, 2015. "Cross-commuting and housing prices in a polycentric modeling of cities," Working Papers 2015.09, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    17. Paul Peeters & Martin Landré, 2011. "The Emerging Global Tourism Geography—An Environmental Sustainability Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, December.
    18. Jahun Koo & Jiyoon Kim & Sungtaek Choi & Sangho Choo, 2022. "Identifying the Causal Relationship between Travel and Activity Times: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    19. Yang, Dujuan & Timmermans, Harry, 2013. "Analysis of influence of fuel price on individual activity-travel time expenditure," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 40-55.
    20. Mohammed M. Gomaa, 2023. "Macro-Level Factors Shaping Residential Location Choices: Examining the Impacts of Density and Land-Use Mix," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:183:y:2024:i:c:s096585642400106x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.