Sociopsychological, Instrumental, and Sociodemographic Determinants of Travel Mode Choice Behavior in Delhi, India

Abstract

Established theories have identified multiple sociopsychological variables that contribute to improving behavior predictions. Researchers have tested their application in explaining travel behavior. This study uses descriptive analysis of data collected on 27 variables of travel behavior. Of these, 21 were relatively new variables, including 16 sociopsychological and five qualitative instrumental variables. Six currently popular demographic and quantitative instrumental variables were also included. It uses interview-based survey data on work trips by users of two private and two public transport modes in Delhi, India. Responses from a total of 406 participants were used. A total of 13 variables show promise in explaining mode-choice behavior. These include four qualitative instrumental variables: “time,” “cost,” “comfort,” and “safety”; six sociopsychological variables: “habit,” “intention,” “perceived behavior control,” “positive symbolism,” “negative symbolism,” and “awareness norm”; and three sociodemographic variables: “education,” “household income,” and “household vehicle ownership.” This makes a case for urban planners as well as transport planners and researchers to consider nontraditional variables for improving the accuracy of travel mode-choice models.