Life-Style Factors Behind Modal Choice

Conventional modal-split models used by transportation planners and engineers have been based on socioeconomic indices and relative travel time and cost characteristics for the alternative modes of travel. Further refinement of these models to include the particular needs of autoless groups such as the poor and elderly include sociocultural factors. This paper describes how life style can affect modal choice and uses the behavior of young inner-city residents to focus attention to the potential contribution of this factor. A dimension for ordering life styles has been found useful in community studies. This dimension orders life styles between extremes of mainstreamer and activity seeker. It is hypothesized that the former life style would be more compatible with using public transit than the latter.