Travel Characteristics on Weekends:Implications for Planning and Policy Making

National Household Travel Survey Conference

November 1-2, 2004Washington, D.C.

Ram M. PendyalaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of South Florida, Tampa

Ashish AgarwalCambridge Systematics, Cambridge, MA

IntroductionFocus of travel demand analysis:

Weekday travel behavior (typical)Weekday peak period travel demand

Strategies to alleviate weekday peak period congestionTravel surveys heavily oriented towards weekday trip data collectionLittle attention, if any, paid to weekend travel demand characteristics

MotivationGrowing congestion on weekendsDifferent nature and spatial-temporal characteristics of trips on weekendsMeeting people’s weekend travel needs

InfrastructureStrategies and policies

Address explicitly in planning process

MotivationNCHRP 365 – resource for estimating travel demand in urban areasBased on 1990 NPTS dataProvides detailed travel demand characteristics for weekdaysUpdate information using 2001 NHTS and supplement weekday information with weekend data

2001 NHTS: Sample Characteristics

8.4%5.8%% Zero Travel65%66%% MSA > 1 mil

36.0%35.5%% $25K-$55K60.8%60.3%% Sngl Fam DU1.751.73# Drivers1.841.79Auto Ownership2.562.52Hhld Size

12,262 (63.3 mil)32,917 (153.9 mil)Persons5,318 (24.8 mil)14,470 (60.6 mil)Households

WeekendWeekdayCharacteristic

2001 NHTS: Sample Characteristics

31.8%32.8%% ≥ Coll Degree 52.3%52.8%% Worker

51.3%51.3%% Female35.335.3Age in years

WeekendWeekdayCharacteristic

Household and Person Trip Rates

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10

PrsnTrips/Hhld

VehTrips/Hhld

PrsnTrips/Male

PrsnTrips/Female

VehTrips/Male

VehTrips/Female

WeekdayWeekend

Distribution of Person Trips by Purpose

0

5

10

15

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25

30

35

HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB

Per

cent

of T

rips

WeekdayWeekend

Average Trip Length by Purpose

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HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB

Trip

Mile

s (L

engt

h) a

nd M

inut

es (D

urat

ion

Weekday Trip LengthWeekend Trip LengthWeekday Trip DurationWeekend Trip Duration

Daily VMT/PMT/PTT by Purpose

0

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80

HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB All

Dai

ly M

iles

or M

inut

es

Weekday Hhld VMTWeekend Hhld VMTWeekday Prsn PMTWeekend Prsn PMTWeekday Prsn PTTWeekend Prsn PTT

Daily VMT/PMT/PTT by Gender

0

5

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Male VMT Female VMT Male PMT Female PMT

Dai

ly M

iles

WeekdayWeekend

Mode Split: MSA Size 1-3 million

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SOV HOV Bus/LRT Metro/HvyRail

Com Rail Walk Bicycle

Per

cent

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rips

Weekday HBWWeekend HBWWeekday AllWeekend All

Mode Split: MSA Size ≥3 mil w/Hvy Rail

0

10

20

30

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50

60

70

SOV HOV Bus/LRT Metro/HvyRail

Com Rail Walk Bicycle

Per

cent

of T

rips

Weekday HBWWeekend HBWWeekday AllWeekend All

Average Vehicle Occupancy by Purpose

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB All

Ave

rage

Veh

icle

Occ

upan

cy

WeekdayWeekend

Time of Day Distribution of Trips

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

12:00

AM1:0

0 AM

2:00 A

M3:0

0 AM

4:00 A

M5:0

0 AM

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M7:0

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M9:0

0 AM

10:00

AM11

:00 AM

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M9:0

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PM11

:00 PM

Perc

ent o

f Trip

s

Weekday HBWWeekend HBWWeekday AllWeekend All

Time of Day Distribution of Trips

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8

9

10

12:00

AM

1:00

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Perc

ent o

f Trip

s

Weekday MaleWeekend MaleWeekday FemaleWeekend Female

Daily Activity and Travel Durations (min)

13.593532Social

519415Recreational

29882664Maintenance

57120289Subsistence

TravelActivityTravelActivity

WeekendWeekdayCategory

Weekend Travel DemandWeekend travel behavior characterized by:

Larger amounts of non-work travelLonger trip lengths, but shorter trip durationsLower levels of daily VMT and PMTSubstantially lower SOV and higher HOV mode shares (higher auto occupancy rates)Flat and wide midday peak in temporal distribution

Noticeable differences between weekday and weekend travel

Conclusions

NHTS is a powerful resource for analyzing/ modeling weekend travel demandSpecial considerations for weekend travel modeling:

Time of day distributionAuto occupancy – joint trip makingActivity type choice Location choiceActivity duration to travel duration ratioExplore trip chaining patterns in detail

Implications

Development of parallel stream of weekend activity-travel modelsInterdependency between weekday and weekend activity and travel engagementTowards models of weekly (or multiday) activity-travel behaviorConsideration for making NHTS a multiday travel survey – weekend and weekday data

Policy ConsiderationsLand use – transport infrastructure, travel choices, and public health

Social and recreational activity engagement higher on weekends; greater scope for active livingExamine auto dependency on weekends

Equity/access considerations – access to jobsWeekend travel – greater proportion that offers positive utility? Congestion mitigation in non-work locations