2013 Session: 594

• Modeling Gender-Based Differences in Mode Choice Considering Time-Use Pattern: Analysis of Bicycle, Public Transit, and Car Use in Suzhou, China
  Abstract: Activity-travel behavior differs between women and men. Previous researches dealing with gender differences mainly pay attention to travel itself, but few focus on the interaction between time-use pattern and travel mode choice. Based on the activity-travel survey data of Suzhou, China, data processing, gender-based descriptive analysis and rigorous significance tests are conducted. Then, multi-group structural equation modeling is adopted to explore the reason of gender-based differences in mode choice through comparing the interactions among socio-demographics, time-use pattern and mode choice for men and women. The results indicate that gender-based differences do exist in mode choice. Women prefer bicycle while men prefer traveling by car in Suzhou, and men¡¯s mode choice is not so easily to be affected by other travel mode as women¡¯s. Besides, gender-based differences exist in the magnitude or the sign of the interrelations among socio-demographics, time-use pattern and mode choice. It is better to explain gender-based differences in mode choice by including time-use pattern endogenously than through socio-demographics alone. Furthermore, the study shows that by examining the direct, indirect and total effects in the model system simultaneously, we are able to better capture the differences in mode choice across gender, and further understand the reason of those differences. Finally, some dedicated suggestions are presented for planners and government to ensure a healthy transportation system.
  Authors: Li, Dan; Wang, Wei; Yang, Min; Chen, Xuewu; Hua, Xuedong
  Authors: Li, Dan; Wang, Wei; Yang, Min; Chen, Xuewu; Hua, Xuedong
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-1445
• Impacts of Parental Gender and Attitudes on Children's School Travel Mode and Parental Escort Behavior
  Abstract: Research has shown that parental attitudes are a significant predictor of children’s active commuting (walking or biking) to school. However, the impact of parental gender on parental attitudes, and the link between parental attitudes and the gender gap in parental escort behavior have not received much attention. This paper examines these questions by applying discrete choice models to California data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey while controlling for a wide range of variables characterizing parents, their children, households, schools, and the local built environment. Our results show that mothers are more likely to have higher concerns about traffic volume and speed, which in turn reduces the likelihood that their children will walk or bike to school. Moreover, parental attitudes (especially mothers’ attitudes) significantly influence parental escort behavior, although their ability to explain the within-household gender escort gap is limited. However, the escort duties of mothers are reduced when they bike more often, which suggests that more biking by parents encourages children to actively commute to school. Finally, while distance to school and several land use measures (e.g., population density, urbanization level, and percentage of renters) are statistically significant, the impact of an objective measure of walkability is quite small. These results suggest that interventions targeting an increase in children’s walking and biking to school should focus on the concerns of mothers, especially as they relate to traffic characteristics.
  Authors: Hsu, Hsin-Ping; Saphores, Jean-Daniel Maurice
  Authors: Hsu, Hsin-Ping; Saphores, Jean-Daniel Maurice
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-4197
• Gender Differences in Activity and Travel Behavior in the Arab World
  Abstract: The purpose of this research is to extend the research on gender differences in activity and travel patterns in the Arab world by studying in depth the interrelationship between various socio-economic and demographic variables, car ownerships, activity patterns and travel characteristics. For this purpose unique data set from three Arab villages in the Galilee region in Israel was collected. Using structural equations modeling, it was found that gender and income play an important role in how people travel to and participate in activities. Older men with high income who own a car tend to drive outside the city to work, and young men, who don't drive, spend less time outside the city. Women usually don't drive, don't work outside the city, and engage in non-work activities inside the village especially if they have school-aged children, and their commute pattern is becoming more complex due to an increasing tendency to include child serving stops. Analysis results indicate that residents use a sequential decision process based on the direction of decisions from user background and log-term decisions to decide to own automobiles or not, travel out of their village for work or to stay within the village for other daily activities, and spend more time on activities there. Recursive processes were not observed.
  Authors: Benjamin, Julian M.; Elias, Wafa; Shiftan, Yoram
  Authors: Benjamin, Julian M.; Elias, Wafa; Shiftan, Yoram
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-4244
• Who Does the Shopping? German Time-Use Evidence, 1996-2009
  Abstract: The labor force participation rate of women and men is converging in industrialized countries, but disparities nevertheless remain with respect to unpaid activities. Shopping for household maintenance, in particular, is a time-consuming, out-of-home activity that continues to be undertaken primarily by women, irrespective of their employment status. The present study employs panel methods to analyze, descriptively and econometrically, gender disparities in shopping behavior among couples using data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP) for 1996 to 2009. While women still shop more than men, we find evidence that the differential has narrowed in recent years, particularly among couples with children. Several individual and household characteristics are found to be significant determinants of shopping behavior, whereby employment status and children emerge as the most important single factors. In addition, the possession of a driver’s license coupled with unrestricted car availability increase each partner’s time-share in shopping.
  Authors: Procher, Vivien; Vance, Colin
  Authors: Procher, Vivien; Vance, Colin
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-3719
  Practice-Ready: Yes
• Who Does the Shopping? German Time-Use Evidence, 1996-2009
  Authors: Vance, Colin
  Authors: Vance, Colin
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-3719
• Gender Differences in Activity and Travel Behavior in the Arab World
  Authors: Benjamin, Julian
  Authors: Benjamin, Julian
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-4244
• Gender Differences in Activity and Travel Behavior in the Arab World
  Authors: Shiftan, Yoram
  Authors: Shiftan, Yoram
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-4244
• Impacts of Parental Gender and Attitudes on Children's School Travel Mode and Parental Escort Behavior
  Authors: Hsu, Hsin-Ping
  Authors: Hsu, Hsin-Ping
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: 13-4197
• Presiding Officer
  Authors: Angel, Nichola
  Authors: Angel, Nichola
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society
  Session: 594
  Paper Number: Z13-594