Relationship between travel-related feelings, on-trip activities, and use of various transport means in urban areas

A key issue in contemporary transport research is how to achieve a better balance in the use of various travel means in urban areas, in particular, how to promote the use of both transit and active modes (feet, bicycle). However, such behavioral changes cannot be achieved fully through acting only on the relative performances of the means themselves, for example, in terms of travel times and costs. This study considered some dimensions of the traveling experience—whether the trip was important only for reaching a destination, whether it was tiring, whether it was pleasant or unpleasant—and related these aspects to the completion of activities during the trip and to the use of various transport modes. Correspondence analysis and association analysis were jointly developed for some categorical variables of the French National Travel Survey. Such a combined technique uses the strengths of each method and has proved its effectiveness. The method potentially could be used with unstructured and dispersed data sets such as so-called big data sets. The results show that, all else being equal, evaluations often depend more on a person traveling alone or with others than on the travel means used. Previous research results related to the symbolic and affective value of driving were confirmed for traveling alone, whereas the experience of traveling with others as a driver or a passenger was more similar to the use of transit services.