Redland Shire Council (RSC) has recently completed the preparation of Integrated Local Transport Plan (ILTP) and started its implementation and monitoring program. One of the major thrusts of the ILTP is to reduce the car dependency in the Shire and increase the shares of sustainable environmental-friendly travelling modes, such as walking, cycling and public transport. To achieve these objectives, a mathematical model is needed that is capable of modelling and forecasting the travelling mode choice behaviour in the multi modal environment of Redland Shire. Further, the model can be employed in testing the elasticity of various level-of-service attributes, under a virtual travel environment, as proposed in the ILTP, and estimating the demand for the new travelling alternatives to private car, namely the bus on busway, walking on walkway and cycling on cycleway. The research estimated various nested logit models for different trip lengths and trip purposes, using the data from a stated preference (SP) survey conducted in the Shire. A unique computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) instrument was designed, using both the motorised (bus on busway) and non-motorised travelling modes (walking on walkway and cycling on cycleway) in the SP choice set. Additionally, a unique set of access modes for bus on busway was also generated, containing hypothetical modes, such as secure park and ride facilities and kiss and ride drop-off zones at the busway stations, walkway and cycleway facilities to access the busway stations and a frequent and integrated feeder bus network within the Shire. Hence, this study created a totally new virtual travel environment for the population of Redland Shire, in order to record their perceived observations under these scenarios and develop the mode choice models. From the final model estimation results, it was found that the travel behaviour forecasted for regional trip-makers is considerably different from that of local trip-makers. The regional travellers for work, for instance, were found not to perceive the non-motorised modes as valid alternatives to car, possibly due to longer trip lengths. The value of time (VoT) determined for local work trip-makers (16.50 A$/hr) was also found to be higher than that of regional work trip-makers (11.70 A$/hr). From the survey analysis, a big part of the targeted population was found to be car captives, who are not likely to switch from cars to public transport; even if a more efficient transit infrastructure is implemented. In the past, the models have been generally calibrated using the mode choice survey data only, while that of the captive users were ignored. This yields a knowledge gap in capturing the complete travel behaviour of a region, since the question of what particular biases can be involved with each model estimation parameter by the captives remain unresolved. In this research, various statistical analyses were performed on the car captive users' data by categorising them into various trip characteristics and household parameters, in order to infer the relative influence of the car captive population on the travel behaviour of the study area. The outcomes of the research can assist the policy makers in solving the strategic issues of transit planning, including the future development of a busway corridor, with an efficient transit access mode network. The research findings can also be utilised in evaluating the feasibility of developing walkways and cycleways in the Shire, along with appraising the relative influence of car captive users on the travel behaviour forecasts for the study area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265492 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Khan, Omer Ahmed |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Omer Ahmed Khan |
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