On the Application of Psychological Measurement Techniques to Travel Demand Estimation

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Abstract
One of the most promising approaches to understanding and managing urban travel is one which seeks to construct mathematical representations of the travel decisions made by individual urban-area residents. Current research in this approach has demonstrated clearly that both the improvement of model specification and the development of aggregation procedures can utilize methods of psychological scaling and market segmentation. The paper outlines the specific areas where psychological measurement techniques have primary potential for improving the ability of the transportation planner to understand and manage the urban transportation environment. Major applications are seen in describing the relative attractiveness of different activity sites to which an individual may travel and in describing the available (or future) modes of travel that may be used to reach the activity sites. In these two applications, methods of psychological scaling are seen as the primary applicable techniques. In the area of aggregation, market segmentation appears to have considerable potential as an aid to defining relatively homogeneous groups of the population, which may be treated as aggregates in the analysis of regional transportation policies.

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