| This paper develops and applies a model of mode choice that includes a collectively-interested decision calculus in addition to self-interest calculus as commonly used in travel behavior modeling. Modeling efforts incorporate the logic of collective action to predict travelers' behavior in commuting to the University of California, Davis. A factor analysis of collective interest and policy-related attitudes are combined with travel distances and individual and household characteristics to form three models: a binary logit model of the choice to use an automobile or lower-impact modes (LIMs), a multinomial logit model of different mode choice categories, and a regression model of travelers' carbon footprints based on collective-interest and self-interest. Results indicated that some travelers' mode choice calculus includes collective action considerations, with personal efficacy to solve collective problems, policy support of LIMs, dissatisfaction with campus efforts to promote LIMs, and bicycle advocacy significantly associated with the choice of a LIM over an automobile. The Collective Interest model is recommended for studying travel behavior because it adds a simple and substantive behavioral explanation for why environmental and political beliefs matter to mode choice that models of pure random utility maximization lack. |
