| The objectives of this research were to identify the major factors influencing intercity mode choice and to develop intercity mode choice models based on totally disaggregated data. Previous work in this area developed only "pseudo-disaggregate" models.; The transportation system serving the Saudi Arabia-Bahrain corridor has been altered significantly by the construction of the King Fahd Causeway. Two types of statistical analysis were undertaken. The first, a descriptive analysis sought to study both pre- and post of the causeway transportation system between the two countries. Second, an inferential statistical analysis was undertaken, wherein several multinomial logit models were developed for the Riyadh-Bahrain and the Eastern Province-Bahrain corridors. Two of these models were selected as the most appropriate analytical representation of intercity non-business travelers mode choice behavior. The main research hypothesis that the behavior of intercity non-business travelers is affected by the geographical location was found to be valid for two reasons. First, certain variables were found to be applicable only in the Eastern Province-Bahrain corridor. Second, other variables were found to be relevant only to travelers from the Eastern Province. One ramification of this research finding is that the transferability of intercity models between corridors is highly questionable.; Both of the models developed in this research are superior to previous models. The rho-square and its adjusted variant are over.9 for the Riyadh-Bahrain model and over.8 for the Eastern Province-Bahrain model. These outstanding results are most likely due to the use of disaggregate data that were gathered specifically for this research. In addition, other socioeconomic variables were employed (e.g., immediate decision time and automobile availability) as well as policy-oriented variables (e.g., out-of-vehicle time and frequency of services). Several of these variables have never been used in the previous research. |
