Socio-demographics, activity participation and travel behavior

This paper describes the development, estimation and interpretation of a model relating socio-demographics, activity participation (time use) and travel behavior. A complex set of interrelationships among the variables of interest is estimated simultaneously using the structural equation modeling methodology, with activity participation (time allocated to a number of activity types) and travel behavior endogenous to the model. The research reported here shows that complex relationships among socio-demographics, activity participation and travel behavior exist and can be captured by the structural equation model structure. Specifically, the results show that we can explain travel behavior better by including activity participation endogenously in the model, than through socio-demographics alone. Furthermore, the results reported here reveal the relationships between in-home and out-of-home activity participation and travel behavior. Lastly, the research shows that by examining the direct, indirect and total effects in the model system, we are able to better capture and understand the relationships among socio-demographics, activity participation and travel behavior. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.