Original scientific paper
The Impact of Employer Attitude to Green Commuting Plans on Reducing Car Driving: A Mixed Method Analysis
Chuan Ding
; Harbin Institute of Technology
Chao Liu
; University of Maryland
Yaoyu Lin
; Harbin Institute of Technology
Yaowu Wang
; Harbin Institute of Technology
Abstract
Reducing car trips and promoting green commuting modes are generally considered important solutions to reduce the increase of energy consumption and transportation CO2 emissions. One potential solution for alleviating transportation CO2 emissions has been to identify a role for the employer through green commuter programs. This paper offers an approach to assess the effects of employer attitudes towards green commuting plans on commuter mode choice and the intermediary role car ownership plays in the mode choice decision process. A mixed method which extends the traditional discrete choice model by incorporating latent variables and mediating variables with a structure equation model was used to better understand the commuter mode choice behaviour. The empirical data were selected from Washington-Baltimore Regional Household Travel Survey in 2007-2008, including all the trips from home to workplace during the morning hours. The model parameters were estimated using the simultaneous estimation approach and the integrated model turns out to be superior to the traditional multinomial logit (MNL) model accounting for the impact of employer attitudes towards green commuting. The direct and indirect effects of socio-demographic attributes and employer attitudes towards green commuting were estimated. Through the structural equation modelling with mediating variable, this approach confirmed the intermediary nature of car ownership in the choice process. The results found in this paper provide helpful information for transportation and planning policymakers to test the transportation and planning policies effects and encourage green commuting reducing transportation CO2 emissions.
Keywords
latent variable; mediating variable; discrete choice model; structural equation model; travel mode choice; car ownership; green commuting
Hrčak ID:
124160
URI
Publication date:
27.4.2014.
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