Travel Characteristics on Weekends:Implications for Planning and Policy Making
National Household Travel Survey Conference
November 1-2, 2004Washington, D.C.
Ram M. PendyalaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida, Tampa
Ashish AgarwalCambridge Systematics, Cambridge, MA
IntroductionFocus of travel demand analysis:
Weekday travel behavior (typical)Weekday peak period travel demand
Strategies to alleviate weekday peak period congestionTravel surveys heavily oriented towards weekday trip data collectionLittle attention, if any, paid to weekend travel demand characteristics
MotivationGrowing congestion on weekendsDifferent nature and spatial-temporal characteristics of trips on weekendsMeeting people’s weekend travel needs
InfrastructureStrategies and policies
Address explicitly in planning process
MotivationNCHRP 365 – resource for estimating travel demand in urban areasBased on 1990 NPTS dataProvides detailed travel demand characteristics for weekdaysUpdate information using 2001 NHTS and supplement weekday information with weekend data
2001 NHTS: Sample Characteristics
8.4%5.8%% Zero Travel65%66%% MSA > 1 mil
36.0%35.5%% $25K-$55K60.8%60.3%% Sngl Fam DU1.751.73# Drivers1.841.79Auto Ownership2.562.52Hhld Size
12,262 (63.3 mil)32,917 (153.9 mil)Persons5,318 (24.8 mil)14,470 (60.6 mil)Households
WeekendWeekdayCharacteristic
2001 NHTS: Sample Characteristics
31.8%32.8%% ≥ Coll Degree 52.3%52.8%% Worker
51.3%51.3%% Female35.335.3Age in years
WeekendWeekdayCharacteristic
Household and Person Trip Rates
0123456789
10
PrsnTrips/Hhld
VehTrips/Hhld
PrsnTrips/Male
PrsnTrips/Female
VehTrips/Male
VehTrips/Female
WeekdayWeekend
Distribution of Person Trips by Purpose
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB
Per
cent
of T
rips
WeekdayWeekend
Average Trip Length by Purpose
0
5
10
15
20
25
HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB
Trip
Mile
s (L
engt
h) a
nd M
inut
es (D
urat
ion
Weekday Trip LengthWeekend Trip LengthWeekday Trip DurationWeekend Trip Duration
Daily VMT/PMT/PTT by Purpose
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB All
Dai
ly M
iles
or M
inut
es
Weekday Hhld VMTWeekend Hhld VMTWeekday Prsn PMTWeekend Prsn PMTWeekday Prsn PTTWeekend Prsn PTT
Daily VMT/PMT/PTT by Gender
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Male VMT Female VMT Male PMT Female PMT
Dai
ly M
iles
WeekdayWeekend
Mode Split: MSA Size 1-3 million
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
SOV HOV Bus/LRT Metro/HvyRail
Com Rail Walk Bicycle
Per
cent
of T
rips
Weekday HBWWeekend HBWWeekday AllWeekend All
Mode Split: MSA Size ≥3 mil w/Hvy Rail
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
SOV HOV Bus/LRT Metro/HvyRail
Com Rail Walk Bicycle
Per
cent
of T
rips
Weekday HBWWeekend HBWWeekday AllWeekend All
Average Vehicle Occupancy by Purpose
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
HBW HBShop HBSoc HBOther NHB All
Ave
rage
Veh
icle
Occ
upan
cy
WeekdayWeekend
Time of Day Distribution of Trips
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
12:00
AM1:0
0 AM
2:00 A
M3:0
0 AM
4:00 A
M5:0
0 AM
6:00 A
M7:0
0 AM
8:00 A
M9:0
0 AM
10:00
AM11
:00 AM
12:00
PM1:0
0 PM
2:00 P
M3:0
0 PM
4:00 P
M5:0
0 PM
6:00 P
M7:0
0 PM
8:00 P
M9:0
0 PM
10:00
PM11
:00 PM
Perc
ent o
f Trip
s
Weekday HBWWeekend HBWWeekday AllWeekend All
Time of Day Distribution of Trips
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
12:00
AM
1:00
AM
2:00
AM
3:00
AM
4:00
AM
5:00
AM
6:00
AM
7:00
AM
8:00
AM
9:00
AM
10:00
AM
11:00
AM
12:00
PM
1:00
PM
2:00
PM
3:00
PM
4:00
PM
5:00
PM
6:00
PM
7:00
PM
8:00
PM
9:00
PM
10:00
PM
11:00
PM
Perc
ent o
f Trip
s
Weekday MaleWeekend MaleWeekday FemaleWeekend Female
Daily Activity and Travel Durations (min)
13.593532Social
519415Recreational
29882664Maintenance
57120289Subsistence
TravelActivityTravelActivity
WeekendWeekdayCategory
Weekend Travel DemandWeekend travel behavior characterized by:
Larger amounts of non-work travelLonger trip lengths, but shorter trip durationsLower levels of daily VMT and PMTSubstantially lower SOV and higher HOV mode shares (higher auto occupancy rates)Flat and wide midday peak in temporal distribution
Noticeable differences between weekday and weekend travel
Conclusions
NHTS is a powerful resource for analyzing/ modeling weekend travel demandSpecial considerations for weekend travel modeling:
Time of day distributionAuto occupancy – joint trip makingActivity type choice Location choiceActivity duration to travel duration ratioExplore trip chaining patterns in detail
Implications
Development of parallel stream of weekend activity-travel modelsInterdependency between weekday and weekend activity and travel engagementTowards models of weekly (or multiday) activity-travel behaviorConsideration for making NHTS a multiday travel survey – weekend and weekday data
Policy ConsiderationsLand use – transport infrastructure, travel choices, and public health
Social and recreational activity engagement higher on weekends; greater scope for active livingExamine auto dependency on weekends
Equity/access considerations – access to jobsWeekend travel – greater proportion that offers positive utility? Congestion mitigation in non-work locations