Workplace travel plans: can they be evaluated effectively by experts?

Abstract

Employers are regularly involved in transport planning and characteristic workplace-oriented tools include: (1) travel plans for building projects, (2) mandatory travel plans, (3) subsidies to employers with an advanced travel plan and (4) best travel plan awards. In all cases, experts judge the level of car use. We argue that decision-makers might benefit from a multiple regression-based benchmark modelling tool that estimates the expected share of the car. In this paper, we estimate the share of car users in the commuting modal split at workplaces. However, since the amount of information available to experts differs, we gradually add information to the model to measure the impact of data availability. Without historic data on modal split, the current share can only be predicted moderately well, i.e. within a 20% range. Besides adding the past, results improve by using homogenous and regional subsamples. Nevertheless, quantitative analyses do not make expert knowledge obsolete.

Keywords:

• workplace travel plan
• mobility management
• transportation demand management
• sustainable mobility
• commuting
• Belgium

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Ann Verhetsel for her useful comments and he is grateful to the other members of the Belgian Science Policy ADICCT project.

Funding

Part of this research is funded by the Flemish Policy Research Centre for Freight and Passenger Mobility (MOBILO).

Additional information

Funding

Funding: Part of this research is funded by the Flemish Policy Research Centre for Freight and Passenger Mobility (MOBILO).