Travel behavior in the face of surface transportation terror threats

This paper focuses on the impact of surface transportation terror threats on travel behavior. In particular, we evaluate the impact on refraining from bus usage and consequently on mode choice, and the extent of passengers' fear and risk perception of a terrorist attack. The paper is based on a survey carried out in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and in Haifa, the third largest metropolitan area in Israel. Both cities, especially Jerusalem, experienced severe terror attacks in the post -9/11 era. The results indicate that the factors investigated, especially fear and risk perception, are central in understanding travel behavior in regard to public transportation in Israel. Women are more afraid of being involved in such a tragedy, perceive its risk to be higher than do men, and therefore the impact on women's travel behavior is more intensive; the level of fear of a terror attack in both cities is similar. The results also show that people are aware that the risk of road crashes is higher than the risk of terror attacks. Although this is in line with the reality, people's behavior may be strongly affected by the threat of terror attacks despite its low probability of occurrence. Consequently, an undesired shift from public transportation to private passenger car may occur.

► Travel behavior is affected by the threat of a terrorist attack.
► Fear and risk perception are central factors in understanding travel behavior.
► Women are more afraid of being involved in a terror attack.
► Intra-city bus is perceived as a mode that frightens passengers more than others.