Making the “primary utility of travel” concept operational: A measurement model for the assessment of the intrinsic utility of reported trips

A growing body of research is casting light on the intrinsic utility of the traveling activity, something that seems not identifiable with the utility of performing activities at different locations. As a complement to previous speculative and empirical researches on this topic, the present study proposes a measurement model for the intrinsic, or primary utility of travel. A new definition of primary utility is proposed, keeping into account the users of different transportation modes, beyond car drivers. The model is then estimated on a dataset coming from a mixed behavioral and mobility survey, focusing on weekday trips of less than 50 km. Exploratory factor and item analyses define the set of structural equations used in a subsequent hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis. The rationale of this mixed approach is to adequately capture the complexity of the primary utility concept. The proposed model is found to fit the data satisfactorily well. The analysis of the resulting primary utility scores of the reported trips puts into evidence that intrinsic benefits from the traveling activity are not an exclusivity of car drivers and that they can be detected in work-related as well recreational trips.