Means of transportation choice for the residents of Villavicencio, Colombia: A quantitative analysis

- This study describes how Villavicencio inhabitants choose their transport mode.
- Traffic in Villavicencio - Colombia - generated a number of unresolved challenges.
- Characteristics of household members influence the choice of the transport mode.
- The priority of central/local Government should be the public transport service.
- The creation of a safer transportation environment should be a priority too.

This study describes the decision making process used by the residents of Villavicencio - department of Meta, central Colombia - to choose among different means of transport for their daily needs. This study constitutes an attempt to bring the attention to the traffic problem in Villavicencio, where the increase in the use of cars and motorcycles in the last decade has been exponential, with the result of generating a number of unresolved challenges-road accidents, traffic congestion, pollution and occupation of public space.This study uses data from the survey 'Encuesta domiciliaria origen-destino' conducted in the municipality of Villavicencio in 2008 and applies a multinomial logit model to establish the probability of choosing the mean of transport conditioned on a number of controls related to the individuals' socioeconomic characteristics, to the location of the work and that of the dwelling.The results of both the descriptive statistics and the econometric model show that the variables related to the age of the resident, his/her socioeconomic level, time and cost of the journey are among the variables which mostly influence the resident decisions when choosing the mean of transport. In view of the constant increase in the traffic congestion and road related accidents recorded in the last decade in the area, the priority of the both the central Government and local Government should be the improvement of the public transport service - which is almost absent - and the creation of a safer environment to allow residents to cycle and to walk without impending danger.