Analysis of influence of fuel price on individual activity-travel time expenditure

Fluctuation in fuel prices may lead to adaptations in people′s activity-travel behavior. Compared to other triggers of behavioral change, the impact of fuel prices has received only scant attention in the literature, especially with respect to short-run change in activity-travel behavior. To gain insight into this issue, travel diaries of a representative sample of individuals in the Netherlands who use the car for daily travel were analyzed. Seemingly unrelated regression analysis was used to examine the effects of fuel price on people′s travel time expenditures for different kinds of activities, differentiating between weekdays and weekends. The results indicate that fuel price is negatively correlated with travel time expenditures by car, and that this relationship differs between weekdays and weekends. When faced with increasing fuel prices, people seem to prefer reducing travel time expenditure by car for compulsory trips more than for leisure trips.