Effect of perception and attitudinal variables on mode choice behavior: A case study of Indian city, Agartala

Attitudes and perceptions play a significant role in the individual's selection of a travel mode. In the developing cities of India, socioeconomic characteristics vary significantly among the trip makers and subsequently the perception towards various travel modes. In this study, variables such as the comfort and flexibility offered by different travel modes were used to estimate an Integrated Choice and Latent Variable (ICLV) model for understanding the effect of latent variables on mode choice behavior. With a model estimated using 561 work trip data collected from Agartala city, located in the North East part of India, we found that the comfort and flexibility influence the individual's choice of mode. The results obtained from the ICLV model support the hypothesis that the effect of attitude and perception is important in mode choice behavior and useful for transportation planners and policy makers.