Value-Based Approach to Assess the Impact of Lifestyles on Mode Shares

Travel behavior research has long been dominated by a rational perspective considering primarily objective factors such as price, travel time, and speed. Only at the end of the 1990s was attention also paid to subjective factors such as perceptions and attitudes. Since then, a growing number of studies combine objective and subjective factors in explaining travel behavior. This paper adds to this by focusing on the influence of lifestyles on mode share. To this end, an online survey was carried out in Belgium, completed successfully by 334 respondents. Lifestyles were measured based on a psychographic or value-based approach using the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) developed by Schwartz. Results of a structural equation model (SEM) indicate that using value-based lifestyles adds new insights to the analysis of mode share. Personal values have not only a direct effect on mode share but also an indirect effect because of interactions with urban residential location choices, car ownership decisions, and activity patterns. The findings suggest that public transport use could be encouraged by promoting it as an act of caring for others. At the same time, policy-makers should invest in creating positive experiences for travelers using public transport.