Commuting in small towns in rural areas: the case of St Andrews

Arne Hole () and Felix R. FitzRoy
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Felix R. FitzRoy: University of St Andrews

Urban/Regional from EconWPA

Abstract: Since many rural commuters depend on the private car due to lack of convenient public transport, car reduction policies designed for large cities with ample public transport may be unsuitable for smaller towns. In particular, pricing policies designed to encourage public transport use may be less effective, as commuters with no convenient substitute to driving will be unable to switch. This paper develops multinomial and mixed logit models of commuters’ mode choice using data from a survey of commuters in the University of St Andrews. We find that the direct elasticities of the car mode are comparable to estimates reported in studies of commuting in larger urban areas, while the demand for public transport is considerably more elastic. The value of in-vehicle time is found to be about half of the UK average, reflecting that the roads in the St Andrews area are relatively uncongested.

Keywords: Mode choice; Rural commuting; Discrete choice models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C25 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-geo and nep-ure
Date: 2003-12-04, Revised 2004-04-12
Note: Type of Document - ; prepared on WinXP; to print on LaserJet IIIp; pages: 24
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpur:0312001

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