Effective Speed: Factors That Influence the Attractiveness of Cost Effective and Sustainable Modes of Transport in Cities

Maren Schnieder ()
Additional contact information
Maren Schnieder: Faculty of Business and Law, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-21

Abstract: Background: People invest hours of their working day to pay for their vehicle. Is this a worthwhile use of their time? Wouldn’t public transport be a more economical solution for those on low income? Which demographic group typically chooses the most effective mode of transport? Aim: The two studies presented in this paper answer those fundamental questions based on the effective speed concept. This is calculated by dividing the distance travelled by time (i.e., minutes spent travelling and earning the money to afford it). Methodology: A digital model of the residents in Berlin is created to calculate the ‘effective speed’ for everyone. In the second study, based on a survey of residents in New York City, the best mode of transport for each respondent based on their effective speed has been identified and compared to the mode chosen. Results: The results of the Berlin case study show that the mode share for cars would be less than 6% if people choose the mode of transport with the highest effective speed. A similar picture is seen in NYC. Factors that significantly affect whether people who should use public transport, do so, include: age, gender, education, place of work or home.

Keywords: effective speed; mode choice; public transport; sustainable transportation; bicycle; travel mode choice; mode choice behavior; ridership; revealed preference; urban mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8338/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8338/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8338-:d:1151777

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().