A utility-based framework for measuring perceived job accessibility using destination-mode choice models

Matheus Fontenelle Siqueira and Carlos Felipe Grangeiro Loureiro

No xrtwd_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Perceived accessibility has become a central concept in accessibility research, but it is usually measured with psychometric scales, which are not decomposed into the components of accessibility, cannot be recomputed for new scenarios and carry no welfare interpretation. This paper argues that perceived accessibility can be measured with the expected maximum utility (logsum) of a discrete choice model whose choice set represents the alternatives the individual can use and knows, and whose valuations and perception of opportunities are estimated from behavior rather than imposed. The argument is developed from the mechanisms through which calculated and perceived accessibility diverge and applied to home-to-work travel of low-income workers in Fortaleza, Brazil, with a stated and revealed preference survey collected in 2024. The experiment screened the modes presented to each respondent by resources, distance and habitual use, so that the choice set reflects individual availability and awareness. Within a hierarchical structure, a mixed logit mode choice model estimated jointly on stated and revealed choices supplies a mode logsum for every zone, and a destination choice model with a random parameter estimates how the formal job mass is perceived. The measure contains the gravity measure as a restricted case, but estimates the trade-off between attractiveness and impedance, represents heterogeneous perceptions and multimodal availability, and carries a welfare interpretation. Valuations of time differ little between four gender and income strata, whereas the perception of job opportunities is strongly heterogeneous within each stratum. The resulting measure is individual, evaluative, awareness-conditioned and suitable for appraisal.

Date: 2026-10-20
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:xrtwd_v1

DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/xrtwd_v1

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