Exploring the relationship between vehicle type choice and distance traveled: a latent segmentation approach

In the context of vehicle usage decisions, there are two important choice dimensions namely, the choice of vehicle from household fleet that will be utilized for trips and second, the distance traveled to pursue the planned activities. There are interrelationships between these two choice dimensions with one dimension potentially influencing the other. The direction of the interrelationship has important implications for transportation planning and policy analyses. In an effort to explore the interrelationships, a latent segmentation-based modeling approach is proposed in this paper. The approach allows for exploring alternative interrelationship structures between choice dimensions in the same modeling framework. The methodology is demonstrated using data from the latest wave of the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) in the United States. The results show the need for accommodating alternative structures between choice dimensions to accurately describe the vehicle usage decision processes exhibited by individuals.