Development of Script-Based Travel Mode Choice After Forced Change

A previously proposed model [Transportation Research F: Traffic Psychology and Behavior 4 (2001) 89] predicts that frequent choice of a particular travel mode will result in a habitual or script-based choice of the travel mode. In Study 1 a first wave of a panel survey of 53 students at different Japanese universities was conducted 2 months before the students graduated, a second wave 3 months after graduation when the students had been employed by companies at different other locations. In many cases the change after the graduation resulted in change of respondents' commuting mode. The results showed that script-based travel mode choice developed in those who had changed travel mode most (either to more public transport use or more automobile use). Study 2 indicated that frequent drivers who changed to public transport during a 8-day freeway closure continued to use public transport more frequently one year after the closure than did those drivers who did not change to public transport during the closure. This enduring effect was interpreted to reflect the development of a script-based travel mode choice.