Examining Consumer Behavior and Travel Choices

Portland State University PDXScholar Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations Civil and Environmental Engineering 2-2013 Examining Consumer Behavior and Travel Choices Kelly J Clifton Portland State University Christopher Devlin Muhs Portland State University, cdmuhs@gmail.com Sara Morrissey Portland State University Tomás Morrissey Portland State University Kristina Marie Currans Portland State University, curransk@gmail.com See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cengin_fac Part of the Civil Engineering Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, and the Transportation Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits you Citation Details Clifton, Kelly J., Christopher Devlin Muhs, Sara Morrissey, Tomás Morrissey, Kristina Marie Currans, and Chloe Ritter "Examining consumer behavior and travel choices." OTREC-RR-12-15 Portland, OR: Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.15760/trec.114 This Report is brought to you for free and open access It has been accepted for inclusion in Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: pdxscholar@pdx.edu Authors Kelly J Clifton, Christopher Devlin Muhs, Sara Morrissey, Tomás Morrissey, Kristina Marie Currans, and Chloe Ritter This report is available at PDXScholar: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cengin_fac/145 OTREC FINAL REPORT Examining Consumer Behavior and Travel Choices OTREC-RR-12-15 February 2013 A National University Transportation Center sponsored by the U.S Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration OREGON TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CONSORTIUM EXAMINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND TRAVEL CHOICES Final Report OTREC-RR-12-15 by Professor Kelly J Clifton Christopher Muhs Sara Morrissey Tomás Morrissey Kristina Currans Chloe Ritter Portland State University for P.O Box 751 Portland, OR 97207 February 2013 SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION FACTORS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS Symbol Symbol When You Know LENGTH Multiply By To Find Symbol LENGTH in inches 25.4 millimeters mm mm millimeters 0.039 inches in ft feet 0.305 meters m m meters 3.28 feet ft yd yards 0.914 meters m m meters 1.09 yards yd mi miles 1.61 kilometers km km kilometers 0.621 miles mi in2 square inches 645.2 millimeters squared mm2 mm2 millimeters squared 0.0016 square inches in2 ft2 square feet 0.093 meters squared m2 m2 meters squared 10.764 square feet ft2 yd2 square yards 0.836 meters squared m2 hectares 2.47 acres ac ac acres 0.405 hectares km2 kilometers squared 0.386 square miles mi2 mi2 square miles 2.59 kilometers squared km2 mL milliliters 0.034 fluid ounces fl oz L AREA AREA VOLUME fl oz gal ft yd3 fluid ounces 29.57 gallons 3.785 milliliters liters mL L VOLUME liters 0.264 gallons gal meters cubed 35.315 cubic feet ft3 m meters cubed 1.308 cubic yards yd3 g grams 0.035 ounces oz kg kilograms 2.205 pounds lb Mg megagrams 1.102 short tons (2000 lb) T m cubic feet 0.028 meters cubed m cubic yards 0.765 meters cubed m3 NOTE: Volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m MASS oz ounces 28.35 grams g lb pounds 0.454 kilograms kg T short tons (2000 lb) 0.907 megagrams Mg MASS TEMPERATURE (exact) C Celsius temperature 1.8 + 32 Fahrenheit F TEMPERATURE (exact) F Fahrenheit temperature 5(F-32)/9 Celsius temperature * SI is the symbol for the International System of Measurement C (4-7-94 jbp) Technical Report Documentation Page Report No OTREC-RR-12-15 Title and Subtitle Government Accession No Recipient’s Catalog No Report Date February 2013 Examining Consumer Behavior and Travel Choices Performing Organization Code Author(s) Professor Kelly J Clifton Christopher Muhs Sara Morrissey Tomás Morrissey Kristina Currans Chloe Ritter Performing Organization Report No Performing Organization Name and Address 10 Work Unit No (TRAIS) Portland State University 11 Contract or Grant No 2011-411 13 Type of Report and Period Covered 12 Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) P.O Box 751 Portland, Oregon 97207 15 Supplementary Notes 14 Sponsoring Agency Code 16 Abstract This study represents a first attempt to answer a few of the questions that have arisen concerning multimodal transportation investments and the impacts of mode shifts on the business community This research aims to merge the long history of scholarly work that examines the impacts of the built environment on non-work travel with the relatively new interest in consumer spending by mode of travel This empirical study of travel choices and consumer spending across 89 businesses in the Portland metropolitan area shows there are important differences between the amounts customers spend on average at various businesses by their mode of travel However, these differences become less pronounced when we control for demographics of the customer and other attributes of the trip This study of consumer spending and travel choices has some compelling findings that suggest some key spending and frequency differences by mode of travel that will likely invigorate the discussion of the economic impacts of these modes Key findings are: 1) Bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders are competitive consumers: When demographics and socioeconomics are controlled for, mode choice does not have a statistically significant impact on consumer spending at convenience stores, drinking establishments and restaurants When trip frequency is accounted for, the average monthly expenditures by customer modes of travel reveal that bicyclists, transit users and pedestrians are competitive consumers and, for all businesses except supermarkets, spend more on average than those who drive and 2) The built environment matters: We support previous literature and find that residential and employment density, the proximity to rail transit, and the amount of automobile and bicycle parking are all important in explaining the use of non-automobile modes In particular, provision of bike parking and bike corrals are significant predictors of bike mode share at the establishment level Other findings lend more insight into the relationship between consumer behavior and travel choices For the non-work destinations studied, the automobile remains the dominant mode of travel Patrons are largely arriving by private vehicle to most of the destinations in this study, particularly to grocery stores where larger quantities of goods tend to be purchased But, high non-automobile mode shares and short travel distances exist in areas of concentrated urban activity In sum, this study provides some empirical evidence to answer the questions of business owners about how mode shifts might impact their market shares and revenues More work is needed to better understand the implications of future changes and to provide a robust assessment of the returns on these investments and their economic impacts 17 Key Words consumer spending, bicycling, economics, pedestrians, mode shares, business community 19 Security Classification (of this report) Unclassified 18 Distribution Statement No restrictions Copies available from OTREC: www.otrec.us 20 Security Classification (of this page) Unclassified 21 No of Pages 70 i 22 Price ii ... automobile spot TRAVEL MODE AND SPENDING STUDIES While links between non-work travel and mode have been explored, research between mode and consumer behavior (consumer spending and spending frequency)... non-work travel with the relatively new interest in consumer spending by mode of travel This empirical study of travel choices and consumer spending across 89 businesses in the Portland metropolitan... of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration OREGON TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CONSORTIUM EXAMINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND TRAVEL CHOICES Final Report OTREC-RR-12-15