Development of Mode Choice Models for Undergraduate Students in Baghdad City

Mode choice is one of the most essential stages in the transportation planning process and it has a direct impact on policy-making decisions. Mode choice models deal very closely with the individual preferences and behavior, thus continues to attract researchers for further investigation of commuter’s choice making process. This study contains a review of various modeling methods of mode choice analysis, the factors that affect the personality of the travelers have been discussed also. Furthermore, it emphasizes on students who have some characteristics of tripmakers that differ from those of other tripmakers. These characteristics are related to their priorities like time importance and safety. In this study, the main purpose was to develop mode choice models for students in three universities in Baghdad city. A questionnaire was designed and distributed at the three universities under study, then behavioral mode-choice models were successfully built and validated. These models pointed that travel cost, gender, travel time, comfort, and safety have their effects on travel modes of utilization. These models will be helpful in travel demand analysis, so it can be considered by related authorities to improve public transit services in order to shift these users from private to public transport, thereby contributing to sustainability.