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What is Travel Behavior?
Travel behavior is the way people move in the public realm by all means of travel and for all
purposes. Some of the activities people want to engage in are separated by space, which
requires people to travel. The choices they make in order to travel are based on options,
constraints, habits, and opportunities. For instance, how people travel to work (by car, bus,
subway, or walk), the time they leave, and the duration and type of stops they make on the way,
are important aspects of travel behavior.
Other topics include understanding travel by special population groups such as new immigrants
and the elderly, how household location and economics influence travel, vehicle ownership and
use, and many, many more topics. A recent article discuses changing travel behavior in the
context of growing ethnic and racial diversity: Travel Demand
in the Context of Growing Diversity.
About Ms. McGuckin:
Nancy McGuckin is
an independent consultant and nationally known expert in the interpretation and forecasting
of travel behavior. She is best known for her ability to make meaningful analysis from
complex data sources and her practical interpretation of research. She recently completed
forecasts of travel by older Americans, migration and immigration patterns and trends, and
forecasts of non-work travel for the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue
Study Commission.
In her early
career, she worked for Barton-Aschman/Parson’s Transportation Group developing travel and
ridership forecasts for major investment studies, such as high speed rail systems in
Shanghai, San Juan, and Bangkok. She specializes in social and demographic indicators of
travel demand, and integrates data from safety, health, economic, energy, time-use, and
other pertinent sources to develop the context for planning and policy
initiatives.
Recently she has
turned her focus to research related to current policy concerns, such as sustainability,
equity, and livable communities. She is
developing data sources for performance measures and communication tools to encourage
changes in daily travel that can reduce VMT and greenhouse gas emissions. For example:
A Bicycle Built for Two: Working Together to Reduce The Carbon Impact
of Daily Travel - Click link below for a representational graphic.
Graphic2 - Reducing GHG emissions--bicycle graphic.pdf
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