Access mode choice behaviors of water transportation: a case of Bangkok

This research attempted to analyze the impacts of the enhancement of access modes to the main water transportation mode in Bangkok, Thailand. In order to achieve this purpose, access mode choice behaviors are modeled using the probability distribution function (PDF) model, the multinomial logit (MNL) model, and the nested logit (NL) model. The study also attempted to analyze the catchment areas for different access modes and the factors affecting them. Factors affecting the extent of the catchment area such as main haul distance were evaluated. Based on survey results, service attributes such as access cost, in-vehicle travel time, and out-of-vehicle travel time (OVTT) were found to have a significant impact on access mode choice behavior. Socioeconomic factors such as age, gender, income, and occupation were found to affect access mode choice behavior as well. Apart from these factors, trip departure time, egress mode used, and main haul distance were also found to affect access mode choice behavior. It was evaluated that the NL model is most suitable to model access mode choice behavior. A selected NL model was applied in order to predict the impacts of adopting different policies. It was found that reducing in-vehicle travel time, waiting time and/or cost of the bus ride gave most significant impact on the enhancement of access modes. As results of this study, various methods have been suggested to enhance the access/egress service of the water transportation. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.