Mode Choice Behavior Analysis in N1 Highway: A Case Study from Cumilla to Dhaka

Abstract

In Bangladesh, N1 highway is the most important highway and the most vulnerable part of this highway is from Cumilla to Dhaka. However, no study has been conducted to know the mode choice behavior of the road users in this route which is an important step in transportation planning. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the 400 commuters of this route in three specific locations to know the preferable mode choice of road users. From the field survey, it was found that there were mainly seven types of vehicles used by the road users. Those types of vehicles were AC bus, non-AC bus, local bus, microbus, private car, rent a car, and motorcycle. Most of the road users (50.7%) prefer AC bus whereas microbus (1.5%) is the less-preferred mode. Most of the vulnerable road users like female road users (70.23%) and old-aged road users (56%) use AC Bus. To know the actual factors of choosing and predicting mode choice, a multinomial logistics regression analysis is performed. To delineate the model, four socio-economic factors like commuter’s gender, age, income, occupation, and three travel-related factors like duration of travel time, waiting time for getting the desired vehicle and total cost for the trip are considered. From the model, it is found that out of seven factors, five factors (i.e., commuter’s gender, income, travel cost, waiting time, and travel time) played a significant role in selecting the preferable mode. It is also found that data was 85% classified which means this model can predict 85% mode choice accurately.