Trip chain complexity: a comparison among latent classes of daily mobility patterns

This paper studies the relationship between trip chain complexity and daily travel behaviour of travellers. While trip chain complexity is conventionally investigated between travel modes, our scope is the more aggregated level of a person’s activity-travel pattern. Using data from the Netherlands Mobility Panel, a latent class cluster analysis was performed to group people with similar mode choice behaviour in distinct mobility pattern classes. All trip chains were assigned to both a travel mode and the mobility pattern class of the traveller. Subsequently, differences in trip chain complexity distributions were analysed between travel modes and between mobility pattern classes. Results indicate considerable differences between travel modes, particularly between multimodal and unimodal trip chains, but also between the unimodal travel modes car, bicycle, walking and public transport trip chains. No substantial differences in trip chain complexity were found between mobility pattern classes. Independently of the included travel modes, the distributions of trip chain complexity degrees were similar across mobility pattern classes. This means that personal circumstances such as the number of working hours or household members are not systematically translated into specific mobility patterns.

     

Rail access charges in France: Beyond the opposition between competition and financing

Access charges to the railway infrastructures, and in particular of the high speed lines, poses many theoretical and practical questions. Besides the need to decide whether it is better to apply a principle of marginal cost or a full cost approach, a difficulty arises with regard to the possibilities of competition between various operators. France is especially affected by this problem since access charges are particularly high while at the same time competition is non-existent. Is this absence of competition explained by the high level of access charges? After describing the principles which underlie the pricing scheme for high speed trains in France, this paper attempts to find out if these tolls constitute a barrier to entry. After building a model that summarizes the components of supply and demand on the Paris–Lyon journey, this paper shows that the considerations relating to demand (peak hour or off-peak hour) are more fundamental than access charges, which do not in themselves constitute a barrier to entry. Barriers exist, but they involve access charges in relation to the allocation of slots which would make it possible to guarantee certain profitability to a new entrant. Break-even points are proposed which show that SNCF's potential competitors have margins for manoeuvre.