Data challenges: more behavioural and (relatively) less statistical – a think piece

Abstract

The study of traveller behaviour has blossomed into a multi-disciplinary array of theories, methods and data paradigms all aimed at improving our understanding of drivers of passenger and freight movement in time and space. While progress continues unabated, there remains the challenge of extracting more behavioural richness out of the way in which we work to understand the nuances of preference revelation and hence choice making. In particular, we are a long way from understanding what incentives might work best in attracting behavioural responses that government on behalf of society would like to see as travel outcomes that align with specific policy and strategy objectives. In this paper we discuss a number of informative ways of gaining an increased understanding of behavioural response, which leads into a list of data items worthy of inclusion in new surveys. The paper is designed as a thought piece in line with the role it played as a plenary presentation at the opening of the 2014 International Conference on Travel Survey Methods.