Modeling mode choice in short trips to Tehran central: Investigating the role of transportation demand management policies on private car usage

Congestion due to the use of private cars is a common problem for large cities and imposes environmental and social costs. Transportation demand management (TDM), therefore, refers to an approach which directs to a more efficient use of urban transportation resources. Typically, reduction in private car use is the main goal of this approach. A major part of daily car usage in cities is due to commuters’ short trips which are more subjected to mode change because of having fewer constraints. This study focuses on managing the demand for short trips whose destinations are Tehran central. Two pull policies (i.e. transit time reduction and transit access improvement) and three push policies (i.e. increasing fuel cost, increasing parking cost, and cordon pricing) are investigated on 126 commuters whose workplaces are in Tehran central and their driving distance is less than eight kilometers. Adopting an approach, namely multi-instrumentality, design of this study is enhanced by considering interactions of TDM policies. By developing a behavioral mode choice model in the form of multinomial logit, significant transportation-related variables are discovered and interpreted, respectively. The application of model regarding the effect of cordon pricing policy on private car usage is also presented.