Publication Detail

TTB or Not TTB, That is the Question: A Review and Analysis of the Empirical Literature on Travel Time (and Money) Budgets

UCD-ITS-RP-03-22

Journal Article

Available online at doi: 10.1016/j.tra.2003.12.004 

Suggested Citation:
Mokhtarian, Patricia L. and Cynthia Chen (2003) TTB or Not TTB, That is the Question: A Review and Analysis of the Empirical Literature on Travel Time (and Money) Budgets. Transportation Research Part A 38 (9-10), 643 - 675

This paper summarizes and analyses findings from more than two dozen aggregate and disaggregate studies of travel time (and sometimes money) expenditures, exploring the question of the existence of a constant travel time budget. We conclude (with prior researchers) that travel time expenditures are not constant except, perhaps, at the most aggregate level. Nevertheless, individuals travel time expenditures do show patterns that can be partly explained by measurable characteristics. Travel time expenditure is strongly related to individual and household characteristics (e.g., income level, gender, employment status, and car ownership), attributes of activities at the destination (e.g., activity group and activity duration), and characteristics of residential areas (e.g., density, spatial structure, and level of service). To the extent that travel time expenditures are constant at the aggregate level, the underlying mechanisms explaining that regularity are not well understood. Consequently, further research into explaining travel time and money expenditure patterns is justified.