Campus commute mode choice in a college town: An application of the integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model

• The ICLV model elucidates complex behaviors of campus commute mode choice better than the MNL model. • Mode preferences and environmental attitudes are critical determinants of campus commute mode choices. • Policy efforts to change commuter attitudes would be as effective as measures that improve actual transportation systems. This study examined commute mode choice in a small college town by employing an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model to adequately address the role of attitudinal variables, such as pro-car, pro-bus, and pro-environmental attitudes. The campus commute data (n = 554) came from an individual travel survey of the faculty and staff at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The ICLV model provided a richer and more nuanced understanding of the commute mode choice of campus members than a traditional multinomial logit (MNL) model by illustrating how various sociodemographic characteristics influence mode decisions through mode preference and environmental attitudes. Results of a scenario analysis show that policy efforts that aim to shift commuter attitudes toward sustainable modes can be as effective as measures that improve actual transportation systems.