Investigating the Stability and Evolution of Transportation-related Attitudes: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Survey Samples

Term Start:

June 1, 2026

Term End:

May 31, 2027

Budget:

$250,001

Keywords:

Attitudes, Longitudinal studies, Travel Behavior

Thrust Area(s):

Data Modeling and Analytic Tools, Understanding User Needs

University Lead:

Georgia Institute of Technology

Researcher(s):

Patricia Mokhtarian

Despite extensive evidence linking attitudes to behavior in the academic literature, challenges in measuring and forecasting attitudes remain key barriers to incorporating travelers’ attitudes into practice-oriented regional travel demand models. Recent studies have focused primarily on addressing measurement challenges, exploring and validating several approaches including the marker variable approach, which involves including an abbreviated set of attitudinal items (rather than a full set) in household travel surveys. Complementing these prior studies, this project addresses forecasting challenges, by examining temporal changes in transportation-related attitudes. Two panel samples are employed: overlapping respondents from (a) two surveys administered in Georgia in 2017 and 2022 (N = 142) and (b) the 2024 and 2025 waves of The Transportation Heartbeat of America Survey (N = 701). After identifying attitudinal factors using exploratory factor analysis, this project will compare attitudinal changes in subsamples with varying socio-economic and demographic (SED) characteristics, focusing on whether raw attitudinal variables or attitudinal factor scores are more stable, which attitude types (e.g., travel, residential preferences, technology) exhibit greater stability, and for whom. Additionally, disaggregate-level statistical models of attitudinal changes are developed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the observed changes. Overall, this project will provide foundational insights that can help analyze travel demand under scenarios involving changes in key input variables—including attitudes—with plausible and empirically-grounded assumptions about how attitudes may evolve and how they relate to other factors, which ultimately will advance the incorporation of attitudes into demand modeling and planning practice.

Project scope

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