Modeling the Reasons of Work Commuter's Car Usage in the Central Business District of Tehran Megalopolis

This paper focuses on the reasons behind the mode choice of car commuters who work in the central part of the City of Tehran. By developing a multinomial Logit model, three main reasons behind the commuters’ car usage including car comfort, car dependency and poor public transit were investigated. The study showed that while the sampled commuters mainly use their car for its comfort, their home location and age affect their reluctance to use public transit. In fact, the non-centrally located residents and elders avoid public transit because of its low quality of services. By calibrating five binary Logit models, in terms of long access times to the stations, travel time variation, low speed, discomfort, and low security, the car commuters’ reasons for not using public transit were modeled. An in-depth analysis of the reasons reveals that the long access times to transit stations are the primary reason of individuals’ unwillingness to use public transit. This reason could be a source of insecurity in addition to its disutility. Finally, to encourage car commuters to use public transit, the study concluded with more network coverage in the city outskirt, providing more information and increasing the comfort of public transit system as the most efficient measures.