Are men or women happier commuters? A study on the determinants of travel mode dissonance and travel satisfaction for dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, China

Yang Hu; Anae Sobhani; Dick Ettema

doi:10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.009

Are men or women happier commuters? A study on the determinants of travel mode dissonance and travel satisfaction for dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, China

Yang Hu^*, Anae Sobhani, Dick Ettema

^*Corresponding author for this work

Urban Accessibility and Social Inclusion

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The extent to which people can travel by their preferred mode (travel mode consonance) and its impact on travel satisfaction has received increased interest in recent years. However, how travel mode consonance and satisfaction differ between spouses has not been investigated. Also, research in this domain from non-western contexts is still limited. Using survey data collected from dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, a small Chinese city, this research provides a deeper investigation into the extent to which female and male partners are able to travel by their preferred travel mode and whether this impacts their travel satisfaction for the commute. Descriptive analysis revealed that only about half of the couples commute by their preferred travel mode, whereas the remaining couples were those where one or both partners were unable to use their preferred travel mode, mostly due to travel distance. Multivariate analysis indicates that travel satisfaction for both couples is more influenced by the travel mode used by individuals rather than whether the chosen travel mode is preferred or not. Moreover, the level of travel satisfaction is significantly associated with perceptions of the environment and traffic congestion during the trip, and this effect differs between women and men.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	131-140
Number of pages	10
Journal	Travel Behaviour and Society
Volume	31
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.009
Publication status	Published - Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for funding this PhD research in the form of a scholarship. We would also like to thank Dr. Guanyi Chen of Utrecht University for providing generous support in capturing travel time in AutoNavi Map.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Funding

The authors would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for funding this PhD research in the form of a scholarship. We would also like to thank Dr. Guanyi Chen of Utrecht University for providing generous support in capturing travel time in AutoNavi Map.

Funders	Funder number
China Scholarship Council (CSC)

Keywords

Attitudes
Dual-earner household
Gender differences
Small Chinese cities
Travel mode dissonance
Travel satisfaction

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.009Licence: CC BY

Are men or women happier commuters_ A study on the determinants of travel mode dissonance and travel satisfaction for dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, ChinaFinal published version, 2.09 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{e83f5e0c4b014182ac244809f00568ea,

title = "Are men or women happier commuters? A study on the determinants of travel mode dissonance and travel satisfaction for dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, China",

abstract = "The extent to which people can travel by their preferred mode (travel mode consonance) and its impact on travel satisfaction has received increased interest in recent years. However, how travel mode consonance and satisfaction differ between spouses has not been investigated. Also, research in this domain from non-western contexts is still limited. Using survey data collected from dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, a small Chinese city, this research provides a deeper investigation into the extent to which female and male partners are able to travel by their preferred travel mode and whether this impacts their travel satisfaction for the commute. Descriptive analysis revealed that only about half of the couples commute by their preferred travel mode, whereas the remaining couples were those where one or both partners were unable to use their preferred travel mode, mostly due to travel distance. Multivariate analysis indicates that travel satisfaction for both couples is more influenced by the travel mode used by individuals rather than whether the chosen travel mode is preferred or not. Moreover, the level of travel satisfaction is significantly associated with perceptions of the environment and traffic congestion during the trip, and this effect differs between women and men.",

keywords = "Attitudes, Dual-earner household, Gender differences, Small Chinese cities, Travel mode dissonance, Travel satisfaction",

author = "Yang Hu and Anae Sobhani and Dick Ettema",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for funding this PhD research in the form of a scholarship. We would also like to thank Dr. Guanyi Chen of Utrecht University for providing generous support in capturing travel time in AutoNavi Map. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

year = "2023",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.009",

language = "English",

volume = "31",

pages = "131--140",

journal = "Travel Behaviour and Society",

issn = "2214-367X",

publisher = "Elsevier BV",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Are men or women happier commuters? A study on the determinants of travel mode dissonance and travel satisfaction for dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, China

AU - Hu, Yang

AU - Sobhani, Anae

AU - Ettema, Dick

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for funding this PhD research in the form of a scholarship. We would also like to thank Dr. Guanyi Chen of Utrecht University for providing generous support in capturing travel time in AutoNavi Map. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)

PY - 2023/4

Y1 - 2023/4

N2 - The extent to which people can travel by their preferred mode (travel mode consonance) and its impact on travel satisfaction has received increased interest in recent years. However, how travel mode consonance and satisfaction differ between spouses has not been investigated. Also, research in this domain from non-western contexts is still limited. Using survey data collected from dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, a small Chinese city, this research provides a deeper investigation into the extent to which female and male partners are able to travel by their preferred travel mode and whether this impacts their travel satisfaction for the commute. Descriptive analysis revealed that only about half of the couples commute by their preferred travel mode, whereas the remaining couples were those where one or both partners were unable to use their preferred travel mode, mostly due to travel distance. Multivariate analysis indicates that travel satisfaction for both couples is more influenced by the travel mode used by individuals rather than whether the chosen travel mode is preferred or not. Moreover, the level of travel satisfaction is significantly associated with perceptions of the environment and traffic congestion during the trip, and this effect differs between women and men.

AB - The extent to which people can travel by their preferred mode (travel mode consonance) and its impact on travel satisfaction has received increased interest in recent years. However, how travel mode consonance and satisfaction differ between spouses has not been investigated. Also, research in this domain from non-western contexts is still limited. Using survey data collected from dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, a small Chinese city, this research provides a deeper investigation into the extent to which female and male partners are able to travel by their preferred travel mode and whether this impacts their travel satisfaction for the commute. Descriptive analysis revealed that only about half of the couples commute by their preferred travel mode, whereas the remaining couples were those where one or both partners were unable to use their preferred travel mode, mostly due to travel distance. Multivariate analysis indicates that travel satisfaction for both couples is more influenced by the travel mode used by individuals rather than whether the chosen travel mode is preferred or not. Moreover, the level of travel satisfaction is significantly associated with perceptions of the environment and traffic congestion during the trip, and this effect differs between women and men.

KW - Attitudes

KW - Dual-earner household

KW - Gender differences

KW - Small Chinese cities

KW - Travel mode dissonance

KW - Travel satisfaction

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144029639&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.009

DO - 10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.009

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85144029639

SN - 2214-367X

VL - 31

SP - 131

EP - 140

JO - Travel Behaviour and Society

JF - Travel Behaviour and Society

ER -

Are men or women happier commuters? A study on the determinants of travel mode dissonance and travel satisfaction for dual-earner couples with school-age children in Ganyu, China

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this