Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Delays due to traffic congestion are problematic for transportation networks around the world, frequently causing drivers to reconsider their routing choices to avoid as much further delay as possible. Understanding driver diversion behavior under disrupted network conditions is critical for both short- and long-term traffic management and planning. This work presents the methods by which a stated preference survey investigating driver diversion behavior was designed and administered in thirteen countries around the world and used to collect a sample of 9,651 responses. Data was collected on diversion likelihood in a variety of scenarios, commute characteristics, traffic information search habits, and sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression models and partial market segmentation techniques were used to group countries with similar levels of diversion likelihood and characterize the most influential factors in diversion decisions, finding that drivers in Egypt and India were the most likely to divert, while drivers in Japan and the US were the least likely to divert. The results of this analysis were used to inform an exploratory factor analysis and structural equations modeling which investigated latent factors in the dataset and the directional relationships between these latent factors and other observed variables. Results showed that longer travel times encourage diversion both directly and by incentivizing information search, which further encourages diversion. Additionally, drivers who live in urban areas were more likely to divert than those in suburban areas. The avenues for further research available to such a dataset are many, including building on previous international studies of mobility behavior, uncertainty, risk avoidance, and employee behavior, as well as comparisons of data collection methods and differences in geography, climate, culture, government type, urban form, and more.
Date
1-20-2026
Recommended Citation
Fuller, James D., "Using International Travel Survey Data to Characterize Driver Route Choice Flexibility" (2026). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6993.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6993
Committee Chair
Wolshon, Brian
Included in
Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Civil Engineering Commons, Global Studies Commons, Transportation Engineering Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons