A Time Perspective on Gendered Travel Differences in Sweden

Abstract: Gender differences in travel behaviors are relevant in addressing equity needs and a variety of policy issues.  In order to effectively design gender equity policy, whether transport-related or other, one must first understand the differences found in travel behaviors between genders and what the implications of those differences are.  This thesis presents two papers aimed at exploring a variety of travel dimensions on the gender level.The first paper reports research on the travel pattern changes over 19 years in the Stockholm region and the influences of these changes.  The study is implemented by comparing two large-scale travel surveys carried out in Stockholm County from 1986-87 and 2004.  By use of statistical and econometric methods, this study analyzes changes in various dimensions of travel patterns, while controlling for changes in external factors, such as automobile ownership, residence location and employment status.  Particular focus is given to how travel in different lifecycle groups (defined by gender, age and household composition) has changed.  The findings show that while travel distance has increased overall, it increases at a higher rate for females than her male counterpart.  In other words, women's travel behavior has become more similar to men's which explains an overall trend increase in travel distance.The second paper presents estimates of the value of commuting time obtained from a model of subjective life satisfaction in the context of a household.  The model uses a correlated error structure for the household dimension in the data and it is estimated as an ordered probit model.  Separate models are, furthermore, estimated for households with and without young children, to capture potential differences for females and males from having young children.  The results indicate that the presence of young children in a household has a significant effect on the influences of commuting time for partnered males and females.  In general when considering the influence of commuting time by gender, it is shown that there is little difference in disutility for females and males without young children but a higher disutility for commuting time for females than her male counterparts when there are young children in the household.  From these findings, it is concluded that the value of commuting time based on subjective life satisfaction is higher for females, particularly in households with young children.