Heterogeneity in car-sharing decisions under uncertain travel time: A context-dependent latent class modeling approach

The present study is designed to investigate heterogeneity in car-sharing decisions due to different activitytravel contexts. It is assumed that people's preference of using car-sharing and sensitivity to uncertain travel times varies according to contextual factors at the moment of making a decision. In order to identify such heterogeneity, a context-dependent latent class model is developed, which employs the contextual factors as covariates of the class membership probability. The model is estimated based on the data collected through a stated choice experiment allowing for activity-travel context as experimental attributes. The estimation results show that people tend to be less willing to use car-sharing and tend to be more sensitive to the uncertainty in travel times when they are pressured by a lack of time to travel.