IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i14p8473-d860034.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Group Difference in the Nonlinear Relationship between Commuting Satisfaction and Commuting Time

Author

Listed:
  • Jiankun Yang

    (Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
    School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Kunming University, Kunming 650214, China)

  • Min He

    (Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China)

  • Mingwei He

    (Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China)

Abstract

Analyzing commuting-time satisfaction could help to improve the subjective well-being of society. This study aimed to explore the nonlinear relationship between commuting satisfaction and commuting times in different groups and its influencing factors. An empirical study was conducted in Kunming, China. Firstly, applying a random forest algorithm revealed that there was a nonlinear relationship between commuting satisfaction and commuting time. Secondly, the k-means clustering algorithm was used to divide the respondents into three types of commuter: short-duration-tolerant (group 1), medium-duration-tolerant (group 2), and long-duration-tolerant (group 3). It was found that the commuting-time satisfaction of these three clustered groups had different threshold effects. Specifically, the commuting satisfaction of group 1 showed a nonlinear downward trend, which decreased significantly at 12 and 28 min, respectively; the commuting satisfaction of group 2 rapidly decreased at 35 min; the commuting satisfaction of group 3 first increased in the range of 20–30 min, decreased significantly after 45 min, and decreased sharply above 70 min. These time thresholds were consistent with the ideal commuting times (ICTs) and tolerance thresholds of the commuting times (TTCTs) of the three clustered groups, which indicates that the ICT and TTCT had significant effects on commuting satisfaction. Lastly, the results of the multinominal logistic model showed that variables such as the commuting mode, job–housing distance, income, and educational background had significant effects on the three clustered groups. The policy implications of the study are that commuting circles should be planned with the TTCT as a constraint boundary and ICT as the optimal goal; in addition, different strategies should be adopted for different commuting groups to improve commuting satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiankun Yang & Min He & Mingwei He, 2022. "Exploring the Group Difference in the Nonlinear Relationship between Commuting Satisfaction and Commuting Time," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8473-:d:860034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8473/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8473/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonas De Vos & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Tim Schwanen & Veronique Van Acker & Frank Witlox, 2016. "Travel mode choice and travel satisfaction: bridging the gap between decision utility and experienced utility," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 771-796, September.
    2. Manaugh, Kevin & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2013. "Does distance matter? Exploring the links among values, motivations, home location, and satisfaction in walking trips," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 198-208.
    3. Jonas De Vos & Patrick A. Singleton & Tommy Gärling, 2022. "From attitude to satisfaction: introducing the travel mode choice cycle," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 204-221, March.
    4. Dong Wei & Xiaoshu Cao & Miaomiao Wang, 2019. "What Determines the Psychological Well-Being during Commute in Xi’an: The Role of Built Environment, Travel Attitude, and Travel Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Redman, Lauren & Friman, Margareta & Gärling, Tommy & Hartig, Terry, 2013. "Quality attributes of public transport that attract car users: A research review," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 119-127.
    6. Mouratidis, Kostas & Ettema, Dick & Næss, Petter, 2019. "Urban form, travel behavior, and travel satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 306-320.
    7. Lothlorien Redmond & Patricia Mokhtarian, 2001. "The positive utility of the commute: modeling ideal commute time and relative desired commute amount," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 179-205, May.
    8. Nie, Peng & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Commute time and subjective well-being in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-204.
    9. Christopher D. Higgins & Matthias N. Sweet & Pavlos S. Kanaroglou, 2018. "All minutes are not equal: travel time and the effects of congestion on commute satisfaction in Canadian cities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1249-1268, September.
    10. Ye, Runing & De Vos, Jonas & Ma, Liang, 2020. "Analysing the association of dissonance between actual and ideal commute time and commute satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 47-60.
    11. Kiron Chatterjee & Samuel Chng & Ben Clark & Adrian Davis & Jonas De Vos & Dick Ettema & Susan Handy & Adam Martin & Louise Reardon, 2020. "Commuting and wellbeing: a critical overview of the literature with implications for policy and future research," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 5-34, January.
    12. Zhu, Jing & Fan, Yingling, 2018. "Daily travel behavior and emotional well-being: Effects of trip mode, duration, purpose, and companionship," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 360-373.
    13. Páez, Antonio & Whalen, Kate, 2010. "Enjoyment of commute: A comparison of different transportation modes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 537-549, August.
    14. De Vos, Jonas & Singleton, Patrick A., 2020. "Travel and cognitive dissonance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 525-536.
    15. Vale, David S., 2013. "Does commuting time tolerance impede sustainable urban mobility? Analysing the impacts on commuting behaviour as a result of workplace relocation to a mixed-use centre in Lisbon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 38-48.
    16. Lars Olsson & Tommy Gärling & Dick Ettema & Margareta Friman & Satoshi Fujii, 2013. "Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 255-263, March.
    17. Khashayar Kazemzadeh & Enrico Ronchi, 2022. "From bike to electric bike level-of-service," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 6-31, January.
    18. Majumdar, Bandhan Bandhu & Jayakumar, Malavika & Sahu, Prasanta K. & Potoglou, Dimitris, 2021. "Identification of key determinants of travel satisfaction for developing policy instrument to improve quality of life: An analysis of commuting in Delhi," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 281-292.
    19. Milakis, Dimitris & van Wee, Bert, 2018. "“For me it is always like half an hour”: Exploring the acceptable travel time concept in the US and European contexts," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 113-122.
    20. Sun, Shichao & Yao, Yukun & Xu, Lingyu & He, Xuan & Duan, Zhengyu, 2022. "The use of E-moped increases commute satisfaction and subjective well-being: Evidence from Shanghai, China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 60-73.
    21. Ben Clark & Kiron Chatterjee & Adam Martin & Adrian Davis, 2020. "How commuting affects subjective wellbeing," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 2777-2805, December.
    22. Le, Huyen T.K. & Buehler, Ralph & Fan, Yingling & Hankey, Steve, 2020. "Expanding the positive utility of travel through weeklong tracking: Within-person and multi-environment variability of ideal travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    23. Patricia Mokhtarian & Francis Papon & Matthieu Goulard & Marco Diana, 2015. "What makes travel pleasant and/or tiring? An investigation based on the French National Travel Survey," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1103-1128, November.
    24. Cherry, Christopher R. & Yang, Hongtai & Jones, Luke R. & He, Min, 2016. "Dynamics of electric bike ownership and use in Kunming, China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 127-135.
    25. Hook, Hannah & De Vos, Jonas & Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Do travel options influence how commute time satisfaction relates to the residential built environment?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    26. De Vos, Jonas, 2018. "Do people travel with their preferred travel mode? Analysing the extent of travel mode dissonance and its effect on travel satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 261-274.
    27. He, Mingwei & Zhao, Shengchuan & He, Min, 2016. "Tolerance threshold of commuting time: Evidence from Kunming, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-7.
    28. Vincent-Geslin, Stephanie & Ravalet, Emmanuel, 2016. "Determinants of extreme commuting. Evidence from Brussels, Geneva and Lyon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 240-247.
    29. Milakis, Dimitris & Cervero, Robert & van Wee, Bert & Maat, Kees, 2015. "Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 76-86.
    30. Ettema, Dick & Gärling, Tommy & Olsson, Lars E. & Friman, Margareta & Moerdijk, Sjef, 2013. "The road to happiness: Measuring Dutch car drivers’ satisfaction with travel," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 171-178.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guan, Xiaodong & Wang, Donggen, 2024. "Examining the roles of transport captivity and travel dissonance in travel satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    2. Hook, Hannah & De Vos, Jonas & Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Do travel options influence how commute time satisfaction relates to the residential built environment?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Maheshwari, Richa & Van Acker, Veronique & Gerber, Philippe, 2024. "Commuting vs teleworking: How does it impact the relationship between commuting satisfaction and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    4. Ye, Runing & De Vos, Jonas & Ma, Liang, 2020. "Analysing the association of dissonance between actual and ideal commute time and commute satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 47-60.
    5. Sun, Shichao & Yao, Yukun & Xu, Lingyu & He, Xuan & Duan, Zhengyu, 2022. "The use of E-moped increases commute satisfaction and subjective well-being: Evidence from Shanghai, China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 60-73.
    6. Philippe Gerber & Marius Thériault & Christophe Enaux & Samuel Carpentier-Postel, 2020. "Links between Attitudes, Mode Choice, and Travel Satisfaction: A Cross-Border Long-Commute Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, November.
    7. Lades, Leonhard K. & Kelly, Andrew & Kelleher, Luke, 2020. "Why is active travel more satisfying than motorized travel? Evidence from Dublin," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 318-333.
    8. Timmer, Sebastian & Merfeld, Katrin & Henkel, Sven, 2023. "Exploring motivations for multimodal commuting: A hierarchical means-end chain analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Li, Shengxiao (Alex) & Guan, Xiaodong & Wang, Donggen, 2022. "How do constrained car ownership and car use influence travel and life satisfaction?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 202-218.
    10. Le, Huyen T.K. & Buehler, Ralph & Fan, Yingling & Hankey, Steve, 2020. "Expanding the positive utility of travel through weeklong tracking: Within-person and multi-environment variability of ideal travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2022. "Green mobility and well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    12. Ghadir Pourhashem & Christina Georgouli & Eva Malichová & Milan Straka & Tatiana Kováčiková, 2024. "Factors influencing the perceived value of travel time in European urban areas," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1525-1545, August.
    13. De Vos, Jonas & Witlox, Frank, 2017. "Travel satisfaction revisited. On the pivotal role of travel satisfaction in conceptualising a travel behaviour process," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 364-373.
    14. Zhu, Jing & Fan, Yingling, 2018. "Daily travel behavior and emotional well-being: Effects of trip mode, duration, purpose, and companionship," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 360-373.
    15. Van Acker, Veronique & Ho, Loan & Mulley, Corinne, 2021. "“Satisfaction lies in the effort”. Is Gandhi’s quote also true for satisfaction with commuting?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 214-227.
    16. De Vos, Jonas & Mouratidis, Kostas & Cheng, Long & Kamruzzaman, Md., 2021. "Does a residential relocation enable satisfying travel?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 188-201.
    17. Sun, Fan & Jin, Minjie & Zhang, Tao & Huang, Wencheng, 2022. "Satisfaction differences in bus traveling among low-income individuals before and after COVID-19," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 311-332.
    18. Dong Wei & Xiaoshu Cao & Miaomiao Wang, 2019. "What Determines the Psychological Well-Being during Commute in Xi’an: The Role of Built Environment, Travel Attitude, and Travel Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-21, March.
    19. Jonas De Vos & E. Owen D. Waygood & Laurence Letarte & Mengqiu Cao, 2022. "Do frequent satisfying trips by public transport impact its intended use in later life?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1245-1263, August.
    20. Khaleghi, Marjan & Kato, Hirokazu, 2023. "Children’s non-school trips, travel-related subjective well-being, and life satisfaction: Evidence from young adolescents in rural Japan," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8473-:d:860034. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.