UT Survey on Vehicle Ownership Choices and Preferences

Graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin have designed a survey to help explore Austinites’ current vehicle ownership choices and preferences for future vehicles, under various energy policies and vehicle technologies.  This work is done as a public service and has received UT’s Internal Review Board approval. 

The survey is located at http://vehiclesurvey.engr.utexas.edu/, and takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.  The survey results will be used to simulate vehicle fleet holdings over time, across Austin & U.S. households, along with greenhouse gas implications, under different policy & technology scenarios.  This requires an understanding of vehicle purchase, use, & retirement decisions.  At least 1,000 complete responses need to be obtained to make solid inference in many areas.

More details (from the project proposal) are set forth below:

ABSTRACT: Rising gasoline prices, emerging engine technologies, and changes in fuel-economy policy will result in a variety of behavioral changes, including household holdings (number of vehicles, make and model), vehicle purchase and retirement timing decisions, mode choice and travel distances, speeds, and emissions.  This research will enable transportation planners and demand modelers to better anticipate the near- and long-term responses of U.S. households to a variety of vehicle design and pricing assumptions, in order to forecast the nation’s future vehicle fleet holdings and transport-based carbon emissions. 

PROBLEM STATEMENT: This research will anticipate the near- and long-term behavioral changes of travelers and vehicle owners to a variety of gasoline price assumptions, in order to describe the spectrum of vehicle fleet and travel futures that the nation may soon encounter. There are two components to this work: The first can be fairly described as the demand elasticity of gasoline-based transport, or the degree to which price changes affect consumer demand. The second is the menu of vehicle, technology, and travel alternatives and the potential magnitude of the shift into each at different price points.

For additional information please contact:
Dr. Kara M. Kockelman, P.E., PhD
Associate Professor & William J. Murray Jr. Fellow
Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station, #C1761
(Office: 6.9 ECJ)
Austin, TX 78712-0278
512-471-0210; FAX: 512-475-8744
kkockelm@mail.utexas.edu
http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman