How Households Use Different Types of Vehicles: A Structural Driver Allocation and Usage Model

The vehicle miles of travel for each vehicle in multi-vehicle households is modeled as a function of household characteristics, vehicle characteristics, and the matches of vehicle to driver in the satisfaction of travel desires. A structural equations model is developed in which principal driver characteristics, as well as vehicle miles of travel, are endogenous. There are links between how each vehicle is used and who in the household is each vehicle’s principal driver. Each vehicle’s usage can then be expressed in reduced-form equations as a function of exogenous household and vehicle type variables for forecasting purposes. The model is estimated on a 1993 sample of approximately 2000 multi-vehicle households in California.