Change in Commuters’ Trip Characteristics Under Driving Restriction Policies

Abstract

In order to alleviate traffic congestion and environmental pollution, many cities in China have gradually adopted traffic demand management strategies. Driving restriction policies of motorized vehicles are widely implemented. Zhengzhou City implemented the even–odd number restriction policy from 4 December to 31 December 2017. Thereafter, from 1 January 2018, the tail number of license plate restriction policy was utilized. Under this background, an online questionnaire about commuters’ trip characteristics before and after the driving restriction is designed. Using the survey data, commuters’ acceptance of driving restriction policies and the influence of restriction policies on their travel mode choices are investigated. Results show that under the even–odd number restriction policy, most commuters’ travel modes are transferred to private electric bicycles or bicycles, buses or subways; while under the tail number of license plate restriction policy, most commuters’ travel modes are transferred to cars-hailing service, buses or subways. Besides, most commuters prefer the driving restriction policy with two tail number of license plate per day. Because new energy vehicles are not included in driving restriction policies, some commuters tend to buy a second car with new energy.