Effect on Travelers' Activities and Environmental Impacts by Introducing a Next-Generation Personal Transport System in a City

Several car manufacturers have proposed an alternative mode of auto transport called the low-speed private travel mode (LSPTM). It is a small single-seat electric vehicle that can run at speeds of around 5-20 km/h. Further, it is regarded as a tool to improve the mobility of pedestrians and encourage the use of public transport. The aim of this study was to estimate how the mobility of pedestrians will be improved and how the environment will be impacted by the introduction of this vehicle. At the outset, a stated preference survey of the modal choices is conducted to ascertain the users' preference for the LSPTM to walking based on the actual trips of the respondents measured using the probe person survey system. To evaluate how traveler's activities will be expanded by the LSPTM, a joint logit model was proposed to predict the destination and mode choices of travelers travelling from a train station in the central area of Kobe to their destinations with parameters estimated by the stated preference survey of the modal choices. Based on the model, it was concluded that the size of the area where half the number of people visit increased by 2.6 times after introducing the LSPTM at a fare of 50 yen. This can encourage people to use trains and the LSPTM instead of cars, which can cause the total reduction of the emissions.