Vacation Travel and Fuel Shortages: A Critical Comment
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Changes in Vacation Travel in Response to Motor Fuel Shortages and Higher Prices
This study presents findings from a survey administered in November 1975 among a sample of households in southeastern Wisconsin to determine, among other things, the shifts in travel vacations that occurred in response to the higher fuel prices that developed between 1973 and 1975 and that might occur in response to the alternative futures of still higher fuel prices and restricted fuel availability. Specific socioeconomic variables significantly distinguished between households that changed vacation plans and those that did not make changes between 1973 and 1975. We found that the following variables significantly influenced vacation travel: occupation of the household head, household income, education level of the household head, age of the household head, number of children in the household aged 15 and under, and geographic location of the household. Under futuristic alternatives of either higher prices or restructed fuel availability households were willing to experiment with various vacation adjustment strategies. This indicates a lack of clear preference among households for any one strategy.
IMPACT OF THE ENERGY SHORTAGE ON TRAVEL PATTERNS AND ATTITUDES
This paper examines the effect of the energy shortage on transportation patterns and attitudes in the automobile- oriented, suburban Dutch Fork area in Columbia, South Carolina. Data from several nationwide surveys and selected transit operations are also used. The findings from the Dutch Fork area show that the energy shortage did not appreciably reduce (10 to 15 percent) the amount of automobile travel and did not substantially affect transit patterns or attitudes. Traffic volumes decreased primarily on weekends; there was less decline on weekdays. Travel was reduced by driving slower and limiting social- recreational and shopping trips. Shifts in travel behavior were moderate, although people expressed an interest in public transit. Gasoline supply more than price appears to have greatly affected travel habits, although the effect of price appears to be reflected in the buying of more small cars. In other words, people did not move away from relying on the car but rather adjusted their driving behavior to conserve gasoline. Data from national surveys also show this pattern. Possibly, local public transit will not realize appreciable comparative advantage against the automobile on the basis of price, and this further emphasizes the inability of transit to serve a substantial ridership. In addition, failures of public transit to capture and hold a greater part of the market during the energy shortage are a product of poor service quality. The one favorable result for public transit is the verbal support given to transit as a method for dealing with the energy shortage. Public transit can benefit from this support by garnering greater governmental resources, although there are still many reservations about the likelihood of converting public support and governmental investment into substantial patronage increases.