Comparative analysis of travel pattern using spatial index: A case study in Korea

Since the 5-day workweek policy was effective in 2002, more workers in Korea have adopted the policy. The 5-day workweek policy has changed people's travel behaviors during weekdays and weekends. At the same time, the concomitant travels can impact on the transportation systems. Many studies have been done to understand these changes and impacts. However, these studies have only focused on travel pattern changes without considering spatial factors. This study aims to develop a new index, which can explain travel pattern changes in terms of magnitude and spatial point of views. The new index is developed using a GIS technology and TCS (Toll Collection System) databases. The new index is applied to TCS dataset in 2005. The results show that the index is very useful and reliable to measure the travel patterns changes during weekdays and weekends along time axes. They also show that the 5-day workweek policy significantly affects on travel behaviors spatially.