Impact of trip purpose on driving behaviour: case study on commuter behaviour in Belgium

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between the purpose of a trip and the vehicle exhaust emissions caused by the driving behaviour during this trip. More specifically, this research focuses on the difference in driving behaviour between commuter traffic and other traffic. The hypothesis formulated is that people driving to work produce more emissions per kilometer than drivers with other trip purposes, for instance due to a different driving behaviour. To examine this hypothesis, a methodology was developed to relate trip driving behaviour and vehicle emissions to trip purpose, and this method was applied to a small case study. This paper reports on the