Modelling value of time for trip chains in daily schedules

Abstract

The decision about spending time on an activity, switching to the next activity and transport mode used to travel to the next activity location depends on money value of time; opportunity cost of time at activity. Optimal condition of transition between two activities occurs when their marginal utility of time is equal. The presented framework in this paper models the marginal utility of activity to express the money benefit earned by spending each unit of time at the given activity. The proposed model is generalized for the schedule with any number of activities as contrast to previous studies, where such models were used for schedules with fixed number of activities. This framework can be used to calculate the loss in value of time due decreased activity participation resulting from travel delays.