Mokhtarian

Patricia L. Mokhtarian
Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
3143 Engineering III

Associate Director for Education,
Institute of Transportation Studies
and Chair, Graduate Group in
Transportation Technology and Policy

University of California, Davis 95616
(530) 752-7062 (phone)
(530) 752-7872 (fax)
plmokhtarian@ucdavis.edu
www.its.ucdavis.edu/telecom/


Patricia Mokhtarian has specialized in the study of travel behavior for more than 30 years. A key research interest has been the impact of telecommunications technology on travel behavior, with additional interests in congestion-response behavior, attitudes toward mobility, adoption of new transportation technologies, land use and transportation interactions and the transportation/air quality impacts of transportation demand management measures. She has directed or participated in several dozen projects related to these areas. She has authored or co-authored more than 100 refereed journal articles, technical reports, and other publications.

Recent studies focus on the adoption of online shopping; aggregate relationships between telecommunications and transportation; the role of lifestyle and attitudes (self-selection) in the relationship between residential location and travel behavior; the long-term patterns and residential impacts of telecommuting; the impact of highway capacity enhancements on inducing travel demand; and travel time budgets.  An ongoing study of individuals' attitudes toward mobility is challenging the conventional wisdom that the demand for travel is purely derived from the demand for spatially-separated activities.

Professor Mokhtarian's teaching interests include travel demand forecasting, survey research methods, transportation demand management, transportation and land use interactions, and the application of econometric and statistical methods to transportation evaluation, modeling, and forecasting. She is the founding chair of the Committee on Telecommunications and Travel Behavior of the Transportation Research Board, and a member of the TRB Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values. She is North America area co-editor for the journal Transportation, and on the editorial boards of Transportation Research Part A, Transport Policy, and Transportation Letters.  Other professional service includes membership on the National Research Council (Transportation Research Board/Institute of Medicine) joint committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transportation and Land Use (2002 - 2004), and the National Academies (TRB) committee for the Study on the Relationships among Development Patterns, Vehicle-miles Traveled, and Energy (2007-2008).

Dr. Mokhtarian joined UC Davis in 1990, after nine years in regional planning and consulting in Southern California. She obtained her Ph.D. in Operations Research from Northwestern University in 1981, and an M.S. in OR from Northwestern in 1977. Her undergraduate degree (summa cum laude) is in Mathematics, from Florida State University.

SELECTED RECENT PROJECTS

California Air Resources Board.  Evaluation of Behavioral Responses to the Reconstruction of Interstate 5 in Downtown Sacramento.  May 2008 - January 2009 (co-PI with Prof. Michael Zhang).

University of California, Davis University Transportation Center, Year 2.  The Impact of the Internet on Shopping Behavior: Modeling the Choice of Pre-purchase and Purchase Modes.  October 2007 - September 2008.

University of California, Davis University Transportation Center, Year 1.  Structural Equation Modeling of Desired Travel Amounts.  August 2006 - July 2007.

U. S. Department of Transportation Region Nine Transportation Center, Years 17 & 18.  Modeling the Adoption of Teleshopping.  August 2004 - July 2006.

U. S. Department of Transportation Region Nine Transportation Center, Year 16.  Aggregate Structural Equations Modeling of the Relationships between Consumer Expenditures on Communications and Travel.  August 2003 - July 2004.

DaimlerChrysler.  Determinants of Travel Liking:  Who has a Positive Utility for Travel?  September 2002 - August 2003.

California Department of Transportation.  Alternative Fleet Scenarios.  July 2002 – June 2004.

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).  Residential Location Modeling.  July 2002-June 2004 (co-PI with Prof. Susan Handy, DESP).

U. S. Department of Transportation Region Nine Transportation Center.  An Input/ Output Analysis of the Re­la­tionships between Communications and Travel for Industry.  August 2002 - July 2003.

U. S. Department of Transportation Region Nine Transportation Center.  Telecommuting over the Long Term:  Patterns of Engagement and Impacts on Residential Location. August 2001 - July 2002.

California Energy Commission.  An Aggregate Evaluation of the Impact of Teleworking on Vehicle-Miles Traveled.  June - December 2001.

U. S. Department of Transportation Region Nine Transportation Center.  The Impact of Attitudes toward Mobility, Adoption of Previous Strategies, and Demographic Characteristics on Responses to Congestion.  August 2000 - July 2001.

Daimler-Benz.  Is there a Drive to Travel? December 1998 - September 1999.   December 1999 - December 2000.

Daimler-Benz.  Modeling Mobility Budgets.  December 1998 - September 1999.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW).  Long-Term Effects of Telecommuting on Travel Behavior and Residential Location.  August 1998 - March 1999.

National Science Foundation Integrated Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT) grant.  October 1998 - September 2003.

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

“Non-normality of Data in Structural Equation Models”, by Shengyi Gao, Robert A. Johnston, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Forthcoming Transportation Research Record.

“Shopping-Related Attitudes:  A Factor and Cluster Analysis of Northern California Shoppers”, by Patricia L. Mokhtarian, David T. Ory, and Xinyu Cao.  Forthcoming Environment & Planning B.

“The Impact of Non-normality, Sample Size and Estimation Technique on Goodness-of-Fit Measures in Structural Equation Modeling:  Evidence from Ten Empirical Models of Travel Behavior”, by David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Forthcoming Quality and Quantity.

“Modeling the Structural Relationships among Short Distance Travel Amounts, Perceptions, Affec­tions, and Desires”, by David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Forthcoming Transpor­tation Research Part A.


“Differentiating the Influence of Accessibility, Attitudes, and Demographics on Stop Participation and Frequency during the Evening Commute”, by Xinyu Cao, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Susan L. Handy.  Environment and Planning B 35, 2008, 431-442.  doi 10.1068/b32056

“The Causal Influence of Neighborhood Design on Physical Activity within the Neighborhood:  Evidence from Northern California”, by Xinyu Cao, Susan L. Handy, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  American Journal of Health Promotion 22(5), 2008, 350-358.

“Examining the Impacts of Residential Self-selection on Travel Behavior:  A Focus on Method­ologies”, by Patricia L. Mokhtarian and Xinyu Cao.  Transportation Research Part B 42(3), 2008, 204-228.  doi 10.1016/j.trb.2007.07.006

“Exploring the Connections among Job Accessibility, Employment, Income, and Automobile Own­er­ship Using Structural Equation Modeling”, by Shengyi Gao, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Robert A. Johnston.  Annals of Regional Science 42(2), 2008, 341-356.

“Correlations between Industrial Demands (Direct and Total) for Communications and Transpor­tation in the U.S. Economy 1947-1997”, by Taihyeong Lee and Patricia L. Mokhtarian. Transportation 35(1), 2008, 1-22.

“How do People Respond to Congestion Mitigation Policies?  A Multivariate Probit Model of the Individual Consideration of Three Travel-Related Strategy Bundles”, by Sangho Choo and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation 35(2), 2008, 145-163.  Authors’ postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/2861.

"The Role of Attitudes toward Travel and Land Use in Residential Location Behavior:  Some Empirical Evidence from the San Francisco Bay Area”, by Tim Schwanen and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Housing Policy Debate 18(1), 2007, 171-207.

“Do Transportation and Communications Tend to be Substitutes, Complements, or Neither?  The U.S. Consumer Expenditures Perspective, 1984-2002”, by Sangho Choo, Taihyeong Lee, and Pat­ri­cia L. Mokhtarian.  Transpor­ta­tion Research Record 2010, 2007, 121-132.  doi 10.3141/2010-14.  UCD-ITS-RP-08-04.pdf, available at http://pubs.its.ucdavis.edu/publication_detail.php?id=1134.

“Exploring the Cognitive and Affective Mechanisms behind Subjective Assessments of Travel Amounts”, by David T. Ory, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Gustavo O. Collantes.  Environment and Behavior 39(4), 2007, 494-528.


"Subjective Assessments of Personal Mobility:  What Makes the Difference between a Little and a Lot?", by Gustavo O. Collantes and Patricia L. Mokh­tarian.  Transport Policy 14(3) (May), 2007, 181-192.  In the Top 25 (Top 10) Transport Policy downloads for April – June 2007.  Authors’ postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/2866.

“Do Changes in Neighborhood Characteristics Lead to Changes in Travel Behavior?  A Structural Equations Modeling Approach”, by Xinyu Cao, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Susan L. Handy.  Transportation 34(5) (Sept), 2007, 535-556.

“Relationships between U. S. Consumer Expenditures on Communications and Transportation Using Almost Ideal Demand System Modeling: 1984-2002”, by Sangho Choo, Taihyeong Lee and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation Planning and Technology 30(5), 2007, 431-453.

“Does Telecommuting Really Save Commute Time?  Time, Distance, and Speed Evidence from State of California Workers”, by David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian. Chapter 15 in Tanja van der Lippe and Pascale Peters, eds., Competing Claims in Work and Family Life.  Cheltenham, UK:  Edward Elgar, 2007, 249-267.

“Costs and Benefits of Home-Based Telecommuting: A Monte Carlo Simulation Model Incorporating Telecommuter, Employer, and Public Sector Perspectives”, by Kevan Shafizadeh, Debbie A. Niemeier, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Ilan Salomon.  ASCE Journal of Infra­structure Systems 13(1) (March), 2007, 12-25.

“Telecommunications and Travel Demand and Supply:  Aggregate Structural Equation Models for the U.S.”, by Sangho Choo and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation Research A 41(1), 4-18, 2007.  Authors’ postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/2110/.

“Cross-sectional and Quasi-panel Explorations of the Connection between the Built Environment and Auto Ownership”, by Xinyu Cao, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Susan L. Handy.  Environment and Planning A 39(4), 2007, 830-847.

“Voyage of the S. S. Minivan:  Women’s Travel Behavior in Traditional and Suburban Neighbor­hoods”, by Tara B. Goddard, Susan L. Handy, Xinyu Cao, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian. Transporta­tion Research Record 1956, 2006, 141-148.

“Tradeoffs between Time Allocations to Mainten­ance Activities/Travel and Discretionary Activi­ties/Travel”, by Cynthia Chen and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation 33(3) (June), 2006, 223-240.  Authors’ postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1173/.

“Neighborhood Design and Vehicle Type Choice:  Evidence from Northern California”, by Xinyu Cao, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Susan L. Handy. Transportation Research D 11, 2006, 133-145. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2005.10.001. Authors’ postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1171/.

“Self-Selection in the Relationship between the Built Environment and Walking: Evidence from Northern California”, by Susan L. Handy, Xinyu Cao, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Journal of the American Planning Association 72(1)(Winter), 2006, 55-74.

“Which Came First, the Telecommuting or the Residential Relocation?  An Empirical Analysis of Causality”, by David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Urban Geography 27(7), 2006, 590-609.


“Correlation or Causality between the Built Environment and Travel Behavior?  Evidence from Northern California”, by Susan L. Handy, Xinyu Cao, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian. Transportation Research D 10(6), 2005, 427-444.  In Top 25 downloads from TR-D, Jan. – Mar. 2008.

“The Influences of the Built Environment and Residential Self-selection on Pedestrian Behavior in Austin, Texas”, by Xinyu Cao, Susan L. Handy, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation 33(1) (February), 2006, 1-20. Authors’ postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1172/.  Top Transportation download of 2006.

“Do Telecommunications Affect Passenger Travel or Vice Versa?  Structural Equation Models of Aggregate U.S. Time Series Data Using Composite Indexes”, by Sangho Choo and Patricia L. Mokh­­tarian.  Transportation Research Record 1926, 2005, 224-232.

“Modeling the Joint Labor-Commute Engagement Decisions of San Francisco Bay Area Resi­dents”, by David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.    Chapter 25 in Hani S. Mahmassani, ed., Transportation and Traffic Theory:  Flow, Dynamics, and Human Interaction.  Oxford, UK:  Elsevier Ltd., pp. 487-506, 2005.

“What if You Live in the Wrong Neighborhood?  The Impact of Residential Neighborhood Type Dissonance on Distance Traveled”, by Tim Schwanen and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation Research D 10, 2005, 127-151.
Authors’ postprint available at  http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1178/.

“Driving by Choice or Necessity?” by Susan L. Handy, Lisa Weston, and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation Research A 39(2&3), 2005, 183-204.
Postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/550/.

“When is Getting there Half the Fun?  Modeling the Liking for Travel”, by David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian.  Transportation Research A 39(2&3), 2005, 97-124.  Postprint available at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/549/.

"Telecommuting, Residential Location, and Commute Distance Traveled:  Evidence from State of California Employees”, by Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Gustavo O. Collantes, and Carsten Gertz.  En­vir­on­ment and Planning A 36, 2004, 1879-1897.    An abridged version appears in Dieter Hassen­pflug and Gudrun Tegeder, eds., City.net:  Cities in the Age of Telecommunications.  Marburg, Germany:  Tectum Verlag, pp. 127-148.