A correlation analysis of information use, social networks and cooperation consciousness in travel behaviors

The rapid development of information and communication technologies, the availability of various traveling information, and the wide use of social networks facilitate the selection of the appropriate mode of transport in urban traveling. To better understand such selection processes, this paper presents a hierarchical clustering analysis of the transport data collected from some major cities in China for exploring the relationship between information use, social networks, and cooperation consciousness of individual travelers. This leads to the identification of three underlying patterns of cooperation consciousness behaviors including the pro-social relation, the diversity average relation and the homogeneous random relation. An analysis of such patterns shows that there is much to be done for enhancing the social and environmental awareness of travelers in individual travel choices for the sustainable development of urban traveling. This study contributes to the transportation study through the provision of better understanding of the influence of information use and social networks on conscious cooperation behaviors in urban traveling. The findings are beneficial for developing a sustainable travel culture through information sharing and conscious cooperation between and among travelers.