Marshall University
One John Marshall Drive
Huntington, WV 25755
1-800-642-3463
www.marshall.edu

Morgan State University
1700 East Cold Spring Lane
Baltimore MD 21251
443-885-3333
www.morgan.edu

Virginia Tech
1424 S Main St.
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-6000
www.vt.edu

Z. Andrew Farkas (MSU) - Email: andrew.farkas@morgan.edu
Hyeon-Shic Shin (MSU) - Email: hyeonshic.shin@morgan.edu
Christine Risch (MU) - Email: christine.risch@marshall.edu
Kent Sowards (MU) - Email: sowardsk@njrati.org
Jianhe Du (VT) - Email: jianhedu@vt.edu

USDOT: $82,000 (Federal)
MSU: $60,000 (Match)
MU: $10,000 (Match)
VT: $13,000 (Match)

$82,000 Federal/$83,000 Match

DTRT13-G-UTC33

10/01/14

01/31/17

Electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions. Maryland promotes EVs by subsidizing purchases of them, invests in charging facilities at rail transit stations, and assists in funding such facilities for local jurisdictions.

This research would discern whether charging facilities at rail transit stations enhance market penetration of EVs and affect commuting behavior and mode choice. This research posits that there is a nested automobile choice between using plug-in hybrid electric (HE) or battery electric (BE) cars and using conventional cars and that owners of EVs have a lower propensity to choose rail transit for commute trips than owners of conventional cars. Research would also discern attitudes toward safety and demand for in-vehicle safety technologies.

This research will survey current registered HE and BE owners in Maryland regarding attitudes toward environmental and safety considerations, demand for safety technologies, commuting behavior and use of rail transit before and after purchase. The survey will also query a random sample of non-EV owners about their attitudes, demand for safety technologies, commuting behavior, and propensity to buy EVs. According to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), as of November 1, 2013 there were 2,793 EVs registered (C. Burke, MVA, personal communication, Feb. 6, 2014).

MVA will identify EV owners by county and develop a random, geographically stratified sample of a similar number of non-EV owners. MVA will then notify the owners and non-owners by letter of the survey objectives and a web link that would take owners to the on-line survey. MSU will reach a privacy agreement between the university and MVA. All information regarding participation in this survey will be confidential.

Potential implementation of project outcomes

Mode choice behavior will be incorporated into state-wide traffic models and charging infrastructure plans. The social equity issues resulting from public charging facility investment would be addressed through policy recommendations for EV promotion by income group.

Expected benefits and impacts

The survey results and statistical analyses of data will lead to policy recommendations for EV promotion, funding and placement of public charging facilities, and traffic safety considerations.

The survey analyses could be incorporated into state and local transportation planning processes and calibrations for travel demand modeling.

 

http://www.matsutc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Environmental-and-Safety-Attributes-of-Electric-Vehicle-Ownership-and-Commuting-Behavior-Public-Policy-and-Equity-Consideration.pdf – Final Report, February 2017