The 22nd COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP 2022)

Modal shift from road to rail is an effective measure to realize the national strategy of transportation structure adjustment and the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Analyzing the freight mode choice behavior is the theoretical basis for modal shift. The purpose of this paper is to explore the quantitative method of latent variable and the impact of convenience on freight mode choice behavior. To this end, the structural equation model is established for quantification of convenience. Base model, incorporation model with latent variable and comparison model, are estimated to reveal freight mode choice behavior. These three models are based on the multinomial logit (MNL) and mixed logit (ML) methods. The data comes from the questionnaire experiment in the Yangtze River Delta. The results show that convenience does have a significant impact on shippers’ choice, and there is a large degree of heterogeneity for convenience among shippers. The model performance is best when the latent variable is integrated with the ML model. In addition, the structural equation model is an effective method to quantify the latent variables, and convenience is negatively correlated with pre- and end- haulage distance, response time and cargo damage rate.