Travel duration tolerance: Examining the sensitivity of emotional well-being to trip duration

This study introduces the concept of “travel duration tolerance” to describe the phenomenon that people's emotional well-being may worsen after traveling for a certain duration. Using 9,383 trips made by 353 residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area between October 2016 and October 2017, we develop a set of panel survival analyses for five emotional well-being measures, including one positive (happiness) and four negatives (tiredness, stress, sadness, and pain) emotions. Findings indicate that positive emotion is more sensitive to trip duration than negative emotions. Among trip-level factors, the sensitivity of emotional well-being during a trip is relatively weak when traveling by bike, bus, and rail; conducting discretionary trip purposes; traveling with spouse, family, children, and friends; conducting secondary activities while traveling; and being satisfied with the travel environment. Among personal-level factors, the sensitivity of emotional well-being during a trip is relatively strong for women and African Americans.