The 255th Fellow Traveler Academic Forum was held successfully in room 103 of Tongda Pavilion at 2 p.m. on September 22th, 2016, which was hosted by Prof. Jian Sun and given by Dr. Zuduo Zheng. The topic is "Preference heterogeneity in mode choice based on a nationwide survey with a focus on urban rail."

Dr. Zuduo Zheng is an Associate Professor in Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, and the DECRA Research Fellow from Australian Research Council. His primary research interests include: traffic flow theories, decision making/choice modelling, and econometric analysis and numerical optimizations. He is currently a member of the Editorial Board of several international journals, including Transportation Research Part B and Transportation Research Part A.

The provision of efficient and effective urban public transport and transport policy requires a deep understanding of the factors influencing urban travellers' choice of travel mode. This study presents the results of a nationwide travel survey implemented to examine multiple modes of urban passenger transport across five mainland state capitals in Australia, with a focus of urban rail. The study aims to explore differences in mode choices among surveyed travellers sampled from the five cities by accounting for two types of factors: service quality and features of public transport, and socio demographic characteristics.The analysis reveals that intercity differences, user group status, gender, income, and trip purposes partially explain observed preference heterogeneity.

The interesting and detailed explanations by Professor Cheng attracted teachers and students at present. Many audiences,at the end of the report, warmly put forward their own questions and ideas. The academic atmosphere was really very strong.