This paper investigates the factors that influence the choice of, and hence
demand for taxis services, a relatively neglected mode in the urban travel task. Given the
importance of positioning preferences for taxi services within the broader set of modal
options, we develop a modal choice model for all available modes of transport for trips
undertaken by individuals or groups of individuals in a number of market segments. A
sample of recent trips in Melbourne in 2012 was used to develop segment-specific mode
choice models to obtain direct (and cross) elasticities of interest for cost and service level
attributes. Given the nonlinear functional form of the way attributes of interest are included
in the modal choice models, a simple set of mean elasticity estimates are not behaviourally
meaningful; hence a decision support system is developed to enable the calculation of
mean elasticity estimates under specific future service and pricing levels. Some specific
direct elasticity estimates are provided as the basis of illustrating the magnitudes of
elasticity estimates under likely policy settings.