One of the determinants of travel satisfaction is ‘dissonance’, or the difference between someone’s actual travel and their preferred or ideal travel. Previous studies never questioned the use of ideal travel as a reference point to assess travel satisfaction. We assess how and to what extent changes in commute dissonance, among other determinants, affect commute satisfaction by applying the prospect theory with alternative reference points. Results indicate that negative dissonant commuters (i.e., actual commute time > ideal) are significantly less satisfied with their commute, but the opposite does not hold. By using data from a retrospective survey among staff of the relocated McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada, we found how the reference point of the previous commute time is more salient and impactful. This study provides evidence for policy makers about the positive effects of transit oriented developments in terms of increased levels of commute satisfaction.

旅行满意度的决定因素之一是“不协调”，即某人的实际旅行与其首选或理想旅行之间的差异。以前的研究从未质疑使用理想旅行作为评估旅行满意度的参考点。我们通过应用前景理论和替代参考点来评估通勤失调的变化以及其他决定因素如何影响通勤满意度。结果表明，消极的不和谐通勤者（即实际通勤时间 > 理想）对通勤的满意度明显较低，但相反的情况并不成立。通过使用加拿大蒙特利尔麦吉尔大学健康中心搬迁工作人员的回顾性调查数据，我们发现之前通勤时间的参考点如何更加突出和影响力。