Random Utility Models of Spatial Choice

Random utility models are now in widespread use for analyzing decisions such as mode to work. However, their application to problems of spatial choice have been far fewer and have faced some methodological obstacles specific to choices among numerous alternatives. This paper reviews both the major problems and the alternative solutions which have been developed. Particular attention is given to uses of multinomial logit analysis and its variants primarily because of their potential for dealing with large choice sets without imposing unrealistic computational burdens on the model estimation process.