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Transportation systems are considered most important infrastructures for economic vitality, growth, and well-being of an area. These systems are vulnerable to terrorist attacks which could lead to immediate and long term catastrophic consequences.

This paper focuses on the impact on travel behavior of surface transportation terror threats. In particular, we evaluate the impact on refraining from bus usage of individuals' characteristics and the extent of their fear and risk perception of a terrorist attack. The paper is based on a survey carried out in Jerusalem and in Haifa, both experienced severe terror attacks in the post-9/11 era.

The results indicate that the factors investigated, especially fear and risk perception, are central in understanding travel behavior in regard to public transportation in Israel. Women are more afraid of being involved in such a tragedy, and therefore the impact on women’s travel behavior is more intensive; the level of fear of a terror attack in both cities is similar. Consequently, an undesired shift from public transportation to private passenger car, which is a much less safe mode, may occur.