Do you travel like Homer Simpson or Mr Spock?

A Bristol professor claims we all fall into two types of traveller when we go home for Christmas – Mr Spock or Homer Simpson.

Professor Glenn Lyons, of the University of the West of England, believes we all make our travelling decisions along two broad lines.

Mr Spock types tend to use all sources of information available to make an informed and economical choice of how to get from A to B.

They will use websites, ticket hotlines and offers to decide how to strike the best balance between journey cost, time and hassle.

The Homer Simpsons among us have a different approach.

These people accept congestion as a fact of life and just get on with it, instead turning their attention to making their trip as enjoyable as possible.

So sectors of the transport industry are focused at these two different types of travellers.

There are people working to tackle congestion by providing advice and information for the Mr Spocks among us – while another exploits the congestion to invent increasingly sophisticated in-vehicle products and services to help the Homer Simpsons pass the time.

Professor Lyons is director of the transport research society at UWE and did recent work for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

"Research shows that an individual's choices are bound up with many factors, including their personality, habits, family structure and social network," he said.

"Two characters illustrate the range of individual behaviour among the travelling public.

"Mr Spock is the archetype of logic – he wants to be in possession of all the facts so he can make the best possible decisions when taking a trip.

"Homer Simpson, on the other hand, thinks that making trips is no big deal. As long as things work out he has many other things on his mind."

Professor Lyons' colleagues at the ESRC believe there is important work to be done to make periods like Christmas easier on transport infrastructure.

Last year saw chaos on the roads and 11 days of rail closures because of engineering work – leading to a £14 million fine for Network Rail.

There are no signs of a repeat this year, but moves are being taken to make people more aware of the options on offer.

The Government plans to invest up to £11m in research to help us make smarter choices – in which making travel information accessible and easy to use is key.

Over the next week, 22 million passengers are expected to use the nation's railways.

Chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), Michael Roberts, said: "There are more trains to carry more passengers this Christmas with more advance purchase tickets available than in 2007.

"The new timetable which started on Sunday has created almost 700 extra train services each day and with a smaller Christmas engineering programme than in previous years more trains will be running."

If you are intending to use trains over Christmas and New Year, you are advised to: Make seat reservations, especially for longer journeys; check for engineering works – information is available at stations and on websites; and plan your train journey by checking timetable, journey and fares information, which is available for all train operators by visiting the National Rail website – and the situation on the roads is available from the Highways Agency.