01338056

Component

Many of the environmental problems that are both real and sensitive community issues stem from the use of transport infrastructure by passenger and freight vehicles, which are not only a source of congestion, but a source of local pollutants such as lead, carbon monoxide and noise. While there has been extensive literature on the concept of congestion charging and the economic arguments have been known for decades, there have been very few studies that explore road pricing as a function of vehicle emissions. Moreover, a growing global focus on environmental concerns, in particular the role of carbon emissions in global warming, has created a social atmosphere where attitudes towards the environment are a pre-eminent focus of news media. In stated choice experiments, such attitudes play a key role in determining willingness to pay measures. This paper employs a stated preference survey to examine motor vehicle purchasing. In the survey, respondents were asked to choose between different motor vehicles in the presence of hypothetical annual and variable emissions surcharges. Using latent class modelling, it is shown that four classes of individuals exist, whose sensitivities to annual and variable emissions surcharging differs. Importantly it is also shown that these differences can be explained by environmental attitudes.

01329018

11-0498

English

18p

2011

Transportation Research Board 90th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (2) ; References (32) ; Tables (8)

Carbon monoxide; Congestion pricing; Environmental impacts; Global warming; Lead (Metal); Noise; Pollutants; Purchasing; Stated preferences; Surveys; Traffic congestion

Stated choice; Vehicle choice; Willingness to pay

Economics; Environment; Finance; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2011 Paper #11-0498

TRIS, TRB

Feb 17 2011 5:28PM