This project about the congestion charge in Beijing is in three parts. Each part will look at different aspects of the congestion charge, one is on valuation of travel time, the other will analyse the effects of the congestion charge policy on different commuting modes and the experiment is on hypothetical bias and individuals stated preferences in transportation studies.
Reducing the gap between stated and real behavior in transportation studies: The use of an oath script
There are many recent studies provided the evidence that the responses to a real situation maybe different with to a hypothetical question in the stated preference study. To investigate the existence of hypothetical bias, we included an oath script question in our choice experiment. The questionnaires with an oath script were randomly provided to approximately 50% of respondents. By comparing the two groups of respondents, with and without oath script, we can see if there is any difference in their choice in each set, their thinking time to every question, their stated preference, and ultimately we can contribute new evidence to the study of hypothetical bias.
Theme 1: Individual behaviour, cooperation and trust.
The value of time for public and private transport.
Value of travel time saving (VTTS) is commonly used in analyzing commuters’ behavior change, and it is basic information of a transport policy before it is introduced. In this project, we use data from choice experiment to investigate commuters’ preference and to calculate the VTTS of morning and evening commuting trips for car owners and public transport users. Personal and household income, comfort of public transportation, and risk of severe congestion are considered besides current commuting time and cost.
Theme 3: Fairness and Distributional Issues in policy making.
Effects of congestion charge policy on car owners’ mode choice in Beijing.
This project aims to investigate the car owners’ behavior change in mode choice under the hypothetical policy background of congestion charge. To capture the preference of different commuting modes, a D-optimal efficient design of 12 choice sets with 2 alternatives (driving a car and taking public transport) and 4 attributes was shown to the car owners. Price of congestion charge is included in car-driving alternatives as an extra monetary attribute besides the fuel cost. The marginal effect of congestion charge is our concern and it is key information for policy making.
Theme 3: Fairness and Distributional Issues in policy making.
