The quality of a car journey: evidence from stated choice experiments

This study adds to the body of evidence in the area of the quality of a car journey. In particular it reports evidence derived from stated choice studies relating to two related sets of issues. How does the value of motorists' travel time vary according to whether the time is spent in the following types of traffic: free flowing, busy, light congestion, heavy congestion, stop-start, or gridlock. How do motorists value the following range of infrastructure and travel condition related factors: proportion of heavy goods vehicles on a route, information provision, lane width, number of lanes, presence of speed cameras, road surface and lighting. The analysis reported in this paper is based on a sample of over 1600 motorists making inter-urban journeys. Mixed logit modelling techniques were used to allow for repeat observations and to test for the presence of preference heterogeneity. Key findings that have emerged are that time spent in gridlock conditions is valued most highly at around 80% higher than free flow time. The relativities for busy, light congestion, heavy congestion and stop-start are around 1.06, 1.12, 1.25 and 1.30. This is in the context of congested travel time typically being valued around 40% higher than free flow time. The vast majority of the infrastructure and travel conditions variables had significant effects of the expected sign. For example, every 1% increase in HGVs increases the time coefficient by 0.43%, the movement to narrower lanes has a larger value than the movement to wider lanes, speed cameras, and the same effect is apparent for increases to 4 lanes or reductions to 2 lanes, whilst concrete surfaces and high-level jointed carriageways are particularly disliked. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999

• Record URL:
  https://aetransport.org/past-etc-papers/conference-papers-pre-2012/conference-papers-2008
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/14749122
• Authors:
  • WARDMAN, W
  • IBANEZ, J N
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 22p
• Serial:
  • EUROPEAN TRANSPORT CONFERENCE 2008; PROCEEDINGS
  • ISSN: 1474-9122

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Automobiles; Comfort; Conferences; Driving; Intercity transportation; Joints; Numbers; Rigid pavements; Smoothness; Traffic congestion; Traffic flow; Traffic lanes; Travel time; Trucks
• ITRD Terms: 2267: Attitude (psychol); 1243: Car; 9138: Comfort; 8525: Conference; 632: Congestion (traffic); 1855: Driving (veh); 3071: Evenness; 388: Inter urban; 2998: Joint (structural); 697: Journey time; 1236: Lorry; 6432: Number; 2964: Rigid pavement; 671: Traffic flow; 2827: Traffic lane
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I71: Traffic Theory; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I92: Vehicle Comfort;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01174613
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: TRL
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Sep 30 2010 11:16AM