The value of dedicated cyclist and pedestrian infrastructure on rural roads

In contrast to urban areas, very little quantitative work has been done on the demand for rural cycling infrastructure and the willingness of users to pay for such infrastructure, and there is little evidence on the demand for or value of walking infrastructure in either urban or rural areas. The value of and the propensity to walk or cycle in rural areas is likely to be different from that in urban areas, partly due to the distances involved, but also the different levels of traffic. Using evidence from Ireland, this paper presents new evidence on the value of pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure in a rural environment. The models are sensitive to the household's location as well as other demographic factors. Average willingness to pay estimates for users of the facilities are 41.0 cents/trip for walking and 19.3 cents/trip for cycling. These results when applied ex ante to a number of proposed rural road upgrades demonstrate that such infrastructure offers value for money. There remain significant barriers to increased participation in walking and cycling, which makes it difficult to estimate demand and willingness to pay models based on data, which do not reveal peoples' attitudes to walking and cycling (e.g. census data).

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.04.004
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X13000553
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/29485010
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Laird, James
  • Page, Matthew
  • Shen, Shujie
• Publication Date: 2013-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 86-96
• Serial:
  • Transport Policy
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0967-070X
  • Serial URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/096707X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycle facilities; Bicycle travel; Pedestrian areas; Policy analysis; Rural areas; Rural highways; Travel demand; Valuation; Walking
• Geographic Terms: Ireland
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01499508
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 18 2013 4:37PM