Roman holiday: Tourist heterogeneous preferences for walking path elements

This paper investigates tourists' preferences in Rome (Italy) with respect to their “last mile” transport walking experience. Stated preference experiments and discrete choice models are used to estimate tourists' preferences for alternative walking paths configurations, taking into account path characteristics and conditions (e.g. public services presence, interference with other modes of transport and thermal comfort). The authors estimate Multinomial logit (MNL) models on the base of 365 choice experiments. The most important attribute is cleanliness, followed by green spaces. The paper estimates both time elasticity and the “willingness to walk” with respect to different path attributes. Segmenting the sample and estimating different MNL models allows considering preference heterogeneity. Results show there are some differences within the sample. In fact, those who usually walk are willing to walk more than others given some improvements in the path. Besides, the authors also propose, on the base of the last walking path followed, a “tourist walking satisfaction index” linked to utility. This sheds light on tourists' walking experience in different zones of the study area. In particular, adding restrooms along the paths increases tourist walking satisfaction the most. The paper provides useful information for policy-makers on how to plan, design and manage walking networks.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2021.101106
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885921000780
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07398859
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Le Pira, Michela
  • 0000-0002-5963-0854
  • Marcucci, Edoardo
  • Gatta, Valerio
• Publication Date: 2021-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Serial:
  • Research in Transportation Economics
  • Volume: 90
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0739-8859
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/07398859

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Multinomial logits; Stated preferences; Tourists; Walking; Walkways
• Geographic Terms: Rome (Italy)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01782890
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 27 2021 9:42AM