In today’s world of volatile fuel prices and climate concerns, there is little study on the relation between vehicle ownership patterns and attitudes toward potential policies and vehicle technologies. This work provides new data on ownership decisions and owner preferences under various scenarios, coupled with calibrated models to microsimulate Austin’s household-fleet evolution. Results suggest that most Austinites (63%, population-corrected share) support a feebate policy to favor more fuel efficient vehicles. Top purchase criteria are vehicle purchase price, type/class, and fuel economy (with 30%, 21% and 19% of respondents placing these in their top three). Most (56%) respondents also indicated that they would seriously consider purchasing a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) if it were to cost $6,000 more than its conventional, gasoline-powered counterpart. And many respond strongly to signals on the external (health and climate) costs of a vehicle’s emissions, more strongly than they respond to information on fuel cost savings. 25-year simulations suggest that 19% of Austin’s vehicle fleet could be comprised of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and PHEVs under adoption of a feebate policy (along with PHEV availability in Year 1 of the simulation, and current gas prices throughout). Under all scenarios vehicle usage levels (in total vehicle miles traveled [VMT]) are predicted to increase overall, along with average vehicle ownership levels (per household, and per capita); and a feebate policy is predicted to raise total regional VMT slightly (just 4.43 percent, by simulation year 25), relative to the trend scenario, while reducing CO2 emissions only slightly (by 3.8 percent, relative to trend). Doubling the trend-case gas price to $5/gallon is simulated to reduce the year-25 vehicle use levels by 17% and CO2 emissions by 22% (relative to trend). Two- and three-vehicle households are simulated to be the highest adopters of HEVs and PHEVs across all scenarios. And HEVs, PHEVs and Smart Cars are estimated to represent a major share of the fleet’s VMT (25%) by year 25 under the feebate scenario. The combined share of vans, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and cross over utility vehicles (CUVs) is lowest under the feebate scenario, at 35% (versus 47% in Austin’s current household fleet), yet feebate-policy receipts exceed rebates in each simulation year. A 15% reduction in the usage levels of SUVs, CUVs and minivans is observed in the $5/gallon scenario (relative to trend). Mean use levels per vehicle of HEVs and PHEVs are simulated to have a variation of 753 and 495 across scenarios. In the longer term, gas price dynamics, tax incentives, feebates and purchase prices along with new technologies, government-industry partnerships, and more accurate information on range and recharging times (which increase customer confidence in EV technologies) should have even more significant effects on energy dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. / text

Esta dissertação baseia-se na aplicação de um procedimento empírico envolvendo técnicas de preferência declarada para a estimativa do valor do tempo de viagem de motoristas em deslocamentos regionais, em um contexto de escolha entre rotas pedagiadas e não pedagiadas. Inicialmente é feita uma revisão das abordagens teórica e empírica sobre a valoração do tempo. São também revistos os conceitos básicos de outros dois elementos fundamentais na metodologia aqui utilizada: a teoria da escolha e técnicas de preferência declarada. Uma aplicação a um estudo de caso específico é feita usando informações coletadas em ampla pesquisa de preferência declarada, realizada em 2005 com motoristas de automóvel em diversos pontos da malha rodoviária do estado de São Paulo. O desenho experimental da preferência declarada envolvia três atributos: tempo de viagem por uma rota pedagiada, custo tarifário e tempo de viagem por uma rota não pedagiada. O conjunto das informações foi analisado e utilizado na obtenção de modelos de escolha discreta do tipo logit multinomial; os valores do tempo de viagem foram obtidos a partir dos coeficientes estimados em funções de utilidade aditivas e lineares nos parâmetros. Analisou-se também a variação do valor do tempo em função de características do motorista e da viagem, questão abordada através da estimação de diferentes modelos por segmentos da amostra e da especificação de funções de utilidade que incorporam variáveis dummies para representação das características analisadas. Os resultados indicaram, para a escolha específica estudada, valores de tempo médios de cerca de R$ 16/h, variando de R$12/h a R$23/h para diferentes segmentos de viajantes analisados. A duração da viagem foi uma importante característica associada a variações no valor do tempo, que decresceu na medida em que as durações aumentaram. Variações expressivas no valor do tempo de viagem foram também observadas para viagens a lazer, motoristas de renda familiar baixa e aqueles com alta posse de veículos. / This dissertation is based on the application of an empirical procedure using stated preference techniques for the estimation of the value of travel time for drivers in regional trips, in the context of a choice between tolled and non-tolled routes. It first reviews the theoretical and the empirical approaches for the valuation of travel time and then presents the basic concepts of two other topics relevant for the methodology adopted: choice theory and stated preference methods. An application to a specific case study is then presented, using information from a stated preference survey conducted in 2005 with a large sample of car drivers intercepted at several points in the highway network of the state of São Paulo. The stated preference experimental design considered three attributes: trip time on a tolled route, value of toll and trip time on a non-tolled route. Survey data were analyzed and used for the estimation of discrete choice (multinomial logit) models; values of travel time were derived from estimates of coefficients of an additive linear in the parameters utility function. The specification of the models and the segmentation of the sample allowed the estimation of the variation of travel time according to some selected driver and trip characteristics. Results indicated, for the specific choice context analyzed, an average value of travel time of approximately R$16/h, varying from about R$12/h to R$23/h for different segments of travelers. Trip length was an important characteristic influencing the variation of the value of travel time, which declined as trip length increased. Other important effects were found for leisure trips, for travelers with low income and for those with high family car ownership.

Indigenous tourism is an expansive sector in the growing tourism industry. The Sami people living in Sápmi in northern Europe have started to engage in tourism, particularly in view of the rationalised and modernised methods of reindeer herding. Sami tourism offers job opportunities and enables the spreading of information. On the other hand, Sami tourism may jeopardise the indigenous culture and harm the sensitive environment in which the Sami live. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the supply and demand of Sami tourism in northern Sweden. This is presented in four articles. The first article analyses the potential of the emerging Sami tourism in Sweden, with special emphasis on the access to Sami tourism products. The study shows that there is a growing supply of tourism activities related to the Swedish Sami. The development of tourism is, however, restricted by factors such as the peripheral location and the lack of traditions of entrepreneurship. The second article analyse which factors influence tourists when they make their decisions about Sami tourism. In the article the respondents are requested to answer a number of hypothetical questions, ranking their preferences regarding supply, price and access. The study indicates that tourism related to the Sami and Sami culture has a considerable future potential, but also that there is a gap between supply and demand. In the third article the analysis shows that the festival in Jokkmokk, thanks to continuously added attractions, has been able to retain a rather high level of popularity, despite its peripheral location. Finally, the fourth article analyses to what extent the winter festival in Jokkmokk is a genuinely indigenous event, and to what extent it is staged. It is argued that the indigenous culture presented at the festival and in media is highly staged, although backstage experiences are available for the Sami and for the tourists who show a special interest.

This research examined if travelers are paying for travel on managed lanes (MLs) as they indicated that they would in a 2008 survey. The other objectives of this research included estimating travelers’ value of travel time savings (VTTS) and their value of travel time reliability (VOR), and examining the multiple survey designs used in a 2008 survey to identify which survey design better predicted ML traveler behavior. To achieve the objectives, an Internet-based follow-up stated preference (SP) survey of Houston’s Katy Freeway travelers was conducted in 2010. Three survey design methodologies—Db-efficient, random level generation, and adaptive random—were tested in this survey. A total of 3,325 responses were gathered from the survey, and of those, 869 responses were from those who likely also responded to the previous 2008 survey. Mixed logit models were developed for those 869 previous survey respondents to estimate and compare the VTTS to the 2008 survey estimates. It was found that the 2008 survey estimates of the VTTS were very close to the 2010 survey estimates. In addition, separate mixed logit models were developed from the responses obtained from the three different design strategies in the 2010 survey. The implied mean VTTS varied across the design-specific models. Only the Db-efficient design was able to estimate a VOR. Based on this and several other metrics, the Db-efficient design outperformed the other designs. A mixed logit model including all the responses from all three designs was also developed; the implied mean VTTS was estimated as 65 percent ($22/hr) of the mean hourly wage rate, and the implied mean VOR was estimated as 108 percent ($37/hr) of the mean hourly wage rate. Data on actual usage of the MLs were also collected. Based on actual usage, the average VTTS was calculated as $51/hr. However, the $51/hr travelers are paying likely also includes the value travelers place on travel time reliability of the MLs. The total (VTTS+VOR) amount estimated from the all-inclusive model from the survey was $59/hr, which is close to the value estimated from the actual usage. The Db-efficient design estimated this total as $50/hr. This research also shows that travelers have a difficulty in estimating the time they save while using a ML. They greatly overestimate the amount of time saved. It may well be that even though travelers are saving a small amount of time they value that time savings (and avoiding congestion) much higher – possibly similar to their amount of perceived travel time savings. The initial findings from this study, reported here, are consistent with the hypothesis that travelers are paying for their travel on MLs, much as they said that they would in our previous survey. This supports the use of data on intended behavior in policy analysis.

No description available.

No description available.

[pt] A escolha do modo de transporte de carga é uma questão crítica na modelagem da demanda por transporte. Este estudo utiliza a técnica de preferência declarada no sentido de analisar o transporte de carga no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, visando identificar quais são os fatores relevantes na escolha de modo de transporte (rodovia e ferrovia) por parte das empresas com atuação no Estado, na categoria de produtos de Carga Geral. O estudo utilizou o modelo Logit Multinominal com o objetivo de verificar a importância de fatores (custo, tempo, serviço, confiabilidade, disponibilidade e risco de roubo de carga) na escolha de modo por parte das empresas, e apontar quais medidas que podem ser adotadas no sentido de fomentar a multimodalidade no transporte de carga no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. / [en] Freight mode choice is a critical part in modeling freight demand. This study uses the stated preference techniques to analyze cargo transportation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, aiming to identify the relevant factors in the mode choice (road and railroad) by companies operating in the State in the category of General Cargo products. The study used the Multinominal Logit model in order to verify the importance of factors (cost, time, service, reliability, availability and cargo theft risk) in the mode choice by the companies, and to indicate which measures may be adopted to promote multimodality in freight transport in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Esta dissertação baseia-se na aplicação de um procedimento empírico envolvendo técnicas de preferência declarada para a estimativa do valor do tempo de viagem de motoristas em deslocamentos regionais, em um contexto de escolha entre rotas pedagiadas e não pedagiadas. Inicialmente é feita uma revisão das abordagens teórica e empírica sobre a valoração do tempo. São também revistos os conceitos básicos de outros dois elementos fundamentais na metodologia aqui utilizada: a teoria da escolha e técnicas de preferência declarada. Uma aplicação a um estudo de caso específico é feita usando informações coletadas em ampla pesquisa de preferência declarada, realizada em 2005 com motoristas de automóvel em diversos pontos da malha rodoviária do estado de São Paulo. O desenho experimental da preferência declarada envolvia três atributos: tempo de viagem por uma rota pedagiada, custo tarifário e tempo de viagem por uma rota não pedagiada. O conjunto das informações foi analisado e utilizado na obtenção de modelos de escolha discreta do tipo logit multinomial; os valores do tempo de viagem foram obtidos a partir dos coeficientes estimados em funções de utilidade aditivas e lineares nos parâmetros. Analisou-se também a variação do valor do tempo em função de características do motorista e da viagem, questão abordada através da estimação de diferentes modelos por segmentos da amostra e da especificação de funções de utilidade que incorporam variáveis dummies para representação das características analisadas. Os resultados indicaram, para a escolha específica estudada, valores de tempo médios de cerca de R$ 16/h, variando de R$12/h a R$23/h para diferentes segmentos de viajantes analisados. A duração da viagem foi uma importante característica associada a variações no valor do tempo, que decresceu na medida em que as durações aumentaram. Variações expressivas no valor do tempo de viagem foram também observadas para viagens a lazer, motoristas de renda familiar baixa e aqueles com alta posse de veículos. / This dissertation is based on the application of an empirical procedure using stated preference techniques for the estimation of the value of travel time for drivers in regional trips, in the context of a choice between tolled and non-tolled routes. It first reviews the theoretical and the empirical approaches for the valuation of travel time and then presents the basic concepts of two other topics relevant for the methodology adopted: choice theory and stated preference methods. An application to a specific case study is then presented, using information from a stated preference survey conducted in 2005 with a large sample of car drivers intercepted at several points in the highway network of the state of São Paulo. The stated preference experimental design considered three attributes: trip time on a tolled route, value of toll and trip time on a non-tolled route. Survey data were analyzed and used for the estimation of discrete choice (multinomial logit) models; values of travel time were derived from estimates of coefficients of an additive linear in the parameters utility function. The specification of the models and the segmentation of the sample allowed the estimation of the variation of travel time according to some selected driver and trip characteristics. Results indicated, for the specific choice context analyzed, an average value of travel time of approximately R$16/h, varying from about R$12/h to R$23/h for different segments of travelers. Trip length was an important characteristic influencing the variation of the value of travel time, which declined as trip length increased. Other important effects were found for leisure trips, for travelers with low income and for those with high family car ownership.

Tout au long de ce travail, nous avons essayé de répondre à notre problématique de choix de stationnement dans le centre ville de Sousse, en vue d'appréhender le comportement des usagers, lorsqu'on passe d'un univers sans contrainte de stationnement à un univers avec contrainte, et comment les usagers pendulaires, plus précisément qui actuellement se rendent jusqu'à leur lieu de travail en voiture, pourraient changer leur comportement. Au cours de l'enquête "préférences déclarées" utilisée dans cette thèse, les personnes interrogées ont été placées dans le cadre général d'un problème de stationnement et auront à se prononcer en faveur d'un type de stationnement, quels facteurs vont influencés plus leurs choix de stationnement et seront-elles prêtes à renoncer à l'automobile en faveur d'un mode de transport pour effectuer le déplacement domicile-travail. La modélisation du choix de stationnement est réalisé au moyen d'un panier d'outils qui permettra d'évaluer le poids des différentes variables dans le comportement des usagers en matière de choix de stationnement. Elle nous permttra d'indiquer également quelle proportion de ces usagers s'ils étaient confontrés à des mesures restrictives de stationnement et face à une nouvelle politique de régulation, adopteraient quel comportement. / This thesis try to analyze user characteristics and factors influencing parking choice, based on a stated preferences method, in the city center of Sousse. During the investigation, "stated preferences", respondents were placed in the general framework of a parking problem, and will vote in favor of a type of parking.Modeling the choice of parking will study the possible impacts on the behavior of users with a new urban transport policy (parking pricing) in the city center of Sousse and the most important factors influencing the demand of parking.

An evidence-based policy debate about future fuel demand requires reliable estimates for fuel price elasticities. Such predictions are often based on revealed preference (RP) data. However, this procedure will only yield reliable results in the absence of severe structural discontinuities. In order to overcome this potential limitation we used a situational stated preference (SP) survey to estimate the response to hypothetical fuel price changes beyond the scope of previous observations. We elicit fuel price elasticities for price increases up to four Euros per liter and find that the situational approach predicts the actual responses to previously observed fuel price changes very well. We conclude that applying a situational approach is particularly useful, if behavioral predictions for unprecedented (non-monetary) policy interventions or supply side shocks are of interest that go beyond the reach of standard RP approaches.