Route, Mode, and Departure Time Choice Behavior in the Presence of Mobility Pricing

For the study described in this paper, an extensive, self-administered, stated preference (SP) survey was conducted in Switzerland with the purpose of providing the Swiss government with detailed information for the evaluation of mobility pricing schemes. Four different SP experiments were included: one about the political acceptability of mobility pricing and the other three about route, mode, and departure time choice behavior in the presence of mobility pricing. The questionnaires of 1005 respondents were used in a multinomial logit analysis of the latter three experiments. The results emphasize traveler’s nonlinear valuing of cost and time characteristics. The values of travel time savings (VTTS) depended on the individual's income, travel time and overall travel costs. The respondents' evaluation of the cost components of fuel, tolls and parking differed significantly. The evaluation of shifts in departure time depended on the choice situation. In general, all shifts were penalized. However, for the case of non-toll routes, Swiss traveler take account of the congestion and prefer to depart early to make sure that they arrive on time. Furthermore, the importance of political preferences, as measured in the SP survey on acceptability, could be demonstrated. The inclusion of a variable derived from these SP findings improved the model fit significantly as well as the reliability of the results.