Search

Appliance labels provide consumers with information on energy usage of appliances and mandatory labeling is an important policy tool for promoting the adoption of efficient appliances. Following global practice, standards and labeling programs have been adopted in India for various appliances since 2006. This paper provides empirical support for this approach, by estimating the value placed by consumers in India on energy labels. The estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for energy labels and higher efficiency as indicated on labels are obtained using a discrete choice experiment in purchase decisions of air conditioners. A mixed logit model is specified to estimate the parameters for chosen attributes of air conditioners. The results show that consumers place a positive value on the presence of labels. The preference for star rating levels is heterogeneous in the sample. The WTP for higher star rating is estimated which is a useful input in designing other energy efficiency programs in conjunction with the labeling program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, television (TV) broadcasters have been investing a huge amount of money for the Belgian Pro League broadcasting rights. These companies pursue an audience rating maximization, which depends heavily on the schedule of the league matches. At the same time, clubs try to maximize their home attendance and find themselves affected by the schedule as well. Our article aims to capture the Belgian soccer fans’ preferences with respect to scheduling options, both for watching matches on TV and in the stadium. We carried out a discrete choice experiment using an online survey questionnaire distributed on a national scale. The choice sets are based on three match characteristics: month, kickoff time, and quality of the opponent. The first part of this survey concerns TV broadcasting aspects. The second part includes questions about stadium attendance. The choice data are first analyzed with a conditional logit model which assumes homogenous preferences. Then a mixed logit model is fit to model the heterogeneity among the fans. The estimates are used to calculate the expected utility of watching a Belgian Pro League match for every possible setting, either on TV or in the stadium. These predictions are validated in terms of the real audience rating and home attendance data. Our results can be used to improve the scheduling process of the Belgian Pro League in order to persuade more fans to watch the matches on TV or in a stadium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which safety risk information influences flight choice. Simple stated choice experiments were implemented with four independent samples of college students, young non-college students and older employed people across a 20 months period. Strong consistency in the flight choice behaviour across the samples was observed. In particular, there is evidence that even if potential travellers do not nominate “safety” as a criterion in airline choice, when presented with safety information in a stated choice scenario, the respondents use that information to make decisions. However, there is also a significant variation in the extent to which the respondents are sensitive to the safety information, which was represented in the form of aircraft incidents similar to the way aviation statistics are used by the media. Understanding the reasons for the wide variability could help improve public acceptability and tolerance towards risk control measures in aviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is extensive literature on drive-to-transit trips, yet very few studies focus on commuters’ park-and-ride location choice decisions. This study investigates park-and-ride location choice behavior of heterogeneous commuters in the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area. Data from a transit on-board survey conducted by Capital Metro in 2010 were used. Besides, schedule-based transit networks and a detailed regional highway network were used to calculate path attributes. A thorough analysis on the choice set generation was conducted, and two criteria were used to determine the most appropriate park-and-ride choice set for each observed trip. Finally, user heterogeneity was accounted by adding interaction terms in the utility functions and by using mixed logit models. Empirical models reveal that designation of a park-and-ride facility by transit agency and the frequency of transit paths to destination have the highest positive effect, while transit transfers, auto travel time, and walking time have the most significant negative impact on the utility of a park-and-ride location. More specifically, correlation analysis reveals that travelers who are more likely to be motivated by short auto travel time are also more likely to be motivated by few transfers and short walking time. In addition, this study implies that non-Caucasians prefer higher fraction of their auto path on freeways; and commuters with higher income are less motivated by high transit service frequency. The estimated models in this study can have immediate application in travel forecasting, specifically for drive-to-transit trip assignment, as well as in setting policy for park-and-rides service design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although bike-sharing has gained great popularity as a sustainable commuting mode around the world, it has been performed poorly regarding its low mode share in some countries, including Singapore. As a response, this study proposes a novel research framework that incorporates a mixed logit model and customized agent-based travel simulations to investigate the underlying reasons behind the unpopularity of bike-sharing. A mixed logit model is calibrated according to the responses from a travel survey to understand commuters' perceptions towards bike-sharing in Singapore. The commuters' perceptions obtained are then incorporated in tailored agent-based simulations to test the effects of promotion methods on the resulting mode share of bike-sharing as a commuting mode. The numerical experiment conducted in Singapore shows that, even with a large amount of subsidies on bike-sharing and timely relocation operations, commuters in Singapore are still very reluctant to take it as a daily commute mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Faster charging is preferred for charging at long trips. • Price, waiting time, and facilities such as café or shops influence the likelihood to charge. • Trip features, the distance to destination and remaining range, also play a significant role. • There is extensive heterogeneity in preferences across travellers. Technological developments in charging speed and battery capacity are leading to an increased use of electric vehicles (EV) for long trips, but the charging infrastructure network is too scarce to satisfy the growing energy needs. Few public charger stations are available outside urban areas, triggering long queues waiting for a vacant charger. A better understanding of charging behaviour on long trips is needed to optimise the provision and distribution of charging facilities. This research contributes to existing literature by estimating the willingness to pay for reducing waiting time for charging, as well as understanding the role of explanatory variables in influencing decisions about charging at public charging stations on long trips. Responses from a stated preference (SP) survey in Norway in 2021 were analysed with a mixed logit model. Results showed that price, waiting time, charging speed and facilities were significant variables for station characteristics, while for trip features, the distance to destination and remaining range, also play a significant role. Finally, if deciding to charge, respondents to charge the battery to a higher level rather than a small top-up. There is extensive heterogeneity in preferences across travellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Common ownership of varieties can support diversified agricultural systems. • Consumers prefer commons/open-source varieties and are willing to pay a premium. • Price premium for these varieties is smaller than for local/organic produce. • Information provision increases willingness to pay for commons/open-source varieties. • A lager policy framework for establishing commons/open-source varieties is needed. The increasing privatization of seeds and varieties through intellectual property rights such as patents and exclusive seed multiplication rights has led to power imbalances and contributes to the continuous decline of genetic diversity. Diversified agricultural systems are, however, essential for climate change adaptation and the long-term resilience of our food systems. Common ownership of seeds and varieties can play a central role in supporting the development of diversified agricultural systems. With the first commons/open-source varieties entering consumer markets, consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for these varieties are worth exploring. On the example of tomatoes, we carried out a representative consumer survey with a discrete choice experiment. We find that consumers prefer commons/open-source varieties to company-owned varieties and are willing to pay a premium for these varieties. However, the premium they are willing to pay is smaller than for locally grown and organic produce. Providing additional information on the advantages of commons/open-source varieties positively affects WTP. There are no differences in WTP values for 'commons varieties' and 'open-source varieties'. Our findings contribute to academic and policy discourses on consumers' role in agrobiodiversity conservation and enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building sector is considered to be important for Korean energy issues as it accounts for approximately 20% of Korea’s final energy consumption. As one of Korea’s passive strategies in its emission reduction plan is reducing energy consumption through improvements in energy efficiency because the energy loss mostly occurs from window sets, this study aims to examine the preferences and role of the energy efficiency level of window sets in South Korea. Given that the lifespan of a building exceeds 20 years, a building’s energy efficiency significantly impacts accumulated energy savings. However, window sets affect not only energy efficiency, but also the interior appearance of the building; therefore, it is important to understand consumer preferences and to examine their effect on building energy reduction accordingly. Using a mixed logit model, this study analyzes window set preferences and energy savings. As a result, this study determines that consumers consider the energy efficiency level to be the second most important factor in determining window preference, following the cost of the window. In addition, this study found that the marginal willingness to pay for efficiency level 2 window sets compared to level 3 window sets is USD 1256. For level 1 window sets, this figure increases to USD 3140. Further, a scenario analysis is conducted to analyze the government incentive program’s effectiveness in encouraging consumers to purchasing higher energy efficiency more efficient products, and thus in promoting the eco-friendly consumption of in households. Taking into consideration of households’ willingness to pay and cost saving amount for using energy efficient window sets, the optimal value of government incentives of is found to be approximately USD 700 is found to be optimal.

Lotteries and auctions are common ways of allocating public resources, but they have rarely been used simultaneously in urban transportation policies. This paper presents a unique policy experiment in Guangzhou, China, where lotteries and auctions are used in conjunction to allocate vehicle licenses. Guangzhou introduced vehicle license regulations to control the monthly quota of local automobile growth in 2012. To obtain a license, residents are required to choose between the lottery and auction method. Since the introduction of the regulations, there has been heated debates on the distributional effects of lotteries and auctions; however, the debates have not been grounded in empirical studies. We analyze the distributional effects of such mixed mode of resource allocation in a positive manner based on individual behavioral choices. We conducted a survey in January 2016 (n = 1000 people ∗ 12 months), and used mixed logit models to analyze how socio-economic status, including income and household automobile ownership, determined people’s choices among lottery, auction, and non-participation alternatives. We find that income increased participation, but did not influence non-car owners’ choices between lotteries and auctions, which contrasts with the common notion that lotteries benefit the poor. Additionally, the positive impact of car ownership on participation indicates a car-dependent trajectory for automobile growth. The significant socio-economic differentiators between lotteries and auctions were age, gender, and education. Proxies of mobility needs were insignificant overall. The program attributes had a much larger impact than all other variables—people were more likely to choose lotteries with higher winning rates and more participants and more likely to choose auctions with higher prices and more participants. We concluded that for those who participated, the choice between lotteries and auctions did not depend on their income or mobility needs but, rather, the probability of winning plates and the opportunity for speculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing focus on environmentally sustainable seafood, which creates a potential for segmentation in the seafood market. Several recent studies demonstrate that consumers prefer ecolabeled wild seafood over unlabeled seafood. In addition, there is increasing evidence of a preference for wild fish relative to farmed fish, despite the rapid increase of aquaculture production. Recently, ecolabels have also been introduced for farmed fish. An interesting question is whether the preference for wild fish is primarily related to the perceived lack of environmental sustainability in aquaculture, or whether it is a perceived quality difference. In this paper, a choice experiment is used to investigate these issues in Germany for salmon using the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) ecolabel for farmed salmon and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabel for wild salmon. Using a mixed logit model, the random parameter specification indicates substantial variation in consumer preferences beyond demographic variables. With respect to the main question, the ASC ecolabel not only makes up for the negative association of farmed salmon, but gives a similar price for the ASC labeled salmon as for MSC labeled wild salmon. This is an indication that environmental concerns and not quality differences are the major issue in segmenting the market between farmed and wild fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation agencies need efficient methods to determine how to reduce bicycle accidents while promoting cycling activities and prioritizing safety improvement investments. Many studies have used standalone methods, such as level of traffic stress (LTS) and bicycle level of service (BLOS), to better understand bicycle mode share and network connectivity for a region. However, in most cases, other studies rely on crash severity models to explain what variables contribute to the severity of bicycle related crashes. This research uniquely correlates bicycle LTS with reported bicycle crash locations for four cities in New Hampshire through geospatial mapping. LTS measurements and crash locations are compared visually using a GIS framework. Next, a bicycle injury severity model, that incorporates LTS measurements, is created through a mixed logit modeling framework. Results of the visual analysis show some geospatial correlation between higher LTS roads and “Injury” type bicycle crashes. It was determined, statistically, that LTS has an effect on the severity level of bicycle crashes and high LTS can have varying effects on severity outcome. However, it is recommended that further analyses be conducted to better understand the statistical significance and effect of LTS on injury severity. As such, this research will validate the use of LTS as a proxy for safety risk regardless of the recorded bicycle crash history. This research will help identify the clustering patterns of bicycle crashes on high-risk corridors and, therefore, assist with bicycle route planning and policy making. This paper also suggests low-cost countermeasures or treatments that can be implemented to address high-risk areas. Specifically, with the goal of providing safer routes for cyclists, such countermeasures or treatments have the potential to substantially reduce the number of fatalities and severe injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Government has introduced numerous policy incentives to promote the development and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), especially aggressive subsidization policies. Stimulated by such policies, sales of EVs exceeded 500,000 in 2016. However, the subsidies for EVs will be abrogated after 2020. In order to maintain market stability, the EV-related policy system needs innovation. Nonetheless, it is still unclear how effective different policy incentives are. By conducting a discrete choice experiment involving 247 respondents and using a mixed logit model, this paper investigates the effectiveness of several potential policy incentives except subsidization policies, as well as the influence of socio-psychologist determinants. The results help to offer suggestions for the EV-related policy reformation. As expected, the probability of stated EV-acceptance increases if policy incentives are provided in the choice experiment. EVs are exempted from purchase restrictions (license plate control policy) and driving restrictions in China, and these two transport policy incentives have the most significant positive effects on the EV-acceptance. Discounted/free electric charging also has great contribution. Preferential bus lane access gains increasing attention. Vehicle purchase tax exemption should be resumed because of its positive influence. Comparatively speaking, the financial incentives (e.g., reduced parking fees) in the EV using stage play a weaker role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes different attitudes toward introduction of smart policing technologies in cybercrime policing among the Korean public and police. Policing is essential for a sustainable community. Technological advances in policing have both positive and negative aspects, making it essential to investigate perceptions of both public and police when introducing smart policing technologies. A discrete choice experiment was undertaken to survey preferences of the public and police toward introduction of such technologies and conduct simulation analysis to compare changes in the acceptance of various scenarios. The study divides cybercrime policing into prevention and investigation. The sample included 500 members of the public and 161 police officers. The results show that the public thinks an increase in yearly taxes and invasion of privacy are the most important factors. Conversely, the police think factors enhancing the efficiency of policing are most important. Moreover, when smart policing technologies are introduced, the public and police perceive more utility in the prevention and investigation of cybercrime, respectively. Few studies in this field separate the prevention and investigation of crimes, or compare perceptions of the public and police toward the introduction of smart policing technologies. This study's quantitative analysis provides insights lacking in previous literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rollover crashes are responsible for a notable number of serious injuries and fatalities; hence, they are of great concern to transportation officials and safety researchers. However, only few published studies have analyzed the factors associated with severity outcomes of rollover crashes. This research has two objectives. The first objective is to investigate the effects of various factors, of which some have been rarely reported in the existing studies, on the injury severities of single-vehicle (SV) rollover crashes based on six-year crash data collected on the Malaysian federal roads. A random-effects generalized ordered probit (REGOP) model is employed in this study to analyze injury severity patterns caused by rollover crashes. The second objective is to examine the performance of the proposed approach, REGOP, for modeling rollover injury severity outcomes. To this end, a mixed logit (MXL) model is also fitted in this study because of its popularity in injury severity modeling. Regarding the effects of the explanatory variables on the injury severity of rollover crashes, the results reveal that factors including dark without supplemental lighting, rainy weather condition, light truck vehicles (e.g., sport utility vehicles, vans), heavy vehicles (e.g., bus, truck), improper overtaking, vehicle age, traffic volume and composition, number of travel lanes, speed limit, undulating terrain, presence of central median, and unsafe roadside conditions are positively associated with more severe SV rollover crashes. On the other hand, unpaved shoulder width, area type, driver occupation, and number of access points are found as the significant variables decreasing the probability of being killed or severely injured (i.e., KSI) in rollover crashes. Land use and side friction are significant and positively associated only with slight injury category. These findings provide valuable insights into the causes and factors affecting the injury severity patterns of rollover crashes, and thus can help develop effective countermeasures to reduce the severity of rollover crashes. The model comparison results show that the REGOP model is found to outperform the MXL model in terms of goodness-of-fit measures, and also is significantly superior to other extensions of ordered probit models, including generalized ordered probit and random-effects ordered probit (REOP) models. As a result, this research introduces REGOP as a promising tool for future research focusing on crash injury severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the choice for charging mode and location with the revealed preference data of battery electric vehicle (BEV) users in Japan. Three alternatives including the normal charging at home (for private BEVs)/company premise (for commercial BEVs), normal charging at public charging stations and fast charging at public charging stations are defined. A mixed logit model is developed to investigate what and how factors influence BEV users’ choice of charging mode (normal or fast) and location (home/company or public stations), by identifying an appropriate instrumental variable to correct the serious endogeneity problem caused by the midnight indicator. The parameters estimation and results interpretation are conducted for private and commercial BEVs respectively. They suggest that the battery capacity, midnight indicator, initial state of charge (SOC) and number of past fast charging events are the main predictors for users’ choice of charging mode and location, that the day interval between current charging and next trip positively affects the normal charging at home/company. In addition, with the increasing of vehicle-kilometres of travel (VKT)/travel duration on former/next travel day, the probability of normal charging at home/company is increased for commercial BEVs, while is decreased for private BEVs. The findings obtained herein have provided new insights into the realization of power peak-load shifting and operation strategy for public charging stations, as well as inspired the development and application of new models and methodologies to determine the density and deployment of public charging stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scheduled block time (SBT) is the time between gate departure and gate arrival assumed by airlines for use in published timetables and operations planning. SBT setting has critical impacts on airlines’ operating cost and on-time performance. Air carriers regularly update their SBTs to respond to changing operating conditions and evolving business strategies. Most existing studies have focused on investigating the impact of SBT on on-time performance or predicting SBT based on historical performance and market characteristics. However, the dynamics of adjusting SBT, which may allow deeper understanding about the trade-offs airlines make between SBT and on-time performance, have been rarely studied. In this paper, we assume that SBT adjustment choices reveal preferences. Based on airlines’ practice in setting SBT, hypothetical SBT scenarios and their corresponding on-time performance profiles are re-constructed to mimic the situations faced by airline schedulers. This enables us to infer how airlines trade-off between SBT, on-time arrivals, and earliness. By using correlated mixed logit models, we find that our five study airlines are willing to increase SBT from 0.38 to 0.54 min to increase on-time performance by 1%. We also find that both on-time performance and early arrival are valued by airlines, but the former is considerably more valuable. The estimated models can also be used to predict airlines’ SBT adjustments in response to changes in operational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk of being involved in an airplane accident is largely ignored in air passengers’ choice models. The reason presumably is that it is hard to operationalize, because objective safety indicators often involve extremely low probabilities that are hard to grasp and interpret by passengers. In this paper, we propose an operationalization that is based on the perception of safety, which is easy to understand and resonates that perceptions often influence decisions stronger than objective variables. We conceptualize that passengers form a safety perception score of a particular flight based on their perception of airline and route attributes and that this score in turn is traded-off against other flight attributes, such as ticket costs, to arrive at a flight choice. In line with this conceptualization, two stated preference experiments are conducted. In a first experiment, combinations of airline and route attributes are evaluated in terms of safety that is captured on a rating scale. In a second experiment, safety perception is treated as an attribute and traded-off against other flight attributes to arrive at a flight choice. The paper presents the results of a regression and a Panel Mixed Logit model estimated from responses obtained from a convenience sample of 161 air passengers recruited in the Netherlands. The results of both models are then combined to calculate the willingness to pay values for improvements made to a range of airline and route attributes, taking into account socio-demographic variables and psychological traits. As expected, the results indicate that the willingness to pay for improving safety decreases with higher initial safety levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Traffic crashes result in a loss of life but also impact the quality of life and productivity of crash survivors. Given the importance of traffic crash outcomes, the issue has received attention from researchers and practitioners as well as government institutions, such as the European Commission (EC). Thus, to obtain detailed information on the injury type and severity of crash victims, hospital data have been proposed for use alongside police crash records. A new injury severity classification based on hospital data, called the maximum abbreviated injury scale (MAIS), was developed and recently adopted by the EC. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the factors that affect injury severity as classified by the MAIS score.Method: In this study, the MAIS score was derived from the International Classification of Diseases. The European Union adopted an MAIS score equal to or greater than 3 as the definition for a serious traffic crash injury. Gains are expected from using both police and hospital data because the injury severities of the victims are detailed by medical staff and the characteristics of the crash and the site of its occurrence are also provided. The data were obtained by linking police and hospital data sets from the Porto metropolitan area of Portugal over a 6-year period (2006-2011). A mixed logit model was used to understand the factors that contribute to the injury severity of traffic victims and to explore the impact of these factors on injury severity. A random parameter approach offers methodological flexibility to capture individual-specific heterogeneity. Additionally, to understand the importance of using a reliable injury severity scale, we compared MAIS with length of hospital stay (LHS), a classification used by several countries, including Portugal, to officially report injury severity. To do so, the same statistical technique was applied using the same variables to analyze their impact on the injury severity classified according to LHS.Results: This study showed the impact of variables, such as the presence of blood alcohol, the use of protection devices, the type of crash, and the site characteristics, on the injury severity classified according to the MAIS score. Additionally, the sex and age of the victims were analyzed as risk factors, showing that elderly and male road users are highly associated with MAIS 3+ injuries. The comparison between the marginal effects of the variables estimated by the MAIS and LHS models showed significant differences. In addition to the differences in the magnitude of impact of each variable, we found that the impact of the road environment variable was dependent on the injury severity classification.Conclusions: The differences in the effects of risk factors between the classifications highlight the importance of using a reliable classification of injury severity. Additionally, the relationship between LHS and MAIS levels is quite different among countries, supporting the previous conclusion that bias is expected in the assessment of risk factors if an injury severity classification other than MAIS is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates factors that significantly contribute to the severity of driver injuries resulting from single-vehicle run-off-road (SV ROR) crashes. A mixed logit model approach is employed to explore the potential unobserved heterogeneous effects associated with each age group: young (ages 16–24), middle-aged (ages 25–65), and older drivers (ages over 65). Likelihood ratio tests indicated that the development of separate injury severity models for each age group is statistically superior to estimating a single model using all data. Based on the crash data collected from 2009 to 2013 in North Carolina, a series of driver, vehicle, roadway, and environmental characteristics are examined. Both parameter estimates and their elasticities are developed and used to interpret the models. The estimation results show that contributing factors which significantly affect the injury severity of an SV ROR crash differ across three age groups. Use of restraint device and horizontal curves are found to affect crash injuries and fatalities in all age groups. Reckless driving, speeding, distraction, inexperience, drug or alcohol involvement, presence of passengers, and driving an SUV or a van are found to have a more pronounced influence in young and middle-aged drivers than older drivers. Compared to the passenger cars, older drivers are less likely to experience possible injuries in a large-size vehicle (e.g., truck or bus). The average annual daily traffic volume and lighting conditions are also found to influence the resulting injury severity of an SV ROR crash specific to young drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores consumer investment choice in long-term energy conservation technology and assesses trade-offs in energy saving behaviour between the housing and transportation domains. The long-term energy conservation choice problem is conceptualized as a portfolio choice problem. Consequently, to measure trade-offs between investments in housing and transport options, a cross effects choice design is developed in which respondents were shown one or more alternate ways to reduce their current energy consumption: (1) investing in new technology in the house, such as solar panels; (2) exchanging the current car for a more energy efficient car; (3) buying a new energy-efficient car, such as EV or solar car; (4) moving house to reduce current travel distances. To help respondents linking these options to their current energy consumption, a new Web-based survey system (SINA) to implement and administer stated adaptation experiments was developed. The system was used to collect two sets of data. First, data about out-of-home and in-home energy consumption, together with detailed time use data, was collected. Second, using a cross effects design, respondents were asked to select a portfolio of energy-saving strategies in response to different energy pricing policy scenarios. Results reported in this paper are based on 572 respondents who completed the survey and responded to seven adaptation questions based on their current energy expenditures. A random parameters logit model is estimated to predict the probability of choosing a particular portfolio of energy-saving options. Estimation results indicate that individuals from different socio-demographic groups exhibit varied preferences. The saving option characteristics, especially cost related characteristics have significant effects on individuals' preferences. Moreover, the results also showed significant effects of choice set composition on energy saving options. Further, the energy pricing policies had showed mixed effects on individual's preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: This article aims to model fault in e-bike fatal crashes in a county-level city in China.Method: Three-year crash data are retrieved from the crash reports (2012-2014) from the Taixing Police Department. A mixed logit model is introduced to explore significant factors associated with fault assignment, as well as accounting for similarity among fault assignment and heterogeneity within unobserved variables.Results: The modeling results indicate some interesting new findings. First, precrash behaviors of both drivers and e-bike riders are found to be significant to fault assignment. Second, bike lane and median type are significantly associated with e-bike rider fault commitment. Third, specific groups of e-bike riders (low-educated and older) and drivers (heavy good vehicles) are more likely to be at fault in e-bike crashes. Last, crash location and the built environment have significant correlations with faulty behaviors of e-bike riders.Conclusions: Safety countermeasures are proposed including (1) the deployment of traffic design and control elements including physically separated bike lanes, medians, video surveillance systems for e-bike riders, and left-turning treatments for nonmotorists (e.g., a 2-step e-bike left turning); (2) the amendment of the current traffic regulations on drunk e-bike riders and child e-bike passengers; (3) the development of a license system for specific e-bike rider groups (older and low-educated) and a safety campaign for drivers (to increase safety awareness when parking on-street or driving heavy good vehicles). Some interesting future research topics are also suggested: e-bike riders' behaviors at unsignalized intersections and mid-block openings, e-bike safety in suburban areas, and an in-depth study of the effect of the built environment on e-bike safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an investigation of how different arrangements of vegetation, regarding spatial containment and density, affect the experience of safety in urban parks. A discrete choice experiment was used to obtain replies from a sample of 300 visitors to urban parks in Mashhad, Iran. Face-to-face surveys were conducted. Visitors randomly selected a block and evaluated six pairs of designed images of different urban park scenarios based on seven attributes (Physical accessibility, Spatial arrangement, Spatial volume, Lateral visibility, Complexity, Coherence, and Visual accessibility) and their levels. Each visitor chose their preferred option in relation to perceived safety. The results suggested that the perception of safety is strongly dependent on visual and physical accessibility, the degree of spatial enclosure, complexity and cohesion created by vegetation. This can help architects when designing urban parks; for example, the results showed that a combination of complex elements of five plant species with open lateral visibility, scattered cohesion with open lateral visibility, scattered cohesion with a two-sided spatial arrangement, and cluster cohesion with a four-sided spatial arrangement were most preferred regarding perceived safety. The findings also indicated that age, gender, and marital status affect some of the levels of the relevant variables. When designing and managing urban parks, aiming to improve users' perceived safety, these factors can be decisive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation system models rely heavily upon value of time (VOT) estimates to predict customer behavior. Accurate VOT estimates are particularly vital for planning new services such as on-demand ride hailing or microtransit because customers' sensitivity to wait time, walk time, and route detour time affects their likelihood of selecting these modes. If an incorrect VOT is assumed during service planning, then ridership will be depressed because of a mismatch between their preferences and how the system is designed. In this paper, we report on the measurement of VOT for microtransit, a shared first-mile/last-mile mobility service, obtained using stated preference microdata from four U.S. cities. We found a median in-vehicle VOT for microtransit of $18.63 (95% CI: $13.39–$24.46) and an access VOT of $75.38 (95% CI: $59.22–$94.96). The former is practically equal to the VOT we found for respondents' current modes ($20.24, 95% CI: $13.71–$26.94). We also found that men, younger riders, the highly educated, and transit riders are more likely to be interested in microtransit. Since the disutility of time spent on microtransit is not higher than that of other modes, we believe this new service has the potential to attract riders, and particularly if the system is designed with low waiting and walking times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new technology products brings systematic changes to the market, and appropriate responses to such changes are essential for the survival and success of firms. This study investigated producers' optimal new product introduction (and positioning) strategies in various situations that require different sets of decisions. Specifically, we considered the diffusion of hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the South Korean automotive market. A model incorporating the strategic, forward-looking behaviors of both producers and consumers was used to derive producer's optimal new product introduction plan based on long-term market forecasting. Then, we conducted simulation analyses to investigate the benefit of forward-looking planning and how optimal strategies change depending on the policy interventions and market entrance of the new producer. The results show that a forward-looking strategy could improve the market performance of new products by up to 40 % compared to the myopic strategy, and the plan adjustment of the incumbent in response to competition could reduce competition-related losses by up to 9 %. Finally, stronger policy intervention and new market competition will motivate producers to introduce more, less-expensive BEVs in their product portfolio. Such responses significantly expand the BEV market, which is also a socially desirable outcome. • Analyzes optimal strategies for introducing new products under various scenarios • A model linking the consumer and producer optimization model was employed. • Investigates the diffusion of electric vehicles in South Korean automotive market • Forward-looking strategy could improve market performance of new products. • Incumbent's active response to new entrant would significantly reduce losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micromobility mode of transportation is convenient for short-distance trips in urban settings. The popularity of dockless sharing systems is rapidly increasing because of their characteristics of convenient rental/return and mobile payment options. Although many previous studies have examined travel behaviors regarding a single means of micromobility transportation, few have analyzed mode choice behavior among multiple, similar, and competing means of micromobility transportation. To our knowledge, no researcher thus far has examined micromobility as a potential means to solve the last-mile problem from the subway station to the destination. Therefore, a stated preference survey was conducted, analyzing factors and preferences influencing the mode choice of subway users for the last-mile trip. This study considered sharing dockless e-scooters and docked bicycles, as well as walking. It analyzed the differences in mode choice behavior of subway users based on their demographic and socio-economic attributes, as well as travel (travel purpose and distance), mode-specific (fare), and environmental (slope) characteristics. Two logit-based models—the multinomial logit (MNL) and mixed logit (ML) models—and two ML models based on residential areas of Seoul and Gyeonggi, Korea, were developed and compared. The results showed that the ML model was superior to the MNL model regarding model fit and individual parameters. In the ML model, the statistically significant variables included fare, marital status, household size, age, income, disability, and slope of roadway. However, the significance differed by alternative modes: for e-scooters (vs. bicycles), the factors influencing last-mile mode choice behaviors showed greater statistical significance. A comparison of the two ML models by region highlighted major differences in the results for the variables of household size and trip purpose between residents of Seoul and Gyeonggi. Urban transport policymakers interested in introducing micromobility services can use the findings of this study to make more well-informed decisions about traffic congestion problems and increase public transportation revenue in an environmentally friendly manner. • Role of micromobility to solve the last mile problem. • Preference behavior for short-distance micromobilities (e-scooters and bicycles) and walking from subway stations. • Factors determining mode choice decision. • Comparison of two mode choice models by two types of logit-based models and by two residential areas. • Policy implications for urban transport policymakers to introduce micromobility services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two different strategies for investigating individual differences among consumers in choice experiments using the Mixed Logit Model are compared. The study is based on a consumer study of iced coffees in Norway. Consumers (n = 102) performed a choice task of twenty different iced coffee profiles varying in coffee type, production origin, calorie content and price following an orthogonal design. Consumer attributes, such as socio-demographics, attitudes and habits, were also collected. Choice data were first analyzed using the Mixed Logit Model and then two different approaches were adopted for investigating consumer attributes. The first strategy, called one-step strategy , includes the consumer attributes directly in the Mixed Logit Model. The second strategy, called multi-step strategy , combines different methods of analysis such as Mixed Logit Model based on the design factors only, followed by Principal Component Analysis and Partial Least Squares regression to study consumer attributes. The two approaches are compared in terms of data analysis methodologies, outcomes, practical issues, user friendliness, and interpretation. Overall, we think the multi-step strategy is the one to be preferred in most practical applications because of its flexibility and stronger exploratory capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discussion on the relationship between organizational forms (including the ownership structure and the contractual practices) and passenger satisfaction of Chinese public transport service. To test this proposition, an original rich data set covering 4702 respondents and 58 public transport operators of 13 cities for the period 2013–2014 is used. We firstly estimate the passenger satisfaction based on customer satisfaction theory and PLS-SEM, and then take into consideration the mixed logit model to assess the effect between them. Conclusions drawn from the study are summarized as follows: ① The effect of organizational forms on the passenger satisfaction of public transport service is confirmed. ② Public transport services franchised to public ownership offer higher passenger satisfaction than those franchised to private ownership and mixed ownership. ③ Public transport services regulated by the management contracts incite more passenger satisfaction than those regulated by net cost contracts and gross cost contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been established that adverse drivers' behaviors, including behavior relating to distracted driving, propensities for risk-taking, and disregard for traffic rules, have been critical determinants with regard to the likelihood of a vehicle crash and its resulting injury severity. Socio-economic/educational/cultural factors have significant positive effects on traffic-related fatalities. Using crash data from Iran over a six-year period from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011, this paper estimates a mixed logit model to investigate the unsafe driving behavior effects on driver-injury severities in a vehicle collision on interprovincial routes. The methodological approach allows the parameters to vary across observations as opposed to a fixed parameter model. The results showed random effects of female drivers, separated bi-directional route and clear weather condition for no injury severity function, following too closely for minor injury function, and average annual daily traffic for severe injury function. Several factors were found to significantly increase the likelihood of severe injury crashes including disregarding traffic rules, exceeding the speed limit, improper overtaking/passing, and driving in an erratic and negligent manner. The results of this paper will further help decision-makers to better understand the contributing factors on crash injury severity and implement treatments to reduce the crash severity and improve transportation safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Casual observation and numerous studies in economics and psychology suggest that households care about the natural environment of their living places. This paper investigates the role played by natural amenities in the formation of segregated residential patterns with respect to household size and socio-professional status. We estimate residential location choice models for large household samples in two metropolitan areas in France: Grenoble in the Alps, and Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. In a second step, we perform counterfactual segregation analysis using Monte Carlo simulations, to compare segregation outcomes “with” and “without” preferences for natural amenities. Our main result is that households' search for natural amenities has significant impacts on residential segregation. It most often contributes to strengthening segregation , but can also be a factor attenuating segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we aim to investigate the role of agglomeration economies, which include both urbanization economies and localization economies, in determining the hotel location choices within a metropolitan setting. Using a sample of 110 star-rated hotels and 535 non-rated budget hotels established in the urbanized area of Beijing over the period 2005–2012, we estimate a mixed logit model of hotel location selection. The results suggest that both star-rated and non-rated budget hotels are enticed by externalities rising from localization economies to choose locations with a high concentration of hotel incumbents. Also, an inverted-U-shaped relationship exists between hotel incumbent concentration and location probability for both types of hotels. Furthermore, budget hotels prefer locations that offer advantages of urbanization economies. Lastly, our results suggest that both star-rated and budget hotels are more likely to choose locations around Beijing Olympic Park, especially in and before 2008. We discuss several policy implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a mixed logit model is developed to identify the heterogeneous impacts of gender-interpreted contributing factors on driver injury severities in single-vehicle rollover crashes. The random parameter of the variables in the mixed logit model, the heterogeneous mean, is elaborated by driver gender-based linear regression models. The model is estimated using crash data in New Mexico from 2010 to 2012. The percentage changes of factors’ predicted probabilities are calculated in order to better understand the model specifications. Female drivers are found more likely to experience severe or fatal injuries in rollover crashes than male drivers. However, the probability of male drivers being severely injured is higher than female drivers when the road surface is unpaved. Two other factors with fixed parameters are also found to significantly increase driver injury severities, including Wet and Alcohol Influenced . This study provides a better understanding of contributing factors influencing driver injury severities in rollover crashes as well as their heterogeneous impacts in terms of driver gender. Those results are also helpful to develop appropriate countermeasures and policies to reduce driver injury severities in single-vehicle rollover crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]