Estimating the Benefits of Traffic Calming on Through Routes: A Choice Experiment Approach

28 Pages Posted: 9 Nov 2003

See all articles by Guy Garrod

Guy Garrod

Centre for Rural economy, Newcastle University

Riccardo Scarpa

University of Waikato - Management School

Kenneth G. Willis

CREAM, Centre for Research on Environmental Appraisal & Management, UK; University of Newcastle

Abstract

Excessive speed is a major contributory factor in a large proportion of deaths and serious injuries on British roads. One approach to tackling the speeding problem is the use of traffic calming measures as a means of enforcing speed restrictions along roads running through populated areas. But speed reduction is only one of the benefits of traffic calming. This paper reports the results of a series of choice experiments that were used to investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) of a sample of local residents in three English towns for traffic calming measures that would achieve a range of reductions in speed, noise and community severance. Utility difference indices are estimated from logit models based on responses to the choice experiments. These revealed that local people had a positive WTP for a reduction in the negative impacts of road traffic and for more attractive, rather than basic, designs of the traffic calming measures. Some specifications of the logit model corroborate the hypothesis that WTP for reducing the negative impacts of traffic calming is lower for local households living outside visible and audible range of the road.

Suggested Citation

Garrod, Guy and Scarpa, Riccardo and Willis, Kenneth G., Estimating the Benefits of Traffic Calming on Through Routes: A Choice Experiment Approach. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=222149 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.222149

Guy Garrod (Contact Author)

Centre for Rural economy, Newcastle University ( email )

United Kingdom

Riccardo Scarpa

University of Waikato - Management School ( email )

Hamilton
New Zealand

Kenneth G. Willis

CREAM, Centre for Research on Environmental Appraisal & Management, UK ( email )

University of Newcastle
NE1 7RU Newcastle Upon Tyne
United Kingdom

University of Newcastle

5 Barrack Road
Devonshire Building
NE1 7RU Newcastle upon Tyne, 2308 NE1 7RU
United Kingdom