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Choice of season cards in public transport: a study of a Stated Preference experiment
van den Berg, Vincent
Kroes, Eric
Verhoef, Erik T.
2008
Abstract
This paper studies a Stated Preference (SP) experiment on the choice of type of (Rail) season card,
conducted among current Dutch Railways season cardholders. They were asked to choose from the
following three alternatives: (1) an unrestricted season card, (2) a cheaper season card with peak travel
and travel frequency restrictions, and (3) not buying a season card. Multinomial logit (MNL), nested logit
and mixed logit models are used to analyse their choices. It is found that MNL underestimates the price
sensitivities (as measured by the price elasticities) of the respondents and overestimates their Willingnessto-
Pay (WTP) for reductions in the restrictions. The mixed logit estimation shows that there are
(unobserved) differences in the marginal utilities of the price of the card (response heterogeneity), and the
utility of owning a season card (preference heterogeneity). In the Netherlands a large share of commuters
and business travellers receive travel cost compensation from their employer. However, empirical studies
often do not control for the effect of travel cost compensation. We find, as expected, that travel cost
compensation has a large impact on the price sensitivities and choices of the respondents.
Series
European Transport / Trasporti Europei
XIV (2008) 40
Publisher
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
ISTIEE Istituto per lo studio dei trasporti nell’integrazione economica europea
Source
Vincent van den Berg, Eric Kroes, Erik T. Verhoef, "Choice of season cards in public transport: a study of a Stated Preference experiment", in: European Transport / Trasporti Europei, XIV (2008) 40, pp. 4-32.
Languages
en
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