Road-Pricing: Enhancing Acceptability in The Netherlands Meike Henseleit Geertje Schuitema, Jens Schade, Sebastian Bamberg Ines Thronicker Fabio de Cristo Sebastian Seebauer Denise Obst Mauricio Leandro Ingrid Luiza Neto Nicole Huijts

2 Problem Transport Pricing How to make the planned transport pricing scheme effective and acceptable? Government of The Netherlands plans to implement km-based charge in 2012 Research aim: How to enhance acceptability?

3 Theoretical Model Transport Pricing

4 Action Model Study I Transport Pricing Situational Factors: - Price Differentiation - Revenue Allocation - Information - Way of decision making -... Study I

5 Research Question & Hypothesis Research question: How does the allocation of revenues influence the acceptability of the new system? Revenue allocations concern benefits for different goals and therefore can be perceived differently by people People with different value orientations perceive the benefits and costs differently -> acceptability This influences perceived outcome expectation and perceived fairness -> acceptability Transport Pricing Study I

6 Method Questionnaire study Between subjects design 6 revenue allocations Transport Pricing Study I Subsidies for energy efficient cars Nature improvement Reduce fixed taxes Road infrastructure Better health care Public transport Explanation of kilometer-charge policy Study I Egoistic BiosphericAltruistic

Values: - egoistic - biospheric - altruistic Perceived personal and collective costs and benefits Perceived fairness: - fairness of division of costs and benefits Acceptability Socio-demographics, current travel behavior Method Study I

8 Action Model Study II Transport Pricing Situational Factors: - Price Differentiation - Revenue Allocation - Information - Way of decision making -... Study II

9 Research Question & Hypothesis Could a Participatory Approach (PA) to decision making process increase the acceptability of a road pricing scheme compared to a non-participatory approach? Example of Hypothesis: Could the perception of fairness be increased by a Participatory Approach (PA)?  No minority needs are disregarded (distributive justice)  Participation increases procedural fairness Transport Pricing Study II

10Transport Pricing Study II Method Study II

11 Method A sample of pairs of matched cities similar in demographics, infrastructure, traffic situation and reasonable distance apart from each other Randomly choose 3 pairs (1 urban, 1 suburban, 1 rural) Randomly assign to participatory / non- participatory condition Longitudinal survey in 3-6 months intervals Telephone interviews Multiple baselines Yearly follow-ups Transport Pricing Study II

Which revenue allocation is perceived as the most acceptable How do people perceive outcome expectations for themselves and for the society as a whole for each revenue scheme Which revenue allocation is perceived as most fair How to communicate about transport pricing with respect to revenue allocation, in order to increase acceptability To provide concrete info about how to improve the decision making process by using a participatory approach... A bottom-up approach will lead to a higher impact on social norms, trust, a.s.o. and, finally a higher level of acceptability for road pricing measures than a non-participatory, top-down scheme. Expected Results (Study I + II)