The role of stated preferences and discrete- choice models in identifying individual preferences for traffic management devices

Abstract

Responsible local governments recognize the need to be sensitive to the local environmental implications of decisions taken in the course of developing strategies to ensure the efficient use of scarce resources. Rather than rely on the pressures of lobby groups to direct government behavior in relation to community concerns, a preferred strategy is to identify the preferences and choices of the community as a whole and to use information from a representative cross-section of the community to aid in making environmentally-linked decisions that maximize the benefits to the affected community. This paper demonstrates how discrete-choice models can be used to identify community choices among alternative traffic-management devices designed to improve the traffic environment within and in the vicinity of local residential streets. Using a “before” and “after” survey strategy, the study provides evidence to support the view that a set of guidelines representing the community's preferences for different devices should be based on an empirical model estimated on a sample of residents who have already had exposure to a range of devices.