How do the affective and symbolic factors of private car driving influence car users’ travel behavior in a car restriction policy scenario?

The number of private car trips a person makes is usually linked to external factors such as economic incentives or disincentives, legislation, infrastructure, and the quality of transport systems, among others. The impact of these options are typically analyzed to evaluate urban transport policies and projects. However, internal factors related to an individuals' attitudes and perceptions also play an essential role in the amount of private car driving they do and on urban mobility as well. Therefore, insight into private car driving's affective and symbolic aspects is important in order to formulate appropriate transport policies and strategies to reduce car-use dependency and encourage private car drivers to use public transport. Congestion charging schemes make drivers pay the full social cost of driving, they achieve congestion reduction, pollution reduction, they make cities more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists, and help improve quality of life. Congestion charging schemes are often difficult to implement and expensive to administer. As a result of these reasons, several cities worldwide have adopted a variety of car restriction schemes that try to reduce air pollution and congestion as well, instead of establishing congestion charges. The effects of driving restrictions in the short term are positive, but in the medium and long term, there are unwanted consequences. However, by giving private car drivers the option to pay a toll so that their cars are exempted from the restriction, these perverse incentives could be eliminated. This paper analyzes the impacts of internal factors related to individuals' attitudes and perceptions about the travel behavior of car users affected by car restriction policies in urban areas. We designed a stated preference survey conducted among car owners in Cali, Colombia, where a License Plate Restriction Charging (LPRC) policy has been in place since January 2017. Through hybrid discrete choice modeling, we demonstrated that latent variables, such as the feelings of being in control, independence, and higher social status, positively influence the decision to use cars for daily trips, thus impacting the urban modal split. The heterogeneity captured through these latent variables allowed us to understand more deeply how individuals deal with the LPRC policy in order to travel to their destination

Analysing a license plate-based vehicle restriction policy with optional exemption charge: The case in Cali, Colombia

Several cities have restricted the use of private vehicles based on the last digit of a vehicle's license plate to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. However, the effectiveness of this measure has been questioned. In 2017, a hybrid scheme, License Plate Restriction Charging (LPRC), was implemented in Cali, Colombia. With this scheme, drivers can pay a charge (monthly, quarterly, or yearly) to circumvent the restriction, while the revenue is used to subsidise the BRT System. Cali was the first city in Latin America to implement such a scheme, while Colombia's capital, Bogota, adopted a similar policy in 2020. This article analyses the evolution of the measure using official information. In addition, we conducted a stated preferences survey and estimated a choice model to evaluate the behaviour of car owners to policy variables. Results show that LPRC price is the most relevant attribute in decision-making. Increasing the number of days with traffic restrictions and extending the hours of vehicle use restriction increases drivers' probability of paying for the LPRC. As currently implemented in Cali, the LPRC is a fixed cost that does not vary according to the car use level, encouraging users who pay for the exemption to use their car as much as possible to make the most out of the payment. Furthermore, the revenue from the charge contributes only marginally to financing the BRT. Finally, we propose several changes in the policy to improve its efficiency. Among them, consider a daily payment and hardening the current driving restriction. © 2023 The Author(s)APCs y acuerdos transformativos 2023, Elsevie

Modeling the choice of walking based on household survey data

Resumen Los estudios de planificación del transporte urbano adelantados en Colombia muy pocas veces incluyen la modelación de los viajes peatonales, en especial para establecer la probabilidad de caminar. Este artículo reporta los resultados de la investigación para analizar la elección del modo caminata de las personas en un contexto urbano con base en datos de encuestas domiciliarias. El objetivo principal de la investigación es demostrar cómo la información proveniente de encuestas domiciliarias sirve para modelar la probabilidad de caminar en una ciudad. Son utilizados datos de encuestas realizadas en dos ciudades colombianas (Barrancabermeja y Cajicá) con los cuales se estiman modelos de elección. Los resultados del estudio indican que la probabilidad de caminar disminuye a medida que aumentan los valores de atributos tales como tiempo de viaje, número de autos en la familia e ingreso personal, y aumenta cuando se trata de personas jóvenes y grupos familiares de mayor tamaño. Abstract In Colombia, urban transport planning studies do not always include the modeling of pedestrian travel, particularly to study the choice of walking. This paper reports the results of research to model the choice of walking in an urban context, based on household survey data. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how household surveys can be used to study the choice of traveling by foot in a city. Data from surveys conducted in two Colombian cities (Barrancabermeja and Cajicá) are used. With the information available it was possible to estimate choice models of travel by foot, being also possible to identify the attributes that affect the decision to travel on foot. The study results indicate that the probability of walking decreases as travel time increases. Also, more cars and more income mean less chance of walking. Instead, the probability of walking increases for young people and family groups larger

Cómo modelar la elección del modo caminata con base en datos de encuestas domiciliarias

In Colombia, urban transport planning studies do not always include the modeling of pedestrian travel, particularly to study the choice of walking. This paper reports the results of research to model the choice of walking in an urban context, based on household survey data. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how household surveys can be used to study the choice of traveling by foot in a city. Data from surveys conducted in two Colombian cities (Barrancabermeja and Cajicá) are used. With the information available it was possible to estimate choice models of travel by foot, being also possible to identify the attributes that affect the decision to travel on foot. The study results indicate that the probability of walking decreases as travel time increases. Also, more cars and more income mean less chance of walking. Instead, the probability of walking increases for young people and family groups larger.ResumenLos estudios de planificación del transporte urbano adelantados en Colombia muy pocas veces incluyen la modelación de los viajes peatonales, en especial para establecer la probabilidad de caminar. Este artículo reporta los resultados de la investigación para analizar la elección del modo caminata de las personas en un contexto urbano con base en datos de encuestas domiciliarias. El objetivo principal de la investigación es demostrar cómo la información proveniente de encuestas domiciliarias sirve para modelar la probabilidad de caminar en una ciudad. Son utilizados datos de encuestas realizadas en dos ciudades colombianas (Barrancabermeja y Cajicá) con los cuales se estiman modelos de elección. Los resultados del estudio indican que la probabilidad de caminar disminuye a medida que aumentan los valores de atributos tales como tiempo de viaje, número de autos en la familia e ingreso personal, y aumenta cuando se trata de personas jóvenes y grupos familiares de mayor tamaño

Willingness to change car use to commute to the UPTC main campus, Colombia: A hybrid discrete choice modeling approach

This paper studies the willingness to change car use when commuting to a university campus. We estimated a hybrid discrete choice (HDC) model to test the hypothesis that, in addition to traditional tangible attributes, the willingness to change car use to more sustainable transportation modes also depends on the pro-environmental attitude and the perceived convenience of each transportation alternative. We found that teachers have better pro-environmental attitudes than students and administrative staff, but senior individuals and people who own an above-average priced car have negative effects on this attitude. We concluded that in addition to car ownership, the price of a car is also a decisive factor in the willingness to change car use. On-campus parking fees were identified as a key variable for reducing car use when commuting to campus and for financing more sustainable transportation modes. This paper contributes to the literature on sustainable mobility on university campuses and is the first based on an HDC modeling approach that integrates tangible attributes and latent variables into this context