The effects of the Travel Feedback Program (TFP) on travel behaviors and psychological factors that may influence automobile use were investigated. TFP was proposed as a method of modifying travel behavior with automobile use into travel behavior without automobile use. In TFP, participants were asked to report their travel activity behavior, after which they received feedback on that behavior, including information about the amount of carbon dioxide emission resulting from the behavior, and comments or suggestions from the program coordinators on how to reduce automobile use. The behavioral and psychological effects produced by TFP were theoretically investigated on the basis of norm activation theory, which describes the psychological process of altruistic behavior proposed in social psychology. From the theory that automobile-use reduction or pro-environmental behavior is influenced by behavioral intention to reduce automobile use, it was hypothesized that behavioral intention is in turn influenced by moral obligation, and moral obligation is in turn influenced by awareness of the negative environmental consequences of automobile use. The psychological and behavioral data confirmed the set of hypotheses of causal relations, and the data indicated that TFP has a significant positive effect on pro-environmental behavior even 1 year after participation in TFP.
Residents were surveyed for their opinions on snow removal operations and the amount of money they would be willing to spend for snow removal service. From the results, basic policies are proposed for future snow removal operations in the four Japanese cities surveyed—Sapporo, Asahikawa, Kushiro, and Kitami, Japan. The results were analyzed by Kishi’s Logit PSM (KLP) to quantify the degree of snow removal desired by residents and the amount of money they would spend for this service. Residents rated maintenance of carriageway width and surface conditions on trunk roads fairly high and wanted significant improvements in snow removal on residential roads. Few residents wanted less snow removal service than they currently received. Most respondents wanted improvements. KLP analysis of the questionnaire results showed that Sapporo was the only city where the standard, acceptable cost to consumers was lower than its current snow removal cost. Many Sapporo respondents said that their current cost was unreasonably high, whereas many Asahikawa, Kushiro, and Kitami residents viewed their snow removal service as inexpensive.
The road management department of the city of Sapporo has improved the service level of winter road management year by year, and its current annual budget is $100 million. In the cost-benefit evaluation of winter road management, conventional studies have not included as evaluation subjects the indirect benefits, such as improvement in quality of life (an increase in pedestrian accessibility, safety, and walkability), other than benefits for traffic markets. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was adopted to include the indirect benefits in the evaluation. The results of the cost-benefit evaluation by applying CVM are described, and facts that should be taken into consideration in CVM application are discussed. Benefits of the development of winter road management levels were estimated by multiplying willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept compensation (WTA) by the number of households in Sapporo (752,267 in February 1998). In the case of deteriorated winter road management level, WTP was $27 million to $33 million, and WTA was $190 million to $300 million. In the case of improved level, WTP was $17 million to $23 million, and WTA was $180 million to $200 million. The estimation results varied greatly depending on means of payment to the questioned value. This indicated that a careful examination of the suitability of the questioning method, whether WTA or WTP, is required.
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