Comments on: How Much Would Most People Pay For a Shorter Commute?

By: Rockfish

Rockfish — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:26:33 +0000

What exactly do they mean? Per trip? Per day? And the idea is this would be done by transit infrastructure, not by just moving the people and workplace closer together?

Doesn’t make sense to me. My commuter train pass is $290/mo and the trip is an hour each way. How much more would I pay if it were 45 min each way? Nothing.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:05:17 +0000

The amazing thing is people can have exactly what they want. two to four hundred dollars a month is exactly the difference between urban and suburban rent.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:35:30 +0000

Steve – the survey wasn’t conducted online. (I worked @ IBM with the folks who conducted it). It was conducted via phone interview and is statistically valid for the 10 cities in which the study was conducted. From the methodology:

“The study gathered drivers’ opinions about local traffic and related issues in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Forth Worth, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St Paul, New York, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, and Washington, DC. The survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI). 4,446 consumers responded — at least 400 in each city. The male to female balance was even. The results have a 2-point margin of error overall, and a 5-point margin of error when comparing cities.”

Sorry for the long response. Hope that helps clarify.

By: garyg

garyg — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:25:24 +0000

What does the data mean? For one thing, those who fear that voters would revolt if asked to pay more for a more efficient, less congested transport network shouldn’t let that stop policy-making.

Depends on how much more you “ask” them to pay and how you propose to spend the money. I see no serious evidence that voters are willing to pay significantly more to subsidize transit on the dubious claim that it will relieve road congestion.

Reducing the number of car trips and lowering demand during peak travel times are proven to be a cheaper and more effective method of battling congestion than expanding highway capacity.

The article you link here to with the words “are proven” neither proves your assertion nor even claims to.

By: Steve Davis

Steve Davis — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:51:46 +0000

Important to note, that I think the IBM study is conducted online, skewing the results to solely an online (and therefore more prosperous) sampling. Which certainly doesn’t negate your point at all — just points to the need to price roads properly and steer the revenues into transit and other modes that can help those without the means or a car to get around just the same.