Abstract
Public authorities and administrations in the developed world are trying to reduce air pollution through the introduction and promotion of public transport. Typically, passengers are charged flat fares. However, with passenger numbers rising, this flat rate pricing model ceases to be sustainable, and a new trend arises—to charge more during traffic peaks as an incentive to even the load and travel outside of rush hours. However, it can be also argued that prices should be lower during rush hours due to poorer service quality—public transportation tends to be crowded and slow. Our on-line questionnaire did not discuss the logic of pricing models, having only measured the preferences of Czech university students (N = 256). The objective was to investigate whether there is a difference in demographic factors or in personality traits between respondents preferring a lower, flat, or higher pricing model. One-way analysis of variance was used for the intergroup comparison. The majority of respondents prefer flat pricing; higher pricing was the least preferred of the three considered models. The main findings were that men, narcissists and people who tend to find fault with others (i.e. lower in one facet of agreeableness) were in favor of higher prices during rush hours. In particular, the latter finding may be useful for policy makers, as it suggests that there ought to be no or only a little tension after higher rush hours prices are introduced.
Highlights
There are several new trends and developments in public transport in Europe, e.g., free public transport in Luxembourg, heavily discounted fares in Prague, and the re-introduction of tram lines and the mass introduction of electric buses in Denmark
The aim of this article was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and the preferred pricing of public transport in rush hours, i.e., how the profiles of respondents preferring lower, flat, or higher pricing differ
Since it is mostly young people who do not have cars and, rely on public transport, the research was based on a university student sample
Summary
There are several new trends and developments in public transport in Europe, e.g., free public transport in Luxembourg, heavily discounted fares in Prague, and the re-introduction of tram lines and the mass introduction of electric buses in Denmark. Policymakers are attempting to move people from individual to public transportation in general, from diesel buses to public transportation powered by electricity, or even directly to bicycles. Our paper looks into the pricing aspects of public transport. It has already been established that various factors (including issues such as socio-economic status or the passenger’s political opinion) may determine the preference for pricing in the public transport segment. Our paper takes into consideration personality traits, demographic factors, and perceptions of what would be right and what would be unfair. The Big Five has already been used to look into the effects of these aspects. Song and Shi [1] examined correlations between empathy and personality traits – suggesting that the Big Five personality traits would influence self-reported mental and affective empathy assessments
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
