Modelling Preferences for Smart Modes and Services: A Case Study in Lisbon

In this research, we investigate the acceptability of three new and emerging smart mobility options and quantify the associated willingness-to-pay values in the context of Lisbon using a comprehensive stated preferences (SP) survey. The smart mobility options include shared taxi, one-way car rental, and a novel combination of park-and-ride and school bus facilities. While previous surveys on smart mobility options had investigated limited number of alternatives in isolation, the SP survey used in this research presents the smart mobility options alongside the existing options and their traditional variants like congestion pricing and improved public transport systems. Further, the choice of mode, departure time and occupancy are investigated in a multidimensional framework. This resulted a large choice set (with 9 modes, 5 departure times, and 2 occupancy levels leading to 135 alternatives in total) and required a novel survey design. The main survey administered over the internet and computer aided personal interviews included 2372 valid SP observations from 1248 respondents. Multi-dimensional mixed logit models were used to capture the complex correlations introduced due to the non-traditional survey design. Results indicate a significant preference of one-way car rental and shared taxi for non-commute trips. For commute trips, improved versions of traditional public transport modes are favoured over smart mobility options. These findings, as well as the novel data collection and modelling approach, are expected to provide important information to transportation planners and policy makers working to implement smart mobility options in Lisbon as well as in other cities.