Citation

Karmarkar OD, Jana A, Velaga NR. Case Stud. Transp. Policy 2023; 12: e100974.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, World Conference on Transport Research Society, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cstp.2023.100974

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

India is constructing its first High Speed Railway (HSR) corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, which is expected to reduce inter-city travel times significantly. However, the affordability of these reductions in travel time is still questionable for a developing country like India. This study analyses the existing conventional train travellers' Willingness to Pay (WTP) for reduced travel time due to HSR. A questionnaire-based combined RP-SP survey was conducted in Mumbai to capture respondents' travel details, socioeconomic status and Stated Preference choices. The modified open-ended contingent valuation method and binary logistic regression modelling methods were used for data collection and modelling, respectively. Differential Utility Weighted Mean WTP was calculated for multiple socioeconomic cohorts. It was found that travellers are willing to pay an average INR 300 (as on March 2020) over and above their current travel cost for every hour of travel time saving. The ideal fare range that travellers are willing to pay is between INR 3.25/km to INR 5.25/km. Low-income travellers, occasional travellers, those travelling in a group, and those on social trips had the lowest WTP values in their cohorts. On the contrary, regular business travellers with high incomes had the highest WTP. Analysis showed that the WTP of individuals decreases with the increasing no. of co-passengers and with the increasing comfort of competing modes. The future HSR in India needs a group ticket discount of 10% and an average 25% subsidy on monthly passes to make HSR more attractive for commuters and those travelling with families. This research would help draft the HSR operational policies for subsidies, stronger inter-modal competition, loss minimisation for conventional trains and ridership forecasts.

Language: en

Keywords

Conventional rail; Fare policies; High Speed Railway (HSR); Subsidies; Willingness to pay