EVALUATION OF LOW-FLOOR LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE BASED ON CONTINGENT VALUATION METHOD

This research project aims to develop evaluation methods of transportation project based on subjective values In 2002, this project aims to monetarily evaluate customers' subjective values including satisfaction with Low-Floor Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) by applying Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Original surveys were conducted in Hiroshima targeted on tram users and residents along the tram route, A new method correcting the biases inherent in willingness-to-pay responses is proposed. As a result, it is found that the customer satisfaction for getting on and off the LRT would be improved by the introduction of the LRV. Moreover, a new method proposed in this study has capability to correct biases caused by survey design and to indicate the interval of the true subjective values In 2003, this project attempts to explore the sources of respondents' uncertainty regarding their willingness to pay (WTP) in CVM (Contingent Valuation Method). To capture the uncertainty in respondents' responses, the concept of certainty level for dichotomous choice response is introduced in CVM survey proposed in the previous year. Furthermore, an alternative approach based on fuzzy logic (i.e, fuzzy-CVM approach) is newly developed to incorporate the uncertainty into the WTP estimates. The approach can tackle the irreversible effects of WTP and WNTP (willingness not to pay). Moreover this paper addresses how to estimate the upper and lower values of WTP. Throughout an empirical analysis in Japan, it is shown that the respondents' WNTP is more sensitive to both bid amount and confidence level than the WTP. It is concluded that the Fuzzy-CVM can improve the reliability of the conventional CVM