A comparison of hedonic price and stated preference methods to derive monetary values for aircraft noise disturbance and annoyance

This paper compares monetary values for aircraft noise disturbance and annoyance derived using hedonic price and stated preference methods in the same sample areas and over the same sampling time periods. The hedonic price method compares house prices in residential areas across a range of aircraft noise sound levels. The statistical power can be compromised by the many other variables which have significant and often greater effects on prices and because only small fractions of the overall housing stock are bought and sold at any one time. The stated preference method on the other hand, by requiring study participants to trade hypothetical money against hypothetical noise, is entirely based on subjective opinion. It seems that neither method is entirely satisfactory, but there are strong positive correlations between the ratios of aggregated stated preference values to weighted average house prices and LAeq, 16 h and similar noise metrics suggesting sufficient underlying similarities     

How much noise reduction at airports?

Airport noise nuisance is a negative externality especially when it occurring near urban areas. Like all externalities, noise nuisance may be a reason for government intervention. When intervening, governments should set quantitative policy targets with care. In practice, this issue is generally neglected. This line of research sets the first step towards determining optimal policy targets in the case of noise nuisance near airports, more specifically in the case of Amsterdam Airport. We use hedonic pricing to establish the benefits of noise reduction. Furthermore, we develop a bottom-up cost function to analyze the costs of reducing noise for airlines. We then equate marginal costs and benefits to establish the optimal level of noise reduction, which appears to be 3 dB in the case of Amsterdam Airport. Welfare increasing measures include alternative approach procedures, regional substitution of planes within existing fleets and early depreciation of noisy planes increase welfare. Reducing the number of flights has a negative effect on net welfare.     

Exposure to noise inside transit buses in Kuwait: Measurements and passenger attitudes

Noise levels were measured, for the first time, inside 115 randomly selected transit buses, operating on 12 sample representative routes in Metropolitan Kuwait. Simultaneously with the monitoring of noise levels, the attitudes of 679 riders concerning the annoyance and long-term health impacts of noise were also surveyed. The noise and passenger attitude data were collected over 10 months (March - December 2000). The percentile distribution, equivalent noise level, traffic noise index and noise pollution levels inside four types of transit buses are presented. Riders' perceived annoyance and awareness of the long-term health impacts of noise were also determined and are discussed. The level of service and performance deficiencies of the public transit system in Kuwait, as perceived by its passengers, are also identified. A number of recommendations end the paper.     

Impact of simulation-based traffic noise on rent prices

This paper is part of ongoing research on incorporating environmental aspects in microscopic integrated land use/transport models. The long-term goal is to add scenario sensitivity for noise emissions in a new modeling suite. Therefore, as a first step, the influence of simulated car traffic noise on real rent prices in the study area in question is analyzed and compared to existing studies. It is shown that modeled noise values from the transportation model are able to explain significant impacts on rent prices when using a hedonic pricing regression. When using noise as a continuous variable, price discounts of 0.4% per dB(A) are found. A discount of up to 9.6% for particularly loud locations is estimated when noise is used as a categorical variable. Care should be taken when controlling for accessibilities that may correlate with noise. The results are in line with results of previous studies and confirm that environmental aspects can and should be considered in integrated models.     

The capitalization of subway access in home value: A repeat-rentals model with supply constraints in Beijing

Urban rail transit enhances accessibility of the communities it serves and often contributes to the value of local real properties. A small number of studies have gone beyond the traditional cross-sectional hedonic analysis to use repeat-sales data in the US for more robust estimation of rail transit’s impact on property value. While the empirical literature generally supports the positive capitalization of rail transit in home value, it has produced widely varied estimates and failed to incorporate the theoretical insight that more elastic housing supply would reduce the extent of local amenities’ capitalization in home value. Observing Beijing’s rapid expansion of subway lines during the late 2000s, this study uses repeat rental transactions from 2005 to 2011 to investigate how home value reacts to the change in the home’s distance to nearest subway station. Repeat-rentals estimates suggest a rent-distance elasticity of −0.02, 70% below the cross-sectional hedonic estimate. Moreover, using the unique history of state-owned enterprise relocations as instrument for intra-city variation in land supply, we find that the capitalization of subway proximity in home value is weaker where land supply is more elastic. Our findings support the significant bias caused by omitted variables in the hedonic estimates and confirm housing supply’s role in explaining the intra-city spatial variation in estimates.     

城市道路交通噪声污染经济损失及评估

文章应用市场估值法、享乐价格法和意愿调查价值评估法对城市道路交通噪声经济损失的货币化进行分析,并以北京市为例,计算评估了城市道路交通噪声带来的经济损失。     

Hedonic versus homogeneous output specifications of railroad technology: Belgian railroads 1950–1986

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, using data on Belgian railroad operations, we provide the first application of hedonic output aggregation to the railroad industry. Second, we compare the traditional homogeneous output approach with the use of these hedonic aggregates and carefully evaluate differences in estimates of input substitution possibilities, returns to scale, and productivity growth. It is found that ignoring the role of operating characteristics in cost analyses implies substantial bias in estimates of railroad technology.     

Is awareness of public charging associated with consumer interest in plug-in electric vehicles?

Policymakers often seek to increase the visibility of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) chargers in public locations in effort to build familiarity and interest in PEVs. However, it is not clear if the visibility of public charging stations actually has an impact on PEV demand. The purposes of the present study are to (1) assess the current levels of visibility for public PEV charging infrastructure within Canada and (2) identify whether or not a statistically significant relationship exists between consumer awareness of public charging infrastructure and interest in purchasing a PEV. We use data collected from a sample of 1739 Canadian new-vehicle buyers in 2013. About 18% of Canadian respondents have seen at least one public charger, while the proportion is highest in British Columbia (31%). We find a significant bivariate relationship between public charger awareness and PEV interest. However, when controlling for multiple explanatory variables in regression analyses, the relationship is weak or non-existent. While perceived existence of at least one charger exhibits no significant relationship with PEV interest, perceived existence of multiple chargers can have a weak but significant relationship. Thus, public charger awareness is not a strong predictor of PEV interest; other variables are more important, such as the availability of level 1 (110/120-volt) charging at home.     

Estimation of road traffic noise emissions: The influence of speed and acceleration

This paper relies on vehicle trajectory collection on a corridor, to compare different traffic representations used for the estimation of the sound power of light vehicles and the resulting sound pressure levels. Four noise emission models are tested. The error introduced when the emissions are calculated based on speeds measured at regular intervals along the road network are quantified and explained. The current noise emission models might in particular misestimate noise levels under congestion. This bias can be reduced by introducing additional traffic variables in the modeling. In addition, significant differences within the models are highlighted, especially concerning their accounting of vehicle accelerations. Models that rely on a binary representation of acceleration regimes (a vehicle or a road segment is accelerating or not) can lead to errors in practice. Models under use in Europe have a very low sensitivity to acceleration values. These results help underlying the further required improvements of dynamic road traffic noise models.     

The impact of rail access on condominium prices in Hamburg

Using hedonic price functions, we study the influence of access to public railway stations on the prices of surrounding condominiums in Hamburg, Germany. The study examines the influence of rail infrastructure on residential property prices, not only of individual lines, but for the entire rail network of a metropolitan region. We test the stability of the coefficients for different sets of control variables. The study also estimates public-transit-induced increases in tax revenues due to real estate price increases for a study area outside the United States. We control for spatial dependence and numerous variables correlated with the proximity of railway stations and show that access to the public transit system of the city of Hamburg is to be rated with price increases of up to 4.6%. Such premiums for higher-income neighbourhoods and for subterranean stations tend to be higher. The premiums calculated are significantly lower than average price premiums reported in previous studies, which were mostly based on much fewer variables that rail access might be correlated to.     

Aircraft noise social cost and charge mechanisms – a case study of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

The increasing trend of charging for aircraft noise nuisance to encourage the sustainable development of the air transport industry has resulted in a need to evaluate the real social costs of such externalities for the formulation of effective charge mechanisms. After comparing the current charge mechanisms at world airports as well as reviewing existing externality measurements, mathematical models are developed to calculate the noise social cost in monetary terms, and noise charge mechanisms are subsequently established. The hedonic price method is applied to calculate the annual social cost of aircraft noise during the landing and take-off stages of the flight. This is done by estimating the implicit costs of aircraft noise imposed through a decline in property values in the vicinity of the airport. The empirical results, using Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as the case study, show that the current noise charge level imposed by the Dutch Government is lower than the actual noise social cost resulting from aircraft movements. Several noise charge mechanism scenarios are derived according to the modelling results, as well as the environmental objectives of the airport related authorities.     

The suitability of hedonic models for cost-benefit analysis: Evidence from commuting flows

We compare two estimates of benefits arising from the construction of new bridges in south-west Norway. One estimate comes from a hedonic property value model. Rather than follow an approach which is strictly theoretically correct, we adopt Rosen’s simple first-stage approach. To investigate and validate whether this simplified approach gives a reasonable estimate, we compare it to an estimate derived from a travel demand model. We find that a variant of an ex post hedonic house price model gives very similar estimates to the estimates from the travel demand model. This supports a hypothesis that the simplistic hedonic approach is reasonable.     

Effects of a hovering unmanned aerial vehicle on urban soundscapes perception

Several industry leaders and governmental agencies are currently investigating the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or ‘drones’ as commonly known, for an ever-growing number of applications from blue light services to parcel delivery. For the specific case of the delivery sector, drones can alleviate road space usage and also lead to reductions in CO₂ and air pollution emissions, compared to traditional diesel-powered vehicles. However, due to their unconventional acoustic characteristics and operational manoeuvres, it is uncertain how communities will respond to drone operations. Noise has been suggested as a major barrier to public acceptance of drone operations in urban areas. In this paper, a series of audio-visual scenarios were created to investigate the effects of drone noise on the reported loudness, annoyance and pleasantness of seven different types of urban soundscapes. In soundscapes highly impacted by road traffic noise, the presence of drone noise lead to small changes in the perceived loudness, annoyance and pleasantness. In soundscapes with reduced road traffic noise, the participants reported a significantly higher perceived loudness and annoyance and a lower pleasantness with the presence of the same drone noise. For instance, the reported annoyance increased from 2.3 ± 0.8 (without drone noise) to 6.8 ± 0.3 (with drone noise), in an 11-point scale (0-not at all, 10-extremely). Based on these results, the concentration of drone operations along flight paths through busy roads might aid in the mitigation of the overall community noise impact caused by drones.     

Benefit transfers: are they a satisfactory input to benefit cost analysis? An airport noise nuisance case study

Benefit cost analysis in a variety of guises has established itself as a useful tool in public policy-making. It is an approach widely adopted in appraising a wide range of infrastructure investments and has been regularly used in legal proceedings. In the context of this study, it forms a common procedure for assisting in the assessment of the social benefits and costs of airport investment. It is not, however, a technique without its limitations. Beside a range of technical concerns, conducting a comprehensive benefit cost analysis can be resource-intensive and time-consuming. Recently, there have been efforts to make its application more efficient by adopting benefit transfer procedures. This involves making use of findings from one study as inputs into other policy-making activities. While applying secondary data to a new policy issue has a long pedigree, new areas of application involve taking non-market valuations of externalities from one study and transferring them to a different policy site. This paper looks at some of the limitations of employing benefit transfers and uses noise nuisance aspect of airport investment policy appraisal as an illustrative case. Based upon a meta-regression assessment of hedonic price models, the findings suggest that caution should be exercised in conduction benefit transfers.     

The objective versus the perceived environment: what matters for bicycling?

This paper examines the relationship between the objectively measured and perceived built environment, and the relative strength of their association with bicycling behavior. By drawing on socio-cognitive theory, a conceptual model was proposed to explain the relationships between the objective environment, perceived environment, and bicycling behavior. Objective and perceived bike environments were measured using two latent constructs and structural equation modeling was employed to estimate the models based on data from three neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon. Results of this study showed that the perception of the environment had a direct and significant effect on bicycling behavior, while the direct effect of the objective environment on bicycling behavior became insignificant when controlling for perception. We therefore concluded that the objective environment may only indirectly affect bicycling behavior by influencing perceptions. An objectively good environment for bicycling was necessary but not sufficient for bicycling. Intervention programs to improve people’s perceptions of the environment may be necessary to reap the full potential of planning and design policies.     

Evaluation and implications of environmental charges on commercial flights

Environmental charges are one of the economic instruments for controlling externalities. Their application to commercial flights has become a preferred method of encouraging the sustainable development of the air transport industry. Two kinds of externalities, aircraft noise and engine emissions, both generating profound impacts on human beings and on the environment, are considered here. The hedonic price method is applied to calculate the social cost of aircraft noise during the landing and take-off stages of the flight. The marginal impact of each flight with specific aircraft/engine combinations is derived for the allocation of aggregate noise social costs. In contrast, the dose - response method is applied to estimate the social cost of each engine exhaust pollutant during different flight modes. The combination of aircraft noise and engine emissions social costs is then evaluated on the basis of several environmental charge mechanism scenarios, using Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as a case study. It is shown that the current noise or engine emissions related charges at airports are lower than the actual social costs of their respective externalities. The implications of charge mechanism scenarios are subsequently discussed and evaluated in terms of their impacts on airline costs, airfares and passenger demand.     

Urban road traffic noise spatiotemporal distribution mapping using multisource data

Many residents are disturbed by road traffic noise which needs to be controlled and managed. The noise map is a helpful and important tool for noise management and acoustical planning in urban areas. However, the static noise map is not sufficient for evaluating noise annoyance at different temporal periods. It is necessary to develop the dynamic noise map or the noise spatiotemporal distribution. In this study, a method about urban road traffic noise spatiotemporal distribution mapping is proposed to obtain the representative road traffic noise maps of different periods. This method relies on the proposed noise spatiotemporal distribution model with two time-dependent variables - traffic density and traffic speed, and the spatiotemporal characteristics derived from multisource data. There are three steps in the method. First, the urban road traffic noise spatiotemporal distribution model is derived from the law of sound propagation. Then, the temporal characteristics are extracted from traffic flow detecting data and E-map road segment speed data by the outlier detection analysis. Finally, the noise distributions corresponding to different periods are calculated by an efficient algorithm which can save 90% above of the computing time. Moreover, a validation experiment was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. There is only 2.26-dB[A] mean absolute error that is within an acceptable range, which shows that the method is effective.     

Adoption of Internet Services in Liner Shipping: An Empirical Study of Shippers in Taiwan

Abstract

The Internet service attributes desired by shippers were examined as well as a model that seeks to explain the intention of shippers to use Internet services in liner shipping. Using data collected from a survey of a group of shippers in Taiwan, the relationships among the constructs in the model were tested, namely: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, security and use intention. The results suggest that shippers perceive tracing to be the most important service attribute of Internet services, followed by checking for customs clearance, vessel schedules and electronic document services. The findings indicate that perceived ease of use is the major factor affecting the intention of shippers to use Internet services, and that perceived ease of use has a strong positive effect on perceived usefulness. The results also indicate that security has a positive effect on a shipper’s perception of ease of use. However, the influence of security on use intention and perceived usefulness was not supported in this study. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings on the intention of shippers to use Internet services in liner shipping are discussed.     

Does driving behavior matter? An analysis of fuel consumption data from heavy-duty trucks

In a case study of a Norwegian heavy-duty truck transport company, we analyzed data generated by the online fleet management system Dynafleet. The objective was to find out what influenced fuel consumption. We used a set of driving indicators as explanatory variables: load weight, trailer type, route, brake horsepower, average speed, automatic gearshift use, cruise-control use, use of more than 90% of maximum torque, a dummy variable for seasonal variation, use of running idle, use of driving in highest gear, brake applications, number of stops and rolling without engine load. We found, via multivariate regression analysis and corresponding mean elasticity analysis, that with driving on narrow mountainous roads, variables associated with infrastructure and vehicle properties have a larger influence than driver-influenced variables do. However, we found that even under these challenging infrastructure conditions, driving behavior matters. Our findings and analysis could help transport companies decide how to use fleet management data to reduce fuel consumption by choosing the right vehicle for each transportation task and identifying environmentally and economically benign ways of driving.