Valuation of cycling facilities with and without controlling for casualty risk

Abstract

Barrier effects can impact cyclists’ travel time, level of comfort, and risk of accidents. When eliciting the valuation of these elements, simultaneous estimation is called for because the perceived level of comfort may depend on the accident risk. In this paper we present the results of a choice experiment in which cyclists traded off cycling time, separated tracks, intersections, and, in one additional choice experiment, casualty risk. We find that the utility of the two barrier-reducing attributes is almost halved when controlling for accident risk. We also translate the utility to a monetary scale, making the results applicable for cost-benefit analysis.