Public Acceptability of Environmentally Linked Congestion and Parking Charging Policies in Greek Urban Centers

Abstract

Nowadays, urban centers face the challenge to upgrade life quality by reducing traffic congestion, air pollution emissions and road casualties. Transport charging policies applied in cities at a quick pace are a key tool for sustainable mobility. However, public acceptability is an important precondition to be adopted for such policies. In this context, the scope of this paper is the investigation of the public acceptability of environmentally linked urban charging policies in Greek urban centers. Specifically, the paper’s objective is the investigation of Greek drivers’ acceptability of the implementation of a congestion charging policy and a parking charging policy with the charging being adjusted according to the Euro class and technology of the vehicle in favor of less polluting cars. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed using data from a questionnaire survey which provided a sample encompassing 733 respondent drivers from three main urban centers of Greece: Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos. Several statistical relationships were detected and quantified correlating the two examined urban environmental charging policies with five latent unobserved variables. Based on the results, public acceptability of environmental congestion charging policies and the public acceptability of environmental parking charging policies were found to be positively correlated with each other, meaning that a driver who supports one environmentally linked transport charging policy is more likely to support the other one as well. The environmental sensitivity and high commuting profiles of drivers are influential factors that positively affect the acceptability of the two examined transport charging policies’ implementation in Greek urban centers. Analysis has also shown that younger, higher-educated respondents and females are more likely to accept the environmental charging policies under consideration.