Avoir les coudes serrés dans le métro parisien: évaluation contingente du confort des déplacements

Abstract

Qualitative aspects of transport experiences are increasingly discussed as factors influencing the choice between individualized and public transport. In this article we investigate, both analytically and empirically, the impact travel comfort has on the utility of subway users as well as the factors levering this impact, the comfort being defined as the space available in trains. Using survey data collected in 2009 on central Paris subway's platforms and contingent valuation methodology, we find first that discomfort in undergrounds generates a considerable disutility for users. This is equivalent to 5.7-8.1 minutes of excess travel, i.e. 1.01-1.54 euro in monetary terms or 29 %-42 % in travel budget increase, and rises with the perceived time as well as levels of comfort in trains, either objective or subjective. By proposing a parameter to describe the external cost of subway congestion, we then show how taking into account considerations of travel comfort might influence analyses of public transport usage. © Revue d'économie industrielle.