Why do respondents give non responses to the income question during a transport survey? What can be learned by mhurdle models and for respondents’ attitudes to pricing change

ABSTRAIT

This objective of this paper is to improve the understanding of the increased non-response to transport surveys. We have developed a theoretical model based on the travel demand function and the willingness-to-pay when there is a change in travel price. We consider the non-response as a decision to not reveal preferences. Following the literature, we analyzed multiple causes of non-response through a censored model, called the m-hurdle. We tested and estimated the model on the non-responses given to an income question on a survey about pricing change in Lyon (N = 1,500). We showed that non-response can be explained by both—an economic cause linked to the respondent’s lack of resources and a non-economic cause resulting from a rejection of the pricing solution. To decrease the level of non- response, we propose that attention should be paid to the respondents’ contexts, particularly for those with low incomes.

KEYWORDS:

• censored model
• travel survey
• urban road price
• non-responses

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Modèles censurés
• enquête sur
• les déplacements prix desroutes urbaines
• non-réponse

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Ces travaux ont été soutenus par l’ADEME [1066C0081].