Title: SURVEY TO ASSESS PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF VALUES CRITICAL TO TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Abstract: A survey in a middle-class suburb used an experimental dollar response scale to estimate the relative values as perceived by the public of competing features in a transportation system. The research supported a planning study in which a questionnaire was mailed to heads of housholds in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. The population surveyed was predominantly middle class, affluent, and well-educated. Objectives of the questionnaire were (a) to determine the relative values that residents assigned to alternative characteristics (advantages, aversive features, impacts, and costs) of planned future transportation options and (b) to predict future user behavior. To measure variables otherwise difficult to compare, the researchers used four item formats that included an experimental item strategy in which the item described an aversive circumstance (waiting in the rain, air pollution) and that asked response scale. The experimental items included noise, air pollution, transfers, waiting, walking, security, crowding, carrying packages, and extended work range. Analysis suggested the item strategy is reliable, gives good resolution and significance, and is effective for measuring the difficult-to-quantify vectors of public opinion. Findings included a strong interest in personal security and an aversion to two transfer trips. Further research is suggested to improve the item format and to test the effectiveness of the strategy with less sophisticated populations. /Author/
Publication Year: 1976
Publication Date: 1976-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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