Option Values in Passenger Transport - Research on the Perceived Value of Transport Options

Means of transport are usually private goods, but their availability has the character of a public good. A suitable theory for the evaluation of such goods is provided by environmental economics. It can be assumed that users as well as non-users value certain modes of transport as personal backup options (or even as more abstract socio-cultural achievements). The option value of transport modes can therefore be understood as a kind of premium for individual access or mobility assurance.
Two market-based instruments are conceivable for skimming off at least part of the individual option value: subscriptions and insurance. Especially in the mobility sector, an increasing spread of subscription services with different availability levels is expected in the future (keyword: mobility as a service). In most cases, however, option values do not (yet) trigger market transactions. Therefore, contingent valuation methods and discrete choice experiments are primarily used to record them.
This dissertation project explores suitable methods to investigate which means of transport are valued in terms of option value, by whom and how. For this purpose, a conceptual model based on a comprehensive literature review is developed. It is expected that in addition to the attributes of the option mode, various personal characteristics as well as variables of the travel context influence the evaluation. The corresponding hypotheses will be developed and tested in the course of the dissertation project.