IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v164y2025icp118-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who Gets What? A user perspective on initial credit allocation in Tradable Mobility Credit Schemes

Author

Listed:
  • Hamm, Lisa S.
  • Álvarez-Ossorio Martínez, Santiago
  • Loder, Allister
  • Bogenberger, Klaus

Abstract

In Tradable Credit Schemes (TCS), policymakers might align the total quantity of credits in the system with specific climate, air pollution, or traffic reduction goals. To achieve these objectives, the total credits issued are typically set below actual travel demand, thereby encouraging a mode shift from private cars to more sustainable alternatives, as well as promoting trip avoidance or postponement. A central aspect of TCS is, therefore, determining how credits are allocated to individuals—and, specifically, whether all users should receive the same credit budget. However, the literature offers limited research on the strategies, central elements, and user preferences related to the initial credit allocation. In this paper, we review the building blocks of the initial credit allocation in Tradable Mobility Credit Schemes, namely: (a) the eligible receivers, (b) the credit measurement unit, (c) the validity period and transferability of credits, and (d) the allocation method itself. Additionally, we present empirical findings on public support for non-uniform credit allocation strategies and preferences regarding credit compensation for various individual attributes. Our survey results show that approximately 70% of respondents endorse the non-uniform allocation of credits. Support was particularly high among individuals with limited public transport accessibility, lower incomes, and women. Besides, respondents identified mobility impairment, care work responsibilities, and poor public transport accessibility as the most critical factors that should influence the credit budget an individual receives. This paper provides policymakers with an overview of initial credit allocation strategies and practical insights to enhance public acceptance of TCS designs.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamm, Lisa S. & Álvarez-Ossorio Martínez, Santiago & Loder, Allister & Bogenberger, Klaus, 2025. "Who Gets What? A user perspective on initial credit allocation in Tradable Mobility Credit Schemes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 118-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:164:y:2025:i:c:p:118-129
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.01.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X25000381
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.01.032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon Dresner and Paul Ekins, 2004. "The Distributional Impacts of Economic Instruments to Limit Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transport," PSI Research Discussion Series 19, Policy Studies Institute, UK.
    2. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    3. Eliasson, Jonas & Hultkrantz, Lars & Nerhagen, Lena & Rosqvist, Lena Smidfelt, 2009. "The Stockholm congestion - charging trial 2006: Overview of effects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 240-250, March.
    4. Candia, Diego & Verhoef, Erik T., 2022. "Tradable mobility permits in a monocentric city with pre-existing labor taxation: A general equilibrium perspective," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 145-165.
    5. Bristow, Abigail L. & Wardman, Mark & Zanni, Alberto M. & Chintakayala, Phani K., 2010. "Public acceptability of personal carbon trading and carbon tax," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1824-1837, July.
    6. Xiao, Feng & Qian, Zhen (Sean) & Zhang, H. Michael, 2013. "Managing bottleneck congestion with tradable credits," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-14.
    7. Kockelman, Kara M. & Kalmanje, Sukumar, 2005. "Credit-based congestion pricing: a policy proposal and the public's response," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(7-9), pages 671-690.
    8. Viegas, José M., 2001. "Making urban road pricing acceptable and effective: searching for quality and equity in urban mobility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 289-294, October.
    9. Nico Dogterom & Dick Ettema & Martin Dijst, 2017. "Tradable credits for managing car travel: a review of empirical research and relevant behavioural approaches," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 322-343, May.
    10. Wadud, Zia, 2011. "Personal tradable carbon permits for road transport: Why, why not and who wins?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1052-1065.
    11. Steg, Linda, 2005. "Car use: lust and must. Instrumental, symbolic and affective motives for car use," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 147-162.
    12. Dogterom, Nico & Ettema, Dick & Dijst, Martin, 2018. "Behavioural effects of a tradable driving credit scheme: Results of an online stated adaptation experiment in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 52-64.
    13. Meginnis, Keila & Burton, Michael & Chan, Ron & Rigby, Dan, 2021. "Strategic bias in discrete choice experiments," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    14. Thomopoulos, N. & Grant-Muller, S. & Tight, M.R., 2009. "Incorporating equity considerations in transport infrastructure evaluation: Current practice and a proposed methodology," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 351-359, November.
    15. Susan Grant-Muller & Meng Xu, 2014. "The Role of Tradable Credit Schemes in Road Traffic Congestion Management," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 128-149, March.
    16. Bliemer, Michiel C.J. & Loder, Allister & Zheng, Zuduo, 2024. "A novel mobility consumption theory for road user charging," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    17. Francesco Fuso Nerini & Tina Fawcett & Yael Parag & Paul Ekins, 2021. "Personal carbon allowances revisited," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1025-1031, December.
    18. Fan, Wenbo & Jiang, Xinguo, 2013. "Tradable mobility permits in roadway capacity allocation: Review and appraisal," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 132-142.
    19. Devi Brands & Erik Verhoef & Jasper Knockaert, 2021. "Pcoins for parking: a field experiment with tradable mobility permits," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-029/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    20. de Palma, André & Proost, Stef & Seshadri, Ravi & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2018. "Congestion tolling - dollars versus tokens: A comparative analysis," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 261-280.
    21. Brands, Devi K. & Verhoef, Erik T. & Knockaert, Jasper & Koster, Paul R., 2020. "Tradable permits to manage urban mobility: Market design and experimental implementation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 34-46.
    22. Lizet Krabbenborg & Eric Molin & Jan Anne Annema & Bert van Wee, 2021. "Exploring the feasibility of tradable credits for congestion management," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 246-261, April.
    23. E Verhoef & P Nijkamp & P Rietveld, 1997. "Tradeable Permits: Their Potential in the Regulation of Road Transport Externalities," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 24(4), pages 527-548, August.
    24. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Maconi, Laura & Shirvani, Tara & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part I: Externalities and economic policies in road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 2-45.
    25. Provoost, Jesper & Cats, Oded & Hoogendoorn, Serge, 2023. "Design and classification of tradable mobility credit schemes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 59-69.
    26. Ding, Hongxing & Yang, Hai & Qin, Xiaoran & Xu, Hongli, 2023. "Credit charge-cum-reward scheme for green multi-modal mobility," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    27. Wu, Di & Yin, Yafeng & Lawphongpanich, Siriphong & Yang, Hai, 2012. "Design of more equitable congestion pricing and tradable credit schemes for multimodal transportation networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1273-1287.
    28. Wong, Jinn-Tsai, 1997. "Basic concepts for a system for advance booking for highway use," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 109-114, April.
    29. Cui, Shuang & Tian, Lijun & Bao, Yue & Zhang, Zhichao, 2025. "Impacts of negative congestion experiences on acceptance of tradable credits schemes: Integration of NAM and TPB," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 192-211.
    30. Krabbenborg, Lizet & van Langevelde-van Bergen, Chris & Molin, Eric, 2021. "Public support for tradable peak credit schemes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 243-259.
    31. Yang, Hai & Wang, Xiaolei, 2011. "Managing network mobility with tradable credits," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 580-594, March.
    32. Rafael H. M. Pereira & Tim Schwanen & David Banister, 2017. "Distributive justice and equity in transportation," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 170-191, March.
    33. Wang, Xiaolei & Yang, Hai & Zhu, Daoli & Li, Changmin, 2012. "Tradable travel credits for congestion management with heterogeneous users," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 426-437.
    34. H. M. Abdul Aziz & Satish V. Ukkusuri & Xianyuan Zhan, 2017. "Determining the Impact of Personal Mobility Carbon Allowance Schemes in Transportation Networks," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 505-545, June.
    35. Cui, Shuang & Tian, Lijun & Xu, Yan & Wang, Yacan, 2024. "Measuring acceptance of tradable credit scheme and its effect on behavioral intention through theory of planned behavior," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 174-188.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dogterom, Nico & Ettema, Dick & Dijst, Martin, 2018. "Behavioural effects of a tradable driving credit scheme: Results of an online stated adaptation experiment in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 52-64.
    2. Siyu Chen & Ravi Seshadri & Carlos Lima Azevedo & Arun P. Akkinepally & Renming Liu & Andrea Araldo & Yu Jiang & Moshe E. Ben-Akiva, 2021. "Market Design for Tradable Mobility Credits," Papers 2101.00669, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2022.
    3. Cui, Shuang & Tian, Lijun & Xu, Yan & Wang, Yacan, 2024. "Measuring acceptance of tradable credit scheme and its effect on behavioral intention through theory of planned behavior," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 174-188.
    4. Ravi Seshadri & André de Palma & Moshe Ben-Akiva, 2021. "Congestion Tolling−Dollars versus Tokens: Within-day Dynamics," THEMA Working Papers 2021-12, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    5. Ren-Yong Guo & Hai-Jun Huang & Hai Yang, 2019. "Tradable Credit Scheme for Control of Evolutionary Traffic Flows to System Optimum: Model and its Convergence," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 833-868, September.
    6. Dogterom, Nico & Ettema, Dick & Dijst, Martin, 2018. "Activity-travel adaptations in response to a tradable driving credits scheme," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 79-88.
    7. Krabbenborg, Lizet & van Langevelde-van Bergen, Chris & Molin, Eric, 2021. "Public support for tradable peak credit schemes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 243-259.
    8. Cui, Shuang & Tian, Lijun & Bao, Yue & Zhang, Zhichao, 2025. "Impacts of negative congestion experiences on acceptance of tradable credits schemes: Integration of NAM and TPB," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 192-211.
    9. Gao, Ge & Sun, Huijun & Wu, Jianjun & Liu, Xinmin & Chen, Weiya, 2018. "Park-and-ride service design under a price-based tradable credits scheme in a linear monocentric city," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-12.
    10. Fan, Wenbo & Xiao, Feng & Nie, Yu (Macro), 2022. "Managing bottleneck congestion with tradable credits under asymmetric transaction cost," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    11. Daniel Hörcher & Ramandeep Singh & Daniel J. Graham, 2022. "Social distancing in public transport: mobilising new technologies for demand management under the Covid-19 crisis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 735-764, April.
    12. Provoost, Jesper & Cats, Oded & Hoogendoorn, Serge, 2023. "Design and classification of tradable mobility credit schemes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 59-69.
    13. de Palma, André & Lindsey, Robin, 2020. "Tradable permit schemes for congestible facilities with uncertain supply and demand," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    14. Xu, Meng & Grant-Muller, Susan, 2016. "Trip mode and travel pattern impacts of a Tradable Credits Scheme: A case study of Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 72-83.
    15. Candia, Diego & Verhoef, Erik T., 2022. "Tradable mobility permits in a monocentric city with pre-existing labor taxation: A general equilibrium perspective," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 145-165.
    16. Bruno De Borger & Amihai Glazer & Stef Proost, 2021. "Rational Drivers and the Choice Between Congestion Tolls and Tradeable Permits: A Political Economy Model," CESifo Working Paper Series 8821, CESifo.
    17. Ge Gao & Xinmin Liu & Huijun Sun & Jianjun Wu & Haiqing Liu & Wei (Walker) Wang & Zhen Wang & Tao Wang & Haoming Du, 2019. "Marginal Cost Pricing Analysis on Tradable Credits in Traffic Engineering," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-10, January.
    18. De Borger, Bruno & Glazer, Amihai & Proost, Stef, 2022. "Strategic behavior under tradeable driving permits and congestion tolls: A political economy model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    19. H. M. Abdul Aziz & Satish V. Ukkusuri & Xianyuan Zhan, 2017. "Determining the Impact of Personal Mobility Carbon Allowance Schemes in Transportation Networks," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 505-545, June.
    20. Bao, Yue & Verhoef, Erik T. & Koster, Paul, 2019. "Regulating dynamic congestion externalities with tradable credit schemes: Does a unique equilibrium exist?," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 225-236.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:164:y:2025:i:c:p:118-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.