Valuing Sustainable School Mobility: A Contingent Valuation Study

The economic assessment of sustainable mobility services raises questions about how public-service provision is valued by individuals and households. In the context of school mobility, understanding these valuations can contribute to the appraisal of initiatives intended to encourage more sustainable travel practices. This paper examines stated economic valuations associated with the provision and modification of a supervised active school travel service, drawing on the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The analysis considers how parents assess potential changes in service provision, distinguishing between the amounts they would be willing to pay for an improvement or activation and the compensation they would require in the event of a reduction. These two measures offer different perspectives on how individuals evaluate changes in public-service provision, and their divergence is interpreted through the lens of behavioural economics, particularly where assessments depend on the reference conditions against which changes are considered. The findings suggest that the divergence between the two measures is substantial and that reference dependence plays a relevant role in shaping stated valuations. The discussion addresses the implications of these valuation approaches for the economic appraisal of sustainable mobility initiatives and for the design of public policies that account for differences in individual preferences.