Use of latent variables representing psychological motivation to explore citizens’ intentions with respect to congestion charging reform in Jakarta

• Main Authors: Sugiarto Sugiarto, Tomio Miwa, Hitomi Sato, Takayuki Morikawa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2015-01-01
• Series: Urban, Planning and Transport Research
• Subjects: citizens’ intentions; ERP; MIMIC; latent constructs; psychological motivations; GORM; public acceptance; Jakarta
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21650020.2015.1037964

The aim of this paper is to investigate the intentions of Jakarta citizens with respect to the electronic road pricing (ERP) reform proposed by the city government. Utilizing data from a stated preference survey conducted in 2013, we construct six variables representing latent psychological motivations (appropriateness of ERP adoption; recognition that ERP can mitigate congestion and improve the environment; car dependency (CDC); awareness of the problems of cars in society; inhibition of freedom movement caused by ERP; and doubts about the ability of ERP to mitigate congestion and environment problems). A multiple-indicators multiple-causes (MIMIC) model is developed to investigate the effects of respondents’ socio-demographics (causes) on the latent constructs in order to gain better understanding of the relationship between respondents’ intentions and the observed individual’s responses (indicators) obtained from the stated preference survey. The MIMIC model offers a good account of whether and how socio-demographic attributes and individual indicators predict the latent variables of psychological motivation constructs. Then, we further verify the influences of the latent variables, combining them with levy rate patterns and daily mobility attributes to investigate significant determining factors for social acceptance of the ERP proposal. A latent variable representations based on the generalized ordered response model are employed in our investigations to allow more flexibility in parameter estimation across outcomes. The results confirm that there is a strong correlation between latent psychological motivations and daily mobility attributes and the level of social acceptance for the ERP proposal. This empirical investigation demonstrates that the latent variables play more substantial role in determining scheme’s acceptance. Moreover, elasticity measures show that latent attributes are more sensitive compared to levies and daily mobility attributes. Therefore, in order to gain the acceptance of the majority of road users, a gradual introduction of ERP may be needed to allow users to gain understanding of the scheme, thereby gaining a more acceptable response. The findings from this work should provide insight for the Jakarta government in designing a more effective and acceptable policy aiming at promoting the adoption of ERP in Jakarta.