The demand for intercity public transport: the case of business passengers

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Abstract
Using a stated preference survey on business passengers travelling by rail or air between the two largest cities in Sweden, business passengers' preferences for different modes of transport and their corresponding attributes are investigated. Compared to what previous studies have found, the values put on attributes are very high, this including the environmental impact of the modes. This is largely explained by the fact that business passengers do not bear the cost of the trip, but still have the possibility of deciding the mode of transport. The usefulness of a more flexible specification of the demand for transport is explored using a random parameter logit model. It is found that there is a gain in using a random parameter model compared to a standard logit model, in the sense that it provides richer information about passengers' preferences. However, no consistent pattern is found in the differences in willingness to pay for attributes between the econometric specifications.