Willingness to pay for road safety improvements in Poland

Abstract

PURPOSE: The article presents the results of empirical research on the application of the WTP method in Poland and VSL for Poland for different road users: pedestrians and drivers.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: An essential instrument for improving road traffic safety is to identify factors determining the behaviour of road users and their willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing the risk of death or injury. The research was conducted on a representative sample of 1085 people using a conjoint analysis. It was preceded by preliminary research using the bulletin board discussion technique for improving the quality of the measuring instrument.

FINDINGS: The research allowed for estimating the Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) and determine the profile of behaviour of protected and unprotected road users. The VSL estimate for Poland does not differ significantly from the values determined for other European and non-European countries, but is lowest.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The study provides in-depth knowledge about the socio-economic profile of road users necessary to improve the effectiveness of educational programs in the field of road safety improvement.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The VSL research was conducted with an exclusive, two-stage method of using the bulletin board discussion (BBD) technique and the conjoint analysis based on the WTP method; This study estimated the Value of Statistical Life in terms of road safety for different road users: pedestrians and drivers in Poland.