Temporal shift in willingness-to-pay for rural feeder service to bus stop

This paper reports an investigation on the temporal stability of Willingness to Pay (WTP) values with reference to rural feeder service in India. A stated choice experiment was designed and the data were analysed by developing econometric models. The WTP values calculated from the econometric models developed in the current work are compared with the WTP values reported in a previous study for the same geographical catchments to investigate the temporal change in WTP over the period 2005-2014. The feeder service was introduced in the catchments during this period. The WTP values reported in the previous study were also projected using inflation rate to have an estimate of WTP value under current scenario. Subsequently, a comparison is made considering three sets of WTP values: (i) reported in the previous study, (ii) calculated from the current choice experiment, and (iii) estimated using inflation rate. The findings indicate that the change in WTP is not only related to the inflation but also changes in the decision-making environment, like the experience of using the feeder service non-existent earlier. The study clearly justifies the need for re-estimating WTP values by carrying out independent choice experiments rather than projecting values using inflation rate, especially when there are other potential factors (as in this case the experience of using the feeder service) influencing the decision making process.