Environmental attitudes and emissions charging: An example of policy implications for vehicle choice

A growing global focus on environmental concerns, in particular the role of carbon emissions in global warming, has created an atmosphere where attitudes towards the environment are a pre-eminent focus. In particular, the role of the motor vehicle in climate change has become increasingly important. In this paper a stated preference experiment is used to examine the impact of an emissions charge on vehicle choice in the context of such environmental attitudes; which are found to be key in explaining preference variation. The policy implications of this result are discussed, highlighting the usefulness of latent class modelling for policy management.

► Latent class models examine preference heterogeneity for vehicles under emissions charging.
► Environmental attitudes are found to be the key determinants of behavioural differences.
► Policy implications are identified and potential strategies discussed.
► Parallels are drawn with congestion charging in understanding policy implementation.