Measuring regional differences in users' perceptions towards interurban toll roads

Public acceptability is crucial to achieve the successful implementation of certain policy initiatives. In the transport sector, this is especially relevant for toll roads since they entail a burden to the users. Previous literature in this field has mainly focused on analyzing the influence of different individual characteristics on attitudes towards road charges, without clear results. However, other context-specific drivers such as regional parameters may also play an important role to explain users' attitudes, especially when the implementation of tolls within the same nation varies throughout regions. The goal of this paper is to analyze regional differences in users' perceptions with regard to tolls as an appropriate way to finance the provision of road infrastructure. Based on a nationwide survey conducted to road users in interurban toll roads in Spain, we develop a multilevel logit model to explore regional differences in drivers' perceptions. The research concludes that differences identified seem to be more influenced by context-specific variables, related to either the characteristics of the toll road or the region, than by the characteristics of the individuals. The paper also underlines the negative effects of an asymmetrical distribution of toll roads across regions on users' perceptions, since those territories especially suffering the burden of tolls show a more negative attitude towards road charging.