Acceptability of increasing petrol price as a TDM pricing policy: A case study in Tehran

Many cities around the world suffer from air pollution but Tehran is among the worst. Tehran suffers severely from congestion and air pollution, which is caused primarily by private vehicles. To mitigate these problems, Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies should be instituted across the city to reduce private car usage. However, the acceptability of these policies is a major concern for policymakers. The goal of this research was to gauge individual opinions with regards to the increasing petrol price policy, followed by a comparison of these opinions with other TDM pricing policies, including cordon pricing or parking pricing. To do this, we conducted a survey of 366 car commuters in Tehran. Throughout the analysis of collected data, it was observed that increasing petrol price was the least acceptable of the above policies. In order to identify the effects of trip-related and socio-economic characteristics of car commuters on their acceptance of increasing petrol price, we developed an ordered logit model and identified the most significant factors affecting commuters. Next, we suggested policies that could lead to better acceptance of the increasing petrol price policy. This examination of the acceptability of TDM pricing policies helps policymakers to understand how pricing policies will have a greater chance of successful implantation and acceptance by the general public, thus allowing them to make informed policy implementation decisions.