For whom the tunnel be tolled: A four-factor model for explaining willingness-to-pay tolls

•Willingness-to-pay tolls is partly driven by direct benefits of tolls.•Willingness-to-pay tolls is partly driven by the relative costs of tolls.•Willingness-to-pay tolls is partly motivated by community concerns.•Willingness-to-pay tolls is partly motivated by political and environmental beliefs.•This model may apply in Europe as well as the United States.

This research examines citizen acceptance of tolls and road pricing, and specifically focuses on determinants of the individual’s expressed willingness-to-pay tolls to use a tunnel express lane that would be free of traffic delays. We answer the research question “What factors influence citizens’ willingness-to-pay tolls” by empirically estimating a four factor model of willingness-to-pay: (a) direct benefit to the respondent; (b) relative cost over time; (c) community concern; and (d) political and environmental liberalism. We use data about citizen perceptions from the Life in Hampton Roads Survey, a survey of residents of Hampton Roads, Virginia. We find that willingness-to-pay is primarily driven and motivated by self-interest, through a balancing of benefit to cost relative to individual income and frequency of use. In addition, concern for the community also contributes to willingness-to-pay tolls. The individual’s perception of government’s trustworthiness, a reflection of political and environmental beliefs, also influences the extent to which an individual is willing to pay tolls.