Estimation of interregional rail passengers’ valuations for their desired departure times

Valuations for various attributes of the transport supply are key parameters in travel demand forecast models and cost-benefit analyses. In the case of interregional rail travel, such attributes are mostly travel time, departure/arrival time, and comfort/service levels. Although the valuations for travel time savings and comfort levels are well documented, literature concerning how much passengers are willing to pay to obtain the departure/arrival time that best suits their needs remains scarce. We present in this paper a new study that estimates passenger valuations for reduction of departure time displacement (also called schedule delay) through common adaptation of the scheduling model. Our goal is twofold: first, better understand how travel scheduling is influenced by socioeconomic backgrounds and trip characteristics; second, provide detailed figures that can be used to improve travel demand forecasts and cost-benefit analyses. To achieve this, we conducted a stated preference survey on several Swedish rail routes and determined the valuations for departure time scheduling as willingness to pay and time multipliers. The figures obtained show that departure time flexibility greatly depends on trip characteristics and travellers’ socio-economic background. In addition, the comparison of our figures with previous literature highlights the need to establish a standardised method to measure and use these valuations. Finally, we succeeded in providing valuations that can be used with care as approximations in demand modelling and cost-benefit analyses in the context of interregional rail travel