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More Clouds on the Horizon? Polar Tourists' Weather Tolerances in the Context of Climate Change
Get PDFThis article examines high Arctic summer tourists’ weather perceptions and tolerances. Given that global warming strikes Arctic regions more forcefully than other parts of the world, an improved understanding of visitors’ weather perceptions and responses is imperative for tourism operations in these areas. Evidence from a survey in the Spitsbergen (Svalbard) archipelago shows that visitors are fairly tolerant with respect to present summer season weather conditions, although differences between motivational segments are revealed. Results demonstrate that weather elements such as wind and rather low temperatures have no significant impact on the tourists’ overall weather appreciation. Rather, there seems to be a clear dislike of weather elements reducing visibility. Projected climate changes indicate increased precipitation, which is likely to be accompanied by more days and nights with overcast skies. Given tourists’ aversion towards weather elements obstructing visual sensations, this may pose some challenges for tourism operators in Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and in other high Arctic destinations.More Clouds on the Horizon? Polar Tourists' Weather Tolerances in the Context of Climate ChangepublishedVersio
Different types of out-of-home activities and well-being amongst urban residing old persons with mobility impediments
Get PDFIndependent mobility has been proposed to be a precondition for leading an independent, non-institutionalized life. Supporting independent mobility for the growing senior segment thus has societal importance. The question of how to maintain well-being through mobility in older age is, however, a complex one. The present study explicates this by focusing on how utilitarian and discretionary activities—representing different types out-of-home activities—contribute to well-being, using data from individual interviews with persons aged 80–95, living in Copenhagen, Denmark. We structured the material by the two activity types and found both to contribute to participants׳ well-being by representing different sides of ‘being’. Utilitarian activities were important in maintaining independence and fulfilling basic needs, while discretionary activities were important for the individual existing in relation to the surroundings. Mobility-related well-being appears constructed both through independent separateness and through sense of community. This finding implies that supporting mobility in the sense of mere fulfilment of basic needs may not be enough.acceptedVersio
The role of psychographic factors in naturebased tourist expenditure
Get PDFNumerous studies have examined the relationship between tourist expenditure and observable characteristics of the individual and the trip. We add latent variables based on psychographic factors into a model of expenditure by nature-based tourists. This study models the log of per person trip expenditure by domestic and international visitors in a Norwegian alpine national park region as a function of psychographic factors as well as traditional measures of trip and demographic characteristics. In the regression models, factor scores were utilized from nature orientation, recreation experience preference (REP), a new ecological paradigm (NEP) and wilderness preference (WPS) scales. Higher scores on a NEP environmentalism factor were associated with higher expenditure, while higher scores on a REP risk seeking factor were associated with lower expenditure. Higher scores on a risk seeking, or challenge factor, from the nature orientation scale was associated with lower expenditure, while higher scores on an inspiration seeking factor were associated with higher expenditure. Structural equation models were then estimated for comparison. The implications for tourism management and marketing are discussed.acceptedVersio
Cost-benefit analysis of incentive systems rewarding compliance with speed limits
Get PDFThe paper presents a cost–benefit analysis of schemes rewarding drivers for not speeding. Three levels of the reward were defined: €20 per year, €300 per year, and €1,200 per year (corresponds to US396, and US4.8 million in 2009). Benefits were found to be smaller than costs for all versions of the reward system and all groups of drivers except high-risk drivers in the system who were offered a €20 or €300 annual reward for not speeding.submittedVersio
Understanding the Geographies of Transport and Cultural Heritage: Comparing Two Urban Development Programs in Oslo
Get PDFThis paper elaborates on how policies and strategies for sustainable urban development can be understood and shows how development programs can be strategically important and flexible tools in the creation of the modern city. We examine two typical contemporary cases for urban development, inner city/waterfront and modernistic suburbs, using the two areas of transport and cultural heritage as prisms to explore divergences or convergences between the two programs, and ask: How come two urban development programs within the same city turn out so differently? By comparing these programs, urban development trends relating to entrepreneurialism are highlighted. There are clear differences between the two programs under study, and the paper tries to grasp their internal logic in order to shed light on their strengths and weaknesses. While the city center program has much to do with realizing the commercial potential of the area and strengthening sustainable transport through large-scale changes in infrastructure, such means seem to be outside the scope of the suburban program. Meanwhile, cultural heritage is interwoven with entrepreneurial projection-strategies in the city center, whereas heritage sites and projects are used more as a means for social cohesion in the suburb. The paper concludes that the programs vary in the two policy fields in accordance with the institutionalized and anticipated potential of the urban areas in question.publishedVersio
Problems in determining the optimal use of road safety measures
Get PDFThis paper discusses some problems in determining the optimal use of road safety measures. The first of these problems is how best to define the baseline option, i.e. what will happen if no new safety measures are introduced. The second problem concerns choice of a method for selection of targets for intervention that ensures maximum safety benefits. The third problem is how to develop policy options to minimise the risk of indivisibilities and irreversible choices. The fourth problem is how to account for interaction effects between road safety measures when determining their optimal use. The fifth problem is how to obtain the best mix of short-term and long-term measures in a safety programme. The sixth problem is how fixed parameters for analysis, including the monetary valuation of road safety, influence the results of analyses. It is concluded that it is at present not possible to determine the optimal use of road safety measures precisely. One may at best determine a range that is likely to contain the optimal use of a set of measures.submittedVersio
A process for designing policy packaging: Ideals and realities
Get PDFEmbargo until 06.02.2016The article introduces a design process for policy packaging, combining a heuristic approach with a real world example of European policymaking. The policy packaging process is divided into six stages, starting with (1) the definition of goals and objectives, (2) the creation of an inventory of measures, (3) the formulation and assessment of the initial package, (4) the modification of the initial package through adding, adjusting or removing measures, (5) package implementation, and finally (6) the monitoring and evaluation of the package. The process stands as a generic, comprehensive framework developed as a means of guiding policy formulation and increasing the likelihood of efficient, effective and acceptable policy interventions. The approach is compared to practice, examining whether it can support policy formulation in relation to the EU 2011 White Paper on transport. It shows that several principles of the design process are already reflected by the White Paper, with some important differences also observed. While objectives, targets, and an inventory of measures are part of the White Paper, policies recommended for implementation are treated separately as discrete interventions. The White Paper hence lacks examples or recommendations as to how various measures might be combined in order to achieve the policy objectives. Based on a policy example from the White Paper, it is attempted to apply the heuristic framework and offer recommendations on how to best construct a policy package.acceptedVersio
A before-after study of the effects on safety of environmental speed limits in the city of Oslo, Norway
Get PDFStarting in the winter of 2004–2005, a temporary speed limit of 60 km/h (ordinary speed limit: 80 km/h) was introduced on one of the major arterial roads in the city of Oslo, Norway as a measure to reduce air pollution, in particular the spread of micro-particles torn from the road surface by studded tyres. The speed limit, referred to as an environmental speed limit, was in force from November 1 to March 31. Similar speed limits were later introduced on other arterial roads in Oslo. This paper presents a before-and-after study of the effects of these speed limits on accidents. Four study designs were employed: (1) A simple before–after study; (2) A before–after study using the rest of Oslo as comparison group; (3) A before–after study based on accident rates; (4) An empirical Bayes before–after study. The latter design is widely regarded as the best, but its implementation in the current study was not straightforward. The number of injury accidents was reduced by about 25–35% according to all study designs. The estimate of effect did not differ much between the different study designs. It is reasonable to rule out confounding by chance variation, long-term trends, changes in traffic volume and regression-to-the-mean. It cannot be claimed, however, that the entire accident reduction was attributable to the environmental speed limits exclusively.submittedVersio
A note on input congestion
Get PDFThe notion of effective space is introduced, and input congestion is explained by economic activities’ exhaustion of effective space. In this setting, I show that profit maximization is inconsistent with input congestion at the firm level, but not necessarily with input congestion at the industry level, when effective space is shared among producers.acceptedVersio
Valuing casualty risk reductions from estimated baseline risk
Get PDFStated choice studies have been applied regularly to the valuation of time savings and other attributes of travelling as perceived by individuals. In such experiments, respondents often provide reference levels for the attributes and the hypothetical choices presented to them are pivoted around actual behaviour. However, most individuals are not able to provide reference levels for the number of casualties on the road they travel. Thus, if valuation of this important element is attempted, it is the researcher who must provide casualty risk reference levels to the respondents. Some studies have applied route choice experiments including a safety attribute but the majority has been limited to only one particular road section with a common baseline risk for all respondents. This study discusses the setting up and results of a more generalized route choice experiment including a safety attribute. Respondents provided, at an initial stage, their travel times and costs related to a recent trip by car. Then, expected numbers of casualties for different trip lengths were calculated based on travel distances and traffic densities. So, the calculated number of severe injuries and fatalities (casualties) per year, on the road section the respondent had travelled, entered as a third attribute in the choices, together with the reported travel times and costs. Route choice was analysed using multinomial logit and mixed logit models. From the latter models we obtained point estimates for the value of the statistical life ranging from € 7.3 million to € 19.1 million.acceptedVersio