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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

How Effective Are Current Household Recycling Policies? Results From A National Survey Of U.S. Households, Hilary Nixon, Jean-Daniel M. Saphores Jan 2014

How Effective Are Current Household Recycling Policies? Results From A National Survey Of U.S. Households, Hilary Nixon, Jean-Daniel M. Saphores

Hilary Nixon

This paper analyzes a unique dataset collected during a 2006 national survey of U.S. households to explore the effectiveness of common household recycling policies for metals, glass, and plastics: curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, deposit–refund systems (bottle bills), and marginal pricing for household waste. After estimating either generalized ordered logit or multinomial logit models, we find that the most important determinants of household recycling are people's attitudes toward recycling. Our results also suggest that omitting internal variables (perceived recycling obstacles and benefits as well as moral considerations) may bias policy coefficients. Socio-economic variables are typically not statistically significant, with the exceptions …


Low-Stress Bicycling And Network Connectivity, M. Mekuria, P. Furth, Hilary Nixon May 2012

Low-Stress Bicycling And Network Connectivity, M. Mekuria, P. Furth, Hilary Nixon

Hilary Nixon

For a bicycling network to attract the widest possible segment of the population, its most fundamental attribute should be low-stress connectivity, that is, providing routes between people’s origins and destinations that do not require cyclists to use links that exceed their tolerance for traffic stress, and that do not involve an undue level of detour. The objective of this study is to develop measures of low-stress connectivity that can be used to evaluate and guide bicycle network planning. We propose a set of criteria by which road segments can be classified into four levels of traffic stress (LTS). LTS 1 …


What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options To Support Public Transit, Highways, And Local Streets And Roads? Results From Year 3 Of A National Survey, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon, Vinay Murthy Jan 2012

What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options To Support Public Transit, Highways, And Local Streets And Roads? Results From Year 3 Of A National Survey, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon, Vinay Murthy

Hilary Nixon

This report summarizes the results of a national random-digit-dial public opinion poll that asked 1,519 respondents if they would support various tax options for raising federal transportation revenues, with a special focus on understanding support for increasing revenues for public transit. Eleven specific tax options tested were variations on raising the federal gas tax rate and creating a new mileage tax, and creating a new federal sales tax. Other questions probed various perceptions related to public transit, including knowledge and opinions about federal taxes to support transit. In addition, the survey collected data on standard socio-demographic factors, travel behavior (public …


An Examination Of Women’S Representation And Participation In Bicycle Advisory Committees In California, Hilary Nixon, C. Deluca Jan 2012

An Examination Of Women’S Representation And Participation In Bicycle Advisory Committees In California, Hilary Nixon, C. Deluca

Hilary Nixon

In the United States, women bicycle at significantly lower rates than men. One method of remedying this disparity is to ensure that women are engaged in bicycle planning and policy making through, for example, participation in bicycle advisory committees (BACs). No research has been conducted on women’s representation and participation in these committees. This study attempts to fill that gap by examining women’s membership levels in and experiences serving on California bicycle advisory committees and bicycle/pedestrian advisory committees. In addition, we explore some of the barriers to participation faced by female cyclists. A survey of 42 committees revealed that women …


What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From Year 2 Of A National Survey, Asha W. Agrawal, Hilary Nixon May 2011

What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From Year 2 Of A National Survey, Asha W. Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Hilary Nixon

This report summarizes the results of a national random-digit-dial public opinion poll that asked 1,516 respondents if they would support various tax options for raising federal transportation revenues. The 11 specific tax options tested were variations on raising the federal gas tax rate, creating a new mileage tax, and creating a new federal sales tax. In addition, the survey collected standard socio-demographic data, some minimal travel behavior data, and attitudinal data about how respondents view the quality of their local transportation system and their priorities for government spending on transportation in their state. All of this information is used to …


Understanding Household Preferences For Alternative-Fuel Vehicles Technologies, Hilary Nixon, J. D. Saphores Jan 2011

Understanding Household Preferences For Alternative-Fuel Vehicles Technologies, Hilary Nixon, J. D. Saphores

Hilary Nixon

This report explores consumer preferences among four different alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs): hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) vehicles, and electric vehicles (EVs). Although researchers have been interested in understanding consumer preferences for AFVs for more than three decades, it is important to update our estimates of the trade-offs people are willing to make between cost, environmental performance, vehicle range, and refueling convenience. We conducted a nationwide, Internet-based survey to assess consumer preferences for AFVs. Respondents participated in a stated-preference ranking exercise in which they ranked a series of five vehicles (four AFVs and …


What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From A National Survey, Asha W. Agrawal, Hilary Nixon Jun 2010

What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From A National Survey, Asha W. Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Hilary Nixon

No abstract available.


Green Transportation Taxes And Fees: A Survey Of Californian, Asha W. Agrawal, Jennifer Dill, Hilary Nixon Jun 2009

Green Transportation Taxes And Fees: A Survey Of Californian, Asha W. Agrawal, Jennifer Dill, Hilary Nixon

Hilary Nixon

This report explores public opinion on a new and promising concept—green transportation taxes and fees. These are taxes and fees set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. This approach to transportation taxes and fees adapts the traditional transportation finance system to achieve two critical public benefits at once: encouraging drivers to choose more environmentally-friendly transportation options and raising revenue for needed transportation programs. To test public support for green transportation taxes and fees, the authors conducted a random telephone survey of 1,500 Californians that asked respondents their views …


Linking Highway Improvements To Changes In Land Use With Quasi-Experimental Research Design: A Better Forecasting Tool For Transportation Decision-Making, R. G. Funderburg, Hilary Nixon, M. G. Boarnet Jan 2009

Linking Highway Improvements To Changes In Land Use With Quasi-Experimental Research Design: A Better Forecasting Tool For Transportation Decision-Making, R. G. Funderburg, Hilary Nixon, M. G. Boarnet

Hilary Nixon

An important issue for future improvement and extensions of highways will be the ability of projects to sustain challenges to Environmental Impact Statements based upon forecasts of regional growth. A legal precedent for such challenges was established in 1997 when a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the EIS for a proposed Illinois toll road was deficient because the growth projections were the same in the build and no-build scenarios. This paper incorporates popular regional growth forecasting models into a quasi-experimental research design that directly relates new highway investments in three California counties to changes in population and employment location, …