Simon Fifer

Development of a Global Positioning System Web-Based Prompted Recall Solution for Longitudinal Travel Surveys

This paper details the development of a Global Positioning System collection solution for a longitudinal (10-week) survey of driving behavior in Sydney, Australia: the primary purpose is to investigate behavioral responses to variable rate charging regimes. The study calls for data to be transmitted regularly (wirelessly) to check the quality of data as they are being collected and provide the basis for a web-based prompted recall (PR) survey in which participants can view their trips, confirm details, and provide information on who was driving, number of passengers, and trip purpose. Following details of the technological setup, details are provided of the data processing issues involved and the development of the PR survey. Pilot testing of the approach on 30 motorists demonstrates that contrary to popular belief, highly accurate data of this nature can be collected for several weeks with little respondent burden.

A Combined GPS/Stated Choice Experiment to Estimate Values of Crash-Risk Reduction

Abstract This paper details the development and application of a Stated Choice (SC) experiment designed to explore motorists sensitivities to a kilometre-based charging regime focused around crash-risk reduction. Responses are gathered through a SC experiment that pivots off actual driving behaviour collected over a five week period using an in-vehicle Global Positioning System (GPS) device. This provision of greater reality using revealed preference (RP) information ensures that the alternatives in the SC experiment are embedded in reality, providing motorists with a more realistic context for their choices. The study demonstrates with the improved affordability, power and consumer familiarity with GPS devices, the integration of GPS recorded travel information with SC experiments is a now a feasible solution which can help enrich the quality of the reference alternatives in SC experiments in the future.

Development of a Kilometer-Based Rewards System to Encourage Safer Driving Practices

Interest is growing in the use of kilometer-based financial mechanisms to encourage safer driving practices and reduce accident claims. The rationale behind such an approach is that, in addition to driver characteristics such as age and gender, crash risk is intrinsically a function of both the kilometers driven and the circumstances under which those kilometers are driven (e.g., time of day, day of week, road type, speed). Using recent accident data and travel survey data collected in the Sydney, Australia, greater metropolitan area, options were explored to design a kilometer-based reward scheme that incentivized drivers to reduce their kilometers traveled, nighttime driving, and speeding. Results show that young drivers (17 to 30 years old) would be hardest hit by the proposed scheme, and middle-aged drivers (31 to 65) would fare best. The impacts of the rewards system were assessed hypothetically by using evidence from 125 motorists who completed 5 weeks of driving in which their kilometers traveled, nighttime driving, and speeds were monitored with the latest Global Positioning System technology. Various charging scenarios and hypothesized behavioral changes were implemented to assess both their incentive for change and the overall financial impact of the project. These results were used in conjunction with the theoretical and empirical justification outlined in this paper to set the final charging regime rates on the basis of the overall study budget.

Exploring Behavioral Responses of Motorists to Risk-Based Charging Mechanisms

This paper reports the behavioral response of motorists in Australia to a variable-rate charging scheme designed to encourage safer driving practices and reduce exposure to crash risk, specifically kilometers driven, nighttime driving, and speeding. The study involved a 5-week before period of Global Positioning System monitoring to establish how motorists drove normally, followed by a 5-week after period of Global Positioning System monitoring in which charges were levied and changes assessed. Incentives were paid to motorists for the difference in the charges between the two 5-week periods. Vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) was reduced by 10%, although the sample was evenly split into motorists with increasing VKT and those with decreasing VKT. The proportion of distance speeding fell by 4.7%; this finding, when coupled with decreases in VKT, implied a net reduction of more than 40% in kilometers spent speeding. Three-fourths of the participants reduced their speeding. Exit interviews with a cross section of participants highlighted the practical difficulties of reducing kilometers but (more encouragingly) reinforced the potential to reduce speeding.

Valuing injection frequency and other attributes of type 2 diabetes treatments in Australia: a discrete choice experiment

BackgroundMultiple pharmacotherapy options are available to control blood glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Patients and prescribers may have different preferences for T2DM treatment attributes, such as mode and frequency of administration, based on their experiences and beliefs which may impact adherence. As adherence is a pivotal issue in diabetes therapy, it is important to understand what patients value and how they trade-off the risks and benefits of new treatments. This study aims to investigate the key drivers of choice for T2DM treatments, with a focus on injection frequency, and explore patients’ associated willingness-to-pay.MethodsA discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to present patients with a series of trade-offs between different treatment options, injectable and oral medicines that were made up of 10 differing levels of attributes (frequency and mode of administration, weight change, needle type, storage, nausea, injection site reactions, hypoglycaemic events, instructions with food and cost). A sample of 171 Australian consenting adult T2DM patients, of which 58 were receiving twice-daily injections of exenatide and 113 were on oral glucose-lowering treatments, completed the national online survey. An error components model was used to estimate the relative priority and key drivers of choice patients place on different attributes and to estimate their willingness to pay for new treatments.ResultsInjection frequency, weight change, and nausea were shown to be important attributes for patients receiving injections. Within this cohort, a once-weekly injection generated an additional benefit over a twice-daily injection, equivalent to a weighted total willingness to pay of AUD

Hypothetical bias in stated choice experiments: is it a problem? And if so, how do we deal with it?

22.35 per month.ConclusionsBased on the patient preferences, the importance of frequency of administration and other non-health benefits can be valued. Understanding patient preferences has an important role in health technology assessment, as the identification of the value as well as the importance weighting for each treatment attribute may assist with funding decisions beyond clinical trial outcomes.