(13) Does the Self-help Approaches Work in Sustaining Local Railway Services?

摘要

This research focuses on the Nichinan-Line, Hachinohe-Line, Gono-Line and Hanawa-Line at JR, which all recorded a passenger density of less than 1,000 passengers, as well as the Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad as local railways and Tosa Kuroshio Railway as semi-public railway company, which recorded recurring losses. Online survey data on the average WTP for railway service maintenance by respondents living along these railway lines was used to estimate the amount able to be compensated for deficits. In addition, the Tobit model was used to analyze the effect of residing area and railway use characteristics of the respondents on WTP for railway service maintenance. As a result of the analysis on the actual profit and losses, the Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad and Tosa Kuroshio Railway were considered possible to be compensated for on the municipal or prefectural level. In addition, it was shown that the influence of each individuars attributes and usage characteristics regarding their WTP on traffic service maintenance varied depending on the payment form.