In Sweden, a model has been developed for calculating the expected costs of accidents due to transportation of dangerous goods by road and railroad respectively. The aim of this empirical study is consequently to estimate the cost due to the value that people, living close to a transport route, place on a reduction in their exposure to dangerous goods. The study presented here will be focusing on transportation of dangerous goods by railway. In this study, the conjoint analysis technique will be used to estimate the individual willingness to pay for a reduction in the exposure to dangerous goods. In the conjoint analysis technique, peoples' statements of how they would respond to different hypothetical situations are studied. The study was carried out as a postal survey to Lund and Borlaenge in Sweden where 1000 respondents living close to the railway are randomly selected. One hypothesis, that is tested, is whether the distance between peoples' home and the railway influence their willingness to pay for a reduction in the exposure to transportation of dangerous goods. In Lund, the respondents are therefore randomly selected on three different distances from the railroad, 400 persons living next to the railway, 100 persons living relatively nearby the railway, and 100 persons living outside the city centre. 400 persons selected living next to the railway in Lund and in Borlaenge receive a postal survey with little information and 400 receive a survey with extensive information. The result of the study indicates that people living close to a railway transport route are willing to pay for a reduction in their exposure to dangerous goods. A reduction in the number of carriages carrying dangerous goods and a reduction in the degree of danger increase their utility. Their utility would also increase if transportation of dangerous goods were only allowed at daytime compared with the situation of today where dangerous goods are being transported all day. Information on dangerous goods does have effect on respondents' attitudes as well as distance to railway. There is also an impact of general socio-economic variables such as income, age, and gender. The results for this study indicate that the presented method can be used to estimate the cost due to the value of a reduction in affected peoples' exposure to transportation of dangerous goods on railways. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.
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