Carbon-Neutral Travelling Is Conquering Long-Distance Coach Market

Carbon-neutral travelling is becoming more and more important for providers on the young German long-distance coach market. In addition to low prices, providers are increasingly trying to attract customers with a positive environmental record. Passengers are given the opportunity to offset their carbon emissions by paying an extra fee when purchasing tickets. In the long term, the idea works best if coach operators make an equal contribution to the compensation. These are the findings of a recent study by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

On average, about 27 per cent of all coach passengers make use of the possibility, if offered, to offset the carbon emitted because of their journey. When it comes to actually paying a compensation, the study produces the following results: For an average journey of 286 kilometres per person a ticket surcharge of 23 cents would be necessary. If providers make a contribution of their own to this supplement, customers will more likely accept the offer. If coach operators are willing to double the passenger's compensation volume at their own expense, frequent travellers will most likely make use of the offer. When offering carbon-neutral travelling options, the provider guarantees that the compensation payment is used for funding a certified climate protection project to offset the climate impact via carbon emission reductions.

In a large-scale field experiment, ZEW researchers collected anonymised data from more than 10,000 online bookings in cooperation with a German coach operator. The customers had the opportunity to directly pay a compensation surcharge when purchasing their tickets. The data analysis shows that in the long term, this offer is most frequently accepted if customers and providers make equal contributions. Moreover, individual customers have a higher probability to opt for the compensation payment than tour parties.

The study also suggests a gender difference in the booking behaviour: Men respond more strongly to a variation of additional offsets topped up by the operator. These "matching grants" will more likely convince male passengers to pay a compensation than female passengers. According to the ZEW study, a coach company should offer one-to-one matching grants, i.e. a matching grant equal to the compensation paid by the passenger, to maximise the number of compensations in the long term. This is also true if a company wants to attract customers who are particularly climate- and cost-conscious.

The complete publication can be found at

http://www.zew.de/de/publikationen/publikation.php3?action=detail&art=12&nr=7698

For more information please contact

Dr. Daniel Römer, Phone +49/621/1235-214, E-mail roemer@zew.de

Martin Kesternich, Phone +49/621/1235-337, E-mail kesternich@zew.de