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The Political Economy of Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence

Last registered on January 20, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Political Economy of Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013227
Initial registration date
April 11, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 16, 2024, 2:49 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
January 20, 2025, 4:49 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Natalie Yang
Affiliation
Columbia University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-05-01
End date
2025-06-30
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project will study voter opinion on congestion pricing using an information intervention combined with a policy introduction. Respondents in the region of a proposed congestion price will be asked their opinions on the policy before the policy is introduced. This pre-policy survey will include an information intervention; treated respondents will receive information related to congestion pricing, and the study will test the effect of this information on their likelihood of supporting the policy. After congestion pricing is introduced, respondents will be surveyed again to see how opinions change.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Yang, Natalie. 2025. "The Political Economy of Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence." AEA RCT Registry. January 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13227-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Information interventions, where the information treatments will be information about the predicted effects of the congestion pricing policy.
Intervention (Hidden)
In the pre-policy survey, there will be an information intervention. All respondents will be asked a set of questions to assess their outlook on congestion pricing. They will be asked whether they support or oppose the policy, whether they think the policy is "fair," whether they think the policy will reduce pollution, etc. They will also be asked three specific questions about what they expect to happen with congestion pricing: (1) Predict the effect of congestion pricing on traffic, (2) Predict the effect of congestion pricing on public transit usage, and (3) How will revenue from congestion pricing be used. After this, respondents will be split into 4 groups: 3 treatment groups and 1 control group. The control group be taken immediately to the endline survey. Each treatment group will be provided information corresponding to one of the 3 questions listed above. After receiving this information, they will be asked again about their support, assessment of fairness, etc.

In the post-policy period, the goal will be to assess the effect of the policy on respondents' beliefs/support for the policy. This will likely include an information intervention in a similar vein to the pre-policy information intervention, with the information treatment updated based on the actual effects of the policy.

UPDATE JANUARY 2025:
The description above is for the information intervention that was implemented in the first survey in this study, which was implemented in May 2024, before the introduction of congestion pricing in New York City. The final survey, which will be conducted after congestion pricing has been introduced, will include an information intervention with the following structure: Respondents will be shown maps of 2 different driving routes in New York City and asked to say whether they think the average driving time along those routes increased, decreased, or stayed the same after congestion pricing was introduced compared to before. (Route 1 goes along the Holland Tunnel, starting in New Jersey and ending in Manhattan. Route 2 starts in the Bronx and ends in East Harlem.) Respondents will then be randomly sorted into one of 3 groups: 2 treatment groups and 1 control group. Respondents in the treatment groups will be shown a chart comparing driving times before and after congestion pricing for one of the 2 driving routes previously shown. The charts will come from the website congestion-pricing-tracker.com.
Intervention Start Date
2025-02-03
Intervention End Date
2025-02-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Voter opinion on congestion pricing (support, assessment of fairness); voter predictions for effect of congestion pricing on transportation (effect on traffic, pollution, transit ridership); commuting mode choice, commute times
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Voter opinion (e.g., fairness, support) will be measured on a Likert scale

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
There will be 1,500 respondents included in the pre-policy survey. The same 1,500 respondents will be re-surveyed in the post-policy survey, along with 500 additional respondents. Respondents will be selected among the pool of YouGov registrants who reside in the New York metro area. Respondents will be randomly sorted into treatment and control groups for the intervention.
Experimental Design Details
There will be 1,500 respondents included in the pre-policy survey. The same 1,500 respondents will be re-surveyed in the post-policy survey, along with 500 additional respondents. Respondents will be selected among the pool of YouGov registrants who reside in the New York metro area. Respondents will be randomly sorted into treatment and control groups for the intervention.

UPDATE JANUARY 2025: A total of 3 surveys will be run. The description above applies to the first survey, which was conducted in May 2024. The second survey was conducted in October 2024. A total of 1,535 respondents were surveyed, including new respondents from upstate New York. The final survey will be conducted in February 2025 and will include the intervention described above. The final survey will include 1,200 respondents. Of these, 60% will be from the New York metro area and 40% will be from upstate New York; 30% of the sample will be fresh contacts who were not previously included in the earlier surveys. The respondents will be sorted randomly into the 2 treatment and 1 control groups, without stratifying by location.
Randomization Method
Randomization done by YouGov computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000 individuals total (1,500 in both pre- and post-policy surveys + 500 additional in post-policy only)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400 in each of two treatment groups, 400 in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Columbia Research, Human Research Protection Office
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-30
IRB Approval Number
AAAV0246
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials