Understanding determinants of willingness to pay for airport shuttle service of urban air mobility

This study aims to investigate the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) airport shuttle service. The survey was designed to target Incheon International Airport in South Korea and includes questions about WTP, socioeconomic attributes, airport-related behaviors, and experiences and opinions related to airport access and UAM. The questions for WTP were designed for specific fare scenarios, and a model was developed using a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method to estimate WTP in the specific fare scenarios. A total of 1634 people responded to the survey, and its results were analyzed using a double-bounded dichotomous choice model to examine the effects of socioeconomic and airport-related factors on WTP. The modeling result shows an average WTP of 60,173 KRW (approximately 48 USD) and a median of 48,521 KRW (approximately 39 USD) per 30 min for the UAM airport shuttle service, indicating lower WTP compared to the suggested fares from various organizations. This highlights the need for feasible pricing in the early market to attract the public. Meanwhile, taxi users exhibited 97 % higher WTP probability compared to airport shuttle users, while private car drivers showed a 34 % increase. This is noteworthy in that UAM has the potential to replace ground taxis or be another transportation mode similar to taxis. Moreover, respondents aware of UAM technology demonstrated 19 % higher WTP, indicating the importance of promoting UAM to the public and making them perceive the substantial effects of UAM. The findings of this study provide important information to policymakers and industry stakeholders to devise effective pricing strategies and policies for the successful integration of UAM into current transportation systems. • WTP for UAM as an airport shuttle service is evaluated using survey data. • WTP is almost half lower than the suggested fares from the organizations. • People with older ages and higher incomes are less willing to pay for UAM. • People using private transportation modes for airport access have higher WTP. • Awareness of and positive attitudes toward UAM lead to higher WTP.