Quantifying the importance of socio-demographic, travel-related, and psychological predictors of public acceptability of low emission zones

As ambient air pollution increases, governments are imposing traffic management strategies to improve air quality. A common strategy is the implementation of Low Emission Zones (LEZs), which have generated considerable public debate. Nonetheless, little research has explored which factors determine their public acceptability. Previous empirical studies have also typically lacked power for regression analyses and have not determined the relative importance of different predictors. After conducting a large online survey in a UK city, well-powered multiple regression and dominance analyses demonstrated that psychological factors, such as environmental moral obligation, were the most important predictors of LEZ acceptability. However, travel-related and socio-demographic factors, such as distance lived from the LEZ and having dependent children, were also unique and important predictors. Overall, we argue that, whilst psychological factors are important, travel-related and socio-demographic barriers must not be overlooked during LEZ implementation.