Traffic Congestion in Rural Tourist Areas and Sustainable Mobility Services. The Case of Ticino (Switzerland) Valleys

Increased traffic congestion, lower air-quality, and worsening of destination’s image perception are just some the negative externalities affecting destinations relying on natural amenities supplying nature-based activities. Adopting a Stated Preference experiment, this research investigates southern Switzerland areas’ visitors’ reaction to hypothetical introduction sustainable means transport, puts forward possible interventions reduce share car users. Results show that innovative such as park-and-ride integrated with shuttle service or bike-sharing system, might have strong impact in reducing congestion. From sample composed by 65% users, results if mobility services were introduced, market cars would less than 20%. Furthermore, an increase parking cost further decrease use private vehicles, favour alternative solutions.