| Across the country many people engage in recreational boating. In 2008 there were over 12 million registered recreational boats in the United States, and nearly 8% of these were in Florida (US Coast Guard, 2008). Launching boats from publically available ramps is one of the primary methods of marine access. Within Florida, nearly 25% of all boating related trips in 2007 involved launching a trailered boat from a publically available ramp (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation [FWC], 2009). With hundreds of thousands of boating trips from dozens of publically accessible ramps, Lee County planners need analytical tools to understand demand and consumer surplus to assist them in evaluating new and enhanced launch facilities. To accomplish this, we... |
