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on Transport Economics |
| By: | David Levinson; David Giacomin; Antony Badsey-Ellis (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | In 1863, the Metropolitan Railway of what came to be known as the London Underground successfully opened as the world’s first subway. Its high ridership spawned interest in additional links. Entrepreneurs secured funding and then proposed new lines to Parliament for approval, though only a portion were actually approved. While putative rail barons may have conducted some economic analysis, the final decision lay with Parliament, which did not have available modern transportation economic or geographic analysis tools. How good were the decisions that Parliament made in approving Underground Lines? This paper explores the role accessibility played on the decision to approve or reject proposed early London Tube Schemes. It finds that maximizing accessibility to population (highly correlated with revenue and ridership) largely explains Parliamentary approvals and rejections. |
| Keywords: | Accessibility, Network Growth, Subways, Public Transport, Travel Behavior, Networks |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:londonaccessibility&r=tre |
| By: | Sandip Chakrabarti; Genevieve Giuliano |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether service reliability determines transit patronage. Using a unique historical archive of service supply, performance, and patronage data from the Los Angeles Metro bus and rail system, we analyze whether service reliability explains in part the variation in patronage across transit lines during weekday peak and off-peak periods. By estimating a simple single-stage model of transit line patronage, and a simultaneous equations model to address the recognized endogeneity between transit service supply and consumption, we provide conclusive evidence that service reliability is indeed a significant determinant of peak-period patronage. This means that, all else equal, more reliable transit lines can attract more patrons across their service corridors as they are chosen over alternate lines and competing modes. Our paper presents first empirical evidence on the demand for transit service reliability. Results suggest that transit agencies can expect some system-wide patronage gains from reliability improvements. From a policy perspective, reliability investments may be cost-effective means for increasing productivity of transit lines and systems. |
| Keywords: | Public transportation, Transit service reliability, Public transit policy |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luk:wpaper:9297&r=tre |
| By: | Wenyun Tang; David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | Few empirical studies of revealed route characteristics have been reported in the literature. This study challenges the widely applied shortest path assumption by evaluating routes followed by residents of the Minneapolis - St. Paul metropolitan area, as measured by the GPS Component of the 2011 Twin Cities Travel Behavior Inventory. It finds that most travelers used paths longer than the shortest path. Some reasons for this are conjectured. |
| Keywords: | Rationality, Route Choice, User Equilibrium, GPS Study, Travel Behavior, Networks |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:peoplearenotrational&r=tre |
| By: | Jessica E. Schoner; Greg Lindsey; David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | Transportation policies and plans encourage non-motorized transportation and the establishment of performance measures to assess progress towards multi-modal system goals. Challenges in fostering walking and bicycling include the lack of data for measuring rates of walking and bicycling over time and differences in pedestrians and bicyclists and the trips they make. This paper analyzes travel behavior inventories conducted by the Metropolitan Council in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area in 2001 and 2010 to illuminate differences walking and bicycling over time and illustrate the implications for performance measurement. We focus on the who, what, where, when, and why of non-motorized transportation: who pedestrians and bicyclists are, where they go and why, when they travel, and what factors are associated with the trips they make. Measured by summer mode share, walking and bicycling both increased during the decade, but the differences between the modes overshadow their similarities. Using descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and multinomial logistic models, we show that walkers are different than bicyclists, that walking trips are shorter and made for different purposes, that walking and bicycling trips differ seasonally, and that different factors are associated with the likelihoods of walking or bicycling. While the increase in mode share was greater for walking than bicycling, the percentage increase relative to 2001 share was greater for bicycling than walking. Both walking and bicycling remain mainly urban transportation options. Older age reduces the likelihood of biking trips more than walking trips, and biking remains gendered while walking is not. These differences call into question the common practice of treating nonmotorized transportation as a single mode. Managers can use these results to develop performance measures for tracking progress towards system goals in a way that addresses the unique and different needs of pedestrians and bicyclists. |
| Keywords: | Bicycling, Travel Behavior, Networks |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:walkingovertime&r=tre |
| By: | Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - CNRS : UMR5593 - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État [ENTPE] - Université Lumière - Lyon II); Joelle Morana (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - CNRS : UMR5593 - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État [ENTPE] - Université Lumière - Lyon II) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to propose, via an experimental collaborative decision support method, to define a grid of indicators and a reference situation database to measure the sustainable performance of urban logistics pooling systems. To do this, we start by defining the notion of sustainability in the 4As approach, after what we identify the main sustainability indicators from an overview of the literature, and class them into four categories (one for each A of the approach). Then, a group of 20 experts is required and an iterative experimental collaborative decision making method is applied to the group to converge to the concordance of a set of indicators. The method allowed us to define a hierarchic dashboard agreed by all experts with 7 main indicators and 9 secondary indicators. Moreover, the experts signaled the need of defining a unified basis of comparison to estimate initial situations. To do this, we proposed a database of urban routes from the French Surveys on Urban Goods Transport. This method has the advantage of proposing a dashboard agreed by all involved stakeholders. The proposed dashboard is an example and to provide a more unified one the experience has to be iterated using different groups of decision makers. Therefore, this paper shows the patterns to reproduce it, since the method is able to be replicated in any context of group decision in urban logistics. The originality of the paper arises on the use of an experimental group decision method using a group with a majority of practitioners, and to validate it by consensus. |
| Keywords: | logistics pooling; sustainable development; group decision support; distribution; consensus |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01053887&r=tre |
| By: | Benjamin Hansen |
| Abstract: | Traditional economic models of criminal behavior have straightforward predictions: raising the expected cost of crime via apprehension probabilities or punishments decreases crime. I test the effect of harsher punishments on deterring driving under the influence (DUI). In this setting, punishments are determined by strict rules on Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and previous offenses. Regression discontinuity derived estimates suggest that having a BAC above the DUI threshold reduces recidivism by up to 2 percentage points (17 percent). Likewise having a BAC over the aggravated DUI threshold reduces recidivism by an additional percentage point (9 percent). The results suggest that recent recommendations to lower the BAC limit to .05 would save relatively few lives, while increasing marginal punishments and sanctions monotonically along the BAC distribution would more effectively deter the drunk drivers most likely to be involved in fatal crashes. |
| JEL: | I18 I28 K14 K42 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20243&r=tre |