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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Grahn-Voorneveld , Sofia (VTI) |
| Abstract: | The economic principle of road pricing is that a road toll should equal the marginal cost imposed by an additional user, since this will lead to efficient use of the transport facility. However, when the road is used by traffic both from the road providing region as well as by traffic from another region, the supplied road standard is likely to be too low, since the consumer surplus of the users from outside the region is not taken into account. This can be solved by letting an authority level higher than the road supplier use taxes and earmarked transactions to raise the road standard. (In Europe we see this done in the Trans European Network). To do this the higher authority needs very detailed information about the road and the users on local level. Further raising taxes and transactions also involve costs that can be substantial. Another problem is that transactions of this type it is hard to separate from other political interference. This paper analyzes how a limited toll on top of the marginal cost can serve the purpose of solving this problem locally, without involving a higher authority. |
| Keywords: | Marginal cost pricing; Congestion; Road quality |
| JEL: | R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2014–09–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2014_016&r=tre |
| By: | Fu, Shihe; Gu, Yizhen |
| Abstract: | Most highways in urban China are tolled to finance their construction. During the eight-day National Day holiday in 2012, highway tolls are waived nationwide for passenger vehicles. We use this to test highway tolls’ effect on air pollution. Using daily pollution and weather data for 98 Chinese cities in 2011 and 2012 and employing both a regression discontinuity design and differences-in-differences method with 2011 National Day holiday as a control, we find that eliminating tolls increases pollution by 20% and decreases visibility by one kilometer. We also estimate that the toll elasticity of air pollution is 0.16. These findings complement the scant literature on the environmental impact of road pricing. |
| Keywords: | highway toll; air pollution; visibility; regression discontinuity design; differences-in-differences |
| JEL: | H23 Q53 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2014–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59619&r=tre |
| By: | Fujita, Yasuo; Takeda, Asami |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to conduct a preliminary analysis of the expected effects of a transport infrastructure project on firms’ locational choice and business environment in Mozambique, using a baseline firm survey. We compare firms’ locational choice factors and their perceptions of the business environment between the underdeveloped Nacala corridor, where a road improvement project is being implemented, and the well-developed Beira corridor as a comparator. On the firms’ locational choice, we find a statistically significant difference between the two corridors, after controlling for firms’ characteristics. While the firms emphasize closeness to customers in the Beira corridor, the firms emphasize better infrastructure in the Nacala corridor. We also find statistically significant differences in some business environment factors between the two corridors. In the Nacala corridor, the firms consider transport infrastructure to be problematic for operation and growth. In the Beira corridor, the firms believe some factors related to government administration and regulations are obstacles. These results are still preliminary. At this stage of our research, we can only point out the possibility that the conditions of transport infrastructure may affect private firms’ self-evaluation of their locational choice and their business environment. |
| Keywords: | Transport infrastructure , Locational choice , Business environment , Impact analysis , Mozambique |
| Date: | 2014–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:74&r=tre |
| By: | Paul Koster; Erik T. Verhoef (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Simon Shepherd; David Watling (University of Leeds, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with first-best and second-best congestion pricing of a stylised two-link network with probabilistic route choice of travellers. Travellers may have heterogeneous values of travel times and may differ in their idiosyncratic route preferences. We derive first-best and second-best tolls taking into account how the overall network demand responds to generalized costs including the tolls that are levied. We show that with homogeneous values of times the welfare losses of second-best pricing, of one link only, may be smaller if route choice is probabilistic. Furthermore, we show that with heterogeneous values of times, common second-best tolls and group-differentiated tolls can be very close when route choice is governed by random utility maximisation, leading to low welfare losses from the inability to differentiate tolls. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic User Equilibrium, Second-best Congestion Pricing, Preference Heterogeneity, Scale Heterogeneity, Probabilistic Choice |
| JEL: | R40 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2014–06–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140078&r=tre |
| By: | Marcos Yamada Nakaguma; Brandon Restrepo |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of Election Day alcohol bans on road traffic accidents, traffic-related injuries, and alcohol-related hospitalizations. Our analysis focuses on the 2012 Municipal Elections in Brazil, during which 11 out of 27 states imposed on its 2,733 municipalities the decision to implement alcohol bans. Using daily-level data on municipalities, we find that alcohol bans caused substantial reductions in road crashes (15%), traffic-related injuries (30-70%), and traffic-related hospital admissions (18%). An analysis of the hospitalization costs associated with traffic accidents reveals that banning the sale of alcohol saved Brazil’s healthcare system $150,000 per day, which is likely to be a lower bound of the total societal cost savings. Using this figure as a benchmark, we estimate the total cost savings to be up to $1 million for a one-day ban on alcohol. |
| Keywords: | Alcohol; ban; election; drunk driving; traffic accident; road crash; hospitalization, hospital admission; cost analysis |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2014–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon21&r=tre |
| By: | Michael Drexl (Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) |
| Abstract: | Vehicle routing problems with multiple synchronization constraints (VRPMSs) are problems that exhibit, in addition to the usual task covering constraints present in any VRP, further synchronization requirements between the vehicles, concerning spatial, temporal, and load aspects. They have only recently caught the attention of scientists and are currently a very active ?eld of research. This paper describes a generic heuristic that allows to solve many important types of VRPMSs. |
| Keywords: | Heuristic, Vehicle Routing, Synchronization, Coordination, Trailer, Transshipment |
| Date: | 2014–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1412&r=tre |
| By: | Olaf Merk; Thai-Thanh Dang |
| Abstract: | The relation between ports and their cities have evolved: it is no longer evident that well-functioning ports have automatically a net positive impact on the port-city. There are various trajectories and many ports and port-cities attempt to stimulate port-city development by a range of public policies. Yet, little is known about effectiveness of policies to promote performance of ports and port-cities. This paper aims at filling this gap, by assessing the effectiveness of port-city policies, within various policy areas including port development, port-city economic development, transportation, environment, research and development, spatial development and communication. This is done via a principal component analysis (PCA), based on a database constructed for the purpose of this paper with outcome variables and scores of policies for a set of 27 large world port-cities, that makes it possible to identify policies that are associated with effective policy outcomes and show patterns of related policy outcomes and policies. |
| Keywords: | transportation, policy evaluation, port-cities, port development, principal component analysis |
| JEL: | C38 L98 R42 |
| Date: | 2013–12–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2013/25-en&r=tre |
| By: | Beser Hugosson, Muriel (KTH/TLA); Algers, Staffan (KTH/TLA); Habibi, Shiva (KTH/TLA); Sundbergh, Pia (Transport Analysis (Sweden)) |
| Abstract: | The composition of the car fleet with respect to age, fuel consumption and fuel types plays an important role on environmental effects, oil dependency and energy consumption. In Sweden, a number of different policies have been implemented to support CO2 emission reductions. In order to evaluate effects of different policies, a model for the evolution of the Swedish car fleet was developed in 2006. The model has been used in a number of projects since then, and it is now possible to compare forecasts with actual outcomes. Such evidence is relatively rare, and we think it may be useful to share our experience in this respect. We give a brief overview of the Swedish car fleet model. Then we describe policies that have been implemented in recent years and the evolution of the Swedish car fleet. We then focus on two projects which enable comparison with actual outcomes, and analyse the differences between forecasts and outcomes. We find that the model has weaknesses in catching car buyers’ preferences of new technology. When this is not challenged too much, the model can forecast reasonably well on an aggregate level. We also find that he model is quite sensitive to assumptions on future supply. This is not so much related to the model, but to its use. Depending on the use of the forecasts – be it car sales, emissions or fuel demand – it may be necessary to use different supply scenarios to get an idea of the robustness of the forecast result. |
| Keywords: | Clean car policy; Car fleet model; Forecasting; Model evaluation; Scrapping model; Nested logit |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2014–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2014_018&r=tre |
| By: | Achim I. Czerny (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Anming Zhang (The University of British Columbia, Canada) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes third-degree price discrimination of a monopoly airline in the presence of congestion externality when all markets are served. The model features the business-passenger and leisure-passenger markets where business passengers exhibit a higher time valuation, and a less price-elastic demand, than leisure passengers. Our main result is the identification of the time-valuation effect of price discrimination, which can work in the opposite direction as the well-known output effect on welfare. This time-valuation effect clearly explains why discriminating prices can improve welfare even when this is associated with a reduction in aggregate output. |
| Keywords: | Price discrimination, congestion, time valuation, monopoly, airline |
| JEL: | D42 L93 |
| Date: | 2014–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140140&r=tre |
| By: | Senderski, Marcin |
| Abstract: | The paper illustrates, on the grounds of Poland’s case, the concrete roads network development in a jurisdiction dominated by asphalt roads. The author reviews typical drawbacks apparent when promoting concrete roads, and identifies several most arresting phenomena that have led to the current technological stalemate. The goal of the paper is not to replicate the common and yet well-known argumentation in favor of concrete roads, but rather to deal with the investors’ typical opposition to this argumentation, find out how to bypass these concerns, and finally help facilitate a major systemic shift. This paper’s contribution is the attempt to universalize Polish experience, making it relevant and helpful for concrete promoters in other countries. Such a knowledge-sharing exercise should increase the success rate of salesmen based in regions overwhelmed by asphalt tradition, and let them best leverage on the available resources. This is also a source of bibliography for sales teams that plan to take off with concrete roads promotion in their countries. |
| Keywords: | concrete pavements, concrete infrastructure, sales management, business-to-government sales, public procurement, infrastructural investments |
| JEL: | L92 M31 R42 R48 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58800&r=tre |
| By: | Daganzo, Carlos F |
| Abstract: | According to the duality theory of traffic flow any well-posed kinematic wave (KW) and/or variational theory (VT) problem can be solved with the same methods either on the time-space plane or the time vs vehicle number plane. To achieve this symmetry, the model parameters and the boundary data need to be expressed in a form appropriate for each plane. It turns out, however, that when boundary data that are bounded in one plane are transformed for the other, singular points with infinite density (jumps in vehicle number) sometimes arise. These singularities require a new form of weak solution to the PDE's that we call an extended solution. Duality theory indicates that these e-solutions must exist and be unique. The paper characterizes these solutions. It shows that their only added feature is a new type of shock that can contain mass and we call a supershock. Nothing else is required. The evolution laws of these shocks are described. An exact solution method for e-problems with piecewise linear fundamental diagrams (FDs), not necessarily concave, is given. The paper also addresses the special case where the FD is concave so that VT applies. It is shown that if the FD is piecewise linear then sufficient networks used to solve VT problems with the least cost path method continue to be sufficient in the extended case. Thus, the same solution procedure produces exact results in both the conventional and extended cases. |
| Keywords: | Engineering, traffic flow theory, fundamental diagram, kinematic waves, shockwaves, variational theory |
| Date: | 2014–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt1rw0p740&r=tre |