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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Raphaël Lamotte (Urban Transport Systems Laboratory - EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering - EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne); André De Palma (CES, ENS Cachan, CNRS, Universite Paris-Saclay, 94235 Cachan, France); Nikolas Geroliminis (School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering - EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Urban Transport Systems Laboratory - EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) |
| Abstract: | Automated cars are likely to change mobility substantially in the coming years. Much research is developed in engineering, about legal and behavioral issues, but the economics of autonomous vehicle remains an open area. In this paper, we consider a single-bottleneck situation, in which the capacity of the freeway is divided between conventional and autonomous vehicles. Users of conventional vehicles freely choose their departure time from home, while users of autonomous vehicles collaborate with a central operator that ensures they do not queue. An individual-specific cooperation cost is integrated in the modeling framework. We address the following key issues: how should infrastructure be allocated to conventional and automated cars? Are there synergies between the two fleets of vehicle? How should each infrastructure be tolled? Should the government be a toll leader? Which regulations are needed? |
| Keywords: | bottleneck model, autonomous cars |
| Date: | 2016–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01281425&r=tre |
| By: | Mulder, J.; Dekker, R. |
| Abstract: | Traditional liner shipping route networks consists of many port calls per route. However, container ship sizes have increased substantially over the past few years. These large container ships benefit from economies of scale at sea, but might suffer diseconomies of scale in ports. Therefore, we investigate whether larger container ships will lead to fewer port calls per route. First, we discuss the influence of fewer port visits on some aspects that are difficult to include in a mathematical analysis. Thereafter, we propose a mathematical approach to obtain networks with fewer port calls per route. Liner shipping route networks are generated by distinguishing between hub routes and regional routes. Hub routes are used to connect a small number of hubs, while regional routes connect all other ports with its nearest hub. An iterative approach is used to generate networks, which are evaluated using a mixed integer program in which the joint ship allocation and cargo routing is solved. A case study is performed with different combinations of seven hub ports. In the case study, three capacity scenarios are considered: low, base and high capacity. Our networks generate profits that are more than 25% higher compared with the best known networks in literature. |
| Keywords: | liner shipping route networks, capacity scenarios |
| Date: | 2016–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:79909&r=tre |
| By: | Nerhagen, Lena (VTI) |
| Abstract: | The Swedish government, despite a possible value conflict with the ambitious Swedish climate mitigation objectives, has stated that tourism development is an important basis for economic growth, not least in rural areas. This paper explores how the Swedish policy making system, and ambitious environmental and traffic safety objectives, influence transport investment planning at the regional level. Our point of reference for evaluating the system is the work with good regulatory policy advocated by the OECD and used by the EU. The main finding is that the Swedish government and parliament lack a strategic “whole-of-government approach” to sustainable transport development. There are many principles and objectives with good intentions established at the national level that are incompatible in practice. The conflicts that follow are handed down to lower government levels to solve with best wishes. The problem with this type of management is the “tragedy of the commons.” Without clear guidance, individuals (and administrations) acting independently and rationally based on self-interests are likely to behave contrary to the best interests of the whole group (society). Making choices based on a more holistic assessment of impacts and benefits and costs could help to prevent this kind of outcome. However, from the data collected it appears that many investments are undertaken without being assessed due to the lack of government instructions on regulatory impact assessment. Other investments are undertaken despite having a negative net benefit. One reason for this is specific instructions given by the government that points to certain investments. Another reason seems to be the Vision Zero policy established by the parliament. In recent years this policy has been a strong driver of improvements of the road system. Seen from an environmental perspective, the unwanted consequence of the priorities made is that state roads become faster and safer and thereby a more attractive alternative to other travel modes. Seen from a regional development and tourism perspective, this may have diverted resources away from investments that would have yielded a greater benefit to the tourism industry in “rural” areas. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable transport; Tourism; Multi-level-governance; Regulatory impact assessment |
| JEL: | H77 R42 |
| Date: | 2016–03–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2016_004&r=tre |
| By: | Eliasson, Jonas (KTH) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses and analyses whether congestion charges can be considered to be “fair” in different senses to the word. Two different perspectives are distinguished: the consumer perspective and the citizen perspective. The consumer perspective is the traditional one in equity analyses, and includes changes in travel costs, travel times and so on. Using data from four European cities, I show that highincome groups pay more than lowincome groups, but lowincome groups pay a larger share of their income. I argue that which of these distributional measures is most appropriate depends on the purpose(s) of the charging system. The citizen perspective is about individuals’ views of social issues such as equity, procedural fairness and environmental issues. I argue that an individual can be viewed as a “winner” from a citizen perspective if a reform (such as congestion pricing) is aligned with her views of what is socially desirable. Using the same data set, I analyse to what extent different income groups “win” or “lose” from a citizen perspective – i.e., to what extent congestion pricing is aligned with the societal preferences of high and lowincome groups. It turns out that these differences are small, but overall, middleincome groups “win” the most in this sense. |
| Keywords: | Distributional effects; Equity effects; Consumer vs. citizen; Congestion charges; Congestion pricing; Fairness |
| JEL: | R48 |
| Date: | 2016–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2016_005&r=tre |
| By: | OLIVIER SANTONI (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)); Michaël GOUJON (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)); Simone BERTOLI (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)) |
| Abstract: | We describe the publicly available CERDI-seadistance database, which contains bilateral maritime distances between 227 countries and territories. The relevant port(s) for countries with access to the sea is defined as the coastal cell of a country that contains the highest number of shipping lines, and each landlocked country is associated to the (foreign) port with the shortest road distance to its capital city. The length of the existing shortest sea route between the two ports is then computed; this represents the bilateral maritime distance included in our database, which also contains a few additional ancillary variables. |
| Keywords: | International trade; Bilateral maritime distances; Road distances. |
| JEL: | F19 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1791&r=tre |
| By: | Audrey Berry (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - AgroParisTech - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Y Jouffe (LAB'URBA - LAB'URBA - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12); Nicolas Coulombel (LVMT - Laboratoire Ville, Mobilité, Transport - IFSTTAR - Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - PRES Université Paris-Est); Celine Guivarch (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - AgroParisTech - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the issue of fuel poverty and of its measurement in the transport sector. We seek to identify households who run the risk of facing difficulties if fuel prices increase. We show that fuel poverty indicators from the domestic sector are not satisfactory in this regard. They fail to take into account three specificities of the transport sector: (1) the diversity of travel needs, (2) restriction behaviours, and (3) variable capacities to adapt. We propose a composite indicator that targets factors of vulnerabilities. In contrast to the previous indicators, it does not solely focus on budgetary aspects but also reflects conditions of mobility. Three levels of exposition to rising fuel prices are considered, depending on the combinations of factors. We test this indicator on French data and find that 7,8% of French households are identified fuel poor, a further 7,4% fuel vulnerable and a further 3,7% fuel dependent. |
| Keywords: | Fuel poverty,Vulnerability,Transport,Measurement |
| Date: | 2015–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-01277414&r=tre |
| By: | Christopher Adam; David Bevan; Douglas Gollin |
| Abstract: | We develop a multi-sector spatial applied general equilibrium model calibrated to the 2001 Tanzanian Social Accounting Matrix to examine the impact of public investment on household welfare. We examine how different public investment packages combined with reforms in the transport sector alter the equilibrium structure and location of economic activity. The choice of financing arrangements also matters for welfare, since tax incidence, relative price and real exchange rate movements are non-neutral. We also note that welfare gains are generated by the movement of rural workers out of quasi-subsistence agriculture into higher- productivity jobs in other sectors and locations. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2016-01&r=tre |
| By: | Verhaegh, T.; Huisman, D.; Fioole, P-J.; Vera, J.C. |
| Abstract: | Due to unforeseen problems, disruptions occur at railway passenger operators. Proper real-time crew management is needed to prevent disruptions to spread over space and time. Netherlands railways (NS) has algorithmic support from a solver to obtain good crew rescheduling solutions during big disruptions. However, small disruptions are still manually solved by human dispatchers who have limited solving capacity. In this paper the rescheduling for crews during small disruptions is modeled as an iterative-deepening depth-first search in a tree, which is combined with several OR techniques, obtaining a heuristic method. The heuristic focuses on real-life usability and uses the up- dated rolling-stock schedule as input. Testing the heuristic on about 5,000 test instances shows that the heuristic delivers good and desirable rescheduling solutions within fraction of seconds, outperforming other well-known methods from the literature. |
| Keywords: | railways, real-time crew rescheduling |
| Date: | 2016–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:79917&r=tre |
| By: | Boysen, Nils; Briskorn, Dirk; Emde, Simon |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:79431&r=tre |
| By: | Mario J. Crucini (Vanderbilt University); Gregor W. Smith (Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | We study the role of distance and time in statistically explaining price dispersion across 32 Swedish towns for 19 commodities from 1732 to 1914. The resulting large number of relative prices (502,689) allows precise estimation of distance and time effects, and their interaction. We find an effect of distance that declines significantly over time, beginning in the 18th century, well before the arrival of canals, the telegraph, or the railway. |
| Keywords: | distance effect, law of one price |
| JEL: | N70 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1357&r=tre |