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on Transport Economics |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This report examines how lowering vehicle mass can reduce CO2 emissions from road transport. The average mass of new passenger cars in the European Union has increased by around 40% over the past four decades. Lowering vehicle mass to levels observed in the mid-1970s could reduce vehicle emissions substantially and help meet European Union targets such as the 60% reduction in transport CO2 emissions by 2050. Based on different scenarios, this study shows that mass reduction across all vehicle technologies has potential to reduce the gap between such ambitions and the current trend and would financially benefit the vehicle user. This report was developed in the context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonising Transport project. It is part of the International Transport Forum’s Case-Specific Policy Analysis series. These are topical studies on specific issues carried out by the ITF in agreement with local institutions. |
| Date: | 2017–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:40-en&r=tre |
| By: | Simora, Michael; Vance, Colin |
| Abstract: | Despite steady increases in fuel economy, CO2 emissions from road transportation in Germany are on the rise, increasing by nearly 4% since 2009. This study analyzes the impact of different policy levers for bucking this trend, focusing specifically on the role of fuel prices and features of the built environment. We estimate two multinomial logit models, one addressing work-related tours and the other non-work related tours. Both models consider two interrelated dimensions of travel on the extensive margin: mode choice and tour complexity. We use the model estimates to predict outcome probabilities for different levels of our policy variables. Our results suggest significant effects of the built environment – measured by bike path density, urbanization, and proximity to public transit – in discouraging car use and increasing tour complexity. Fuel prices, by contrast, appear to have little bearing on these choices. |
| Keywords: | activity-based approach,travel mode choice,tour complexity,multinomial logit,predicted probabilities |
| JEL: | D10 R48 R42 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:711&r=tre |
| By: | Patricia C. Melo; Daniel J. Graham |
| Abstract: | While the interaction between transport and agglomeration economies is widely accepted, there is insufficient research attempting at a direct empirical quantification. Using a balanced panel dataset for US metropolitan areas, we estimate a system of simultaneous equations to measure the indirect effect of urban agglomeration economies which arises through transport provision. Our findings suggest that public transit reinforces the effect of urban agglomeration, whereas road lane miles appearto weaken it. The results highlight the importance of public transit in supporting positive urban agglomeration externalities. |
| Keywords: | Transport-induced agglomeration effects, productivity, system of simultaneous equations, metropolitan areas |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R41 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp0062017&r=tre |
| By: | Arik Levinson (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | In 2011 the US changed its automobile fuel economy standards from a uniform, fleet-wide average, miles-per-gallon target, to one that varies with car sizes. Smaller cars now must meet stricter standards. While the motive for any policy change can be disputed, the consequence of this change looks like environmental protectionism, because the favored larger cars are disproportionately assembled in the US. The change imposes costs on imported cars equivalent to a tariff of $50 to $200 per vehicle. |
| Keywords: | Pollution; Regulations; Fuel economy; Automobiles |
| JEL: | F1 Q4 |
| Date: | 2017–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~17-17-02&r=tre |
| By: | Rainald Borck |
| Abstract: | The paper studies the effect of public transport policies on urban pollution. It uses a quantitative equilibrium model with residential choice and mode choice. Pollution comes from commuting and residential energy use. The model parameters are calibrated to replicate key variables for American metropolitan areas. In the counterfactual, I study how free public transport coupled with increasing transit speed affects the equilibrium. In the baseline simulation, total pollution falls by 0.2%, as decreasing emissions from transport are partly offset by rising residential emissions. A second counterfactual compares a city with and without public transit. This large investment decreases pollution by 1.6%. When jobs are decentralized, emissions fall by 0.3% in the first and by 3% in the second counterfactual. |
| Keywords: | public transport, pollution, discrete choice |
| JEL: | Q53 Q54 R48 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6606&r=tre |
| By: | Ann-Kathrin Rothenbächer (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the periodic vehicle routing problem with time windows (PVRPTW). Therein, customers require one or several visits during a planning horizon of several periods. The possible visiting patterns (schedules) per customer are limited. In the classical PVRPTW, it is common to assume that each customer requires a specific visit frequency and offers all corresponding schedules with regular intervals between the visits. In this paper, we permit all kinds of schedule structures and the choice of the service frequency. We present an exact branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm for the classical PVRPTW and its variant with flexible schedules. The pricing problems are elementary shortest path problems with resource constraints. They can be based on one of two new types of networks and solved with a labeling algorithm, which uses several known acceleration techniques such as the ng-path relaxation and dynamic half-way points within bidirectional labeling. For instances whose schedule sets fulfill a certain symmetry condition, we present specialized improvements of the algorithm such as constraint aggregation and symmetry breaking. Computational tests on benchmark instances for the PVRPTW show the effectiveness of our algorithm. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of different schedule structures on run times and objective function values. |
| Keywords: | Vehicle Routing, Multi Period, Branch-and-Price-and-Cut, Service Choice, Flexible Schedules |
| Date: | 2017–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1714&r=tre |
| By: | Lee, Seung Shin (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Lee, Hyun-Tai (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Hyun, Sangbaek (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Na, Su Yeob (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Kim, Youngsun (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Cho, Koun (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Oh, Yunmi (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | Korean Abstract: 중국의 신(新)실크로드 구상인 일대일로(一帶一路) 전략은 중국 내륙지역을 중심으로 한 육상 실크로드와 연해지역을 중심으로 한 해상 실크로드로 나뉜다. 육상실크로드 해당 지역 대부분은 기존 동부 연해지역 위주의 대외개방정책에서 소외되었던 중국 중서부 및 동북부 등 내륙지역으로써 향후 대외교류 확대를 위해 주변 인접국가와의 인프라 연결 및 무역원활화 추진에 더욱 역점을 두고 있다. 해상실크로드 선상의 주요 지방정부는 아시아-유럽-아프리카를 잇는 해상 인프라 구축과 해양 협력 강화를 일대일로 전략의 핵심으로 제시하고 있다. 따라서 주요 항구를 거점으로 한 인프라 연결을 중요시하는 각 지방정부들은 해당 지역의 지리적 이점을 활용한 항공, 항만, 도로 건설 등 종합 교통 네트워크 및 물류 통신 정보 네트워크의 구축 등 이와 관련된 구체적 계획을 발표하였다. 한편, 일대일로가 중국의 새로운 대외전략 방향성을 제시하고, 중앙 부처별, 지방정부의 지역별 참여방안 마련을 통해 구체화 작업이 진행되었다는 성과에도 불구하고 앞으로 일대일로 추진에 있어 많은 과제에 직면해있다. 대외적으로 일대일로 연선국가는 대부분 개발도상국이나 빈곤 국가들로 구성되어 있고 정치적 종교적으로도 불안정한 지역이 적지 않다. 또한, 현 단계에서 주요 협력이 인프라 협력 위주로 추진되는 점은 중국 정부의 재정 부담으로 작용할 가능성이 크고, 구매력이 높지 않은 국가들과의 경제 협력은 단기적으로 무역, 투자 확대 효과가 크지 않을 가능성도 있다. 본 보고서에서는 일대일로의 오통 중에 경제협력과 가장 관련이 깊은 인프라, 자금, 무역 부문의 일대일로 진행상황에 대해 중국 연구의 총체적인 평가를 개괄하고, 세부 부문별로 중국과 연선국가간의 일대일로 전략의 진행상황을 분석하였다. English Abstract: One Belt and One Road (B&R, 一带一路), China’s new Silk Road initiative, is largely divided into two parts: the Land Silk Road centered on China’s inland area and the Maritime Silk Road based in China’s coastal area. Most of the Land Silk Road area is located in the Midwest and the Northeast inland area of China, hitherto marginalized by the opening policy emphasizing the eastern coastal area. In order to expand future foreign exchanges, more emphasis has been placed on promoting infrastructure connection and trade facilitation. Local governments on the Maritime Silk Road are presenting the creation of maritime infrastructure connecting Asia-Europe-Africa and the strengthening of marine cooperation as the core of their B&R strategy. Therefore, each local government is emphasizing infrastructure connection centered on major ports and announcing concrete plans related to a comprehensive transportation network including aviation, harbor and road construction and logistics, communication, information networks making use of their geographical advantages. Meanwhile, despite the achievements made by the central and local governments through various regional participation plans, the B&R initiative is faced with several challenges ahead. Among B&R countries, there are many developing and poor countries that are unstable from a political and religious perspective. Also, the fact that major cooperation at the present stage is promoted mainly by infrastructure cooperation is likely to act as a financial burden to the Chinese government, and economic cooperation with countries where buying power is not high is not expected to be significant in the near term. This report scrutinized the Chinese researches assessing the progress of the B&R initiative, and analyzed the cooperation between China and the B&R countries in infrastructure, funding, and trade – issues which are closely related to the area of economic cooperation among the five areas (Wu Tong, 五通) specified within the B&R initiative. |
| Keywords: | One Belt and One Road; Silk Road; China; B&R Strategy |
| Date: | 2017–08–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kieppa:2017_003&r=tre |
| By: | Arik Levinson (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | Economists promote energy taxes as cost-effective. But policymakers raise concerns about their regressivity, or disproportional burden on poorer families, preferring to set energy efficiency standards instead. I first show that in theory, regulations targeting energy efficiency are more regressive than energy taxes, not less. I then provide an example in the context of automotive fuel consumption in the United States: taxing gas would be less regressive than regulating the fuel economy of cars if the two policies are compared on a revenue-equivalent basis. |
| Keywords: | Regulation, Income Distribution, Pigouvian Tax |
| Date: | 2017–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~17-17-01&r=tre |
| By: | Christopher M Clapp; Steven Stern; Steven Dan Yu |
| Abstract: | Federal and state governments spend over $3 billion annually on public-sector Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs, yet almost a third of people with disabilities report having inadequate access to the transportation necessary to commute to a job, potentially negating the positive e¤ects of these interventions. We examine this previously understudied connection by assessing the impact access to public paratransit has on measures of VR program e¤ectiveness. To do so, we use the data and estimates from three previously estimated structural models of VR service receipt and labor market outcomes that contain limited information about mobility. We spatially link the generalized residuals from these models to di¤erent measures of the availability and effciency of local paratransit systems to determine whether paratransit explains any of the residual variation in the short- or long-run labor market outcomes of individuals receiving VR services. Results show that access to paratransit is an important determinant of the e¢ cacy of VR services, but that effects are heterogeneous across disability groups. We discuss the policy implications of our findings for VR programs. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nys:sunysb:17-12&r=tre |
| By: | Fretz, Stephan; Parchet, Raphaël; Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric |
| Abstract: | We design a spatial model featuring workers embodied with heterogeneous skills. In equilibrium, locations with improved market access become relatively more attractive to the high-skilled, high-income earners. We then empirically analyze the effects of the construction of the Swiss highway network between 1960 and 2010 on the distribution of income at the local level, as well as on employment and commuting by education level. We find that the advent of a new highway access within 10km led to a long-term 19%-increase of the share of high-income taxpayers and a 6%-decrease of the share of low-income taxpayers. Results are similar for employment data decomposed by education level, as well as for in- and out-commuters. Highways also contributed to job and residential urban sprawl. |
| Keywords: | Highway; Income sorting.; market access; Transportation |
| JEL: | D31 H54 O18 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12437&r=tre |
| By: | José Brandão |
| Abstract: | The vehicle routing problem with backhauls and soft time windows contains two disjoint sets of customers: those that receive goods from the depot,who are called linehauls, and those that send goods to the depot, named backhauls. To each customer is associated an interval of time (time window), during which each one should be served. If a time window can be violated it is called soft, but this violation implies an additional cost. In this paper, only the upper limit of the interval can be exceeded. For solving this problem we created deterministic iterated local search algorithm, which was tested using a large set of benchmark problems taken from the literature. These computational tests have proven that this algorithm competes with best known algorithms in terms of the quality of the solutions and computing time. So far as we know, there is no published paper for this problem dealing with soft time windows, and, therefore, this comparison is only with the algorithms that do not allow time windows violation. |
| Keywords: | Backhauls; iterated local search; linehauls; logistics; soft time windows, vehicle routing |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp0102017&r=tre |