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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Ait Ali, Abderrahman (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)); Warg, Jennifer (KTH); Eliasson, Jonas (Linköping University) |
| Abstract: | On deregulated railway markets, efficient capacity allocation is important. We study the case where commercial trains and publicly controlled traffic (“commuter trains”) use the same railway infrastructure and hence compete for capacity. We develop a method that can be used by an infrastructure manager trying to allocate capacity in a socially efficient way. The method calculates the loss of social benefits incurred by changing the commuter train timetable to accommodate a commercial train path request and based on this calculates a reservation price for the train path request. If the commercial operator’s willingness-to-pay for the train path exceeds the loss of social benefits, its request is approved. The calculation of social benefits takes into account changes in commuter train passengers’ travel times, waiting times, transfers and crowding, and changes in operating costs for the commuter train operator(s). The method is implemented in a microscopic simulation program, which makes it possible to test the robustness and feasibility of timetable alternatives. We show that the method is possible to apply in practice by demonstrating it in a case study from Stockholm, illustrating the magnitudes of the resulting commercial train path prices. We conclude that marginal societal costs of railway capacity in Stockholm are considerably higher than the current track access charges. |
| Keywords: | Train timetables; Societal costs; Commuter trains; Commercial trains; Train path pricing |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2019–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2019_002&r=all |
| By: | Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M.; Feddersen, Arne |
| Abstract: | We analyze the economic impact of the German high-speed rail (HSR) connecting Cologne and Frankfurt, which provides plausibly exogenous variation in access to surrounding economic mass. We find a causal effect of about 8.5% on average of the HSR on the GDP of three counties with intermediate stops. We make further use of the variation in bilateral transport costs between all counties in our study area induced by the HSR to identify the strength and spatial scope of agglomeration forces. Our most careful estimate points to an elasticity of output with respect to market potential of 12.5%. The strength of the spillover declines by 50% every 30 minutes of travel time, diminishing to 1% after about 200 minutes. Our results further imply an elasticity of per-worker output with respect to economic density of 3.8%, although the effects seem driven by worker and firm selection. |
| Keywords: | accessibility; agglomeration; density; high-speed rail; market potential; transport policy; productivity |
| JEL: | R12 R38 R48 |
| Date: | 2018–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:69763&r=all |
| By: | Alok Raj; J Ajith Kumar; Prateek Bansal |
| Abstract: | The automation technology is emerging, but the adoption rate of autonomous vehicles (AV) will largely depend upon how policymakers and the government address various challenges such as public acceptance and infrastructure development. This study proposes a five-step method to understand these barriers to AV adoption. First, based on a literature review followed by discussions with experts, ten barriers are identified. Second, the opinions of eighteen experts from industry and academia regarding inter-relations between these barriers are recorded. Third, a multicriteria decision making (MCDM) technique, the grey-based Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (Grey-DEMATEL), is applied to characterize the structure of relationships between the barriers. Fourth, the robustness of the results is tested using sensitivity analysis. Fifth, the key results are depicted in a causal loop diagram (CLD), a systems thinking approach, to comprehend cause-and-effect relationships between the barriers. The results indicate that the lack of customer acceptance (LCA) is the most prominent barrier, the one which should be addressed at the highest priority. The CLD suggests that LCA can be rather mitigated by addressing two other prominent, yet more tangible, barriers -- lack of industry standards and the absence of regulations and certifications. The study's overarching contribution thus lies in bringing to fore multiple barriers to AV adoption and their potential influences on each other, owing to which its insights are relevant to associations related to AVs in prioritizing their endeavors to expedite AV adoption. From the methodological perspective, this is the first study in transportation literature that integrates Grey-DEMATEL with systems thinking. |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1904.12051&r=all |
| By: | Tobias Seidel; Jan Wickerath |
| Abstract: | We use a spatial general equilibrium model with potential commuting of workers between their place of work and their place of residence to analyze the effects of rush hours on the spatial allocation of employment and population, average labor productivity and the housing market. Abolishing traffic congestion during rush hours leads to a more urbanized economy as households move from the low-density countryside to the commuter belts of cities rather than from the city centers to the periphery. Employment, however, becomes more agglomerated in high-density large cities. This adjustment implies an increase of average labor productivity of 7.2 percent and higher inequality of housing costs. |
| Keywords: | urbanization, commuting, traffic, congestion, spatial general equilibrium |
| JEL: | R12 R13 R41 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7587&r=all |
| By: | Thigpen, Calvin |
| Abstract: | Life changes are often associated with changes in travel behavior, due to a break in habitual travel cues and the introduction of a novel travel context. Universities provide a particularly appropriate setting to examine how these life changes can bring about changes in travel attitudes, 27 norms, and skills – which together form a psychological construct called “motility” that describes the capability for travel. In this study, I pool data from seven years of the University of California, Davis’ annual campus travel survey to create a longitudinal panel, and use a retrospective survey to collect the bicycling behaviors, attitudes, and skills of undergraduates every year since they graduated from high school. I find that, on average, UCD undergraduates’ pro-bicycling attitudes decrease slightly over time while bicycling skills increase substantially throughout college. I then use the retrospective panel data to estimate a statistical model to analyze the influence of bicycling exposure and experiences on skills and attitudes. I find that riding a bicycle at any point during college increases both pro-bicycling attitudes and bicycling skills, while exposure to high levels of bicycling appears not to influence attitudes or skills. This study provides confirmatory evidence for the motility approach and suggests possible policy avenues, such as incentivizing short-term bicycle use in order to shift perceptions and attitudes about bicycling, with the intent of fostering a positive feedback cycle between greater bicycling attitudes and skills and increased bicycle use. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, travel behavior, bicycling |
| Date: | 2019–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt5bx856z7&r=all |
| By: | Ait Ali, Abderrahman (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)); Eliasson, Jonas (Linköping University) |
| Abstract: | In the last few decades, many railway markets (especially in Europe) have been restructured to allow competition between different operators. This survey studies how competition has been introduced and regulated in a number of different countries around the world. In particular, we focus on a central part of market regulation specific to railway markets, namely the capacity allocation process. Conflicting capacity requests from different train operators need to be regulated and resolved, and the efficiency and transparency of this process is crucial. Related to this issue is how access charges are constructed and applied. Several European countries have vertically separated their railway markets, separating infrastructure management from train services provisions, thus allowing several train operators to compete with different passengers and freight services. However, few countries have so far managed to create efficient and transparent processes for allocating capacity between competing train operators, and incumbent operators still have larger market-share in many markets. |
| Keywords: | Railway markets; Vertical separation; Competition; Capacity allocation; Access charges |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2019–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2019_001&r=all |
| By: | Richard Kneller; Danny McGowan |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the causal effect of airports on the growth of service exports. We exploit the location of historic military-built airfields as instruments for the current stock of international airports across UK regions. The estimates show that an additional airport increases the growth rate of exports by 76% over an 8-year time period. Airports affect exports by increasing both the intensive and extensive margins. The evidence is consistent with airports improving market access and reducing fixed and variable trade costs. These results are robust to the addition of contemporaneous and historic controls and various falsification and robustness tests. |
| Keywords: | airports; exports; service sector |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notgep:2019-10&r=all |