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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Dessouky, Maged; Fu, Lunce; Hu, Shichun |
| Abstract: | Railway has always been an effective mode to transport both people and goods. Freight trains are about four times more fuel efficient than trucks and passenger trains and are popular because of their blend of efficiency, speed and low emissions. Increasing rail network capacity, however, can be difficult and expensive. Finding more efficient ways to utilize existing rail network capacity can mitigate the impacts of growing freight demand. New communication technologies, such as Positive Train Control (PTC), have the potential to improve efficiency and minimize delays in freight and passenger railway operations. PTC enables trains to communicate and share critical information such as speed and location with each other in real time. This research brief highlights findings from the project, "Integrated Management of Truck and Rail Systems in Los Angeles," which simulated the complex, busy freight and passenger rail corridor between downtown Los Angeles and Pomona to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed new scheduling and dispatching algorithms using PTC. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Delays, Freight trains, Freight transportation, Headways, Passenger trains, Positive train control, Railroad tracks, Switches (Railroads) |
| Date: | 2019–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt4c43d0gt&r=all |
| By: | Tanya Suhoy (Bank of Israel); Yotam Sofer (Bank of Israel) |
| Abstract: | We use Social Survey data for 2014–16 and Google Maps data to study the distribution of employees in Israel by their travel modes—and in particular, their dependence on private vehicles. The analysis was conducted from two perspectives: one allows geographical mapping of the localities in Israel by their accessibility to job localities via public transportation (relative to private vehicle), and the second examines, at the individual data level, the impact of the accessibility and of individual characteristics on the choice of travel mode. Mapping Israeli localities by an index of relative accessibility via public transportation to workplaces, calculated in this paper, indicates notable gaps. The more distant home localities are from the metropolises’ core, the less relative accessibility there is. In most localities in the periphery—and particularly in Arab localities—the relative accessibility is low due to the limited supply of public transit. In small Jewish localities in the periphery, accessibility is low, but high socioeconomic levels of these localities may indicate that the low accessibility derives from residents’ preference for private vehicles (given the level of public transportation that can be provided to such localities). In ultra-Orthodox cities and localities, the relative accessibility is high. In many localities with a lower socioeconomic background—particularly in the Arab sector—the relative accessibility is low, while in tandem there are organized shuttle services provided by employers. This mode is efficient in the sense of distance covered in a given time. However, a lack of alternatives creates dependence on such shuttle transportation, which reduces the residents’ employment possibilities and creates among them a dependence on a small number of employers. Analyzing individual effects on the travel mode (using the Discrete Choice Model) given a limited number of alternatives indicates a small (but statistically significant) effect of the trip’s travel time. However, the proximity of bus/train stations and frequency of service markedly increase the probability of choosing those modes of transportation, and reduce the use of private vehicles. In contrast, car maintenance benefits and a company car lead to the choice of private vehicles. The findings also indicate a correlation between a low socioeconomic level (in terms of wages, schooling, and housing density) and a greater tendency to use a bus, and a low attractiveness of the bus mode for upper income deciles. The probability of choosing a bus is markedly lower among private vehicle owners and among workers who are eligible for car maintenance benefits from their employer. Concerning trains, the findings indicate a higher readiness to choose them, when the train is available, both among vehicle owners and among other commuters. |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boi:wpaper:2019.02&r=all |
| By: | Rico Krueger; Taha H. Rashidi; Vinayak V. Dixit |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to advance the understanding of the potential impacts of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on travel behaviour and land use by investigating stated preferences for combinations of residential locations and travel options for the commute in the context of autonomous automobile travel. Our analysis draws from a stated preference survey, which was completed by 512 commuters from the Sydney metropolitan area in Australia, and provides insights into travel time valuations and demand elasticities in a long-term decision-making context. By and large, the findings of our empirical study suggest that the impact of AVs on travel behaviour and residential location preferences may be relatively modest. We estimate that the mean value of travel time savings (VOT) for commuting by AV is 24.0 AUD/h, while the mean VOTs for commuting by conventional car and public transit are 25.3 AUD/h and 19.0 AUD/h, respectively. |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1905.11486&r=all |
| By: | Malina, Christiane |
| Abstract: | The German government undertook several supportive measures to increase market penetration of all-electric vehicles (AEVs), e.g. a purchase rebate of 4000 Euro. In this paper, the fiscal measures are analyzed from a normative perspective. First, none of the arguments of market failure could be found to validate government intervention. In a first-order approximation of damage cost savings, the reduced external effect through driving, due to the displacement of internal combustion engine vehicles through AEVs, was found to be 5 times lower than the expenditures through the subsidy. Adding climate cost savings, total lifetime savings from driving equal the subsidy. However, considering life-cycle impact and additional subsidies, the purchase rebate cannot be justified. Secondly, German industrial policy could also not serve to justify government intervention. The purchase subsidy does not directly qualify for the industrial policy argument and private investment in battery technology and the charging infrastructure is established and preferred. Finally, allocating the true costs to each transport mode and thus internalizing the external effects is suggested as the approach of first-choice. For vehicles it is suggested that certificates have to be held by fuel suppliers, who then pass the price for pollution on to the end user. This provides an efficient and effective market solution to mitigate climate change and pollution effects and can increase AEV market penetration, if this is socially beneficial. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:109&r=all |
| By: | Fumitoshi Mizutani (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this short paper is to summarize the state of rail transportation in Japan and to recount recent developments. Points of focus here are organization and types of competition in the rail industry in Japan, the evolution of passenger and freight rail transportation, yardstick regulation as a competition tool, and recent vertical separation in Japan. Several distinguishing factors of the Japanese rail industry are discussed. First, passenger rail transportation is still vital in Japan, but the freight rail business is weaker than in other major industrial countries. The second notable feature of the rail industry in Japan is the extraordinary number of rail operators, the vast majority of which are privately owned passenger railways. Third, most railways are vertically integrated, and entry into and exit from the market are not free but are regulated. Fourth, there are eight types of competition, among which is yardstick competition, an indirect form that is applied to separate markets and has existed in Japan since the 1970s. Fifth, as for the evolution of passenger and freight rail transportation, two developments—the Ekinaka business for passenger rail and the Eco-Rail-Mark certificate system for freight—are underway in the rail industry. Sixth, yardstick regulation is effective to some degree, but it is unknown how long the effect will continue. Last, while vertical integration is the norm in Japan, there are cases of vertical separation in some urban area operations. Recently, however, new types of vertical separation have been emerging, mostly for financial reasons. As competition in Japan’s rail industry has been very limited up to now, Japanese policy makers would be wise to seek lessons from the European experience. |
| Keywords: | Rail industry in Japan, vertical integration, yardstick regulation, Ekinaka business, Eco-Rail-Mark certificate system, privately owned railways |
| JEL: | L16 L25 L33 L43 L51 L92 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kbb:dpaper:2019-03&r=all |
| By: | Alexander, Diane (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Schwandt, Hannes |
| Abstract: | Car exhaust is a major source of air pollution, but little is known about its impacts on population health. We exploit the dispersion of emissions-cheating diesel cars across the United States from 2008–2015 as a natural experiment to measure the health impact of car pollution—each cheating diesel car secretly polluted up to 150 times as much as gasoline cars. Using the universe of vehicle registrations, we demonstrate that a 10 percent cheating-induced increase in car exhaust increases fine particulate matter by 2 percent and rates of low birth weight and acute asthma attacks among children by 1.9 and 8.0 percent, respectively. These health impacts occur at all pollution levels and across the entire socioeconomic spectrum. |
| Keywords: | car pollution, health, emissions-cheating |
| JEL: | I10 I14 K32 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12427&r=all |
| By: | Reynaert, Mathias |
| Abstract: | Emission standards are a major policy tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The welfare effects from this type of regulation depend on how firms choose to abate emissions, i.e., by sales-mixing (changing prices), by downsizing (releasing smaller cars), by technology adoption or by gaming emission tests. Using panel data covering 1998-2011, I find that the introduction of a EU-wide emission standard coincides with a 14% drop in emission ratings. I find that this drop is fully explained by technology adoption and gaming and not by sales mixing or downsizing. I estimate a structural model to find that the regulation missed its emission target and was not welfare improving. Abatement with sales mixing would have reduced emissions, but at high costs. The political environment in the EU shaped the design and weak enforcement of the regulation and explains the choices for abatement by technology adoption and gaming. |
| Keywords: | automobiles; Carbon Emissions; compliance; Environmental Regulation; fuel economy |
| JEL: | L5 Q5 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13756&r=all |
| By: | Arnon Barak (Bank of Israel) |
| Abstract: | The Arab population is characterized by low employment rates, particularly among women, due to cultural characteristics and structural barriers. A common argument is that one of these barriers is the lack of transit access to places of employment, due to the low level of public transit service in the Arab localities. This study examines that argument by looking at the reform in public transit that affected many Arab localities between 2010 and 2015 to varying degrees and at various times. In order to identify the reform’s effect on employment, we use, for the first time in Israel, administrative data regarding trips on bus lines in the Arab localities, and distinguish between people who benefited from access to a private vehicle and those who did not, assuming that the employment decisions of the latter are more sensitive to the level of service. The results of the study show that public transit has a weak effect on employment rates among the Arab population. In particular, we did not find that the reform led women to join the labor force. However, it did help some working women continue to work—educated women aged 30–50 with no access to a private vehicle, a group that comprises about 8 percent of all working-age Arab women (20-64). If 10 bus trips per day are added to the locality—similar to the average increase in recent years—the chance that such a woman will remain employed increases by about 0.5 percent. We also found that the improvement in service helps older men (aged 40–64) with no access to a private vehicle to integrate into the labor market, and that in this case, the effect is even slightly greater—about 0.7 percent. This group comprises about 8 percent of all Arab working-age men (20–64). The findings of the study support the argument that in order to increase employment rates among the Arab population, other barriers must be removed, and public transit is, at the very most, a complementary factor in this regard. Improving public transit helps women and men who have overcome structural and cultural barriers and are on the verge of employment. Beyond that, it is reasonable to assume that the reform improved the quality of life in the Arab community in other ways. The number of passengers increased significantly, which shows that the population used public transit for various needs and benefited from its expansion, since it reduces the cost of travel in terms of time and money. The study was conducted with limited available data, and relates only to the additional service between 2010 and 2015. Since it is not likely that the additional service is immediately fully reflected in employment, some of the ramifications of the improved service, which has expanded significantly in the years since then, may not be reflected in this study. |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boi:wpaper:2019.03&r=all |
| By: | L. (Lisa B.) Ryan; Andrew J. Kelly; Ivan Petrov; Yulu Guo; Sarah La Monaca |
| Abstract: | Building on COM/ENV/EPOC/CTPA/CFA/RD(2018)1, this document presents a social cost-benefit analysis of reforms in the motor vehicle taxes in Ireland since 2008. |
| Keywords: | Social cost-benefit analysis; Reforms in motor vehicle taxes; Ireland |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:oapubs:10197/9906&r=all |
| By: | André de Palma; Julien Monardo (ENS Cachan - École normale supérieure - Cachan) |
| Keywords: | Natural Monopoly,Regulation,Subadditivity of Costs,Economies of Scale,Average Cost,Ramsey-Boiteux,Incentive,Multiproduct Firm |
| Date: | 2019–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02121079&r=all |
| By: | Yves Crozet (LAET - Laboratoire Aménagement Économie Transports - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENTPE - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon) |
| Abstract: | The improvement of mobility has been an outstanding feature of the industrial revolution. Over a long period of time, per capita GDP was increasing at a rate which was similar to the rate of increase in the annual distance travelled. Taking into account the fact that the travel time budget has been almost stable, there is an undeniable correlation between economic growth and speed. From this correlation, can we infer causality? In other terms, can we convert the increases in utility provided by increases in accessibility into potential increases in GDP and number of jobs? The fact that there is a close correlation between accessibility and productivity does not mean that the first causes the second. By comparing the economic growth of French "regions" since 1989, even the correlation between accessibility and economic growth is not obvious. The same result is obtained at the level of a lot of French agglomerations close to the high speed line, for instance in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. These results should discourage us from seeing accessibility improvements as a magic wand to foster regional development. |
| Abstract: | Le développement de la mobilité a été une caractéristique remarquable de la révolution industrielle. Pendant des décennies, le PIB par habitant a augmenté à un rythme similaire à celui de la distance annuelle parcourue. Compte tenu du fait que le budget du temps de transport est presque stable, il existe une corrélation indéniable entre croissance économique et vitesse. De cette corrélation, pouvons-nous déduire la causalité ? En d'autres termes, peut-on convertir les gains d'utilité offerts par les transports en augmentations potentielles du PIB et du nombre d'emplois ? Le fait qu'il existe une corrélation étroite entre l'accessibilité et la productivité ne signifie pas que la première cause la seconde. En comparant la croissance économique des « régions » françaises depuis 1989, même la corrélation entre accessibilité et croissance économique n'est pas évidente. Le même résultat est obtenu au niveau de nombreuses agglomérations desservies par grande vitesse, notamment dans la région Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Ce résultat devrait nous dissuader de considérer les gains d'accessibilité comme une baguette magique pour soutenir le développement régional. |
| Keywords: | accessibility,employment,GDP,regional development,speed,time gains,accessibilité,développement régional,emploi,gains de temps,PIB,vitesse |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02134416&r=all |
| By: | Sumit Agarwal (National University of Singapore); Abhiroop Mukherjee (Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology); S Lakshmi Naaraayanan (Ph.D in Finance, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Does financing respond to changes in productive opportunities even for the world's poor? We shed light by examining the response of private bank financing to a rural road-building program in India. The program prioritized roads for villages above explicit population thresholds, allowing us to use discontinuities in treatment probability for identification. We find large financing responses - odds of a villager getting a loan is twice as high, and the average loan amounts are about 50% higher - for villages just above the threshold compared to those below. Benefits seem to flow disproportionately to those traditionally disadvantaged in rural societies. |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:wpaper:201961&r=all |