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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Rodier, Caroline; Harold, Brian; Zhang, Yunwan |
| Abstract: | In rural areas, cost-effective transit service is challenging due to greater travel distances, lower population densities, and longer travel times than in cities. As a result, the people who rely on public transit contend with infrequent and slow service, and keeping a sufficient number of personal vehicles in reliable working order can be prohibitively expensive for low-income families. UC Davis partnered with the eight San Joaquin Valley Metropolitan Planning Organizations to identify and support development of three innovative mobility pilot concepts for the region. The first pilot is an electric vehicle (EV) carsharing service known as Míocar, located in affordable housing complexes in eight rural communities in Tulare and Kern counties. The second is a volunteer ridesharing service, known as VOGO, which supplements existing transit services in transport-disadvantaged rural areas in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. The third is a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that allows planning and payment for fixed and demand-responsive transit services, including VOGO, in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. These pilots seek to (a) provide improved access to destinations for individuals with limited transportation alternatives, (b) and achieve greenhouse gas reductions through mode shifts from traditional internal combustion vehicles to EVs, ridesharing, and fixed transit. This report presents the methods and results for “before” and “after” evaluations conducted by UC Davis researchers to assess the performance and impacts of each pilot. The evaluations incorporate service usage data including telematics and MaaS application data, and survey data collected from pilot participants, to assess the programs beginning with pilot launch (2019 and2020) until November 2021. The results provide insights into participant characteristics and barriers to transportation, travel behavior, trip planning activities, and the extent to which the pilots addressed the travel needs of their target populations region. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Electric vehicles, vehicle sharing, volunteer ridesharing, Mobilityas-a-Service (MaaS), social equity, rural transportation, pilot studies, low income groups, evaluation, counterfactual analysis, mode shift, increased mobility, transit access |
| Date: | 2022–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt7nr194n7&r= |
| By: | Almatrudi, Sulaiman; Parvate, Kanaad; Rothchild, Daniel; Vijay, Upadhi |
| Abstract: | Passenger and heavy-duty vehicles make up 36% of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing emissions from vehicular travel is therefore paramount for any path towards carbon neutrality. Efforts to reduce GHGs by encouraging mode shift or increasing vehicle efficiency are, and will continue to be, a critical part of decarbonizing the transportation sector. Emerging technologies are creating an opportunity to reduce GHGs. Human driving behaviors in congested traffic have been shown to create stop-and-go waves. When waves form, cars periodically slow down (sometimes to a stop) and then speed back up again; this repeated braking and accelerating leads to higher fuel consumption, and correspondingly increasingly GHG emissions. Flow smoothing, or the use of a specially designed adaptive cruise controllers to dissipate these waves, can reduce fuel consumption of all the cars on the road. By keeping all vehicles at a constant speed, flow smoothing can minimize system-wide GHG emissions. This report presents the results of flow-smoothing when used in simulation, discusses current work on implementing flow-smoothing in real world-highways, and presents policy discussions on how to support flow smoothing. |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Greenhouse gases, traffic flow, traffic congestion, autonomous intelligent cruise control, intelligent vehicles, fuel consumption, traffic simulation |
| Date: | 2022–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt52p684dp&r= |
| By: | Jeremy van Dijk; Mehdi Farsi |
| Abstract: | We provide novel evidence for the size of key electric vehicle (EV) adoption barriers, purchase price and battery range, and the driver, operating cost, in the broadening EV market. We further demonstrate the heterogeneity of these across consumer segments, plus determine groups most resistant to EV adoption and the relationship with transport habits and car ownership. To this end we analyse the results of a choice experiment of 882 respondents across Switzerland, a market that has favourable adoption criteria, however realises a low EV market share. We find low and inelastic elasticities of price, range and driving cost, and high variation across levels of urbanisation, income and car ownership. We additionally see high technological preference inertia among car owners, and a larger probability of non-owners and public transport users to choose EVs. We finally propose targeting EV adoption policies to relatively sensitive consumer groups to maximise efficiency, and support alternative policies to overcome low overall elasticities and achieve greater effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Transport; Electric vehicles; Adoption barriers; Choice experiment; Stated preferences; Environmental policy; Behaviour |
| JEL: | D90 O33 Q40 Q48 Q50 Q58 R40 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:22-04&r= |
| By: | Xing, Yan; Pike, Susan; Pourrahmani, Elham; Handy, Susan; Wang, Yunshi |
| Abstract: | Microtransit is an emerging, technology-enabled, on-demand transportation mode whereby small shuttles provide shared rides through flexible routing and scheduling in response to customers’ requests for rides. Given its potential to address the equity and accessibility needs of the public, public transportation agencies are experimenting with this service to fill gaps in traditional transportation in the US. However, why some people are interested in microtransit while others are not remains an open question. For people who have never used it, what factors could work as facilitators or barriers in their willingness to adopt microtransit? Who are the early adopters of microtransit? Guided by the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to fill the gap in knowledge by conducting a large-scale survey of microtransit adopters and users of other means of transportation in the Sacramento area of California in 2021. This study focuses on the microtransit service SmaRT Ride (SR), operated by the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT). Focus groups and interviews were conducted before the largescale online survey to gather preliminary information, help develop survey questions, and improve understanding of research findings, given the novelty of microtransit. Discrete choice models, including binary logit and ordered logit models and latent class analysis, were employed to explore barriers to and facilitators of SR adoption, willingness to use it, and underlying subgroups of early adopters. Important findings include that people who like fixed-route transit are less likely to adopt microtransit. Social support plays an important role in explaining the willingness to use microtransit. The analysis reveals three salient classes of microtransit users: travel time savers with environmental awareness, riders with a neutral mindset, and pro-SR and travel cost savers. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Microtransit, theory of planned behavior, focus group, discrete modeling, latent class |
| Date: | 2022–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt55g4800k&r= |
| By: | Thomas Hagedorn (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster); Jan Wessel (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster) |
| Abstract: | Based on a discrete choice experiment with 306 individuals from Germany, we examine the impact of the emissions-per-Euro-spent indicator (g/€ indicator) on people's travel behavior. This indicator, which was motivated by Hagedorn and Sieg (2019), makes cheap, but emission-intensive travel alternatives appear particularly harmful for the environment. We find that the g/€ indicator induces people to be more likely to choose the travel alternative with the lower indicator value. This effect persists even if participants are informed about general CO2 emissions. We also find that the steering effect of the g/€ indicator is stronger than for other emission indicators, especially for the costs of offsetting emissions. Our results thereby indicate that the g/€ indicator could be used as an effective steering instrument for people to rethink traveling with cheap, but emission-intensive means of transport, especially with ultra-low cost carriers. |
| Keywords: | Environmental metrics, g/€ indicator, discrete choice experiment, travel decisions, carbon dioxide emissions |
| JEL: | C35 Q50 R40 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mut:wpaper:35&r= |
| By: | Xing, Yan |
| Abstract: | Microtransit is a new, technology-enabled, on-demand transportation mode in which small shuttles provide shared rides through flexible routing and scheduling in response to customers’ requests for rides. It can potentially offer greater efficiency and more equitable service than ride-hailing services, and it may fill gaps in traditional transit services. Thus far, the early shape of the microtransit customer market remains unclear. Specifically, why some people are interested in microtransit while others are not remains an open question. For people who have never used it, what factors could work as facilitators or barriers in their willingness to adopt microtransit? Who are early adopters of microtransit? Aiming to fill this gap, in 2021, researchers at the University of California, Davis conducted focus groups and an online survey of SmaRT Ride adopters and users of other means of transportation in the Sacramento area. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Microtransit, theory of planned behavior, focus group, discrete modeling, latent class |
| Date: | 2022–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt01p8k30v&r= |
| By: | Branco, Catarina; Dohse, Dirk; dos Santos, João Pereira; Tavares, José |
| Abstract: | This paper takes a deep and comprehensive look into the firm-level behavioral reactions to a massive transportation cost shock. Exploiting rich data encompassing the universe of Portuguese private firms and a natural experiment we find that the introduction of tolls on previously toll-free highways caused a substantial decrease of turnover and firm profits. In response to the tolls, firms reduced expenses, cutting employment-related expenses and purchases of other inputs in a similar magnitude. Labor costs were reduced by employment cuts rather than by wage cuts. We find evidence for increased firm exit in treated municipalities, but not for increased re-location. |
| Keywords: | road tolls,infrastructure,firm performance,firm behavior,location,Portugal |
| JEL: | R48 L25 R12 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:949&r= |
| By: | Aike Steentoft, Bu-Sung Lee, Markus Schläpfer |
| Abstract: | The ability to understand and predict the flows of people in cities is crucial for the planning of transportation systems and other urban infrastructures. Deep-learning approaches are powerful since they can capture non-linear relations between geographic features and the resulting mobility flow from a given origin location to a destination location. However, existing methods cannot quantify the uncertainty of the predictions, limiting their interpretability and thus their use for practical applications in urban infrastructure planning. To that end, we propose a Bayesian deep-learning approach that formulates deep neural networks as Gaussian processes and integrates automatic variable selection. Our method provides uncertainty estimates for the predicted origin-destination flows while also allowing to identify the most critical geographic features that drive the mobility patterns. The developed machine learning approach is applied to large-scale taxi trip data from New York City. |
| Keywords: | mobility, Bayesian deep learning, smart cities, transportation system planning |
| JEL: | C45 R41 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdv:wpaper:credresearchpaper36&r= |
| By: | Field, Erica (Duke University); Vyborny, Kate (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | In cities with conservative norms or high crime, female workers may face greater restrictions on their physical mobility. This limits women’s labor market opportunities and the pool of workers that firms can attract. In this study, we experimentally vary access to a transport service in Lahore, Pakistan, to quantify the overall impact of transport to work on men, women, and the differential impact of transport exclusively for women. We show that reducing physical mobility constraints has a large impact on job searching for women, including women who are not searching at baseline. Women’s response is driven by a women-only transport treatment arm, suggesting that safety and social acceptability, rather than simply cost, are key constraints. |
| Keywords: | transport; mobility; gender; female labor force participation |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J28 L91 |
| Date: | 2022–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0655&r= |
| By: | Yuhei Miyauchi (Boston University); Kentaro Nakajima (Hitotsubashi University); Stephen J. Redding (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | Using smartphone geographical positioning systems (GPS) data for Japan, we show that travel within urban areas frequently occurs along trip chains, involving multiple stops as part of a single journey. Motivated by these empirical findings, we develop a tractable theoretical model of travel itineraries, in which agents choose a set and sequence of locations to visit each day. To overcome the resulting high-dimensionality of the choice set, we develop an approach based on importance sampling. We show that trip chains introduce consumption externalities across locations. We show that these consumption externalities are central to explaining the collapse in foot traffic in downtown areas following the shift to remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Mobility, Cities, Economic Geography |
| JEL: | O18 R12 R40 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cepsud:295&r= |
| By: | Lílian Santos Severino (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), Departamento de Estudos Econômicos); Guilherme Mendes Resende (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), Departamento de Estudos Econômicos); Ricardo Carvalho de Andrade Lima (Ministério Público Federal) |
| Abstract: | Competition policy aims to preserve market competition by, for example, preventingmergers that harm consumers. Mergers can diminish competition by facilitating either tacit orexplicit collusion or may creating a unilateral incentive to increase price. While thesepossibilities provide an economic rationale for merger enforcement, mergers might be relatedto improving how markets function. Maldonado and Severino (2019) show that moreproductive firms acquire target firms that are more productive, which indicates the synergythat M&A can bring. Generally, Antitrust Authorities (AAs) analyze cases of M&A and potentialanticompetitive conducts, such as collusion. In this study, we will focus on the decisionscarried out by the Brazilian Antitrust Authority, the Administrative Council for EconomicDefense (CADE), regarding M&A's in the Brazilian airline sector in recent years. The Brazilianairline sector has a fundamental role in the economic development. In 2019, it representedapproximately 1% of the global GDP and faced a growth of 3.3% in air transport expensesregarding to the previous year (IATA, 2019b). In Brazil, Section 88 of the Law 12529/2011 regulates the M&A cases which must bereviewed by Cade. During reviews, the Antitrust Authority studies the impacts that theoperation can have on the market. Some well-known international methodologies, such asthe Upward Pricing Pressure (UPP) and mergersimulations, are commonly used to identify thelikelihood of a merging firm raising prices after the operation – which can be widespread tothe entire market. If prices are expected to rise, consumers will be adversely affected by themerger; thus, to prevent it, CADE can clear a transaction subject to remedies, or block it. Onthe other hand, if the deal does not pose any competition issues, Cade may clear thetransaction unconditionally. Nowadays, many studies indicate the importance of evaluating mergers outcome,especially within the Antitrust Authorities, since "ex-post evaluations can help to determine ifan intervention (or non-intervention) has achieved its objectives and, if not, the reasons itfailed to do so" (OECD, 2016). In response to this demand, the Competition Division of theOECD published a Guide for ex post evaluation to advise authorities on the importance ofmonitoring the outcome of their decisions, which can help to better design futureinterventions. Furthermore, it is worth noting that by carrying out and disclosing ex postmerger evaluations, the antitrust authorities present more transparency towards society and highlight the importance of competition enforcement. In 2019, for instance, Cade publishedits first ex post merger evaluation, which analyzed the impact on products prices of a mergerbetween two firms of the food industry – namely the Sadia-Perdigão case (Severino, Resende,Bispo, 2019). The present study aims to analyze the effects on the average airfare on domestic routesby two mergers cleared by Cade in this sector (GOL and Webjet; and Azul and Trip). This studycontributes to monitoring the competition policy in Brazil in the airline industry, a key sectorfor the country's economic development, by estimating difference in differences (DID) modelsconsidering as dependent variables fare prices and seats sold from July 2010 to December2019. The results indicate a reduction of about 8% in GOL's fare on routes in which GOL andWebjet operated before the merger (overlap routes) and an increase of approximately 38% inthe number of seats sold by GOL in those same routes after the merger. On the other hand,in the merger case of Azul and Trip, we did not find a statistically significant effect on the fare,but we found an increase of nearly 27% in the number of seats sold by Azul on overlap routesafter the transaction. These results present relevant implications. First, we cannot find anticompetitive effectsresulting from these mergers in the Brazilian airline sector; at the international field, similarresults were found by Carlton et al. (2019) during the analysis of three legacy mergers in theUnited States (namely Delta-Northwest, The United-Continental, and The American-USAirways). Secondly, these two mergers were cleared by the Brazilian authority subject toconditions related to the efficiency of the Santos Dumont airport; thus, it is possible to statethat Cade achieved its purpose of protecting competition for the benefit of consumers. Finally,we must take into consideration that these were e specific mergers in a particular period, whichdoes not indicate that these results should be found in every transaction in the airline sector. |
| Keywords: | Fusões e Aquisições, Política de defesa da concorrência, Avaliações ex post |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:atg:wpaper:32021&r= |