nep-tre New Economics Papers
on Transport Economics
Issue of 2022‒07‒11
ten papers chosen by
Erik Teodoor Verhoef
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  1. Incentive-compatible public transportation fares with random inspection By In\'acio B\'o; Chiu Yu Ko
  2. Tackling air pollution in dense urban areas: The case of Santiago, Chile By Ioannis Tikoudis; Walid Oueslati; Tobias Udsholt
  3. Do Incentives Make a Difference? Understanding Smart Charging Program Adoption for Electric Vehicles By Wong, Stephen D. PhD; Shaheen, Susan A. PhD; Martin, Elliot PhD; Uyeki, Robert
  4. The effect of COVID-19 on long-distance transport services in France By Florent Laroche
  5. Decarbonization and Electrification in the Long Run By Stephen P. Holland; Erin T. Mansur; Andrew J. Yates
  6. Potential Erroneous Degradation of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Facilities By Fournier, Nicholas PhD; Farid, Yashar Zeinali PhD; Patire, Anthony David PhD
  7. Maritime trade and economic development in North Korea By César Ducruet; In Joo Yoon
  8. The Gravity of Distance: Evidence from a Trade Embargo By Afnan Al-Malk; Jean-François Maystadt; Maurizio Zanardi
  9. Maritime Transportation Costs in the Grains and Oilseeds Sector: Trends, Determinants and Network Analysis By Annelies Deuss; Clara Frezal; Frederica Maggi
  10. A change for road safety management in Algeria? By Yasmine Haddad; Laurent Carnis

  1. By: In\'acio B\'o; Chiu Yu Ko
    Abstract: We consider the problem of designing prices for public transport where payment enforcing is done through random inspection of passengers' tickets as opposed to physically blocking their access. Passengers are fully strategic such that they may choose different routes or buy partial tickets in their optimizing decision. We derive expressions for the prices that make every passenger choose to buy the full ticket. Using travel and pricing data from the Washington DC metro, we show that a switch to a random inspection method for ticketing while keeping current prices could lead to more than 59% of revenue loss due to fare evasion, while adjusting prices to take incentives into consideration would reduce that loss to less than 20%, without any increase in prices.
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2205.11858&r=
  2. By: Ioannis Tikoudis; Walid Oueslati; Tobias Udsholt
    Abstract: Reducing air pollution is a major policy challenge, especially in densely populated urban areas where human exposure to emissions is considerable. This paper develops and examines a series of scenarios for the evolution of transport-related emissions in the area of Santiago, Chile. The analysis suggests that ramping up efforts to electrify the bus fleet may eliminate 25% of the CO2 and at least 10% of the remaining air pollutant emissions in 2050. These figures increase to 45% and 30%, respectively, if rapid electrification is accompanied by tax schemes. The paper highlights the potential synergies of policies curbing climate change and tacking air pollution from the viewpoint of urban transport.
    Keywords: air pollution, bus electrification, carbon tax, road pricing, urban transport
    JEL: Q52 Q53 Q55 R13 R41 R48 H23
    Date: 2022–06–16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:195-en&r=
  3. By: Wong, Stephen D. PhD; Shaheen, Susan A. PhD; Martin, Elliot PhD; Uyeki, Robert
    Abstract: Climate change and environmental problems have spurred new strategies to reduce fossil fuel consumption in transportation. Two important strategies include a rapid transition to green energy and the replacement of internal combustion vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs). However, the increasing demand for electricity by EVs, especially from time-dependent green sources of energy (e.g., solar, wind), will likely overload the grid at peak hours. Rather than build costly infrastructure improvements for distribution and generation, smart charging programs for EVs could defer charging to off-peak times and better match demand with supply. Yet, little is currently known about people’s willingness to participate in a program and relinquish control of charging to a third party.
    Keywords: Engineering
    Date: 2022–06–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt98z4b5rr&r=
  4. By: Florent Laroche (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)
    Abstract: In this paper we explore the effect of COVID 19 on the long-distance transport services in France. These services have been strongly impacted by the different lockdowns imposed. The research question has for objective to characterize the market before COVID 19 to understand its adaptation and the strategies of the stakeholders faced with sanitary regulations. The empirical research is based on a large panel of data collected on four routes in France from 2019 to 2021 for four modes. The first finding is the severe crisis in terms of supply during the first lockdown in March 2020. During the rest of the year 2020 and 2021, services increased slowly until recovering a similar level to that of 2019 for rail and carpooling. This is not yet the case for coach and air services. The second finding is the market concentration to the advantage of the dominant mode, train, especially in comparison to air, still subject to difficulty because of the reduction of the business market. The last finding highlights the persistence of conventional services during the different lockdowns and the high variability of low cost services. Finally, low-cost services were recovering services faster in autumn 2021 than conventional services, thereby increasing their market share.
    Keywords: COVID-19,Public Transport,Interurban Mobility,Market organization,Working Paper du LAET
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03522931&r=
  5. By: Stephen P. Holland; Erin T. Mansur; Andrew J. Yates
    Abstract: Decarbonization and electrification will require a transformed electricity grid. Our long-run model of entry and exit of generation and storage capacity captures crucial aspects of the electricity industry such as time-varying demand for electricity, intermittency of renewables, and intertemporal optimization of storage. We derive several theoretical possibilities that differ in surprising ways from short-run intuition: A carbon tax can increase electricity consumption; cheaper storage can decrease renewable capacity; cheaper renewables can increase carbon emissions; and an increase in electricity demand (e.g., electrification) can decrease emissions. We calibrate the model using 2019 hourly data on demand and renewable availability for thirteen regions covering the contiguous U.S. A carbon price of $150 or more essentially eliminates carbon emissions. Given a modest decarbonization goal, a renewable subsidy performs better than a nuclear subsidy, but this ranking is reversed for an ambitious decarbonization goal. Transmission expansion yields large emissions reductions if renewable costs fall sufficiently, but policies promoting storage are unlikely to yield significant benefits. Electrifying 100% of car miles traveled (thereby eliminating gasoline vehicle carbon emissions) increases electricity-sector carbon emissions by 23-27% if vehicles are charged at night, but could decrease electricity-sector carbon emissions if vehicles are charged during the day.
    JEL: H23 Q4 Q53 Q54
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30082&r=
  6. By: Fournier, Nicholas PhD; Farid, Yashar Zeinali PhD; Patire, Anthony David PhD
    Abstract: This document is the final report for Task ID 3710 (65A0759), a project titled “Potential Erroneous Degradation of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Facilities”. This report contains a compilation of three previous technical memorandums titled “Survey of Data-Mining Methods”, “Performance of Methods”, and “Magnitude of HOV Degradation”. HOV lane sensors in Caltrans’ Performance Management System (PeMS), are sometimes misconfigured as general-purpose lanes. In this situation, HOV lane data is mistakenly aggregated with general-purpose lane data and vice versa. The purpose of this project was to understand how widespread this problem might be and the extent to which it impacts performance reporting on the degradation of HOV lanes.
    Keywords: Engineering
    Date: 2021–07–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt3z76r7tj&r=
  7. By: César Ducruet; In Joo Yoon
    Abstract: The North Korean economy is experiencing a deepening economic and political crisis since the early 1990s. Although North Korea is not commonly seen as a shipping nation, its major cities are coastal, and it hosts nine international trading ports. However, little is known about the role of maritime transport in its development. This article uses vessel movement data to reconstitute the maritime network linking North Korean ports and other ports, over the period 1977-2021. Besides the drastic connectivity loss, main results conclude about a limited role of maritime transport in economic development, except for its participation to China's increasing grip on North Korea. This research brings new knowledge about North Korea and contributes to advance maritime network studies in general.
    Keywords: multivariate analysis, international trade, maritime connectivity, network analysis
    JEL: R40 N75 P20
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2022-12&r=
  8. By: Afnan Al-Malk (Department of Finance and Economics, Qatar University); Jean-François Maystadt (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Maurizio Zanardi (School of Economics, University of Surrey)
    Abstract: On June 5th, 2017, an airspace blockade was imposed on the state of Qatar by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (neighboring countries) and Egypt. We exploit this exogenous increase in air transportation costs towards non-blockading countries to examine the effect of increased travel distance, due to re-routing, on bilateral trade. Based on a gravity model estimated with a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator, we find a distance elasticity of imports between -0.3 and -0.5. Overcoming the limitations of cross-sectional studies and taking advantage of this quasi-natural experiment, our findings are robust and revise downwards previous estimates of the distance elasticity.
    Keywords: Embargo, Distance Effect, International Trade
    JEL: F14 L93
    Date: 2022–06–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2022014&r=
  9. By: Annelies Deuss; Clara Frezal; Frederica Maggi
    Abstract: More than 80% of global trade in grains and oilseeds occurs by maritime transport. This report provides an in-depth analysis of ocean freight rates during 2007-2021, examining their evolution, volatility, determinants, and how they influence port networks. Freight rates accounted on average for 11% of the cost and freight price, but this share ranges between 2% and 43%, demonstrating the potentially large impact of freight rates on consumer prices. Freight rates for grains and oilseeds are generally more volatile than their free-on-board prices. Regression analysis shows that a 10% increase in the distance between two ports is estimated to lead to a 2.5% increase in freight rates. It also demonstrates that freight costs for grains and oilseeds do not obey the iceberg formulation, which implies that they should be modelled as additive (constant costs per unit traded) rather than as multiplicative (iceberg) costs.
    Keywords: Additive costs, Freight rates, Iceberg, Ports
    JEL: F14 Q17 Q2 R40 D85
    Date: 2022–06–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:179-en&r=
  10. By: Yasmine Haddad (AME-DEST - Dynamiques Economiques et Sociales des Transports - Université Gustave Eiffel); Laurent Carnis (AME-DEST - Dynamiques Economiques et Sociales des Transports - Université Gustave Eiffel)
    Abstract: Road insecurity in the world does not spare Algeria. To address this crucial issue, the Algerian government has implemented a wide range of measures. However, Algeria did not achieved any significant progress. In an attempt to understand the origin of the problem, this paper proposes an analysis of the road safety management system in Algeria based on the model of Bliss and Breen. This analysis suggests the current situation is partly due to an inadequate road safety management system and the absence of an operational framework. These defects reflect difficulties in implementing the road safety management functions, which make good performance possible. Future progress would be sustainable and possible if Algeria establishes a real institutional apparatus dedicated to the implementation of a public road safety policy.
    Abstract: L'insécurité routière dans le monde n'épargne pas l'Algérie. Pour faire face à ce problème crucial, le gouvernement algérien a mis en œuvre un large éventail de mesures. Cependant, l'Algérie n'a pas réalisé de progrès significatifs. Pour tenter de comprendre l'origine du problème, cet article propose une analyse du système de management de la sécurité routière en Algérie basée sur le modèle de Bliss et Breen. Cette analyse suggère que la situation actuelle est en partie due à un système de management de la sécurité routière inadéquat et à l'absence d'un cadre opérationnel. Ces défauts reflètent les difficultés à mettre en œuvre les fonctions de management et de pilotage de la sécurité routière, qui rendent possible une bonne performance. Les progrès futurs seraient durables et possibles si l'Algérie met en place un véritable appareil institutionnel dédié à la mise en œuvre d'une politique publique de sécurité routière.
    Keywords: road safety,Bliss and Breen,safe system,Algeria,management,sécurité routière,Bliss et Breen,système sûr,Algérie
    Date: 2022–05–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03673270&r=

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