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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Filani, Iyanuoluwa O; Butt, Ali A; Harvey, John T |
| Abstract: | Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation are rising globally, particularly in emerging economies, where growing wealth increases vehicle ownership, vehicle use, and expansion of road networks. Road infrastructure is vital to economic development, but its construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation contribute significantly to GHG emissions. While extensive research and policy efforts have focused on emissions from vehicle operation, emissions from road infrastructure have not been systematically benchmarked to support mitigation strategies. A holistic lifecycle approach that integrates emissions from road construction, maintenance, vehicle production, operation, and road surface roughness provides a more complete understanding of climate impact from road transportation. To address these knowledge gaps, researchers at the University of California, Davis developed a framework to estimate lifecycle GHG emissions from road networks around the globe. This framework estimates emissions from 2021 to 2050, incorporating regional differences in road network expansion, vehicle fleets, and travel activity. The study offers regional benchmarks and identifies evidence-based opportunities to reduce infrastructure-related emissions and support more sustainable transportation.This brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides implications for the field. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Acceptance, Concrete, Cooperation, Implementation, Materials selection, Technological innovations, Technology assessment |
| Date: | 2024–12–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt8z13v346 |
| By: | Raifman, Matthew PhD; Griswold, Julia PhD; Brownstone, David PhD; Harvey, John PhD; Stahl, Amalia MA; Atkins, Jon; Johnson, Celia; Anderson, Michael PhD; Vaco, Federico PhD |
| Abstract: | The Vehicle Weight Safety Study provides supporting analysis for the California Transportation Commission’s study on therelationship between vehicle weight and road user injury and roadway degradation required by Assembly Bill (AB) 251, which was signed by the Governor in October 2023. To inform the work of the CTC, this report summarizes trends of road user injuries and fatalities in California and potential factors contributing to these trends (Chapter 2); summarizes trends in vehicle weight, size, and height for registered vehicles in California (Chapter 3); documents the landscape of policy solutions focused on vehicle size that might address California’s road user injuries and fatality challenge (Chapter 4); analyzes the impact of potential weight-based fees on consumer vehicle purchasing behavior (Chapter 5); and, analyzes the relationship between shifts in passenger vehicle weight and degradation of road infrastructure (Chapter 6). |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Medicine and Health Sciences |
| Date: | 2026–03–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt6rg2r0cj |
| By: | Filani, Iyanuoluwa O; Butt, Ali A; Harvey, John T |
| Abstract: | Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation are rising globally, particularly in emerging economies, where growing wealth increases vehicle ownership, vehicle use, and expansion of road networks. Road infrastructure is vital to economic development, but its construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation contribute significantly to GHG emissions. While extensive research and policy efforts have focused on emissions from vehicle operation, emissions from road infrastructure have not been systematically benchmarked to support mitigation strategies. A holistic lifecycle approach that integrates emissions from road construction, maintenance, vehicle production, operation, and road surface roughness provides a more complete understanding of climate impact from road transportation. To address these knowledge gaps, researchers at the University of California, Davis developed a framework to estimate lifecycle GHG emissions from road networks around the globe. This framework estimates emissions from 2021 to 2050, incorporating regional differences in road network expansion, vehicle fleets, and travel activity. The study offers regional benchmarks and identifies evidence-based opportunities to reduce infrastructure-related emissions and support more sustainable transportation. This brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides implications for the field. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Acceptance, Concrete, Cooperation, Implementation, Materials selection, Technological innovations, Technology assessment |
| Date: | 2024–12–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt5mx492jw |
| By: | Raifman, Matthew PhD; Griswold, Julia PhD; Brownstone, David PhD; Harvey, John PhD; Stahl, Amalia MA; Atkins, Jon; Johnson, Celia; Anderson, Michael PhD; Vaco, Federico PhD |
| Abstract: | The Vehicle Weight Safety Study provides supporting analysis for the California Transportation Commission’s study on therelationship between vehicle weight and road user injury and roadway degradation required by Assembly Bill (AB) 251, which was signed by the Governor in October 2023. To inform the work of the CTC, this report summarizes trends of road user injuries and fatalities in California and potential factors contributing to these trends (Chapter 2); summarizes trends in vehicle weight, size, and height for registered vehicles in California (Chapter 3); documents the landscape of policy solutions focused on vehicle size that might address California’s road user injuries and fatality challenge (Chapter 4); analyzes the impact of potential weight-based fees on consumer vehicle purchasing behavior (Chapter 5); and, analyzes the relationship between shifts in passenger vehicle weight and degradation of road infrastructure (Chapter 6). |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Medicine and Health Sciences |
| Date: | 2026–03–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt6rg2r0cj |
| By: | Boeing, Geoff (Northeastern University); Zhou, Yuquan |
| Abstract: | Travel time prediction is central to transport geography and planning's accessibility analyses, sustainable transportation infrastructure provision, and active transportation interventions. However, calculating accurate travel times, especially for driving, requires either extensive technical capacity and bespoke data, or resources like the Google Maps API that quickly become prohibitively expensive to analyze thousands or millions of trips necessary for metropolitan-scale analyses. Such obstacles particularly challenge less-resourced researchers, practitioners, and community advocates. This article argues that a middle-ground is needed to provide reasonably accurate travel time predictions without extensive data or computing requirements. It introduces a free, open-source minimally-congested driving time prediction model with minimal cost, data, and computational requirements. It trains and tests this model using the Los Angeles, California urban area as a case study by calculating naïve travel times from open data then developing a random forest model to predict travel times as a function of those naïve times plus open data on turns and traffic controls. Validation shows that this interpretable machine learning method offers a superior middle-ground technique that balances reasonable accuracy with minimal resource requirements. |
| Date: | 2026–02–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:qepc6_v1 |
| By: | Schmiedeberg, Claudia; Schober, Dominik |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of the transport sector for greenhouse gas emissions, both behavioral change will be needed to mitigate climate change in addition to technological innovation. We focus on the case of remote working as a less carbon-intensive substitute to commuting and analyze whether employees react to price incentives and work more from home in times of higher local fuel prices. Applying an instrumental variables approach based on panel data from Germany, we find moderate fuel price effects on remote working frequency, which are restricted to occupations with high skill- level and regions with limited alternatives to car commuting. We use these results to predict changes in remote working frequency as a consequence to increasing carbon prices as discussed for climate policy. Results indicate that even with ambitious carbon pricing, individual remote working frequency will increase modestly, causing only limited reductions in German national aggregate fuel and carbon emissions. |
| Keywords: | fuel price, elasticity, remote working, telework, commuting, longitudinal |
| JEL: | H23 Q41 Q48 Q54 Q58 R41 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:337463 |
| By: | Stef Proost |
| Abstract: | The non-CO2 aviation emissions (mainly contrails) can, in total, be up to twice as damaging for climate as the CO2 emissions associated to the use of kerosene. As the warming effect of the non-CO2 emissions depends strongly on metereological conditions, it is difficult to attribute the non-CO2 warming effect to a particular flight. Without detailed meteorological information per fight only a blunt emission permit or tax system that taxes all kerosene used in aviation at two to three times the current damage estimate of CO2 could work. Even if this can be justified from an environmental economics point of view, this risks to be unacceptable for the aviation sector. The result is that there is, at present, no active non-CO2 policy. The aviation industry has proposed a 20 year plan to improve the monitoring of these emissions before taking action to address the non-CO2 emissions. We propose a multi-period regulation scheme to address this problem much faster. In the first stage, airlines and public sector agencies are subsidized to improve measurements. These measurement inputs are used to construct a contrail forecasting model. In the second stage, the model is used to propose alternative flight-paths. Airlines are incentivized to adopt the new flightpaths by subsidies that cover the additional flight operation costs. A numerical illustration for the wider EU-region shows that the mechanism proposed can lead to significant climate emission savings that are larger than the savings of CO2 emissions that result from the introduction of ETS or Sustainable Aviation Fuels for aviation. |
| Keywords: | air transport, aviation emissions, contrails, climate, regulation |
| JEL: | R48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12505 |
| By: | Ramos, Camila; Schwanen, Tim |
| Abstract: | A major issue with the use of accessibility measures in transport studies is that it is not clear how to define the level of accessibility that people should have, and below which they may not be able to function within society. Although there are myriad studies on the impacts of low or unequal accessibility, only a few have made efforts to specify which opportunities must be reachable, how much choice is required, or under what circumstances access should be protected. As a result, the boundary below which accessibility becomes socially inadequate is often left implicit. This paper provides the first theoretical framework for defining accessibility thresholds grounded in Sen’s Capability Approach, theories of freedom, and existing conceptual work on sufficiency and thresholds. We identify the capabilities that accessibility must support, classify the conversion factors that condition their realisation, and propose normative principles—informed by philosophical accounts of freedom—to guide where and how thresholds should be set. We then outline a practical sequence of steps enabling researchers and practitioners to adapt existing accessibility measures to reflect what people have reason to value. By making explicit the ethical commitments underlying accessibility thresholds, this framework supports more transparent, just, and context-sensitive evaluation of transport systems. |
| Date: | 2026–02–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:sqwyd_v2 |
| By: | Adachi, Daisuke |
| Abstract: | We present a dynamic, stochastic, and spatial model that incorporates disaster risk to study the role of local aggregate risks and moving frictions in the spatial economy. A disaster temporarily reduces regional productivity and suspends transportation networks. The model is applied to the analysis of Japan’s Tokai Trough Earthquake (TTE) and maglev train project. Estimation is based on sufficient statistics of future expected values by future migration flows and novel data on rail network disruption from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The TTE risk reduces welfare not only in vulnerable regions close to the expected epicenter but also in more distant regions, revealing the regional spillover effects of the disaster risk. The maglev train project increases welfare by 1.6\% on average, with effects that are larger in the north-east regions under the economy with TTE risk, highlighting the distributional effect under the disaster risk. |
| Date: | 2026–02–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:qj9ka_v1 |
| By: | ZHANG, YUMING (Durham University) |
| Abstract: | This thesis examines how the co-evolution of physical (transport) and digital mobilities shapes inequality and wellbeing in rapidly urbanising, digitalising cities. As residents navigate increasingly complex mobility systems, understanding these dynamics is critical for equitable urban futures. It asks: (1) What causal pathways link evolving infrastructure–individual relationships to poverty risks and quality of life (QoL)? (2) How do transport and digital mobilities interact to produce these outcomes? (3) How do social ties mediate these effects across age groups? The thesis makes three contributions. Theoretically, it bridges micro–meso gaps by showing how socio-technical regime evolution influences individual outcomes through “mobility assemblages.” Methodologically, it advances fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) with a novel two-step design that connects individual mobility patterns to regime-level conditions, including a configurational propinquity index and accompanying visualisation software. Empirically, it provides original survey evidence from Wuhan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen (n=739; July–September 2022), demonstrating how transport–digital mobility interactions generate differentiated pathways to poverty risks and wellbeing. QoL is measured using EQ-5D-5L with Chinese value sets. Findings reveal multiple, non-linear, city- and population-specific pathways: exclusion is not universal to any single demographic, but emerges from configurations combining life-course stage, education, infrastructure trajectories and perceptions, socio-economic/social capital, and mobility skills. Younger groups tend to achieve good QoL via flexible multimodal strategies that avoid platform lock-ins, while older groups do so through sustained physical mobility combined with context-appropriate digital engagement. Across generations, social ties consistently support good QoL, and “city membership” is not required in configurations linking social ties to QoL—suggesting more generalisable social pathways across the three cities. Policy implications emphasise integrated mobility planning that treats transport and digital systems as interdependent, platform design that prevents lock-ins while remaining accessible across age groups, and interventions that mobilise social capital as a protective factor. Overall, the thesis offers a framework for analysing mobility–inequality dynamics in digitalising cities globally, with particular relevance for ageing societies undergoing technological transition. |
| Date: | 2026–02–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:7wym6_v1 |
| By: | Edith Combes (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); Louafi Bouzouina (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); Ouassim Manout (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: | Parking regulation is a tool of choice in urban access regulation policies. However, this policy has many ripple effects and challenging to design and implement. This paper seeks to improve the understanding of parking demand by focusing on the link between the built environment and parking durations. The research leverages a unique dataset of parking payment transactions in Lyon, France. Using both unsupervised and supervised machine learning algorithms, the analysis quantifies the influence of spatio-temporal patterns and built environment characteristics. The findings highlight that parking durations are predominantly driven by parking design variables and that the other built environment dimensions are of least importance |
| Keywords: | transactions, parking, machine learning, duration, built environment |
| Date: | 2025–06–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05489842 |