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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Russell Pittman (U.S. Department of Justice); Monika Jandová (Masaryk University); Marcin Król (Warsaw School of Economics); Larysa Nekrasenko (Poltava State Agrarian Academy); Tomáš Paleta (Masaryk University) |
| Abstract: | The European Commission years ago adopted a policy of encouraging the substitution of motor carrier haulage of freight with rail and water carrier haulage, as part of its “green” agenda of reducing fuel consumption, emission of pollutants, carbon intensity, and road congestion. Regarding railway freight in particular, one policy tool that the Commission has emphasized for this purpose is the restructuring of the rail sectors of member countries through the creation of competition for the incumbents by new train-operating companies (TOC’s) – on its face a less obvious policy choice than alternatives such as Pigouvian pricing measures or infrastructure subsidies. This paper focuses on one important commodity group – grain – in three EC member states and one non-member state – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ukraine – to examine the degree to which increased rail competition has been associated with increases in rail’s modal share, and more broadly to learn what appear to be the binding constraints to increases in rail’s share. Such constraints seem more closely related to shortages in infrastructure capacity than to a lack of competition among TOC’s. This suggests that other “models” of railway restructuring may be more effective in easing this constraint. |
| JEL: | L92 Q58 R11 R41 R42 R48 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:doj:eagpap:201902&r=all |
| By: | Kumagai, Junya; Managi, Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | Promoting pro-environmental travel modes is an important strategy for sustainable transportation. Previous studies have shown a positive relationship between environmental awareness and environmentally friendly travel modes, but very few studies have considered pro-environmental behaviour and choice of travel mode, particularly in the context of non-Western countries. This study examines the impact of pro-environmental behaviour on the choice of commuting mode in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore using original survey data. We use the Multiple Indicator Multiple Cause model to construct latent variables of environmentally friendly behaviours. The multinomial logistic regression results indicate that 1) pro-environmental activities and commuting mode choice are unrelated in Tokyo and Singapore, 2) recycling and energy-savings activities are positively related to commuting by bicycle/on foot in Beijing, and 3) participants in organized pro-environmental activities are less likely to use pro-environmental commuting modes in Beijing and Shanghai. The results provide supporting evidence of the habit discontinuity hypothesis and suggest a possible substitution effect between environmentally friendly travel mode choice and other environmental activities. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable transportation; environmental behaviour; travel demand; commuting; Asian cities |
| JEL: | R41 |
| Date: | 2019–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:97493&r=all |
| By: | Breidenbach, Philipp; Cohen, Jeffrey P.; Schaffner, Sandra |
| Abstract: | Berlin-Brandenburg airport (BER) has become well-known far beyond German borders due to substantial mis-planning and heavy delays in opening. Planned to open in March 2012 and to take over all air-transport services from Germany's capital city, with the other airports expected to close, construction work at BER is still ongoing in 2019. Four weeks before the expected opening of the airport, the opening was suddenly delayed by several months. This unexpected delay was an exogeneous shock for residents surrounding the largest existing airport, Berlin-Tegel, which is expected to close upon the opening of Berlin-Brandenburg. A series of additional delay announcements followed. We analyze the effect of airport noise and proximity to the airport on housing rental prices. Our identification strategy is based on the expectations regarding the closing of Berlin-Tegel airport. The results suggest that there is a negative effect of noise on housing rental prices while there are positive effects of proximity to Berlin-Tegel. These delays reduce rental prices by a small amount, when compared with the noise discounts in the literature for owner-occupied properties in studies of other cities. These findings likely occur because renters have a relatively short time horizon for their tenure in an apartment, on average, to benefit from the future noise reduction. For instance, a one-year delay for a renter who plans to stay in an apartment for only one or two years implies a very low benefit from the future noise reduction. We also find that the benefits from a delay announcement have a net negative effect on prices for rental properties that are in the noisier areas but further drive time from Tegel; and a net positive effect in the less noisy areas that are shorter drive time from Tegel. This likely re flects the disamenity from prolonged airport noise exposure, as well as the benefits from proximity due to expectation of continued ease of employment and travel access. |
| Keywords: | real estate prices,airports,aviation noise,proximity,Germany |
| JEL: | R3 R4 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:822&r=all |
| By: | Klein, Nicholas J. (Conrell University); Tran, Minh; Riley, Sarah |
| Abstract: | Our study explores the phenomenon of using the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com to raise money to purchase and or repair a personal vehicle. We use both text mining and qualitative analysis methods to ask three research questions about GoFundMe campaigns from the United States created in 2018 and 2019. First, how do campaigners on GoFundMe describe their need for personal vehicles? Second, what precipitating events led them to seek crowdfunding for a car purchase or repair? Third, what are broader contexts for these requests for financial assistance? We find that many campaigns describe several interrelated crises, complications, or challenges that the campaigners faced, such as medical conditions, loss of employment, and housing crises. Most campaigners are without a functioning car because of an unexpected event—a car crash, a breakdown, or repairs piling up—combined with their inability to pay for the repairs or replacement. Finally, we find that the cars are desired to ease travel to work and school, to chauffeur children, and, in a surprisingly large number of campaigns, to access medical care. |
| Date: | 2019–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:8x7d2&r=all |
| By: | Yue Bao (VU University Amsterdam); Erik T. Verhoef (VU University Amsterdam); Paul Koster (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Hypercongestion is the situation where a certain traffic flow occurs at a combination of low speed and high density, and a more favorable combination of these could produce the same flow. The macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) allows for such hypercongestion, but does not explicitly describe the dynamic process leading up to hypercongestion. Earlier studies of hypercongestion on single links have, however, confirms that such dynamic processes are important to consider. The bathtub model is one class of model that can be used to investigate how hypercongestion can arise in urban areas, when drivers can choose their departure times. This paper investigates equilibrium outcomes and user costs under the realistic assumption that there is finite capacity to exit the bathtub, without which it would be hard to explain why hypercongestion would not dissolve through shockwaves originating from the bathtub exit. We find that when the exit capacity of the bathtub is lower than the equilibrium exit flow from the bathtub, no additional inefficiencies arise due to hypercongestion. However, when the exit capacity is higher than the equilibrium exit flows from the bathtub inefficiencies do occur. The implication of this result is that a restricted downstream capacity regulating hypercongestion may not be necessary because time gains in the bathtub are lost in the queue at the exit. |
| Keywords: | Road traffic congestion, flow congestion, bottleneck model, bathtub model, hypercongestion, macroscopic fundamental diagram |
| JEL: | R4 R41 R42 |
| Date: | 2020–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20200003&r=all |
| By: | Christian Tilk (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Asvin Goel (Kühne Logistics University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem where routes and schedules must comply with hours of service regulations for truck drivers. It presents a backward labeling method for generating feasible schedules and shows how the labels generated with the backward method can be combined with labels generated by a forward labeling method. The bidirectional labeling is embedded into a branch and-price-and-cut approach and evaluated for hours of service regulations in the United States and the European Union. Computational experiments show that the resulting bidirectional branch-and-price-and-cut approach is signi?cantly faster than unidirectional counterparts and previous approaches. |
| Keywords: | Routing, Hours of service regulations, truck driver scheduling, bidirectional labeling, branch and-price-and-cut |
| Date: | 2019–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1914&r=all |
| By: | Van den Berghe, Karel; Daamen, Tom |
| Abstract: | In last three decades, planning agencies of most ports have institutionally evolved into a (semi-) independent port authority. The rationale behind this process is that port authorities are able to react more quickly to changing logistical and spatial preferences of maritime firms, hence increasing the competitiveness of ports. Although these dedicated port authorities have proven to be largely successful, new economic, social, and environmental challenges are quickly catching up on these port governance models, and particularly leads to (spatial) policy ‘conflicts’ between port and city. This chapter starts by assessing this conflict and argue that the conflict is partly a result of dominant—often also academic—spatial representations of the port city as two separate entities. To escape this divisive conception of contemporary port cities, this chapter presents a relational visualisation method that is able to analyse the economic interface between port and city. Based on our results, we reflect back on our proposition and argue that the core challenge today for researchers and policy makers is acknowledging the bias of port/city, being arguably a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hence, we turn the idea of (planning the) port/city conflicts into planning the port-city’s strengths and weaknesses. |
| Date: | 2019–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:qtuyf&r=all |
| By: | Martijn Brons; Fotios Kalantzis; Lucia Vergano |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comparative assessment of market functioning and market integration in EU Member States in network industries, i.e. telecommunications, energy and transport sectors. The first section assesses Member States’ progress in market opening and competition and highlights potential market distortions that can hinder the proper functioning of these markets. The analysis shows that over the last years overall improvements in the regulatory and competitive environment was achieved, especially in the telecommunications sector. However, additional efforts are needed, especially in some Member States. The second section empirically investigates whether any relevant price convergence across Member States took place in the EU network industries. Econometric results show that prices converged to the mean in all analysed subsectors. However, in some Member States country-specific factors prevented prices in each of the sectors from fully converging to the same level. The speed of convergence was higher in the transport and energy subsectors and lower in the telecommunications sector. |
| JEL: | C13 D47 L90 |
| Date: | 2019–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:euf:dispap:111&r=all |
| By: | Zhang, Yifei; Fang, Heyang |
| Abstract: | The One Belt One Road initiative is found to promote China’s overseas lending in the belt road countries, especially for countries along the continental route. Such effect strengthens and persists for at least three years. Our findings show that launching a national strategy could be a decisive determinant of one country’s outbound loans. |
| Keywords: | International lending, One Belt One Road |
| JEL: | F34 F42 |
| Date: | 2020–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:97954&r=all |
| By: | Kelly, Morgan (University College Dublin); Gráda, Cormac Ó (University College); Solar, Peter (VUB, Brussels) |
| Abstract: | Shipping was central to the rise of the Atlantic economies, but an extremely hazardous activity: in the 1780s, roughly five per cent of British ships sailing in summer for the United States never returned. Against the widespread belief that shipping technology was stagnant before iron steamships, in this paper we demonstrate that between the 1780s and 1820s, a safety revolution occurred that saw shipping losses and insurance rates on oceanic routes almost halved thanks to steady improvements in shipbuilding and navigation. Iron reinforcing led to stronger vessels while navigation improved, not through chronometers which remained too expensive and unreliable for general use, but through radically improved charts, accessible manuals of basic navigational techniques, and improved shore-based navigational aids. |
| Keywords: | shipping, insurance, Industrial Revolution JEL Classification: N, N73, G22 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:439&r=all |
| By: | Serkan Arslanalp; Marco Marini; Patrizia Tumbarello |
| Abstract: | Vessel traffic data based on the Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a big data source for nowcasting trade activity in real time. Using Malta as a benchmark, we develop indicators of trade and maritime activity based on AIS-based port calls. We test the quality of these indicators by comparing them with official statistics on trade and maritime statistics. If the challenges associated with port call data are overcome through appropriate filtering techniques, we show that these emerging “big data” on vessel traffic could allow statistical agencies to complement existing data sources on trade and introduce new statistics that are more timely (real time), offering an innovative way to measure trade activity. That, in turn, could facilitate faster detection of turning points in economic activity. The approach could be extended to create a real-time worldwide indicator of global trade activity. |
| Date: | 2019–12–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:19/275&r=all |
| By: | Sophia du Plessis (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Bjoern Hartig (Royal Holloway, University of London); Ada Jansen (Department of Economics); Krige Siebrits (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | The effective enforcement of traffic laws is critical for improved road safety outcomes. Decisions to follow traffic rules and pay fines are influenced by formal institutions (e.g. laws, court summons, and fines) as well as informal institutions (e.g. norms and aspects of culture). Formal and informal institutions create incentives that should be designed to steer individuals’ behaviour towards desired outcomes. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that the institutions to deal with traffic violations in South Africa currently create effective incentives. This paper discusses the findings of a controlled laboratory experiment that tested the efficacy of different financial incentives which may influence the payment of traffic fines. An early payment discount similar to the incentive under AARTO was compared to a late payment penalty (used in other countries, for example, some states in the USA), and to the absence of any incentives. Furthermore, we examined whether the willingness to settle fines is sensitive to the likelihood of detection by the authorities. We found that introducing financial incentives significantly increases voluntary payment of fines, irrespective of whether immediate payment is encouraged with a discount or late payment is discouraged with a surcharge. In addition, subjects are more sensitive to the likelihood of detection when financial incentives are present. |
| Keywords: | Traffic laws, law enforcement, South Africa, laboratory experiments, human behaviour |
| JEL: | B52 C91 D02 D04 K42 L91 L98 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers332&r=all |
| By: | Lamar Pierce; Alex Rees-Jones; Charlotte Blank |
| Abstract: | Behavioral economists have proposed that loss-averse employees increase productivity when bonuses are "loss framed"—prepaid then clawed back if targets are unmet. We theoretically document that loss framing raises incentives for costly risk mitigation and for inefficient multitasking, potentially leading to large negative performance effects. We empirically document evidence of these concerns in a nationwide field experiment among 294 car dealers. Dealers randomized into loss-framed (but financially identical) contracts sold 5% fewer vehicles than control dealers, generating a revenue loss of $45 million over 4 months. We discuss implications regarding the use of behavioral economics to motivate both employees and firms. |
| JEL: | D03 D81 J22 J31 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26619&r=all |
| By: | Safoora Zarei; Ali R. Fallahi |
| Abstract: | Every time drivers take to the road, and with each mile that they drive, exposes themselves and others to the risk of an accident. Insurance premiums are only weakly linked to mileage, however, and have lump-sum characteristics largely. The result is too much driving, and too many accidents. In this paper, we introduce some useful theoretical results for Pay-As-You-Drive in Automobile insurances. We consider a counting process and also find the distribution of discounted collective risk model when the counting process is non-homogeneous Poisson. |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1912.09273&r=all |
| By: | Jeffrey P. Cohen (National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Connecticut; University of Texas at Austin; UT Austin); Cletus C. Coughlin (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)); Jonas C. Crews; Stephen L. Ross (National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Connecticut; Department of Public Policy; Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Center for Population Research) |
| Abstract: | The closing of a busy airport has large effects on noise and economic activity. Using a unique dataset, we examine the effects of closing Denver’s Stapleton Airport on nearby housing markets. We find evidence of immediate anticipatory price effects upon announcement, but no price changes at closing likely because closing was widely anticipated. Further, after airport closure, high income and white households moved into these locations and developers upgraded the quality of houses being built. Finally, post-closing, these demographic and housing stock changes had substantial effects on housing prices, even after restricting the sample to pre-existing housing. |
| Keywords: | Airport noise; housing prices; airport closing; anticipatory effects; long-term effects; neighborhood change; dynamic price effects |
| JEL: | G14 R21 R31 R41 |
| Date: | 2020–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:86727&r=all |