|
on Transport Economics |
| By: | Isaksen, Elisabeth T. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Johansen, Bjørn G. (The Institute of Transport Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that differentiating driving costs by time of day and vehicle type help improve urban air quality, lower driving, and induce adoption of electric vehicles. By taking advantage of a congestion charge that imposed spatial and temporal variation in the cost of driving a conventional vehicle, we find that economic incentives lower traffic and concentrations of NO2. Exploiting a novel dataset on car ownership, we find that households exposed to congestion charging on their way to work were more likely to adopt an electric vehicle. Heterogeneity analyses show strong socioeconomic gradients in the transition towards low-emission cars. |
| Keywords: | air pollution; electric vehicles; transportation policies; congestion charging |
| JEL: | C33 H23 Q53 Q55 Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2021–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:osloec:2021_001&r= |
| By: | Schulz, Felix; Rode, Johannes |
| Abstract: | We study whether public charging infrastructure drives battery electric vehicle adoption. Our analysis is based on granular, annual information on the location of public charging infrastructure and the battery electric vehicle ownership rate across 356 Norwegian LAU-2 municipalities between 2009 and 2019. We focus on areas in which the first public charging infrastructure was installed in this time period. In these mostly rural areas, the establishment of a first public charging station initiated adoption. We find, on average, an increase of the local electric vehicle ownership rate by 1.5 percentage points or 200% over 5 years. Our results are robust to anticipatory effects. They also remain unaffected from different treatment thresholds: the median number of public chargers in a municipality between 2009 and 2019 or the median density of public charging points per 1,000 inhabitants in the same time frame. While we cannot fully rule out reverse effects, we identify public charging infrastructure to serve as a stimulus to the diffusion of battery electric vehicles. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:128705&r= |
| By: | Yanyou Chen (University of Toronto, Department of Economics, Max Gluskin House, 150 St. George Street, 310, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 2E9) |
| Abstract: | This project evaluates the optimal transport network in North America by first analyzing the proposed $25 billion merger between the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Kansas City Southern Railway. Then this project studies different sequences of mergers and find the optimal path of mergers to form the transport network in North America. Current simulation results suggest that average over all origin-destination markets, the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific Railway and the Kansas City Southern Railway will decrease the average shipment cost by 6.27%. Among different local markets, regions near or utilize the route from Des Moines, IA -- Kansas City, MO -- Joplin, MO will have the largest efficiency gain from the proposed merger. |
| Keywords: | Merger; Transport Network; Railroad |
| JEL: | L13 L43 L92 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2112&r= |
| By: | Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of California Berkeley, 216 Giannini Hall, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA); Jonathan D. Hall (Department of Economics and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, 150 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G7, Canada); Harrison Wheeler (Department of Economics, University of California Berkeley, 530 Evans Hall #3880, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA); Rik Williams (Uber Technologies, Inc., 1515 3rd St., San Francisco, California 94158, USA) |
| Abstract: | There is a contentious debate on whether ride-hailing complements or substitutes public transportation. We address this question using novel data and an innovative identification strategy. Our identification strategy relies on exogenous variation in local transit availability caused by rail expansions. Using proprietary trip data from Uber for 35 countries, we use a dynamic difference-in-differences strategy to estimate how transit expansions affect local Uber ridership in 100 m distance bands centered on the new train station. Our estimates compare Uber ridership within a distance band before and after a train station opens relative to the next further out distance band. Total effects are obtained by aggregating relative effects at all further distance bands. We find that a new rail station opening increases Uber ridership within 100 m of the station by 60\%, and that this effect decays to zero for distances beyond 300 m. This sharp test implies Uber and rail transit are complements. |
| Keywords: | Public transit, ride-hailing |
| JEL: | R40 O33 L91 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2111&r= |
| By: | Riley Sullivan |
| Abstract: | In New England and elsewhere, public transportation was among the many sectors immediately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential workers and members of the labor force with no teleworking options and no alternate means of transportation continued to rely on public transit following the onset of the pandemic. However, with business closures, event cancellations, and social distancing regulations in effect, ridership dropped sharply, hampering transit systems’ ability to generate revenue. As of June 2021, ridership remained depressed despite the relaxation of restrictions and a general resumption of economic activity, though it is anticipated to grow slowly as workers return to offices in larger numbers. Systems with a greater reliance on fares for revenue saw large budget gaps emerge, and many responded by reducing services. In Massachusetts, MBTA service cuts garnered substantial news coverage, but the ridership declines and their implications extend beyond the large transit systems. This brief explores the trends in ridership and financing of all public transit systems in New England. The continued financial health of public transit systems has been on policy agendas, as evidenced by the substantial sums appropriated in the three COVID-19–related federal stimulus packages and the pending bipartisan infrastructure bill. The appropriations in the three stimulus packages were sufficiently large to fully offset the immediate revenue losses, and—when combined with the funding in the infrastructure bill—they could enable transit systems to make changes that might be necessary to maintain long-term financial viability and entice riders to return to public transit in a post–COVID-19 world. This brief examines information on how each transit agency in New England was funded before the pandemic. It uses long-term trends in ridership, the impact of the pandemic on ridership, and the share of operating expenses covered by revenue generated through ridership to identify areas that may require significant reforms, potentially including funding changes or service modifications, in order to maintain financial viability after the stimulus funds have been exhausted. |
| Keywords: | New England; NEPPC; COVID-19; public transit |
| Date: | 2021–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbrb:93085&r= |
| By: | Liang Nie (Ma Yinchu School of Economics, China Academy of Energy); ZhongXiang Zhang (Ma Yinchu School of Economics, China Academy of Energy) |
| Abstract: | Existing studies have investigated the environmental dividends of substituting high-speed rail for other energy-intensive vehicles from an engineering standpoint, but they have yet to explore the economic effects of high-speed rail and the associated carbon emission reduction benefits. To fill the research gap, we use panel data from 285 Chinese cities between 2004 and 2014, and employ a difference-in-difference model to empirically examine the impact of high-speed rail opening on CO2 emissions. Our results show that the opening of high-speed rail reduces local carbon emissions significantly. This finding is robust and is unaffected by outliers, control group selection, time trends, geography and expectation factors, or endogeneity. The mechanism test reveals that the structure, innovation, and FDI effects are three intermediate influence channels. Further research finds that the emission reduction benefit rises as the intensity of high-speed rail opening climbs the ladder, and high-speed rail service has a spillover effect within an 80-kilometer radius. Moreover, the carbon benefit of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line far surpasses its carbon footprint, indicating that the line is green. Based on these findings, we recommend that China should support the expansion of high-speed rail in order to reduce carbon emissions in a scientific and responsible manner. |
| Keywords: | High-speed rail, CO2 emissions, Impact mechanism, Difference-in-difference, China |
| JEL: | Q54 Q56 O13 R11 P28 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2021.23&r= |
| By: | Hoon Oh; Yanhan Tang; Zong Zhang; Alexandre Jacquillat; Fei Fang |
| Abstract: | Unlike commercial ridesharing, non-commercial peer-to-peer (P2P) ridesharing has been subject to limited research -- although it can promote viable solutions in non-urban communities. This paper focuses on the core problem in P2P ridesharing: the matching of riders and drivers. We elevate users' preferences as a first-order concern and introduce novel notions of fairness and stability in P2P ridesharing. We propose algorithms for efficient matching while considering user-centric factors, including users' preferred departure time, fairness, and stability. Results suggest that fair and stable solutions can be obtained in reasonable computational times and can improve baseline outcomes based on system-wide efficiency exclusively. |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2110.01152&r= |