nep-tre New Economics Papers
on Transport Economics
Issue of 2023‒07‒10
thirteen papers chosen by
Erik Teodoor Verhoef
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  1. Comparison of policies for increasing sustainable transport mode shares in Swedish cities By Pyddoke, Roger
  2. Assessing innovations in High-Speed Rail infrastructure By Ait-Ali, Abderrahman; Kurt, Filiz; Isberner, Alessa; Odolinski, Kristofer; Berg, Mats
  3. Free-Ridership in Subsidies for Company- and Private Electric Vehicles By Burra, Lavan T., Sommer, Stephan; Vance, Colin
  4. Evaluating the mix of maintenance activities on railway crossings with respect to life-cycle costs By Ait-Ali , Abderrahman; Odolinski, Kristofer; Pålsson, Björn; Torstensson, Peter
  5. Striking Evidence: The Impact of Railway Strikes on Competition from Intercity Bus Services in Germany By Matthias Beestermöller; Levke Jessen-Thiesen; Alexander Sandkamp; Alexander-Nikolai Sandkamp
  6. City Shape and Air Pollution By Gallé, Johannes
  7. The Dynamic Role of Subsidies in Promoting Global Electric Vehicle Sales By Tamara Sheldon; Rubal Dua
  8. Entering European countries: advantages and difficulties for Chinese electric vehicle firms By Yanting Gu; Fiorenza Belussi; Rajneesh Narula
  9. How Should We Measure Infrastructure? The Case of Highways and Streets By Robert Kornfeld; Barbara M. Fraumeni
  10. The limits of liability of the Logistics Service Provider By Ishola Bakari
  11. An Approximate Feasibility Assessment of Electric Vehicles Adoption in Nigeria: Forecast 2030 By Qasim Ajao; Lanre Sadeeq
  12. Urban Transport Energy Demand Model for Riyadh: Methodology and Preliminary Analysis By Abu Toasin Oakil; Ahm Mehbub Anwar; Alma; Nourah Al Hosain; Abdelrahman Muhsen; Anvita Arora
  13. The Impact of Railway Development on Economic Growth through CPEC By Abida Naurin; Shahbaz Gul

  1. By: Pyddoke, Roger (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI))
    Abstract: The EU is currently promoting sustainable mobility in its cities. This promotion can take the form of subsidies for cycling and public-transport infrastructure. This paper compares existing Swedish policy instruments for promoting more sustainable transport: government subsidies to infrastructure for sustainable modes in the form of city environmental agreements (CEAs), congestion and parking charges and a hypothetical incentive to reduce the mode share of cars. Analyses of the CEAs indicate that they do not reliably affect mode choice. The results for congestion and parking charges, on the contrary, indicate that these have a substantial potential to shift mode choices and improve welfare by pricing external costs. The outcomes of the hypothetical incentive based on achieved effects will depend on the extent to which cities are willing to use externality pricing and to which citizens are willing to change modes. The management and evaluation of this hypothetical incentive poses considerable requirements on data and estimations of a counter factual outcomes without incentives, and its necessary costs. Provided these requirements can be met, the incentive model appears to be a possible instrument for stimulating cities to move faster towards sustainable transport.
    Keywords: Sustainable transport; Cities; Mode shares; Policy
    JEL: H23 H54 H71 R48 R49 R51
    Date: 2023–06–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2023_009&r=tre
  2. By: Ait-Ali, Abderrahman (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)); Kurt, Filiz (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)); Isberner, Alessa (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)); Odolinski, Kristofer (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)); Berg, Mats (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
    Abstract: Innovations in high-speed rail (HSR) have had substantial effects on different stakeholders within and outside the railway system. As part of the European Shift2Rail research programme, several innovative solutions are developed for, among others, improving the HSR infrastructure. The joint undertaking behind this research program has set objectives for these innovations in terms of punctuality, capacity, and life cycle costs. With a focus on infrastructure-related innovations for HSR, this paper aims at assessing their impacts in relation to these targets. We review the relevant research literature about the effects of HSR innovations and their assessment. The paper presents a hybrid assessment methodology combing different approaches to assess capacity, punctuality, and cost effects. This contributes to reducing the existing gap that is found in the research literature. Based on a reference scenario for HSR line and collected data from different stakeholders, the results indicate that infrastructure innovations in HSR, being developed within the European Shift2Rail research programme, can contribute to reaching the target set for punctuality. Further innovations in HSR infrastructure and/or other railway assets may be needed to reach additional targets and for more accurate improvement values giving more insights into their impacts.
    Keywords: High-speed; Railway; Infrastructure; Innovation
    JEL: R41 R42 R48
    Date: 2023–06–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2023_007&r=tre
  3. By: Burra, Lavan T., Sommer, Stephan; Vance, Colin
    Abstract: Consumer subsidies are commonly employed to incentivize the purchase of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), but free-ridership potentially undermines their effectiveness. The present study investigates BEV subsidies in Germany, distinguishing their effect between company- and private cars. Drawing on a panel of high-resolution car registration data, we use the estimates from a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood model to predict BEV registrations in the absence of the subsidy. We calculate aggregate free-rider rates of 19% for private cars and 43% for company cars. We further find that the cost of the subsidy per induced BEV among private consumers is €5, 400, while it is €7, 215 among companies. Overall, the estimates suggest that the subsidy is considerably less cost effective among company cars, which comprise 55% of new BEV sales.
    Keywords: Electric vehicles, consumer subsidy, company cars, free ridership
    JEL: H23 L91 Q58
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:1015&r=tre
  4. By: Ait-Ali , Abderrahman (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)); Odolinski, Kristofer (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)); Pålsson, Björn (Chalmers University of Technology); Torstensson, Peter (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI))
    Abstract: Switches & crossings (S&Cs) are vital assets as they allow for increased railway capacity by introducing flexibility and connectivity in railway networks. At the same time, this makes them critical since they can cause costly delays and disruptions if they are not well maintained. This motivates studies to improve maintenance strategies of S&Cs, considering both the life-cycle costs (LCC) of the assets and socio-economic transportation costs for passengers and freight customers. In this paper, the interdependence between deterioration mechanisms, maintenance activities, and expected LCC (including transportation costs) is investigated using a combination of mechanical and econometric modelling. The interrelation between the degradation of contact geometry and track settlement is analysed using simulations of dynamic vehicle–turnout interaction. Long-term mechanical degradation of the S&C is simulated for different maintenance strategies that correspond to different timing of the associated maintenance measures (crossing repair welding and tamping). This provides the basis for analysing the interdependence between preventive and corrective activities using econometric modelling. Based on a case study of a common type of S&Cs in the Swedish infrastructure, the impact of different maintenance strategies on LCC and transportation costs is analysed. Opportunities and challenges in the development of more socio-economically effective maintenance strategies of S&Cs are discussed.
    Keywords: Infrastructure maintenance; Rail infrastructure; Life-cycle cost; Switches and crossings; Preventive maintenance; Corrective maintenance; Mechanical simulation
    JEL: R41 R42 R48
    Date: 2023–06–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2023_006&r=tre
  5. By: Matthias Beestermöller; Levke Jessen-Thiesen; Alexander Sandkamp; Alexander-Nikolai Sandkamp
    Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of the largest rail strikes in German history on intercity buses – a then newly liberalised market. Using unique booking data of bus services, we exploit variation in rail service cancellations across routes to show that the disruption in rail transport increases bus ticket sales. Crucially, the effect persists beyond the strike, indicating that travellers do not return to their originally preferred mode of transport. It is particularly pronounced for passengers travelling on weekends. The findings suggest that customers were previously under-experimenting. Beyond transportation, our results highlight the importance of service reliability, as temporary disruptions can cause customers to permanently switch to competitors.
    Keywords: experimentation, inter-modal substitution, learning, optimisation, strike, switching costs, transport
    JEL: C81 D83 L92 R41
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10483&r=tre
  6. By: Gallé, Johannes
    Abstract: Air pollution has become an increasing health threat for the local population in many cities around the world. Using high resolution remote sensing data on nightlights and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the years 1998-2013, I study the contemporary nexus between city shape and air pollution in India. I find that the compactness of a city has statistically significant and negative effects on local air quality. The results are more pronounced in larger cities and robust with respect to different compactness measures. While geographic dispersion allows for more fresh air corridors, differences in commuting patterns could serve as an additional explanation. People in less compact cities are more likely to use public transport and thereby reducing the overall road traffic within cities translating into less pollution. However, the statistically significant effects do not translate into substantial changes in the relative risk of PM2.5-induced diseases.
    Keywords: Urbanization, air pollution, commuting, India
    JEL: R10 R41 Q53
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:1012&r=tre
  7. By: Tamara Sheldon; Rubal Dua (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center)
    Abstract: We offer the most comprehensive analysis to date of global plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) subsidies. We accomplish this by estimating vehicle choice models for 23 countries using 2010–2019 sales data and using counterfactual simulations to assess the cost-effectiveness of PEV incentives.
    Keywords: Alternative fuels, Carbon market, Clean technology, Climate change
    Date: 2023–06–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prc:dpaper:ks--2023-dp02&r=tre
  8. By: Yanting Gu (University of Padova); Fiorenza Belussi (University of Padova); Rajneesh Narula (University of Reading)
    Abstract: The great support from Chinese governments to upgrade the automotive industry has propelled Chinese automotive firms into developing and producing electric vehicles in recent years. However, despite their emergence in foreign markets, the internationalisation of Chinese EV firms still needs to be studied more. This paper investigates the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese EV firms when they expand into European markets. Our study finally provides solutions to mitigate the disadvantages to develop their businesses in Europe better.
    Keywords: Internationalization; Chinese electric vehicle firms; Advantages; Disadvantages
    Date: 2023–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0302&r=tre
  9. By: Robert Kornfeld; Barbara M. Fraumeni (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
    Abstract: The recent debates on infrastructure spending have led to renewed interest in the measurement of infrastructure and its effects on growth and wellbeing. This paper updates estimates of one important type of infrastructure capital—highways and streets. We compare BEA’s capital measures with more readily understood physical measures of road and lane miles, road quality and usage, and other measures from Highway Statistics (HS) data from FHWA. We also use the HS data and related research to disaggregate investment in highways and streets into more detailed types, such as new construction, repair and resurfacing, and bridge work, and apply separate depreciation rates to each type to produce updated estimates of net wealth stocks and depreciation. Relative to published BEA estimates, constant-price depreciation is revised up by about $9–$12 billion annually in recent years, and constant-price net stocks are revised down by about 22 percent. For the period from 2007 forward, net stocks per capita are flat in the published BEA estimates but decline slightly in the revised estimates. In addition, we update Fraumeni’s (2007) estimates of productive stocks that are converted to wealth stocks to facilitate a comparison. These updated wealth estimates also show lower net stocks and higher depreciation than in the published BEA estimates. We hope this paper encourages discussion about how to measure infrastructure capital, particularly highways and streets, and its effects.
    JEL: E01
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bea:wpaper:0196&r=tre
  10. By: Ishola Bakari (CDE - Centre de Droit Economique - AMU - Aix Marseille Université)
    Abstract: The article examines the various limits of liability applicable to Logistics Service Providers (PSL) in common law and transportation law. It is based on legal analysis and real-life cases. In the first part of the article, it emphasizes that PSLs face increasing responsibilities and numerous legal actions. Two systems are considered to allow PSLs to escape the consequences of their faults: limiting liability clauses and the force majeure clause. The second part focuses on the specific limits related to transportation and logistics. Questions are raised about the mechanisms involved in establishing the PSL's civil liability in repairing damages to goods, taking into account factors such as the type of merchandise, vehicle tonnage, the personal fault of the forwarder, as well as concepts of loss, damage, and delay. The third part of the article highlights case law. A specific case is presented where a company is bound by a framework contract with a PSL. This contract defines the PSL's liability based on the nature of the services provided. For domestic transportation, specific compensation limits are established, while for international transportation, limitations of various international conventions apply. For other operations, a maximum indemnity per incident is set. The case presented in the article involves the loading of equipment in the PSL's premises to be transported to another warehouse. During the operation, damage occurs when a computer chassis falls from a cart. The client argues that the damage falls under a contract for work and claims total compensation, as the damages are below the liability cap. The PSL contends that it was a transportation-related ancillary handling operation, and that the annual prescription under Article 108 of the Commercial Code applies. The court refutes this argument, stating that the transportation was incidental to the contract for work, particularly the packaging service entrusted to the PSL. In summary, the article examines the various limits of liability for PSLs in both common law and transportation law, based on legal analysis and real-life cases. It underscores the importance of understanding these limits for PSLs and stakeholders in the logistics and transportation industry.
    Abstract: L'article examine les différentes limites de responsabilité applicables aux PSL en droit commun et en droit des transports. Il se base sur des analyses juridiques et des cas concrets. Dans la première partie de l'article, il est souligné que les PSL font face à un poids de responsabilités croissant et à de nombreuses actions en justice. Deux systèmes sont envisagés pour permettre aux PSL d'échapper aux conséquences de leurs fautes : les clauses limitatives de responsabilité et la clause de force majeure. La deuxième partie se concentre sur les limites spécifiques au transport et à la logistique. Des interrogations sont soulevées concernant les mécanismes mis en jeu pour établir la responsabilité civile du PSL dans la réparation des dommages causés à la marchandise, en tenant compte de divers facteurs tels que le type de marchandise, le tonnage du véhicule, la faute personnelle du commissionnaire, ainsi que les notions de perte, d'avarie et de retard. La troisième partie de l'article met en évidence la jurisprudence. Un cas concret est présenté, où une société est liée par un contrat-cadre avec un PSL. Ce contrat définit la responsabilité du PSL en fonction de la nature des prestations. Pour le transport national, des limites d'indemnisation spécifiques sont prévues, tandis que pour le transport international, les limitations des différentes conventions internationales s'appliquent. Pour les autres opérations, une indemnité maximale par sinistre est établie. Le cas présenté dans l'article concerne un chargement de matériel dans les locaux du PSL, qui doit être acheminé vers un autre entrepôt. Durant l'opération, un dommage survient lorsque le châssis d'un ordinateur bascule d'un chariot. Le client soutient que le dommage relève d'un contrat d'entreprise et réclame une indemnisation totale, car le préjudice est inférieur au plafond de responsabilité. Le PSL affirme qu'il s'agit d'une opération de manutention connexe au contrat de transport, et que la prescription annale de l'article 108 du Code de commerce s'applique. Le tribunal réfute cette thèse en affirmant que le transport était accessoire au contrat d'entreprise et plus particulièrement à la prestation d'emballage confiée au PSL. En résumé, l'article examine les différentes limites de responsabilité du PSL, tant en droit commun qu'en droit des transports, en se basant sur des analyses juridiques et des cas concrets. Il met en évidence l'importance de comprendre ces limites pour les PSL et les parties prenantes dans le domaine de la logistique et du transport.
    Keywords: Contrat de prestation de services, prestataire de service logistique, logistique, Droit commun, PSL, contrat de prestations logistiques, contrat de logistique, Droit des transports durables
    Date: 2023–05–21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04101796&r=tre
  11. By: Qasim Ajao; Lanre Sadeeq
    Abstract: Efforts toward building a sustainable future have underscored the importance of collective responsibility among state and non-state actors, corporations, and individuals to achieve climate goals. International initiatives, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, emphasize the need for immediate action from all stakeholders. This paper presents a feasibility assessment focused on the opportunities within Nigeria's Electric Vehicle Value Chain, aiming to enhance public understanding of the country's renewable energy sector. As petroleum currently fulfills over 95% of global transportation needs, energy companies must diversify their portfolios and integrate various renewable energy sources to transition toward a sustainable future. The shifting investor sentiment away from traditional fossil fuel industries further highlights the imperative of incorporating renewables. To facilitate significant progress in the renewable energy sector, it is vital to establish platforms that support the growth and diversification of industry players, with knowledge sharing playing a pivotal role. This feasibility assessment serves as an initial reference for individuals and businesses seeking technically and economically viable opportunities within the sector.
    Date: 2023–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2305.17844&r=tre
  12. By: Abu Toasin Oakil; Ahm Mehbub Anwar; Alma; Nourah Al Hosain; Abdelrahman Muhsen; Anvita Arora (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center)
    Abstract: Saudi Arabia intends to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 278 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually by 2030, according to its Nationally Determined Contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Among many policies it is introducing, a mass transit system and transit-oriented development are being advanced with the expectation of reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions in Riyadh. To what extent such an initiative can reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions is an important question. In this paper, a methodology is developed to systematically measure the impact of mass transit and transit-oriented development in Riyadh on energy demand.
    Keywords: Land use-Transportation interaction, Spatial economic model, Transit oreinted development, Urban energy model
    Date: 2023–06–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prc:mpaper:ks--2023-mp03&r=tre
  13. By: Abida Naurin (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics); Shahbaz Gul (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics)
    Abstract: Transportation is one of the key ingredients used to enhance economic development. An effective railway system is essential to enhance trade and rural development and helps reduce transportation costs. One of the main objectives of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) is to improve transportation facilities in Pakistan, with US $8.6 billion allocated for improving Pakistan Railways (PR), indicating that a robust railway network is an essential pillar of CPEC. The current study aims to introduce railways as an industry and highlight the importance of PR in CPEC and the importance of its Gross Earning (GE) and Human Development Index (HDI) impact on economic growth from 1981 to 2019. The study also utilises the World Development Indicator, the Ministry of Railways, and the Economic Survey of Pakistan for time-series data. To make an empirical analysis, the study uses Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to forecast better-developed railway infrastructure with economic growth.
    Keywords: Railway Development, Economic Growth, CPEC
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2023:5&r=tre

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