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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Ignacio Guajardo (University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, United States) |
| Abstract: | Freight tonnage transported in the U.S. is projected to grow by 1.6% annually between 2023 and 2050 (Bureau of Transportation Statistics 2024). The electrification of truck freight transportation is essential for meeting emission reduction targets (Hoehne et al. 2023). The prospect of widespread battery electric truck adoption has continued to improve due to public and private investment, technology advancement, cost-benefit enhancement, and policy support. The implications for South Texas are significant due to the region’s strategic geographic location and reliance on the freight industry. Recent research has shown that electric freight vehicles enable substantial cost and environmental advantages compared to diesel alternatives (Phadke et al. 2021). Limited charging infrastructure and high initial costs present significant barriers to the adoption of electric freight trucks in South Texas. This paper explores the economic and logistical challenges to electric freight truck adoption in South Texas and discusses the implications for policymakers to consider, including strategies for improving infrastructure, reducing costs, and supporting industry adoption. Solving the challenges of infrastructure and technological advancement is crucial for realizing the full potential of electric freight in South Texas, both operationally and economically. This paper highlights the need for greater coordination among industry leaders, policymakers, and regulators to address these barriers, paving the way for a successful transition and setting a model for future freight transportation. |
| Keywords: | Freight electrification, charging infrastructure, sustainable transportation, electric trucks |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0461 |
| By: | Lipman, Timothy PhD; Yuan, Jarvis |
| Abstract: | Recent studies suggest that there could be significant value to electric vehicle (EV) drivers and power companies from incorporating EVs into the state’s electrical power grids, known as Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI). However, the benefits could be highly variable depending on the location of the utility territory, vehicle type and battery capacity, the relevant timeframe, and whether the connection involves only managed charging or includes bidirectional charging permitting vehicle to grid (V2G) power transfer, and other factors. Various studies conducted to date generally conclude that the opportunities for V2G could have two to three times the value of managed (or “smart”) charging. However, there are considerable additional complications for grid integration, including variable and site-specific implementation costs. Some savings such as deferring distribution system upgrades can be very significant but are also site-specific and depend on the level of curren and projected demands for electric power on the individual distribution feeder lines, and are therefore difficult to predict. |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Electric vehicle charging, Electric vehicles, Interconnection (Electric power), Grids (Electric transmission) |
| Date: | 2025–02–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt19n0s7np |
| By: | Giulia Brancaccio (New York University); Myrto Kalouptsidi (Harvard University); Theodore Papageorgiou (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we provide a simple and intuitive story for supply chain disruptions driven by the rigidities in the transportation sector. Focusing on maritime shipping, we argue that the frequent macroeconomic shocks that shape demand for transportation, meet a highly inelastic supply curve for transportation services. The steepness is driven by equilibrium bottlenecks in ships (transportation agents) and ports (transportation infrastructure). This leads to highly volatile shipping prices and port congestion, affecting importers and exporters worldwide. We discuss how both global trade and inflation react to these costs, so that disruptions pass through to the entire economy. |
| Keywords: | supply chain disruptions, transportation, infrastructure, ports, ships, congestion |
| JEL: | E30 F0 L0 L90 L91 R4 |
| Date: | 2025–01–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:1086 |
| By: | Pike, Susie; Turner, Katherine; Chin, Staly; Nguyen, Andrea |
| Abstract: | Open-loop fare payment systems are an emerging technology that allows customers to pay with credit cards, debit cards, smartphone applications, and digital wallets when boarding transit vehicles or entering platform areas. The California Integrated Travel Program (Cal-ITP) aims to foster the implementation of open-loop payments among California’s transit agencies. What do transit agencies have to say about this goal and the challenges it might pose for them and their travelers? Researchers from the University of California, Davis gathered surveys from a small sample of transit agencies (N = 21) and found that agencies are interested in open-loop payments, agencies and passengers would likely support it, but that it also presents challenges for agencies and passengers. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides policy implications. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Digital communication systems, Fare collection, Fare prepayment, Public transit, Standardization, Transit operating agencies |
| Date: | 2025–02–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt4bp0r8pq |
| By: | Vey, Meike (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)); Namockel, Nils (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)); Ruhnau, Oliver (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)) |
| Abstract: | Electric mobility and renewable energy play key roles in the global energy transition. In this context, vehicle-to-grid technology, which enables bidirectional energy flow between electric vehicles and the grid, could make electric vehicles usable as energy storage units, thus supporting grid stability and integration of renewable energy. However, the willingness of electric vehicle owners to participate in vehicle-to-grid contracts remains insufficiently understood, particularly regarding how they respond to specific contract attributes. This paper addresses this gap by conducting a discrete choice experiment to evaluate the preferences of current and potential future German electric vehicle drivers for various vehicle-to-grid contract alternatives. We find that cycle-based remuneration, flexible contract duration, and environmental nudging significantly enhance consumer acceptance. Conversely, a lower guaranteed battery level and longer minimum plug-in durations negatively impact participation. We also test how respondent characteristics influence participation and identify income-dependent preferences, such as lower-income individuals attributing a stronger preference to fixed daily payments than higher-income individuals. Our differentiated őndings may be used to improve contract designs and marketing efforts to address the unique V2G preferences of various user segments. |
| Keywords: | Vehicle-to-grid; Discrete choice experiment; Willingness to accept; Preferences; Bidirectional charging |
| JEL: | C25 D12 Q42 Q48 Q51 Q58 R41 |
| Date: | 2025–02–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:ewikln:2025_001 |
| By: | Javier Asensio (Departament d’Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) & Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).); Anna Matas (Departament d’Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) & Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).); Josep-Lluís Raymond (Departament d'Economia i d'Història Econòmica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)) |
| Abstract: | This paper carries out an empirical analysis of the determinants of CO2 emissions of new cars in Spain between 2015 and 2020. Technological change is shown to result in a decrease of emissions by 9%. However, the demand shift towards larger and more powerful vehicles has offset half of these gains. Moreover, the penetration of hybrid technologies has contributed to reducing emissions by a further 8.7%. Additionally, we estimate the determinants of emissions due to car characteristics, and we find that they are sensitive to socioeconomic and geographic variables, such as income, city size or its rural/urban character. We find an emissions elasticity with respect to fuel prices of -0.37. This is shown to be due to the purchase of less emitting cars and a higher share of more technologically efficient vehicles. Finally, scrappage programs, subsidies to the purchase of electric vehicles and the establishment of low emission zones succeed in reducing emissions. However, their effects are small and depend on the design of such measures. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions, technological change, car characteristics, hybrid technology, demand determinants, electric vehicles |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea2502 |
| By: | Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth; Shi, Weilun |
| Abstract: | A randomized controlled trial was introduced to see impacts of cool transportation that connects three vegetable markets in northeast and two large demand centers in southern regions of Nigeria. This note summarizes the findings from the midpoint analysis. First, the impact of cool transportation is large and statistically significant. Sales price, revenue and profit significantly increase for marketers. Second, impacts on sales price are quantitatively large, and a larger portion of sales price increase is attributed to refrigeration, that is, quality preservation through cooling. About 70% of the increase comes from cooling; only 30% from transportation. Third, impacts on revenue and profit, relative to non-cool transportation, are also quantitatively large. In particular, the analysis shows a large proportional increase in profit. |
| Keywords: | capacity building; coolers; transport; randomized controlled trials; markets |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:cgiarp:168914 |
| By: | Andrew B. BERNARD; Andreas MOXNES; SAITO Yukiko |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of economic integration on the production of innovation. During the late 1980s and-90s, Shikoku and Honshu, Japan’s largest and fourth largest islands, were connected for the first time by three different bridges. This greatly reduced travel times compared to previous modes of transport such as ferry. We examine the impact of bridge connections on team formation and the production of knowledge, as measured by patent data. Using the geolocation of inventors before the opening of the bridges, we find that inventors located close to the bridges increased knowledge production more than inventors located farther away from the bridges. The treated inventors matched to more productive inventors at greater distances. Inventors on Shikoku were more likely to change their innovation teams and add co-inventors from Honshu while dismissing collaborators from Shikoku. The results are robust to instrumenting for the location of the bridges using the minimum bridge span distances between Shikoku and Honshu. We present a parsimonious economic framework that is largely consistent with the empirical evidence. Our results suggest that economic integration can have sizable effects on idea creation and innovation. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25009 |
| By: | Guillaume Chapelle; Morgan Ubeda (CY Cergy Paris Université, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | Unemployment rates vary significantly across neighborhoods and worker types, yet the role of transport infrastructures in explaining these disparities remains unexplored. We propose a quantitative urban model with frictional unemployment and heterogeneous workers where better connections between neighborhoods might exacerbate unemployment disparities due to competition among workers. We document this phenomenon using a difference-indifferences to estimate the impact of the creation of the Paris Regional Express Rail (RER). We find that the project increased the unemployment rate of low-skilled workers, but not of their high-skilled counterparts. In Paris, differences in job market access reduce unemployment inequalities between college graduates and the rest of the population. |
| Keywords: | Urban unemployment, Transport Networks, Spatial Mismatch, Unemployment dispersion |
| JEL: | R31 R52 R21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2025-01 |