Vol 0 No 1 (2000)
2000-11-01
Vol 0 No 1 (2000)
2000-11-01
Articles
-
We are happy to announce a new scholarly journal in the field of transport and infrastructure: The European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research (EJTIR). This refereed quarterly covers the field of transport, infrastructure, logistics and their mutual relationships.
We are happy to announce a new scholarly journal in the field of transport and infrastructure: The European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research (EJTIR). This refereed quarterly covers the field of transport, infrastructure, logistics and their mutual relationships.
We are happy to announce a new scholarly journal in the field of transport and infrastructure: The European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research (EJTIR). This refereed quarterly covers the field of transport, infrastructure, logistics and their mutual relationships.
Hugo Priemus -
Sustainable transport is the theme of the first issue of the European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research. The issue contains four articles. Eriksen gives an overview of external costs of transport in Norway and includes costs of emissions to air, noise, traffic accidents, wear of infrastructure and congestion. He uses Willingness To Pay (WTP) methods. Stead focuses on the concept of decoupling and applies it to the transport sector. Using international statistical sources for all European countries and detailed data for the UK, this article explores the extent to which transport demand is currently linked with economic indicators (such as Gross Domestic Product and Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare) and examines whether this link has changed over time. Verhoef and Van Wee state that if the choice for a car type is influenced by status motives, as psychological literature indicates, current situation is not optimal: the optimum will be reached if a shift to more fuel efficient cars occurs. They also discuss related possible policy instruments. Annema and Van Wee describe the role of research in the process that led to the Dutch Kyoto related climate policy, and give suggestions for improvements in the role of research in such processes.
Sustainable transport is the theme of the first issue of the European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research. The issue contains four articles. Eriksen gives an overview of external costs of transport in Norway and includes costs of emissions to air, noise, traffic accidents, wear of infrastructure and congestion. He uses Willingness To Pay (WTP) methods. Stead focuses on the concept of decoupling and applies it to the transport sector. Using international statistical sources for all European countries and detailed data for the UK, this article explores the extent to which transport demand is currently linked with economic indicators (such as Gross Domestic Product and Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare) and examines whether this link has changed over time. Verhoef and Van Wee state that if the choice for a car type is influenced by status motives, as psychological literature indicates, current situation is not optimal: the optimum will be reached if a shift to more...
Sustainable transport is the theme of the first issue of the European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research. The issue contains four articles. Eriksen gives an overview of external costs of transport in Norway and includes costs of emissions to air, noise, traffic accidents, wear of...
Bert van Wee, Piet Rietveld, Erik Verhoef -
Transport activities are known to have substantial negative external effects. One of the reasons for trying to value these effects is that the cost to society of using a specific transport mode should be reflected in the price that is paid by the transport user and thus form the basis for a transport tax policy. Previous calculations of marginal external costs of transport at the Institute of Transport Economics (TØI) as well as the methods employed are in many cases outdated and need revision. Therefore it has been decided to update the methods as well as the estimates. External effects included in this analysis are: a) emissions to air, b) noise, c) traffic accidents, d) wear of infrastructure and e) congestion. External costs are seen as related to transport volume, intensity of the effect, degree of harm of the effect and unit cost of harm. The assumptions of these relations will be discussed. One problem with the shape of the cost function is whether the effect (e.g. noise) can be said to be proportional to the transport volume. In estimating the unit costs mainly willingness-to-pay (WTP) methods will be applied. The marginal external costs of each mode or vehicle type is compared to what is actually paid at the margin by these modes in taxes and charges that are related to transport volume. Small vans and passenger cars internalise approximately their external cost in the form of traffic charges. Airplanes pay a lot more than their external cost because they cover the total cost of the CAA (Central Aviation Administration). Buses, passenger trains and cargo vessels pay a very small part of external costs in the form of traffic related charges.
Transport activities are known to have substantial negative external effects. One of the reasons for trying to value these effects is that the cost to society of using a specific transport mode should be reflected in the price that is paid by the transport user and thus form the basis for a transport tax policy. Previous calculations of marginal external costs of transport at the Institute of Transport Economics (TØI) as well as the methods employed are in many cases outdated and need revision. Therefore it has been decided to update the methods as well as the estimates. External effects included in this analysis are: a) emissions to air, b) noise, c) traffic accidents, d) wear of infrastructure and e) congestion. External costs are seen as related to transport volume, intensity of the effect, degree of harm of the effect and unit cost of harm. The assumptions of these relations will be discussed. One problem with the shape of the cost function is whether the effect (e.g. noise)...
Transport activities are known to have substantial negative external effects. One of the reasons for trying to value these effects is that the cost to society of using a specific transport mode should be reflected in the price that is paid by the transport user and thus form the basis for a...
Knut S. Eriksen -
Transport energy use and transport volumes have closely followed trends in economic activity over recent decades. This is not the case however for total energy consumption (across all sectors of the economy), which is not now increasing in many countries even though economic growth is still taking place. Some kind of decoupling has occurred. If this decoupling were to take place in the transport sector, it would present opportunities to reduce the consumption of energy and other resources without reducing economic competitiveness. Decoupling would also offer opportunities for the reduction of congestion and transport emissions. Consequently, there is increasing interest in how decoupling can occur. Although the decoupling of economic activity and total energy consumption has been reported for a number of European countries, the extent to which transport demand and economy activity has been decoupled has not been examined in so much detail. Using international statistical sources for all European countries and detailed data for the UK, this paper explores the extent to which transport demand is currently linked with economic indicators (such as Gross Domestic Product and Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare) and examines whether this link has changed over time. The paper contributes to understanding about the definition of transport intensity and the relationships between transport demand and economic activity in Europe
Transport energy use and transport volumes have closely followed trends in economic activity over recent decades. This is not the case however for total energy consumption (across all sectors of the economy), which is not now increasing in many countries even though economic growth is still taking place. Some kind of decoupling has occurred. If this decoupling were to take place in the transport sector, it would present opportunities to reduce the consumption of energy and other resources without reducing economic competitiveness. Decoupling would also offer opportunities for the reduction of congestion and transport emissions. Consequently, there is increasing interest in how decoupling can occur. Although the decoupling of economic activity and total energy consumption has been reported for a number of European countries, the extent to which transport demand and economy activity has been decoupled has not been examined in so much detail. Using international statistical sources...
Transport energy use and transport volumes have closely followed trends in economic activity over recent decades. This is not the case however for total energy consumption (across all sectors of the economy), which is not now increasing in many countries even though economic growth is still...
Dominic Stead -
Research on ‘happiness’ suggests that once an average per capita income of around US$ 10,000 is achieved in a country, further increases in income will not lead to a significant increase in happiness. Additional income will probably often be spent on the satisfaction of mainly ‘relative’ needs, of which ‘status goods’ would be one example. From that perspective, an overall shift to more fuel-efficient cars (i.e. smaller cars with less power) would not necessarily, or only to a limited extent, result in less happiness. From a welfare economic perspective, the satisfaction of the relative needs pertaining to consumption can be considered as a form of consumption externalities. This creates a welfare economic basis for government intervention. A model in which these consumption externalities are studied is presented here. Government intervention would include stimulating consumption of lowerstatus goods and discouraging consumption of higher-status ones. We speculate, however, that to achieve a significant increase in the fuel efficiency of a country’s car fleet through pricing policies, huge price increases may often be needed. As acceptance of price increases as a policy instrument is often low, ‘fee-bates’ and tradeable permits may be more preferable instruments.
Research on ‘happiness’ suggests that once an average per capita income of around US$ 10,000 is achieved in a country, further increases in income will not lead to a significant increase in happiness. Additional income will probably often be spent on the satisfaction of mainly ‘relative’ needs, of which ‘status goods’ would be one example. From that perspective, an overall shift to more fuel-efficient cars (i.e. smaller cars with less power) would not necessarily, or only to a limited extent, result in less happiness. From a welfare economic perspective, the satisfaction of the relative needs pertaining to consumption can be considered as a form of consumption externalities. This creates a welfare economic basis for government intervention. A model in which these consumption externalities are studied is presented here. Government intervention would include stimulating consumption of lowerstatus goods and discouraging consumption of higher-status ones. We speculate,...
Research on ‘happiness’ suggests that once an average per capita income of around US$ 10,000 is achieved in a country, further increases in income will not lead to a significant increase in happiness. Additional income will probably often be spent on the satisfaction of mainly...
Erik T. Verhoef, Bert van Wee -
To date, 84 nations have signed the so-called Kyoto Protocol on the control of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. In the Netherlands the Kyoto agreement has resulted in quantitative national targets for 2008-2012 of -6% GHG emission reduction compared to 1990; this is a reduction of 19% compared to the emission forecasted for 2010. Two years ago the Dutch government launched a policy-making process for meeting the Kyoto target. In both the development and the evaluation of Dutch Kyoto-related policy, research has played a major role. For the transport sector no (a priori) targets were set; however, a list of measures and instruments to reduce transport GHG emissions were discussed in the Kyoto-related policymaking process. Nearly all transport instruments and measures on this list appeared to be car-related. The reason for this focus was an a priori choice of policymakers. However, costeffective options for other vehicle categories (road and non-road transport) may be available. The transport options finally chosen for the Policy document will reduce GHG emissions from transport by 3-5% compared to the forecasted 2010 emissions. Researchers estimated that tax differentiation for new cars and in-car instruments such as fuel economy meters and cruise control will be the most effective instruments. The selected transport measures were not really chosen to induce a technology push; rather, the selection was mainly policy driven to meet short-term targets. Although research played a significant role in the policy-making process, several research improvements can still be made. Important improvements identified are: a) using a better and clearer method for the calculation of the costs of the measures and b) using a broader evaluation method of measures; this will mean including more environmental, economic and social indicators.
To date, 84 nations have signed the so-called Kyoto Protocol on the control of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. In the Netherlands the Kyoto agreement has resulted in quantitative national targets for 2008-2012 of -6% GHG emission reduction compared to 1990; this is a reduction of 19% compared to the emission forecasted for 2010. Two years ago the Dutch government launched a policy-making process for meeting the Kyoto target. In both the development and the evaluation of Dutch Kyoto-related policy, research has played a major role. For the transport sector no (a priori) targets were set; however, a list of measures and instruments to reduce transport GHG emissions were discussed in the Kyoto-related policymaking process. Nearly all transport instruments and measures on this list appeared to be car-related. The reason for this focus was an a priori choice of policymakers. However, costeffective options for other vehicle categories (road and non-road transport) may be available. The...
To date, 84 nations have signed the so-called Kyoto Protocol on the control of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. In the Netherlands the Kyoto agreement has resulted in quantitative national targets for 2008-2012 of -6% GHG emission reduction compared to 1990; this is a reduction of 19% compared...
Jan Anne Anne Annema, Bert van Wee