transport policies - lecture content

Question 1

why is mobility important?

Answer 1

mobility increases city’s size, therefore increasing productivity and wages

Question 2

what is more important in urban transport - time or the fare?

Answer 2

time!
waiting time is percieved 3x times more than vehicle time
-> access time, waiting time and in-vehicle time

but individ. choose transport modes based on both, fares and time value

Question 3

hub-and-spoke systems

to minimize operating and capital costs

Answer 3

central hub connecting numerous smaller airports
but: transfers can be 2-3 times as costly as in-vehicle time, so time savings from the trunk must outweigh added transfer time)

(btw the smaller the transport the higher the aveage cost per travelor)

Question 4

BRT - an example how hub-and-spoke principle can be integrated into urban transport

Answer 4

use dedicated bus lanes, faciliating high-frequency service on trunk routes
-> significant time savings aka cost saving

Question 5

what is important before adopting a hub-and-spoke model?

bad example?

Answer 5

make sure you face adequate infrastructure.
not like Transantiago, leading to numerous transfers, increasing passengers inconvenience

Question 6

what is the mohring effect?

positive consumption externality for every new passenger

Answer 6

positive consumption externality for every new passenger
- waiting time is inversely proportional to service frequency
- average access time inversely related to the density of routes
- > as transit demand increases -> supply increases, leading to less waiting costs
–> benefiting all passengers

Question 7

Implications of the Mohring effect

Answer 7

• economic justification for subsidizing public transport
• better planning optimal bus stop spacing and fare structures (higher fares for longer trips bc of time savings would be ok)

Question 8

Competition in Urban Public Transport

Answer 8

bus operator lack incentives to compete on fares (the higher the comp. the lower the waiting costs, leading to “switching costs”
-> competition on frequency, leading to aggressive tactics like high-speed competition, bloquear, .. –>traffic safety concerns

Question 9

possible policies to tacke congestion (of using private transport)

-> either changing the relative price or the relative time cost

Answer 9

• pricing mechanism such as
  1) congestion charge
  2) fuel taxes
  3) parking policies
• driving restricitons such as
  1) license plate restrictions
  2) vintage-specific restriction, targeting older, more polluting vehicles
  btw used extensively in latam
• public transport improvements such as
  1) subsidizing public transport
  2) investing in infrastructure to inprove speed and reliability

Question 10

are specific groups (poor/wealthy) more affected than others?

Answer 10

• congestion charge is a fee on vehicles entering congetested areas during peak hours (nurses, …?) while license plate restrictions suppress trips randomly
• but license plate restrictions stimulate people to buy additional cars (those who can!), mostly cheaper one, that are more polluting

Question 11

how about combining aproaches like in Bogotá and Cali?

referred as “taking-turns”

Answer 11

pre-existing driving restrictions but introducting exemption fees (functioning as congestion charge)