Showing papers in "Transportation Research Part D-transport and Environment in 1997"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how the built environment affects trip rates and mode choice of residents in the San Francisco Bay Area using 1990 travel diary data and land-use records obtained from the U.S. census, regional inventories, and field surveys.
Abstract: The built environment is thought to influence travel demand along three principal dimensions —density, diversity, and design. This paper tests this proposition by examining how the ‘3Ds’ affect trip rates and mode choice of residents in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using 1990 travel diary data and land-use records obtained from the U.S. census, regional inventories, and field surveys, models are estimated that relate features of the built environment to variations in vehicle miles traveled per household and mode choice, mainly for non-work trips. Factor analysis is used to linearly combine variables into the density and design dimensions of the built environment. The research finds that density, land-use diversity, and pedestrian-oriented designs generally reduce trip rates and encourage non-auto travel in statistically significant ways, though their influences appear to be fairly marginal. Elasticities between variables and factors that capture the 3Ds and various measures of travel demand are generally in the 0.06 to 0.18 range, expressed in absolute terms. Compact development was found to exert the strongest influence on personal business trips. Within-neighborhood retail shops, on the other hand, were most strongly associated with mode choice for work trips. And while a factor capturing ‘walking quality’ was only moderately related to mode choice for non-work trips, those living in neighborhoods with grid-iron street designs and restricted commercial parking were nonetheless found to average significantly less vehicle miles of travel and rely less on single-occupant vehicles for non-work trips. Overall, this research shows that the elasticities between each dimension of the built environment and travel demand are modest to moderate, though certainly not inconsequential. Thus it supports the contention of new urbanists and others that creating more compact, diverse, and pedestrian-orientated neighborhoods, in combination, can meaningfully influence how Americans travel.
3,439 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed vehicle battery storage in greatest detail, comparing three electric vehicle configurations over a range of driving requirements and electric utility demand conditions, and found that the value to the utility of tapping vehicle electrical storage exceeds the cost of the two-way hook-up and reduced vehicle battery life.
Abstract: Electric-drive vehicles, whether fueled by batteries or by liquid or gaseous fuels generating electricity on-board, will have value to electric utilities as power resources. The power capacity of the current internal combustion passenger vehicle fleet is enormous and under-utilized. In the United States, for example, the vehicle fleet has over 10 times the mechanical power of all current U.S. electrical generating plants and is idle over 95% of the day. Electric utilities could use battery vehicles as storage, or fuel cell and hybrid vehicles as generation. This paper analyzes vehicle battery storage in greatest detail, comparing three electric vehicle configurations over a range of driving requirements and electric utility demand conditions. Even when making unfavorable assumptions about the cost and lifetime of batteries, over a wide range of conditions the value to the utility of tapping vehicle electrical storage exceeds the cost of the two-way hook-up and reduced vehicle battery life. For example, even a currently-available electric vehicle, in a utility with medium value of peak power, could provide power at a net present cost to the vehicle owner of $955 and net present value to the utility of $2370. As an incentive to the vehicle owner, the utility might offer a vehicle purchase subsidy, lower electric rates, or purchase and maintenance of successive vehicle batteries. For a utility tapping vehicle power, the increased storage would provide system benefits such as reliability and lower costs, and would later facilitate large-scale integration of intermittent-renewable energy resources.
808 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a decomposition of changes in freight energy use was carried out to identify the relative contribution of activity, modal structure, and energy intensity to the rise in energy use observed in each country.
Abstract: This paper reviews trends in freight activity and energy use in 10 industrialized countries from 1973 to 1992. We review changes in modes used to carry freight and analyze changes in the role of trucks. We carry out a decomposition of changes in freight energy use to identify the relative contribution of activity, modal structure, and energy intensity to the rise in energy use observed in each country. A similar analysis is carried out for carbon emissions, one of the many environmental problems associated with freight. Our three major findings are: (1) domestic freight volumes rose, with trucks carrying most of the increment, in almost every country we studied, (2) freight energy use and associated carbon emissions increased markedly and are rising vis-a-vis those associated with passenger travel in the 10 industrialized countries studied, and (3) energy use for freight will continue to rise unless there are substantial reductions in the energy intensities of truck freight. We conclude that restraining or reducing emissions from freight will be particularly difficult because the factors that increased energy use and emissions for freight in the past are still important to raising energy use for freight. Noting that emissions from most other sectors have either fallen or grown less than freight, we discuss technologies and policies that might lead to restraint in this sector in the future.
174 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a decomposition scheme which helps to identify the magnitude and the relative effects of various factors underlying these trends in the U.S. transportation energy use and CO 2 emissions between 1970 and 1991.
Abstract: Over the last two decades the contribution of transportation to total energy use and CO 2 emissions in the U.S.A. increased in absolute and relative terms. This paper develops a decomposition scheme which helps to identify the magnitude and the relative effects of the various factors underlying these trends in the U.S. transportation energy use and CO 2 emissions between 1970 and 1991. This decomposition scheme has the advantages of simplicity, exhaustiveness, lucidity of interpretation, and intuitive appeal. Its application to U.S. transportation data reveals that the growth in people's propensity to travel, population, and gross domestic product (GDP) were the three most important factors driving up U.S. transportation energy use and CO 2 emissions in the 1970–1991 period. The effects of changes in modal structure were smaller, but not trivial. The actual increases of U.S. transportation energy use and CO 2 emissions were substantially less than the sum of the effects of the above four factors due to improvements in transportation energy efficiency and decreases in the transportation intensity of GDP. Increases in U.S. transportation energy use and CO 2 emissions resulted from developments in freight transportation rather than from passenger transportation in the 1970–1991 period.
130 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the impacts of commuting efficiency on congestion and automobile emissions in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area and concluded that significant reductions in congestion and car emissions are possible by advocating policies that encourage greater commuting efficiency in the locational choices of workers.
Abstract: This study uses IMULATE (Integrated Model of Urban LAnd use, Transportation, energy and Emissions) to examine the impacts of commuting efficiency on congestion and automobile emissions—specifically, non-methane hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides—in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Estimates of these externalities are compared for two commuting scenarios: a base scenario of estimated commuting flows for 1991 and an optimal scenario in which the mean commuting time for all workers is minimized. The findings indicate that significant reductions in congestion and automobile emissions are possible by advocating policies that encourage greater commuting efficiency in the locational choices of workers. The analysis of jobs–housing balance as one such means suggests that a considerable proportion of commuting cannot be explained by geographical imbalances in the distributions of jobs and housing, and that workers consider many factors besides commuting costs in their locational choices. It is concluded that policies promoting jobs–housing balance as the principal strategy for facilitating more efficient commuting may not meet the expectations of policy-makers.
119 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors derived the optimal road-charges with respect to congestion, emissions, and the corresponding excessive fuel consumption and emissions due to the congestion, and showed that a road user should then pay a charge corresponding not only to its own emissions, but also to the increased emission and fuel consumption of other road users.
Abstract: In this paper, optimal road-charges are derived with respect to congestion, emissions, and the corresponding excessive fuel consumption and emissions due to the congestion. It is shown that a road-user should then pay a charge corresponding not only to its own emissions, but also to the increased emission and fuel consumption of other road-users. It is demonstrated in a numerical example that these ‘system effects’ may be significant. Furthermore, a new flexible speed-flow relationship is introduced which incorporates the linear speed-flow relationship as well as the linear speed-density relationship (for different parameter values). The optimal pure congestion charge is then expressed solely by the equivalent congestion factor, the average vale of time, the actual speed, and the speed at which the maximum flow occurs.
84 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a wide gap between the assumptions which underlie policy measures and the manner in which individual users perceive and, consequently, respond to policy measures is suggested, which can partially be explained by the fact that the set of alternative responses to growing congestion is wider and somewhat different from that assumed by policy-makers.
Abstract: With congestion being a major social and environmental cost of urban and metropolitan transportation, it has become a major target for policy-makers and planners. However, policies to curb congestion have had little effect. It is suggested that there is a wide gap between the assumptions which underlie policy measures and the manner in which individual users perceive and, consequently, respond to policy measures. This gap can partially be explained by the fact that the set of alternative responses to growing congestion is wider and somewhat different from that assumed by policy-makers. Moreover, the distributional impacts of various responses are such that their benefits and costs, as perceived by the user, create barriers to adoption. The dynamics of the behavioral response are also often overlooked by policy-makers, resulting in the promulgation of measures which have little or not effect on users’ behavior. This paper reviews 16 possible behavioral responses from a coping strategy perspective, and emphasizes their distributional impacts. Finally, the paper analyzes some of the implications of the gap between policy-making and user response.
83 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the efficiency of alternative pricing and regulatory instruments to internalize externalities in transportation is analyzed and optimisation models are used to compute the best transport equilibria for given sets of policy instruments.
Abstract: This paper analyses the efficiency of alternative pricing and regulatory instruments to internalise externalities in transportation. Optimisation models are used to compute the best transport equilibria for given sets of policy instruments. The case study covers urban and non-urban transport and the different modes of passenger and freight transport.
49 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the cost of air pollution from aviation at Lyon-Satolas airport for 1987, 1990, 1994, and 2015 is estimated by linking environmental assessment techniques that yield an emissions inventory for aircraft operations with economic cost evaluations of pollution from ground-based sources in Lyon.
Abstract: The cost of air pollution from aviation at Lyon-Satolas airport for 1987, 1990, 1994, and 2015 is estimated by linking environmental assessment techniques that yield an emissions inventory for aircraft operations with economic cost evaluations of air pollution from ground based sources in Lyon (e.g. road transport, industry, and agriculture). To highlight both the uncertainty that exists regarding the economic assessment of damages from air pollution's effects and the variation in ‘willingness to pay’ for environmentally sustainable transportation, estimates are expressed as a range covering four possible scenarios. These scenarios differ along two parameters: rural vs urban impact of pollution and minimal vs potential preferences for environmental protection in a particular jurisdiction. Such an approach produces a range of estimates that could be applied to virtually any airport, thus allowing public officials not only in Lyon, but also elsewhere, to factor the approximation of environmental costs that they judge to be most appropriate into airport planning and aviation policy development.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the relative effectiveness of alternative policy instruments available to counteract the many adverse environmental consequences of the transport sector is compared with regulatory instruments, in particular economic instruments based on the price mechanism.
Abstract: This paper considers the relative effectiveness of alternative policy instruments available to counteract the many adverse environmental consequences of the transport sector. In particular economic instruments based on the price mechanism are compared with regulatory instruments. We contrast the effects of the instruments on a number of transport indicators (car ownership, kilometres travelled by car, kilometres travelled by public transport and fuel consumption), and on the levels of environmental disbenefit. These impacts are then assessed against the feasibilities of the policies, to give an indication of the relative effectiveness of different instruments in achieving different environmental policy objectives.
35 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the extent to which the implementation of a pedestrianization scheme in Chester (a medium-sized historic city situated in northwest England) can influence the total vehicle exhaust emissions and local levels of air pollution concentration and noise from traffic.
Abstract: Road transport is by far the major source of environmental degradation in urban centres. Hence, transport schemes like pedestrianization can have significant impacts on local environmental conditions, by provoking changes in the characteristics of traffic flows and on the patterns of traffic emissions. This paper analyses the extent to which the implementation of a pedestrianization scheme in Chester (a medium-sized historic city situated in northwest England) can influence the total vehicle exhaust emissions and local levels of air pollution concentration and noise from traffic. The analysis is based on the application of a road traffic assignment model in conjunction with models for the estimation of environmental degradation. This approach provides decision-makers with valuable information about the environmental implications from changes in the characteristics of the transport system.
TL;DR: The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) requires that fleet operators throughout the country begin purchasing alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), and Congress also established an AFV credit program, which uses market forces to provide flexibility to regulated entities.
Abstract: The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) requires that fleet operators throughout the country begin purchasing alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). In EPACT, Congress also established an AFV credit program, which uses market forces to provide flexibility to regulated entities. Under the credit program, regulated fleet operators can obtain credits for purchasing more AFVs than required; fleet operators can then sell these credits to other fleet operators who choose to purchase fewer AFVs than required. Because of network effects inherent in AFV markets, the credit program may allow AFVs to ‘cluster’ about urban hubs. This paper explores future AFV market development in light of the AFV credit program and the network effects of the AFV market.
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-regression assessment of hedonic price models is used to assess the social benefits and costs of airport investment and the authors suggest that caution should be exercised in conduction benefit transfers.
Abstract: Benefit cost analysis in a variety of guises has established itself as a useful tool in public policy-making. It is an approach widely adopted in appraising a wide range of infrastructure investments and has been regularly used in legal proceedings. In the context of this study, it forms a common procedure for assisting in the assessment of the social benefits and costs of airport investment. It is not, however, a technique without its limitations. Beside a range of technical concerns, conducting a comprehensive benefit cost analysis can be resource-intensive and time-consuming. Recently, there have been efforts to make its application more efficient by adopting benefit transfer procedures. This involves making use of findings from one study as inputs into other policy-making activities. While applying secondary data to a new policy issue has a long pedigree, new areas of application involve taking non-market valuations of externalities from one study and transferring them to a different policy site. This paper looks at some of the limitations of employing benefit transfers and uses noise nuisance aspect of airport investment policy appraisal as an illustrative case. Based upon a meta-regression assessment of hedonic price models, the findings suggest that caution should be exercised in conduction benefit transfers.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the historic data related to vessel accidents over a period of several years, focusing on the distribution of sizes of the oil spills that have occurred during these accidents.
Abstract: In addition to the traditional activities such as fishing and transportation, a steady growth in world trade, recreation, and exploration of underwater resources has caused a rapid growth in vessel traffic for several decades. This has increased the potential risk of marine casualties involving loss of life and damage to vessels, cargo, navigational aids, and structures (e.g. bridges). Various Asian, European, and North American countries have enacted a wide array of safety measures to reduce the casualties. For instance, the U.S. Coast Guard requires all incoming vessels to have a local pilot on board, have an officer on the bridge, and that the vessel operator should establish radio communications with the Coast Guard after getting on board. In addition, traffic separation lanes and convergence points have been established to improve traffic flow. Navigational aids assist the vessel operators by sensing oncoming traffic hazards such as bridges and shallow waters. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers keeps ship channels open by regularly dredging waterways that are used for commercial traffic. In many countries, offshore deep water ports similar to the loop in New Orleans, Louisiana, have been constructed to reduce traffic near shallow and congested ports. In spite of all these safety measures, accidents do happen. In this paper, we study the historic data related to the vessel accidents over a period of several years. In particular, we focus on the distribution of sizes of the oil spills that have occurred during these accidents. The sizes of the oil spills are ranked from largest to smallest. The regression analysis showed a strong linear relationship between the natural logarithm of size of casualty and the natural logarithm of its rank. The regression coefficients may indicate the ‘degree of damage’ in a particular year or for a specific geographic region under investigation. It could be argued that they could be used to assess an aggregated impact of the implemented safety measures.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined some important methodological issues involved in calculating the cost-effectiveness of mobile source control measures and proposed appropriate methods for calculating cost effectiveness, such as using user costs or societal costs, using costs at the manufacturer or the consumer level, determining baseline emissions, using emission reductions in nonattainment or in both non-attainment and attainment areas, using annual or pollution-season emission reductions, considering multiple-pollutant emission reductions and applying emission discounting.
Abstract: Government agencies and private organizations often use cost-effectiveness, calculated in dollars per ton of emissions reduced for various control measures, to determine which control measures should be implemented to meet emission reduction requirements. Different studies may, however, yield significantly different, sometimes contradicting, results for the same control measures. The results differ because of the various calculation methodologies used and assumptions made about the values of costs and emission reductions. This paper examines some important methodological issues involved in calculating the cost-effectiveness of mobile source control measures and proposes appropriate methods for calculating cost-effectiveness. Included are such issues as using user costs or societal costs, using costs at the manufacturer or the consumer level, determining baseline emissions, using emission reductions in nonattainment or in both nonattainment and attainment areas, using annual or pollution-season emission reductions, considering multiple-pollutant emission reductions, and applying emission discounting. This paper then reviews methodologies used in 11 studies recently completed in the United States on the cost effectiveness of mobile source control measures. On the basis of the methods proposed here for addressing the above issues, the original estimates in each study are modified to correct inconsistent or inappropriate methods so that the studies are comparable. From the adjusted results, the paper presents relative cost-effectiveness of 19 mobile source emission control measures.
Abstract: Environmental issues have received a prominent place in transport policies of most European countries. The coordination of such policies however, is fraught with many difficulties. The increasing freight flows after the European integration are a source of concern, but have not yet led to straightforward and effective environmental strategies. The paper focuses on the Trans Alpine freight transport systems in the light of the future integration of single national transport systems into the European transport network. The environmental, social and institutional peculiarities of this ‘region’ have favoured—in the past—the development of strong nationally-oriented policies, partly in contrast with the goals promoted by the European Union. The present analysis aims to highlight opportunities, and limits inherent, in the implementation of various infrastructure projects oriented towards a drastic change of the Alpine transport systems structure. The Alpine countries, viz. Austria and Switzerland, play a central role in the promotion of environmental benign modes of transport of goods, with a clear focus on rail. The route choice and modal split of freight flows in Europe are taking place simultaneously. In this paper the results of European freight flow models (based on logit analysis and neural networks) will be presented. An important exercise is then to assess the consequences of various types of eco-taxes on road transport in Europe. In this context, several policy scenarios will be dealt with.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the relationship between increasing needs for environmental regulation and the privatisation of bus and rail services and concluded that privatisation and deregulation does not mean the end of the need for policy mechanisms, but they do mean that policy has to be implemented in a very different way.
Abstract: In recent years, a growing awareness of the environmental impacts of transport has played a major part in the shift towards policies to manage the demand for travel. As a result, a substantial increase in the role of public transport has been identified as necessary in any strategy towards more environmentally sustainable transport patterns. At the same time there has been a quite separate process of deregulation and the withdrawal of the state from the transport market. These two trends appear to represent potentially contradictory processes. This article draws upon two major studies that explore the relationship between increasing needs for environmental regulation and the privatisation of bus and rail services. It is shown that, as currently organised in Britain, the development of bus and rail services are inadequately linked to strategic environmental policymaking and, rather than being part of the solution to transport’s environmental impacts, there is a real danger that these ‘green’ methods of transport could slide into simply being part of the problem itself. It is concluded that privatisation and deregulation does not mean the end of the need for policy mechanisms, but they do mean that policy has to be implemented in a very different way.
TL;DR: A feasibility analysis for this type of vehicle based on data from the Brazilian experience is presented, followed by a report on the public perception of the Compressed Natural Gas bus operation as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper was to assess the viability of the utilization of Compressed Natural Gas buses in urban areas. A large Compressed Natural Gas experiment has taken place in Brazil, where a fleet of 150 buses has been operating in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Other cities in that country are also testing the feasibility of this type of operation. A feasibility analysis for this type of vehicle based on data from the Brazilian experience is presented, followed by a report on the public perception of the Compressed Natural Gas bus operation. This is based on an in-depth questionnaire survey carried out in the period October to December 1993. Some brief comparisons are also made with the framework for Compressed Natural Gas bus operation in Great Britain.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a compromise between normal queueing operations and the alternative of park and walk, and demonstrate that parking and walking can achieve the same environmental benefits as queueing.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a compromise between normal queueing operations and the alternative of park and walk. It is important to observe that many queues for services we use during our daily lives waste no resource other than time. This is inconvenient, but standing in line at a supermarket checkout is not an environmental problem. However, traffic queues have an important feature which lies at the heart of the ideas presented in this paper, which is that car engines typically keep running even if the vehicle is stationary. A traffic queue therefore wastes fuel and produces pollution but yields no appreciable benefit for consuming these resources.