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Gas Prices and Red light Violations in Chicago

Author

Listed:
  • Srikant Devaraj

    (Center for Business and Economic Research, Miller College of Business, Ball State University)

  • Pankaj C Patel

    (Villanova School of Business, Villanova University)

Abstract

Fuel efficient speeds in the US range between 40 and 50 mph. With increasing gas prices, to maintain fuel efficient speeds, drivers reduce speeds on highways. However, as most urban driving is below 50 mph, a reverse is possible – drivers could increase speeds to increase fuel efficiency. We use the context of running a red light as a decision to speed, a context not driven by lower congestion resulting from higher gas prices. For $1 increase in price of gas per gallon, number of red-light violations in Chicago increased by 5.95 percent. The findings are robust to controlling for daily congestion levels in Chicago.

Suggested Citation

  • Srikant Devaraj & Pankaj C Patel, 2016. "Gas Prices and Red light Violations in Chicago," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1844-1853.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-16-00487
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    traffic safety; gas prices; red light violations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics

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