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The impact of urban road pricing on the use of bike sharing

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  • Cornago, Elisabetta
  • Dimitropoulos, Alexandros
  • Oueslati, Walid

Abstract

We empirically analyse the effect of road pricing on the use of bike sharing. We exploit two sudden policy changes in Milan's congestion pricing scheme resulting in a shift from priced to unpriced road use: a temporary suspension of the scheme in 2012, and a durable reduction in its application schedule. We find that the sudden removal of road pricing decreases bike-sharing use by about 5%. The policy impact mainly occurs through the increase of road traffic congestion, which makes cycling less safe and pleasant. The reduction in the schedule leads to an 8% decline in bike-sharing use in the affected time window. Our findings indicate that policies inducing drivers to internalise the external costs of car use also promote the uptake of non-polluting transport modes. This widens the spectrum of benefits that need to be considered in the design and implementation of road pricing policies.

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  • Cornago, Elisabetta & Dimitropoulos, Alexandros & Oueslati, Walid, 2023. "The impact of urban road pricing on the use of bike sharing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:120:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623000396
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102821
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    References listed on IDEAS

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