IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juecon/v101y2017icp106-122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The economics of crowding in rail transit

Author

Listed:
  • de Palma, André
  • Lindsey, Robin
  • Monchambert, Guillaume

Abstract

We model trip-timing decisions of rail transit users who trade off crowding costs and disutility from traveling early or late. With no fare or a uniform fare, ridership is too concentrated on timely trains. Marginal-cost-pricing calls for time-dependent fares that smooth train loads and generate more revenue than an optimal uniform fare. The welfare gains from time-dependent fares are unlikely to increase as ridership grows. However, imposing time-dependent fares raises the benefits of expanding capacity by either adding trains or increasing train capacity. We illustrate these results by calibrating the model to the Paris RER A transit system.

Suggested Citation

  • de Palma, André & Lindsey, Robin & Monchambert, Guillaume, 2017. "The economics of crowding in rail transit," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 106-122.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:101:y:2017:i:c:p:106-122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2017.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119017300566
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jue.2017.06.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohring, Herbert, 1972. "Optimization and Scale Economies in Urban Bus Transportation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 591-604, September.
    2. Ian W. H. Parry & Kenneth A. Small, 2009. "Should Urban Transit Subsidies Be Reduced?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 700-724, June.
    3. Michael L. Anderson, 2014. "Subways, Strikes, and Slowdowns: The Impacts of Public Transit on Traffic Congestion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(9), pages 2763-2796, September.
    4. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2011. "The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2616-2652, October.
    5. Kraus, Marvin, 2003. "A new look at the two-mode problem," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 511-530, November.
    6. de Palma, André & Kilani, Moez & Proost, Stef, 2015. "Discomfort in mass transit and its implication for scheduling and pricing," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-18.
    7. Gahvari, Firouz, 2006. "On the marginal cost of public funds and the optimal provision of public goods," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 1251-1262, August.
    8. Gonzales, Eric J. & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2012. "Morning commute with competing modes and distributed demand: User equilibrium, system optimum, and pricing," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1519-1534.
    9. Verhoef, Erik & Nijkamp, Peter & Rietveld, Piet, 1996. "Second-Best Congestion Pricing: The Case of an Untolled Alternative," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 279-302, November.
    10. De Lara, Michel & de Palma, André & Kilani, Moez & Piperno, Serge, 2013. "Congestion pricing and long term urban form: Application to Paris region," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 282-295.
    11. Arnott, Richard & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 1993. "A Structural Model of Peak-Period Congestion: A Traffic Bottleneck with Elastic Demand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 161-179, March.
    12. Tian, Qiong & Huang, Hai-Jun & Yang, Hai, 2007. "Equilibrium properties of the morning peak-period commuting in a many-to-one mass transit system," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 616-631, July.
    13. Monchambert, Guillaume & de Palma, André, 2014. "Public transport reliability and commuter strategy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 14-29.
    14. Lindsey, Robin, 2012. "Road pricing and investment," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 49-63.
    15. Haywood, Luke & Koning, Martin, 2015. "The distribution of crowding costs in public transport: New evidence from Paris," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 182-201.
    16. Proost, Stef & De Borger, Bruno & Koskenoja, Pia, 2007. "Chapter 3 Public finance aspects of transport charging and investments," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-80, January.
    17. Yoshida, Yuichiro, 2008. "Commuter arrivals and optimal service in mass transit: Does queuing behavior at transit stops matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 228-251, May.
    18. Snow, Arthur & Warren, Ronald Jr., 1996. "The marginal welfare cost of public funds: Theory and estimates," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 289-305, August.
    19. William S. Vickrey, 1955. "A Proposal for Revising New York's Subway Fare Structure," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 38-68, February.
    20. Glaister, Stephen, 1974. "Generalised Consumer Surplus and Public Transport Pricing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 84(336), pages 849-867, December.
    21. Vickrey, William S, 1969. "Congestion Theory and Transport Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 251-260, May.
    22. Small, Kenneth A, 1982. "The Scheduling of Consumer Activities: Work Trips," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 467-479, June.
    23. Rothschild, Michael & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 1970. "Increasing risk: I. A definition," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 225-243, September.
    24. Prud'homme, Rémy & Koning, Martin & Lenormand, Luc & Fehr, Anne, 2012. "Public transport congestion costs: The case of the Paris subway," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 101-109.
    25. F. H. Knight, 1924. "Some Fallacies in the Interpretation of Social Cost," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 38(4), pages 582-606.
    26. Tirachini, Alejandro & Sun, Lijun & Erath, Alexander & Chakirov, Artem, 2016. "Valuation of sitting and standing in metro trains using revealed preferences," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 94-104.
    27. Kraus, Marvin & Yoshida, Yuichiro, 2002. "The Commuter's Time-of-Use Decision and Optimal Pricing and Service in Urban Mass Transit," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 170-195, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Guillaume Monchambert, 2017. "The Economics of Crowding in Public Transport," Post-Print hal-01203310, HAL.
    2. Hörcher, Daniel & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2021. "A review of public transport economics," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    3. André De Palma & Robin Lindsey & Guillaume Monchambert, 2015. "The Economics of Crowding in Public Transport," Working Papers hal-01203310, HAL.
    4. Li, Zhi-Chun & Huang, Hai-Jun & Yang, Hai, 2020. "Fifty years of the bottleneck model: A bibliometric review and future research directions," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 311-342.
    5. Button, Kenneth, 2020. "The Transition From Pigou’S Ideas On Road Pricing To Their Application," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 417-438, September.
    6. Yang, Hai & Tang, Yili, 2018. "Managing rail transit peak-hour congestion with a fare-reward scheme," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 122-136.
    7. Basso, Leonardo J. & Feres, Fernando & Silva, Hugo E., 2019. "The efficiency of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems: A dynamic congestion approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 47-71.
    8. Zhang, Junlin & Yang, Hai & Lindsey, Robin & Li, Xinwei, 2020. "Modeling and managing congested transit service with heterogeneous users under monopoly," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 249-266.
    9. Kraus, Marvin, 2012. "Road pricing with optimal mass transit," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 81-86.
    10. Wang, Wei (Walker) & Wang, David Z.W. & Zhang, Fangni & Sun, Huijun & Zhang, Wenyi & Wu, Jianjun, 2017. "Overcoming the Downs-Thomson Paradox by transit subsidy policies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 126-147.
    11. Haywood, Luke & Koning, Martin, 2015. "The distribution of crowding costs in public transport: New evidence from Paris," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 182-201.
    12. Palma, Andre de & Lindsey, Robin & Monchambert, Guillaume, 2016. "Optimal Transit Pricing with Crowding and Traffic Congestion: A Dynamic Equilibrium Analysis," 57th Transportation Research Forum (51st CTRF) Joint Conference, Toronto, Ontario, May 1-4, 2016 319276, Transportation Research Forum.
    13. Pavón, Nicolás & Rizzi, Luis Ignacio, 2019. "Road infrastructure and public bus transport service provision under different funding schemes: A simulation analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 89-105.
    14. Tang, Yili & Jiang, Yu & Yang, Hai & Nielsen, Otto Anker, 2020. "Modeling and optimizing a fare incentive strategy to manage queuing and crowding in mass transit systems," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 247-267.
    15. You-Zhi Zeng & Bin Ran & Ning Zhang & Xiaobao Yang & Jia-Jun Shen & She-Jun Deng, 2018. "Optimal Pricing and Service for the Peak-Period Bus Commuting Inefficiency of Boarding Queuing Congestion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    16. David, Quentin & Kilani, Moez, 2022. "Transport policies in polycentric cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 101-117.
    17. Beaudoin, Justin & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2018. "The effects of public transit supply on the demand for automobile travel," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 447-467.
    18. Guillaume Monchambert & Stef Proost, 2019. "How Efficient are Intercity Railway Prices and Frequencies in Europe?: Comparing a Corridor in Belgium and in France," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 53(4), pages 323-32-347.
    19. de Palma, André & Kilani, Moez & Proost, Stef, 2015. "Discomfort in mass transit and its implication for scheduling and pricing," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-18.
    20. Wang, Jing & Zhang, Xiaoning & Wang, Hua & Zhang, Michael, 2019. "Optimal parking supply in bi-modal transportation network considering transit scale economies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 207-229.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rail transit; Crowding; Pricing; Optimal capacity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:101:y:2017:i:c:p:106-122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622905 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.