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JUE insight: Ticket to paradise? The effect of a public transport subsidy on air quality

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  • Gohl, Niklas
  • Schrauth, Philipp

Abstract

This paper provides novel evidence on the impact of public transport subsidies on air pollution. We obtain causal estimates by leveraging a unique policy intervention in Germany that temporarily reduced nationwide prices for regional public transport to a monthly flat rate price of 9 Euros. Using DiD estimation strategies on air pollutant data, we show that this intervention causally reduced a benchmark air pollution index by more than eight percent and, after its termination, increased again. Our results illustrate that public transport subsidies – especially in the context of spatially constrained cities – offer a viable alternative for policymakers and city planers to improve air quality, which has been shown to crucially affect health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Gohl, Niklas & Schrauth, Philipp, 2024. "JUE insight: Ticket to paradise? The effect of a public transport subsidy on air quality," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:142:y:2024:i:c:s0094119024000135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2024.103643
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mario Liebensteiner & Jakob Losert & Sarah Necker & Florian Neumeier & Jörg Paetzold & Sebastian Wichert, 2024. "Almost Fare Free: Impact of a Cheap Public Transport Ticket on Mobility Patterns and Infrastructure Quality," CESifo Working Paper Series 11229, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Air pollution; Public transport; Transport subsidies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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