IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v67y2018icp85-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The potential of road pricing schemes to reduce carbon emissions

Author

Listed:
  • Cavallaro, Federico
  • Giaretta, Federico
  • Nocera, Silvio

Abstract

Road pricing is a transport measure mainly conceived to fund road management, to regulate the demand for traffic and to reduce the number of private vehicles circulating in urban areas. It can also grant benefits in terms of environmental externalities including the reduction of CO2 emissions, which has recently become one of the most important elements defining the sustainability of a transport system. However, the carbon potential granted by road charging is rarely assessed economically, thus confirming a sort of secondary role attributed to CO2 in urban premises. This paper provides an accurate analysis of the relationship between the different forms of road pricing (distance-based, congestion-based and pay-as-you-drive) and their effective role in terms of carbon reduction, which in some contexts is significant, accounting for an overall percentage higher than 10%. Furthermore, practical suggestions to policy makers in terms of implementation of the measure are discussed, highlighting the precautions necessary to include a fair carbon evaluation into an overall effective analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Cavallaro, Federico & Giaretta, Federico & Nocera, Silvio, 2018. "The potential of road pricing schemes to reduce carbon emissions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 85-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:85-92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2017.03.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X16304061
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2017.03.006?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Georgina Santos & Gordon Fraser, 2006. "Road pricing: lessons from London [‘The impact of congestion charging on vehicle emissions in London’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 21(46), pages 264-310.
    2. Kim, Junghwa & Schmöcker, Jan-Dirk & Fujii, Satoshi & Noland, Robert B., 2013. "Attitudes towards road pricing and environmental taxation among US and UK students," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 50-62.
    3. Vonk Noordegraaf, Diana & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2014. "Policy implementation lessons from six road pricing cases," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 172-191.
    4. Newbery, David M, 1990. "Pricing and Congestion: Economic Principles Relevant to Pricing Roads," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 6(2), pages 22-38, Summer.
    5. Coria, Jessica & Bonilla, Jorge & Grundström, Maria & Pleijel, Håkan, 2015. "Air pollution dynamics and the need for temporally differentiated road pricing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 178-195.
    6. Kevin Washbrook & Wolfgang Haider & Mark Jaccard, 2006. "Estimating commuter mode choice: A discrete choice analysis of the impact of road pricing and parking charges," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(6), pages 621-639, November.
    7. Small, Kenneth A., 2001. "The Value of Pricing," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt0rm449sx, University of California Transportation Center.
    8. Small, Kenneth A. & Yan, Jia, 2001. "The Value of "Value Pricing" of Roads: Second-Best Pricing and Product Differentiation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 310-336, March.
    9. Hensher, David A. & Bliemer, Michiel C.J., 2014. "What type of road pricing scheme might appeal to politicians? Viewpoints on the challenge in gaining the citizen and public servant vote by staging reform," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 227-237.
    10. Jeppe Rich & Otto Anker Nielsen, 2008. "External Effects and Road Charging," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Chris Jensen-Butler & Birgitte Sloth & Morten Marott Larsen & Bjarne Madsen & Otto Anker Nielsen (ed.), Road Pricing, the Economy and the Environment, chapter 13, pages 267-276, Springer.
    11. Nocera, Silvio & Tonin, Stefania & Cavallaro, Federico, 2015. "Carbon estimation and urban mobility plans: Opportunities in a context of austerity," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 71-82.
    12. Francke, Angela & Kaniok, Denise, 2013. "Responses to differentiated road pricing schemes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 25-30.
    13. Gibson, Matthew & Carnovale, Maria, 2015. "The effects of road pricing on driver behavior and air pollution," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 62-73.
    14. Cristina Pronello & Valentina Rappazzo, 2014. "Road pricing: How people perceive a hypothetical introduction. The case of Lyon," Post-Print halshs-01084028, HAL.
    15. Alam, Md. Saniul & McNabola, Aonghus, 2014. "A critical review and assessment of Eco-Driving policy & technology: Benefits & limitations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 42-49.
    16. Rotaris, Lucia & Danielis, Romeo & Marcucci, Edoardo & Massiani, Jérôme, 2010. "The urban road pricing scheme to curb pollution in Milan, Italy: Description, impacts and preliminary cost-benefit analysis assessment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 359-375, June.
    17. Nocera, Silvio & Cavallaro, Federico, 2016. "The competitiveness of alternative transport fuels for CO2 emissions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-14.
    18. Yang, Hai & Bell, Michael G. H., 1997. "Traffic restraint, road pricing and network equilibrium," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 303-314, August.
    19. Hickman, Robin & Banister, David, 2007. "Looking over the horizon: Transport and reduced CO2 emissions in the UK by 2030," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 377-387, September.
    20. Alex Anas & Robin Lindsey, 2011. "Reducing Urban Road Transportation Externalities: Road Pricing in Theory and in Practice," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 66-88, Winter.
    21. Pronello, Cristina & Rappazzo, Valentina, 2014. "Road pricing: How people perceive a hypothetical introduction. The case of Lyon," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 192-205.
    22. Nocera, Silvio & Tonin, Stefania & Cavallaro, Federico, 2015. "The economic impact of greenhouse gas abatement through a meta-analysis: Valuation, consequences and implications in terms of transport policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 31-43.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pablo González-Aliste & Iván Derpich & Mario López, 2023. "Reducing Urban Traffic Congestion via Charging Price," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    2. Zong, Fang & Li, Yu-Xuan & Zeng, Meng, 2023. "Developing a carbon emission charging scheme considering mobility as a service," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    3. Inturri, Giuseppe & Giuffrida, Nadia & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Le Pira, Michela & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & D'Angelo, Riccardo, 2021. "Taxi vs. demand responsive shared transport systems: An agent-based simulation approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 116-126.
    4. Thi Ngoc Nguyen & Felix Muesgens, 2024. "Fuel tax loss in a world of electric mobility: A window of opportunity for congestion pricing," Papers 2409.20033, arXiv.org.
    5. Chang, Chia-Lin & Mai, Te-Ke & McAleer, Michael, 2019. "Establishing national carbon emission prices for China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-16.
    6. Logan, Kathryn G. & Nelson, John D. & Brand, Christian & Hastings, Astley, 2021. "Phasing in electric vehicles: Does policy focusing on operating emission achieve net zero emissions reduction objectives?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 100-114.
    7. Stefan Bakker & Gary Haq & Karl Peet & Sudhir Gota & Nikola Medimorec & Alice Yiu & Gail Jennings & John Rogers, 2019. "Low-Carbon Quick Wins: Integrating Short-Term Sustainable Transport Options in Climate Policy in Low-Income Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Lehua Bi & Shaorui Zhou & Jianjie Ke & Xiaoming Song, 2023. "Knowledge-Mapping Analysis of Urban Sustainable Transportation Using CiteSpace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-29, January.
    9. Griffiths, S. & Furszyfer Del Rio, D. & Sovacool, B., 2021. "Policy mixes to achieve sustainable mobility after the COVID-19 crisis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    10. David A. Hensher & Edward Wei & Wen Liu & Loan Ho & Chinh Ho, 2023. "Development of a practical aggregate spatial road freight modal demand model system for truck and commodity movements with an application of a distance-based charging regime," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 1031-1071, June.
    11. Basu, Rounaq & Ferreira, Joseph, 2021. "Sustainable mobility in auto-dominated Metro Boston: Challenges and opportunities post-COVID-19," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 197-210.
    12. Xue Wang & Suwei Feng & Tianyi Tang, 2023. "Acceptability toward Policy Mix: Impact of Low-Carbon Travel Intention, Fairness, and Effectiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-22, October.
    13. Plötz, Patrick & Wachsmuth, Jakob & Sprei, Frances & Gnann, Till & Speth, Daniel & Neuner, Felix & Link, Steffen, 2023. "Greenhouse gas emission budgets and policies for zero-carbon road transport in Europe," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S02/2023, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    14. Lichtin, Florian & Smith, E. Keith & Axhausen, Kay W. & Bernauer, Thomas, 2024. "How to design publicly acceptable road pricing? Experimental insights from Switzerland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    15. Tan, Yu & Sun, Zhanbo & Zhu, Baichuan & Qin, Ziye & Zhao, Yu & Wang, Xuting, 2024. "Minimize population exposure to vehicle-generated emissions by road pricing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 15-30.
    16. Wei Dai & Xuefang Zhang & Chaohui Xu, 2022. "The Impacts of Fiscal Subsidies on the Carbon Emissions of Mining Enterprises: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, December.
    17. Katrien De Langhe & Hilde Meersman & Christa Sys & Eddy Van de Voorde & Thierry Vanelslander, 2019. "How to make urban freight transport by tram successful?," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-23, December.
    18. Alfonso Orro & Margarita Novales & Ángel Monteagudo & José-Benito Pérez-López & Miguel R. Bugarín, 2020. "Impact on City Bus Transit Services of the COVID–19 Lockdown and Return to the New Normal: The Case of A Coruña (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-30, September.
    19. Mariano Gallo & Mario Marinelli, 2020. "Sustainable Mobility: A Review of Possible Actions and Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-39, September.
    20. Fafoutellis, Panagiotis & Mantouka, Eleni G. & Vlahogianni, Eleni I., 2022. "Acceptance of a Pay-How-You-Drive pricing scheme for city traffic: The case of Athens," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 270-284.
    21. Jean-Philippe Meloche, 2019. "Towards a New Era in Road Pricing? Lessons from the Experience of First Movers," CIRANO Working Papers 2019s-35, CIRANO.
    22. Vidyattama, Yogi & Tanton, Robert & Nakanishi, Hitomi, 2021. "Investigating Australian households’ vehicle ownership and its relationship with emission tax policy options," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 196-205.
    23. Axsen, Jonn & Wolinetz, Michael, 2021. "Taxes, tolls and ZEV zones for climate: Synthesizing insights on effectiveness, efficiency, equity, acceptability and implementation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).

    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. De Vos, Jonas, 2016. "Road pricing in a polycentric urban region: Analysing a pilot project in Belgium," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 134-142.
    2. Krabbenborg, Lizet & Molin, Eric & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2020. "Public frames in the road pricing debate: A Q-methodology study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 46-53.
    3. Zhang, Wenjia & Liu, Chengcheng & Zhang, Hongmou, 2023. "Public acceptance of congestion pricing policies in Beijing: The roles of neighborhood built environment and air pollution perception," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 106-120.
    4. M. Rouhani, Omid, 2014. "Road pricing: An overview," MPRA Paper 59662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bernardo, Valeria & Fageda, Xavier & Flores-Fillol, Ricardo, 2021. "Pollution and congestion in urban areas: The effects of low emission zones," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 26.
    6. Grisolía, José M. & López, Francisco & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2015. "Increasing the acceptability of a congestion charging scheme," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 37-47.
    7. Omid M. Rouhani, 2016. "Next Generations of Road Pricing: Social Welfare Enhancing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, March.
    8. Jean-Philippe Meloche, 2019. "Towards a New Era in Road Pricing? Lessons from the Experience of First Movers," CIRANO Working Papers 2019s-35, CIRANO.
    9. Pablo González-Aliste & Iván Derpich & Mario López, 2023. "Reducing Urban Traffic Congestion via Charging Price," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    10. Ian W.H. Parry, 2009. "Pricing Urban Congestion," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 461-484, September.
    11. Jonathan Leape, 2006. "The London Congestion Charge," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 157-176, Fall.
    12. Lindsey, Robin & Santos, Georgina, 2020. "Addressing transportation and environmental externalities with economics: Are policy makers listening?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    13. Edoardo Croci & Aldo Ravazzi Douvan, 2016. "Urban Road Pricing: A Comparative Study on the Experiences of London, Stockholm and Milan," IEFE Working Papers 85, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    14. Zhong, Shaopeng & Bushell, Max, 2017. "Impact of the built environment on the vehicle emission effects of road pricing policies: A simulation case study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 235-249.
    15. Button, Kenneth, 2004. "1. The Rationale For Road Pricing: Standard Theory And Latest Advances," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 3-25, January.
    16. Coria, Jessica & Bonilla, Jorge & Grundström, Maria & Pleijel, Håkan, 2015. "Air pollution dynamics and the need for temporally differentiated road pricing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 178-195.
    17. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    18. Vosough, Shaghayegh & de Palma, André & Lindsey, Robin, 2022. "Pricing vehicle emissions and congestion externalities using a dynamic traffic network simulator," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1-24.
    19. Vandyck, Toon & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2018. "Regional labor markets, commuting, and the economic impact of road pricing," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 217-236.
    20. Fageda, Xavier & Flores-Fillol, Ricardo & Theilen, Bernd, 2022. "Price versus quantity measures to deal with pollution and congestion in urban areas: A political economy approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

    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:trapol:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:85-92. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    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.