IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v9y2002i1p41-57.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How large is the gap between present and efficient transport prices in Europe?

Author

Listed:
  • Proost, S.
  • Van Dender, K.
  • Courcelle, C.
  • De Borger, B.
  • Peirson, J.
  • Sharp, D.
  • Vickerman, R.
  • Gibbons, E.
  • O'Mahony, M.
  • Heaney, Q.
  • Van den Bergh, J.
  • Verhoef, E.

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the gap between present transport prices and efficient transport prices. Efficient transport prices are those prices that maximise economic welfare, including external costs (congestion, air pollution, accidents). The methodology is applied to six urban and interregional case studies using one common optimal pricing model. The case studies cover passenger as well as freight transport and cover all modes. We find that prices need to be raised most for peak urban passenger car transport and to a lesser extent for interregional road transport. Optimal pricing results for public transport are more mixed. We show that current external costs on congested roads are a bad guide for optimal taxes and tolls: the optimal toll that takes into account the reaction of demand is often less than one third of the present marginal external cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Proost, S. & Van Dender, K. & Courcelle, C. & De Borger, B. & Peirson, J. & Sharp, D. & Vickerman, R. & Gibbons, E. & O'Mahony, M. & Heaney, Q. & Van den Bergh, J. & Verhoef, E., 2002. "How large is the gap between present and efficient transport prices in Europe?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 41-57, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:9:y:2002:i:1:p:41-57
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967-070X(01)00029-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Glaister, Stephen & Lewis, Davis, 1978. "An integrated fares policy for transport in London," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 341-355, June.
    3. repec:bla:econom:v:67:y:2000:i:265:p:101-21 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Edward Calthrop & Stef Proost & Kurt van Dender, 2000. "Parking Policies and Road Pricing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(1), pages 63-76, January.
    5. Small, Kenneth A., 1983. "The incidence of congestion tolls on urban highways," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 90-111, January.
    6. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2001. "The welfare impacts of alternative policies to address atmospheric pollution in urban road transport," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 383-411, July.
    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. De Borger, Bruno & Van Dender, Kurt, 2003. "Transport tax reform, commuting, and endogenous values of time," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 510-530, May.
    2. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2004. "7. Marginal Social Cost Pricing For All Transport Modes And The Effects Of Modal Budget Constraints," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 159-177, January.
    3. De Borger, Bruno & Wouters, Sandra, 1998. "Transport externalities and optimal pricing and supply decisions in urban transportation: a simulation analysis for Belgium," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 163-197, March.
    4. De Borger, Bruno & Courcelle, Christophe & Swysen, Didier, 2004. "Optimal pricing of transport externalities in an international environment: some empirical results based on a numerical optimization model," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 163-201, March.
    5. Sen, Akshaya Kumar & Tiwari, Geetam & Upadhyay, Vrajaindra, 2010. "Estimating marginal external costs of transport in Delhi," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 27-37, January.
    6. Parry, I. W. H., 2002. "Comparing the efficiency of alternative policies for reducing traffic congestion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 333-362, September.
    7. Romeo Danielis & Edoardo Marcucci, 1999. "Bottleneck Congestion and Modal Split Revisited," Working Papers 1999.5, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    8. 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.
    9. Bull, Owen & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Silva, Hugo E., 2021. "The impact of fare-free public transport on travel behavior: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Tirachini, Alejandro & Proost, Stef, 2021. "Transport taxes and subsidies in developing countries: The effect of income inequality aversion," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    11. Hauch, Jens & Pilegaard, Ninette & Bjørner, Thomas Bue, 2007. "Danish Transport Regulation and Labour Market Effects," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2007(1), pages 215-236.
    12. Proost, Stef & Dender, Kurt Van, 2008. "Optimal urban transport pricing in the presence of congestion, economies of density and costly public funds," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1220-1230, November.
    13. Inge Mayeres, 1999. "The Distributional Impacts of Policies for the Control of Transport Externalities.An Applied General Equilibrium Model," Working Papers 1999.8, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    14. Hansen, Kristian Schultz & Enemark, Ulrika & Foldspang, Anders, 2007. "Indkomst og dødelighed i en dansk befolkningsstikprøve," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2007(1), pages 241-264.
    15. Jara-Díaz, Sergio & Fielbaum, Andrés & Gschwender, Antonio, 2020. "Strategies for transit fleet design considering peak and off-peak periods using the single-line model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1-18.
    16. Monchambert, Guillaume & de Palma, André, 2014. "Public transport reliability and commuter strategy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 14-29.
    17. De Borger, Bruno, 2001. "Discrete choice models and optimal two-part tariffs in the presence of externalities: optimal taxation of cars," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 471-504, July.
    18. 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.
    19. Socorro, M. Pilar & Betancor, Ofelia, 2011. "Optimality of environmental policies in air transport markets and changes in the schedule delay: A theoretical approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 850-860, November.
    20. Joana Cavadas & António Pais Antunes, 2019. "An optimization model for integrated transit-parking policy planning," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1867-1891, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • 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

    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:trapol:v:9:y:2002:i:1:p:41-57. 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.