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Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program

Author

Listed:
  • Maureen L. Cropper

    (University of Maryland and Resources for the Future)

  • Yi Jiang

    (Asian Development Bank)

  • Anna Alberini

    (University of Maryland)

  • Patrick Baur

    (National Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Ground level ozone remains a serious problem in the United States. Because ozone non-attainment is a summer problem, episodic rather than continuous controls of ozone precursors are possible. We evaluate the costs and effectiveness of an episodic scheme that requires people to buy permits in order to drive on high ozone days. We estimate the demand function for permits based on a survey of 1,300 households in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Assuming that all vehicle owners comply with the scheme, the permit program would reduce VOCs by 50 tons and NOx by 42 tons per Code Red day at a permit price of $75. Allowing for non-compliance by 15% of respondents reduces the effectiveness of the scheme to 39 tons of VOCs and 33 tons of NOx per day. The cost per ozone season of achieving these reductions is approximately $9 million (2008 USD). This compares favorably with permanent methods of reducing VOCs that cost $645 per ton per year.

Suggested Citation

  • Maureen L. Cropper & Yi Jiang & Anna Alberini & Patrick Baur, 2010. "Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program," Working Papers 2010.46, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.46
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Viard, V. Brian & Fu, Shihe, 2015. "The effect of Beijing's driving restrictions on pollution and economic activity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 98-115.
    2. Allen Blackman & Francisco Alpízar & Fredrik Carlsson & Marisol Rivera Planter, 2018. "A Contingent Valuation Approach to Estimating Regulatory Costs: Mexico’s Day without Driving Program," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(3), pages 607-641.
    3. Beaudoin, Justin & Chen, Yuan & Heres, David R. & Kheiravar, Khaled H. & Lade, Gabriel E. & Yi, Fujin & Zhang, Wei & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2018. "Environmental Policies in the Transportation Sector: Taxes, Subsidies, Mandates, Restrictions, and Investment," ISU General Staff Papers 201808150700001050, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Ola Andersson & Pol Campos‐Mercade & Fredrik Carlsson & Florian H. Schneider & Erik Wengström, 2022. "The impact of stay‐at‐home policies on individual welfare," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(2), pages 340-362, April.
    5. Caplan, Arthur J. & Acharya, Ramjee, 2019. "Optimal vehicle use in the presence of episodic mobile-source air pollution," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 185-204.
    6. Jorge A. Bonilla & Fernando Carriazo, 2018. "Assessing Social Experiments Using Apps: The Case of Car-Free Days in Bogotá," Documentos CEDE 16856, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    7. Hongyou Lu & Yunchan Zhu & Yu Qi & Jinliang Yu, 2018. "Do Urban Subway Openings Reduce PM 2.5 Concentrations? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    8. Blackman, Allen & Qin, Ping & Yang, Jun, 2020. "How costly are driving restrictions? Contingent valuation evidence from Beijing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ground-Level Ozone; Episodic Pollution Control Schemes; Mobile Sources; Volatile Organic Compounds (Vocs); Cost Per Ton of Vocs Removed;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • 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

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