Abstract

Public transit accounts for only 1% of U.S. passenger miles traveled but nevertheless attracts strong public support. Using a simple choice model, we predict that transit riders are likely to be individuals who commute along routes with the most severe roadway delays. These individuals' choices thus have very high marginal impacts on congestion. We test this prediction with data from a sudden strike in 2003 by Los Angeles transit workers. Estimating a regression discontinuity design, we find that average highway delay increases 47% when transit service ceases. This effect is consistent with our model's predictions and many times larger than earlier estimates, which have generally concluded that public transit provides minimal congestion relief. We find that the net benefits of transit systems appear to be much larger than previously believed.

Abstract

The priorities assessment for the planned construction of high-speed rail/HSR in the Czech Republic in terms of impacts on internal and external integration is a though-provoking topic not only from the technical and economic, but also from the social and geographical point of view. Its primary basis is the application of the gravity model, according to which the planned route C Prague-Wien has the most significant potential in passenger transport. Then following routes are A Prague-Berlin, B Prague-München, and D Brno-Katowice. Subsequently, the likely impacts generated by a significant improvement in the quality parameters and hence the competitive position of rail transport were assessed, including the potential for shifting part of the demand from the road and air transport to HSR. Overall, however, it can be stated that the potential impacts of the HSR on the growth of passenger transport in the Czech Republic will not be essential. To perceive the regional impacts of HSR construction, analyses of selected indicators (population density per km"jats:sup"2"/jats:sup", GDP per capita, unemployment rate) by NUTS 3 regions for the period 2007-2017 were also carried out. From the strategic point of view, the research results did not confirm that the planned construction of the HSR primarily stimulates convergence tendencies in regional development as the main priority of EU regional policy. Rather, it seems more likely that the HSR will stimulate the extraction of economic activity from “rural” regions in favour of metropolitan regions. Document type: Article