Abstract

Disruption of infrastructure services can cause significant social and economic losses, particularly in the event of a natural disaster. The World Bank Group and the Government of Japan established the Quality Infrastructure Investment Partnership to focus attention on the quality dimensions of infrastructure in developing countries, with a focus on promoting disaster resilience. Moreover, to support infrastructure investment decision making for sustainable and resilient development, the World Bank and Kyoto University have operationalized key resilience concepts at the project level and developed quantitative indicators capturing key aspects of infrastructure resilience related to the road transport sector. These indicators estimate resilience, expressed as functionality loss and recovery time across four dimensions: travel time, economic benefit, provision of life-saving services, and provision of relief goods. The paper applies indicator calculations to three case studies of proposed bypass roads in Japan and provides an example comparison of calculated indicators across the three projects for each resilience dimension. Further piloting of the approach will help refine the indicators, test their relative utility in decision making, and offer a better understanding of the data and analytical demands. Document type: Book

Abstract

The authors construct a new measure of connectivity in the global air transport network, covering 211 countries and territories for the year 2007. It is grounded in network analysis methods, and is based on a gravity-like model that is familiar from the international trade and regional science literatures. It is a global measure of connectivity, in the sense that it captures the full range of interactions among all network nodes, even when there is no direct flight connection between them. The best connected countries are the United States, Canada, and Germany; the United States' score is more than two-thirds higher than the next placed country's, and connectivity overall follows a power law distribution that is fully consistent with the hub-and-spoke nature of the global air transport network. The measure of connectivity is closely correlated with important economic variables, such as the degree of liberalization of air transport markets, and the extent of participation in international production networks. It provides a strong basis for future research in areas such as air and maritime transport, as well as international trade. Document type: Book

Abstract

In this paper we describe how we included travel time variability in the national Dutch transport forecasting model and what the policy impacts of this new forecasting tool are. Until now, travel time reliability improvements for road projects were included in Dutch cost-benefit analysis (CBA) by multiplying the travel time benefits from reduced congestion by a factor 1.25. This proportionality is based on the linkage between congestion reduction and reliability improvements. However, this treatment of reliability is not useful to evaluate policies that especially affect travel time variability. From the start, this method was provisional and meant to be replaced by a better method capturing travel time variability. For this, we derived an empirical relation between the standard deviation of travel time, mean delay of travel time and length of route. This has been implemented in the national Dutch model as a post processing module. The new travel time reliability forecasting model will be incorporated in the Dutch guidelines for CBA. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

Using a nested multinomial logit model of car ownership and personal travel in Beijing circa 2005, this paper compares the effectiveness of different policy instruments to reduce traffic congestion and CO2 emissions. The study shows that a congestion toll is more efficient than a fuel tax in reducing traffic congestion, whereas a fuel tax is more effective as a policy instrument for reducing gasoline consumption and emissions. An improvement in car efficiency would also reduce congestion, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions significantly; however, this policy benefits only richer households that own a car. Low-income households do better under the fuel tax policy than under the efficiency improvement and congestion toll policies. The congestion toll and fuel tax require the travel cost per mile to more than triple. The responsiveness of aggregate fuel and CO2 are, approximately, a 1 percent drop for each 10 percent rise in the money cost of a car trip. Document type: Book

Abstract

Economically efficient prices for the passenger transportation system in the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area would account for broader societal costs of traffic congestion and accidents, and local and global pollution. A $2.20 per gallon gasoline tax (2006 US$) would be economically efficient, compared with the current subsidy of $1.20 per gallon. Removal of the existing subsidy alone would achieve about three-quarters of the net benefits from subsidy elimination and the tax. Per-mile tolls could target congestion and accident externalities more efficiently than fuel taxes, although they are not practical at present. A combination of $0.80 per gallon gasoline tax to address pollution (versus $2.20 without tolls), and $0.12 and $0.19 tolls per vehicle mile on automobiles and microbuses, respectively, to address traffic congestion and accident externalities (versus $0.22 without fuel taxes) would be most efficient. Current public bus and rail subsidies are relatively close to efficient levels in the absence of such policies; however, if automobile and microbus externalities were fully addressed through more efficient pricing, optimal subsides to public transit would be smaller than current levels. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper describes the modeling of recurring congestion in a network. It is shown that the standard economic models of marginal cost cannot describe precisely traffic congestion in networks during time-dependent conditions. Following a macroscopic traffic approach, we describe the equilibrium solution for a congested network in the no-toll case. A dynamic model of cordon-based congestion pricing (such as for the morning commute) for networks is developed consistent with the physics of traffic.Ê The paper combines VickreyÕs theory with a macroscopic traffic model, which is readily observable with existing monitoring technologies. The paper also examines some policy implications of the cordon-based pricing to treat equity and reliability issues, i.e. in what mobility level a city should choose to operate. An application of the model in a downtown area shows that these schemes can improve mobility and relieve congestion in cities. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

The economic effects of existing and prospective federal policies governing intercity and international freight and passenger transportation enterprises in the economy of the United States are evaluated. The analysis encompasses all modes of transportation, including rail, motor, water, air and intermodal coordinative institutions, and focuses upon the impact of alternative regulatory policies. Volume IV includes: an introduction; transport economics at the network level; airline policy analysis at the industrial level--a preview; demand in airline markets; airline policy analysis at the firm level--a preview; and a summary and conclusions. Document type: Report