Reforming Transport Pricing in the European Union

About this book

This book deals with the problem of pricing passenger and freight transportation within Europe. The contributors argue that current legislation affecting pricing and regulation is increasingly less successful in dealing with market failures and externalities such as congestion, air pollution, noise and accidents. Technological progress and greater European operation has brought increased scope for the reform of transport policies. "Reforming Transport Pricing in the European Union" includes an economic diagnosis of the pricing problem, proposals for new pricing and regulation structures together with a quantified assessment of the likely impact for several European cities and countries. The effects of traffic volume, cost and overall economic welfare are computed for all forms of passenger and freight transport in urban and non-urban areas. The book analyzes various alternative policies including combinations of higher fuel excise, alternative parking policies, cordon pricing, electronic road pricing and emissions regulation. The research is based on a set of formal models which facilitate the analysis and comparison of results. The range of policies studied and the variety of methodologies employed, should ensure that this book be of benefit to European and national transport policymakers, transport economists and transport consultants.

Contents

Part 1 Principles: transport problems - the economic diagnosis, De Borger and Proost; an overview of policy instruments, De Borger et al; policy reform packages, De Borger et al. Part 2 Modelling: methodology and structure of the urban model, Proost and Van Dender; methodology and structure of the interregional model, De Borger; introducing spatial disaggregation and zoning in the Amsterdam model, Verhoef et al. Part 3 External and internal costs: the external costs of transport, Mayeres and Van Dender; external accident costs and the relationship between road accidents and traffic flows, Dickerson et al; the computation of the internal costs of transport in the model, Pierson and Vickerman; speed-flow relationships and the feasibility of road pricing technology, O'Mahony and Kirwan. Part 4 Case studies: testing alternative transport pricing policies for Brussels, Van Dender; urban transport pricing in Amsterdam - policy simulations for 2005, van den Bergh and Verhoef; improved transport pricing in Dublin, Gibbons and O'Mahony; what is wrong with transport prices in London, Peirson et al; evaluating pricing policies for interregional transport in Belgium, De Borger; reform of interregional pricing policies in Ireland, Heaney et al; how large is the gap between present and efficient transport prices in Europe?, Proost et al.

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